Fabricio Werdum axed from UFC TV broadcasting duties following Reebok dis
It’s probably safe to say that former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum does not like Reebok and their deal set in place with the UFC.
On Tuesday, Werdum posted a photo to social media with a Nike logo photoshopped in place of the Reebok logo on his UFC fight kit uniform. Werdum said in the caption that he was a Nike fan ever since his childhood.
Werdum explained in a Facebook video that the reasoning behind his post was that he was protesting the Reebok deal and the pay cut that he and many other fighters in the UFC took with Reebok striking an exclusive deal with the fight promotion.
“I think fighters need to start speaking because no one is happy,” Werdum said (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “It’s something that is in our contract, we have to sign it and end of story. We don’t have options. It was nice because it [the photo] was featured even in Globo.com. People talking, ‘Werdum signed with Nike’, no, but if Nike is interested, we’re here.
“So just to clarify, the people thinking I will get in trouble, nothing will happen. I even tell the fighters, if some company won’t sponsor you, you have to cover up their names, gloves, shin guards, don’t make free promotion. That’s our job, our image, our fights. Just because someone sends you some gloves you don’t need to keep making several posts with them. That’s not how it works, you have to value your image.”
Apparently, Werdum’s post and protest has gotten him in a bit of trouble. In another video post on social media, “Vai Cavalo” stated that he has been taken off his duties as a commentator and analyst for UFC’s Spanish-speaking broadcasts. Werdum has worked for a few years on many Spanish-speaking UFC broadcasts in Latin America.
Werdum wrote in the caption of his post, “Clarifying the controversy @reebok @ufc I just want to make everything clear about my post of Nike and Reebok. I did this to protest about the sponsorship, before Rebook got into UFC, all the fighters use to do a lot of money with other sponsors, including me, and now they paying me only $5,000 per fight. I didn’t get penalized because I have to contract with them, but they cut me out of the tv broadcast #UFCnetwork”
Surely many people taking a huge pay cut from the Reebok deal are upset. According to MMA Fighting, Werdum said in his post in Portuguese that he was earning sponsorship dollars in the amount of $100,000 to $200,000 per fight before the Reebok deal came into palce and is now getting $5,000 from the Reebok deal.
What are your thoughts on Fabricio Werdum’s protest of Reebok? Sound off in the comment section!
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