Alexander Gustafsson Explains That There Isn’t Much Money in Fighting

Before this weekend’s sacrificial slaughter of Jimi Manuwa to the UFC altar Alexander Gustafsson did a press tour to discuss his upcoming fight and not all of it was that positive. This interview comes from a Swedish radio show where Alexander Gustafsson was asked what kind of money there was in fighting and the UFC headliner explained that it’s enough to get by, but not enough to buy himself a nice car. We’ve reached a point where the narrative being spun by the UFC and Dana White that they make millionaires is simply not lining up with reality for a lot of their more popular fighters. [source]

Interviewer: What kind of money is there in the sport? Is there a lot of money in it?

Gustafsson: No, I wouldn’t say that.

Interviewer: There isn’t?!

Gustafsson: No, I earn enough to get by and so that I can train full time, but that’s it. I can’t buy a new Porsche.

Interviewer: But if you had beat Jon Jones, how much more would you have earned? Can I ask you that?

Gustafsson: I don’t know the answer to that question but it would have been considerably more. Then I could’ve bought a brand new Porsche.

Interviewer: So then he [Jones] earned a lot of money?

Gustafsson: He probably did. He’s probably a multi-millionaire.

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Dave Walsh

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Dave Walsh is a writer residing in Albuquerque, New Mexico who is best known for his work as a Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts journalist. His work has been featured on a number of publications, including BloodyElbow.com, MiddleEasy.com, CageSideSeats.com, Heavy.com, MMANuts.com, as well as his own site, LiverKick.com. His first novel, The Godslayer, is on sale now.