Yes, the Reebok sponsorship for the UFC is crap for the fighters. For people who do not know, here is the breakdown of how the fighters are paid by Reebok:
Fighters in their first five UFC bouts will receive $2,500, while fighters with six to 10 fights will make $5,000. Fighters in their 11th to 15th fight will make $10,000, and fighters with 16 to 20 bouts will make $15,000. Fighters with 21 bouts or more will be paid $20,000 per fight.
UFC champions will be paid $40,000 for each bout, with challengers making $30,000.
Fighters like Rousey and McGregor love the Reebok deal. What many people do not know is that they are signed to separate (more lucrative) deals with Reebok, so they obviously make a lot more then the rest of the fighters.
If Josh Thompson is telling the truth about his sponsorship money (made only 5k per fight from Reebok in the UFC, and made 35K off of sponsors at Bellator) then you can easily see how the majority of the fighters are getting screwed.
That may leave the door open for Bellator and this new organization led by Sakakibara, to attract better talent. Not to mention that Japan may be able to get fighters like Anderson Silva, Wandy, Nick Diaz etc.... to come over there.
The main reason why the UFC is the top dog, is because it is considered the NFL or MLB of mixed martial arts, while Bellator would be like the Canadian football league or the minors.
It will be interesting to see how the next year plays out, and it all starts with this supposed "huge event" in Japan on New Years Eve, where Fedor fights in the main event.
I wonder who they will get to fill out that card?