Jared Cannonier explains the “I’m broke” comments following win over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Vegas 34

UFC middleweight contender Jared Cannonier explained the “I’m broke” comments he made following his win over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Vegas 34.

Cannonier defeated Gastelum via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC Vegas 34, but what everyone is talking about a few days later isn’t his performance, but rather his comments that he made after the fight. Taking the mic, Cannonier said that he was broke and that he needed to get paid more. It was another example of a UFC fighter saying they are short on funds, with Cheyanne Buys recently saying the same thing after her win.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, Cannonier explained his comments. According to “The Killa Gorilla,” he isn’t in a situation where he is about to lose his shirt, but at the same time, he believes that as a top-five fighter he deserves to get paid a lot more money.

“It’s not dire, it’s just a natural occurrence if you will. Of course, coming off the injury, I’m not balling out of control or anything like that, and a lot of people don’t understand that when we have these fights that we owe people money after these fights. After this win, 60 percent of my money is already gone. Between the gym, between management, between taxes, on top of that I’ve got bills, credit cards, I got kids, I’ve got a house up in Alaska, I’ve got a house here, I’ve got car payments. That money goes. Money don’t last forever,” Jared Cannonier said.

“Right now fighting is our only revenue. I don’t have sponsors or anything like that. Fighting is my only focus. I’m not out here doing commercials or anything like that. Nobody’s asking me to be in the next Marvel movie. Not being able to fight for the last 10 months put a strain on our pockets. So I’m glad to have gotten back in there. I’m glad that I get two checks plus that main event bonus. I’m glad I’m not injured so I can do it again.”

Cannonier’s pay wasn’t disclosed for UFC Vegas 34 since the fight took place in Nevada where salaries are no longer public. The last disclosed salary that Cannonier had was in 2017 when he defeated Nick Roehrick and earned $100,000 for that fight. At the time, Cannonier was not a ranked middleweight, so it’s possible that he is making more per fight now. However, since he has only been fighting once a year, the money doesn’t last forever.