The Rock’s UFC Sponsorship is Upsetting UFC Fighters
If you are a UFC fan, you have likely seen a UFC fighter sporting a pair of flashy red shoes. Those shoes are Dwanye “The Rock” Johnson’s Project Rock shoes. The Rock’s Project Rocks are being produced by Under Armour and the red version is co-branded alongside the UFC. This partnership deal has UFC fighters upset.
The issue with the UFC’s deal with The Rock is simple. The UFC forces fighters to wear the shoes, but they do not pay the fighters any sponsorship money. At UFC 279, the UFC did not compensate fighters for wearing the shoes, according to Bloody Elbow.
This is not Johnson’s fault. Do not get mad at him. It is not his job to distribute money to the fighters. Essentially, the UFC elected to not give any of this sponsorship money to the fighters.
Nate Diaz was the first fighter to speak out against Project Rock. In an interview with Megan Olivi in the lead-up to UFC 279, Diaz disapproved of the fact that the UFC forced him to wear the shoes. ESPN later cut this portion of the interview. Eventually, the clip was posted on Twitter.
This clip originally did not raise too many eyebrows as it seemed that Diaz was just adding fuel to his original beef with The Rock. At UFC 244, The Rock supported Jorge Masvidal in his fight with Diaz. Diaz did not appreciate that and took jabs at The Rock at a press conference. Diaz’s frustration now seems to be legit. If you are going to make him wear the shoes, at least pay him.
It is not the Rock’s responsibility to ensure that the fighters are paid through his sponsorship with the UFC. However, fighters are calling for The Rock to speak up on their behalf. The most notable fighter to do so was UFC lightweight prospect Terrance McKinney.
The red Project Rocks have been all over UFC events recently. If you would like a sense of how much time the UFC has spent promoting these shoes, watch this video.
I hope the UFC at least threw Cory Sandhagen some side cash for agreeing to make that video. Wearing those red shoes all week has to be bad enough.
This sponsorship deal is not the first deal that resulted in the fighters leaving empty-handed. UFC fighters did not receive a cut of the UFC’s $175 million sponsorship with Crypto.com. For a short period of time, Crypto.com sponsored a “Fan Bonus of the Night.” The bonus would be available on every pay-per-view and fans would vote to determine the winners. This is great for fan favorites. However, most fighters left without being paid for the deal.
