I am always on Reddit. Literally, every single day. I love Reddit because I can focus on whatever topics I like and can see news about those topics and not worry about anything else. Occasionally I see something on their MMA subreddit that I end up commenting on, and I thought I would put it here too. I might start doing this more regularly… so we will see.

I saw that Paul Felder is asking for donations to pay for his cornermen to fly to Brazil. I wanted to answer a few things that I know many are thinking and asking.

Doesn’t the UFC pay for flights?

UFC Pays for two flights. Fighter + 1 Corner in most cases. We always have the UFC book the two most expensive flights. I fly out with my guys on Tuesday for a Saturday fight, but one of my coaches usually comes out Friday which is usually a more expensive flight… so the UFC will do that flight… and then another expensive flight. Sometimes its a coach, sometimes its my wife. We are allowed 3 corners… plus fighter… so 4 flights is usually the minimum we go with. So if the UFC pays for two the fighter pays for the other 2 (or more).

What about the hotel room?

They UFC pays for one hotel room. You can put all 4 guys in that one room or get another room, an AirBnB or whatever you want. If you don’t use the hotel, they will reimburse you for the room you didn’t use. We did this for UFC 200. I got an AirBnB for like $1200 for the week, but the UFC kicked me back like $600 for the room we didn’t use… so we got a full awesome house and it only cost me like $600 for the week. I don’t remember exact numbers, but these are close.

What about food?

The UFC goes give per diem for food. I think its like $600 for the week. I think its considered $50/day for 6 days, for 2 people.

Do fighters have to fight internationally? Couldn’t he just say no about fighting in Brazil?

The Fighter always has a say on where they fight. If I don’t want to fight internationally, I don’t have to. But if you are picky, you might be waiting longer than if you are more flexible. I wasn’t happy about flying to Canada and getting killed on taxes and everything else, but they asked me and I agreed to help out.

Why does the UFC only give 2 flights and 1 hotel room?

The reason they stick to the 1 Fighter and 1 Coach is because it gets crazy. When we negotiated one of my contracts I tried HARD to get extra flights or hotel rooms, and they said they stick to the 1+1 because otherwise guys would be negotiating crazy numbers. Guys would be asking for 8 flights and hotel rooms and it gets tough to plan for them from a show by show perspective. It’s much easier to know their costs are X dollars per fighter, plus show/win money when figuring shows.

Reebok money should more than cover travel expenses.

Sponsor money is considered to pay for expenses… and he is in the 5k tier (I believe), so that should definitely cover two flights for his cornermen. I think the most I ever paid was like $1500 per flight and that was for a fight in Japan (that may or may not have happened).

Why doesn’t everyone do this?

This is odd to me that he is doing a GoFundMe. If my landscapers did a GoFundMe to cover their gas fees, I wouldn’t be donating because it’s a cost of doing business. I think his flights are a cost of doing business just like paying coaches, paying for equipment, paying for food, etc. That’s why my landscapers get paid, to cover their expenses… and that’s why we fight, to cover our expenses.

Do what you want.

That being said, he is more than welcome to run a GoFundMe for anything he wants. Anyone can do whatever they want… doesn’t mean people will donate. He is being upfront about what the money will be used for, so if people want to donate and help him out that is awesome.