Exactly.

You think Tiger Woods would be making eighty bajillion dollars a year in sponsorships/endorsement if he was just the worlds greatest club pro? Hell no. He gets all those endorsements because he is tearing shit up on the PGA tour.

Same goes for guys like Jardine. If he was just beating up people in local Albuquerque MMA shows, he wouldn’t be making dick in endorsements and he certainly wouldn’t have his own T-shirt brand.

Because endorsement money should not be in lieu of payment. We are talking about how the UFC pays it fighters, not about how much they can make on the side. Kevin Youkilis is a good player who gets a lot of recognition playing on the Boston Red Sox, but it would be absurd if the Red Sox decided they didn’t have to pay him, or could pay him less because he can make so much extra money by playing in Boston. In addition Kevin Youkilis doesn’t have to pay for his trainers and training partners and other expenses, it’s picked up for by Boston. So we could look at sponsorship deals for lower paid fighters as just that, sponsorship for their training.
And for a fighter like Jardine, who on the main event in his previous card and on the main card in this event, were a combined 1.1 mil + PPV sales were made, it seems low to me.
(I know there is probably back room bonuses for Jardine. Maybe he got a huge check, but I’m just going off what’s been reported.)

In addition, for many of the fighters, sponsor money might not be all that great. According to Roger Huerta, many fighter are not making much off of endorsement:
http://www.5thround.com/news/1355/money-talks-and-so-does-huerta/
Money Quote: " Unfortunately, a lot of the endorsement companies have caught wind to the situation that the UFC fighters are in, and have not beenas aggressive financially. In fact, Huerta was insulted by some of the offers that he received, including doing unpaid work as a spokesman."

Listen, I’m not trying to rag on the UFC. Everyone, does it. But the UFC is the biggest, and i can see what kind of money they’re making and going to be making. And I, for one, would rather see it go in the hands of the actual combatants than those behind the desks.

usually If they lose they get their win bonus.

Not to mention he’s always exciting and very popular with the fans. That goes a long way with the UFC.

1. Strikeforce has yet to be on CBS. And currently has no card scheduled for CBS.

2. The majority of fighters will still be on Showtime, not CBS.

3. The UFC has big named sponsors AND FOTN bonuses.

And the number of viewers isn’t the entire picture. The UFC gets more fans in the younger male demographic. There is also likely more active eyeballs watching a PPV then a regular card on TV.

How did Kimbo do after getting exposure on CBS?, let’s not ever get it twisted the UFC has proven it’s the place to be in you want longevity and a big payday nobody else can offer that in mma period.

Not true.

Most MMA sponsors are targeted directly at the 18-35 demo. CBS draws a lot more eyeballs, but a lot of those eyeballs are outside that demographic. All those extra eyeballs don’t help the sponsors that much because they are not in the target market for their products. The Matlock crowd isn’t a group that Tapout or Condom Depot care about, and Centrum and Depends aren’t exactly keen on putting their brand name on a fighters ass.

Yes.

i think its almost an automatic % for the big draw fighters now. They bring the crowd they get soe of the money the crowd pay.

Between 20 and 35% of the revenue goes to the fighters.