40 percent off the top for gym,team,manager?
not fighter bashing and I am a fan of his, but come on son!
When I figure out finances, if expenses are getting to be too much I figure out how to cut/reduce them. If that does not work it's time to find a new hustle.
What are Gym fees?
I am guessing for said example me training at Greg Jacksons for my fight the fee would go to him? 
Pura Vida - The tax numbers aren't accurate at all. Syup was gonna say the same
Someone making $10k a fight, and fighting 2 or 3 times a year doesn't pay anywhere close to 30% in taxes. Likely they wouldn't even pay 20%. With the exception of social security, they'd get pretty much everything back.
Beyond that, even if we did pretend that they paid 30% in taxes, it would be 30% after paying the manager, the gym, and all of the other fees mentioned.
In both cases as an independent contractor they would be able to show expenses covering almost the entire fight check, and as such would have almost no tax burden.
The $6k number in your fight winning math should be replaced with maybe $2k, and even that is likely a high.
In the example where he loses, his taxes would be less than $500.
It's a very well written piece and gives some valuable information, but as some have stated it seems to be heavily weighted in one direction.
The management percentage isn't purely a cost of getting you the fight - this is detailed by saying it's a business relationship to maximise other income streams - but is all set off against the basic fight purse.
No Reebok money of divulgence of if this counts towards the earnings which management take a % of. Would like to know the details of this.
The tax should be after those expenses and with the Reebok and other into added in.
It does seem like we've been given a snippet, and more than is our right to know, but we haven't been given enough to get a true picture of it and I don't think we ever will.
But props for divulging details you don't have to.
Serious question, why need a manager once you are in the UFC?
OriginalTUFer- Ah, I gotcha. Yes, the Reebok pay should be factored in there as well since it's guaranteed, you're right. That is my mistake which comes from not having a fight under the reebok uniform yet.
Anything else that isn't income directly from the actual fight, wouldn't be factored into this estimate. Is there more money being made like endorsements or other entities relating to an MMA career? Yes, with a good team that you take care of.
A lot of guys shaft those working for them, which won't workout to their benefit in the long run. Like the old saying.... You get what you put in!
No Surrender To The AKA - It's a very well written piece and gives some valuable information, but as some have stated it seems to be heavily weighted in one direction.
The management percentage isn't purely a cost of getting you the fight - this is detailed by saying it's a business relationship to maximise other income streams - but is all set off against the basic fight purse.
No Reebok money of divulgence of if this counts towards the earnings which management take a % of. Would like to know the details of this.
The tax should be after those expenses and with the Reebok and other into added in.
It does seem like we've been given a snippet, and more than is our right to know, but we haven't been given enough to get a true picture of it and I don't think we ever will.
But props for divulging details you don't have to.
Spot on with management.
Reebok pay should be in there, yes. There shouldn't be any deductions on uniform pay or bonuses, so I listed that under the total profit. I tried to gear this towards elite fighters in general, not just UFC fighters, which is another reason I left that out.
Taxes.... I like to do the worst case scenario to be safe. But yes, that can easily be brought down with the deductions, if you're doing them correctly.
GrindOnLine - Serious question, why need a manager once you are in the UFC?
So once you're in the UFC, turn your backs on them and depend on just your fight purses? Even without morals/ethics, you're selling yourself short that route. There's more work the higher up you get.
20 % Management? Twice as much as Gym fees?
Highway robbery much?
Josh Burkman is flying without management these days. Jury might want to give him a call, if he doesnt find a manager with lower fees.
TheBigRedOne- The difference in % between NBA players and MMA, is a lot of money. Like I said in the blog, when the digits get in 6-7 (or in NBA, 8), everything is configured differently.
With a $130 a month gym fee, you're not getting a handful of full-time coaches that devote their lives to building your career. At the same time, majority fighters don't have any money until they get in the big leagues. So before the big leagues, most fighters don't pay anything at all.
Your gym/team should be same 10%, yes. But a lot of gyms don't have everything the fighters need, so they spend even more money going out to get it elsewhere. You'd be surprised at the amount of fighters that do this and the amount of gyms that don't have everything a fighter needs. I traveled around to numerous facilities throughout my career until I joined Power MMA this year, and now have everything under one roof.
It's not unethical or even unusual to ditch your manager once you're established in the UFC. Hell, Matt Hughes did it YEARS ago. It's a business relationship. If (somehow post-Reebok) they still make you more in endorsements than their fee, then I guess it's worth it. Otherwise, maybe you should just pay a lawyer to check things out before you sign them. Using your CEO example from earlier, companies of all sizes fire their CEOs all the time if it doesn't make business sense to keep them.
I gotta laugh at all the Simple Jacks in here who can't see where management takes the career of Ronda Rousey or any other top fighter. Life doesn't end at the signing of a UFC contract.
Axel Foley - I gotta laugh at all the Simple Jacks in here who can't see where management takes the career of Ronda Rousey or any other top fighter. Life doesn't end at the signing of a UFC contract.
Jury is using UFC minimum pay numbers. We are not talking Ronda Rousey here, we are talking Clay Collard.
luctaro -Axel Foley - I gotta laugh at all the Simple Jacks in here who can't see where management takes the career of Ronda Rousey or any other top fighter. Life doesn't end at the signing of a UFC contract.
Jury is using UFC minimum pay numbers. We are not talking Ronda Rousey here, we are talking Clay Collard.
Axel Foley is spot on. Everyone in the UFC was once at the entry level, which is where the work truly begins on the business side. Trust me, if management wasn't worth the cost, I'd be the first person to speak up.
The problem with management...... The horrible ones that don't hold value and there's a LOT of them.
This is a great article. Thanks for writing and sharing
I'm glad some of you like and appreciate the article. Thank you for the support! If you ever have any topics you'd like to me touch on in future blogs, shoot me a facebook message at facebook.com/TheTeamFury.
JuryJiuJitsu -From an ethical point of view I agree it's the right thing to do and it speaks volume about your character. You seem like a standup guy.GrindOnLine - Serious question, why need a manager once you are in the UFC?
So once you're in the UFC, turn your backs on them and depend on just your fight purses? Even without morals/ethics, you're selling yourself short that route. There's more work the higher up you get.
I should have been more precise. Now please keep in mind that I am clueless, I don't mean to disrespect, I am looking at it from a business point of view and I only want to learn more about the sport.
It seems that once you have reached a certain level, there's not much more that a manager can do, especially in a closely monitored organisation like the UFC.
You don't have to look for fights, the sponsors are organised for you, the UFC take care of your health, you are a valued addition to any gym...
How does having a manager that cost 20% of your income helps you make more money at that level?
GrondOnLine- No offense, but that's because you're most likely not a businessman or don't thoroughly understand the business. I didn't write this blog to provide free business consultations, so I'm not going into personsal details. Plus my team is very private/low-key, and doesn't like public stuff (oops lol). But I assure you that my relationship with my management has been the most lucrative and valuable piece of my career thus far.
Thanks for sharing Jury.
Now, obviously lower fighters need to fight more.
I'd argue most guys need to fight more unless you are one of maybe 5 on the roster.
With that said and as many shows, why doesn't the UFC book fighters more often?
Are fighters choosing to take more time or is the UFC minimizing costs by using locals such as overseas and keeping guys at a cheaper rate longer by effectively dragging out their contract rather than risk raises with a winning streak?
I'm sick of cards where nobody could be picked out of a police lineup and more fights means more exposure and recognition.
So it's better for fighters to fight more if they can and fans to see guys more to build familiarity and name recognition.
But for the UFC it makes sense to book 1 or 2 fight cards and load it with locals or people who aren't even as known as the guy who shit the cage in West Virginia.
Sadly that guy is more known as a heavyweight than most on the roster.