Just over three years ago this week, Jeremy Stephens was stunningly knocked out by Yves Edwards at UFC on Fox 5 in Seattle, WA. It was Stephens' 3rd straight defeat and his first ever via KO or TKO. That put "Lil' Heathen" in a dangerous position where one more loss could've seen him out of the promotion. It was not too long after the Edwards fight that the longtime lightweight decided to drop to featherweight.

Since the weight class switch, he's won 4 of his last 6, including a thrilling knockout win over Dennis Bermudez at UFC 189 -- this was at a catchweight after Stephens had missed weight -- which saw him snap a two-fight losing streak and resuscitate his title shot hopes in the division. The heavy-handed Stephens is now just a day away from a huge showdown with the surging Max Holloway at UFC 194.

At just 29 years old, Stephens is set to make his 22nd appearance inside the Octagon, making him one of the few fighters on the UFC roster who's in the $20,000 tier (minimum 21 fights under the Zuffa banner) for Reebok sponsorship money. But as Stephens told Bloody Elbow's Three Amigos Podcast, he has taken a hit financially, but believes managers are to blame for the state of the MMA sponsorship market.

"I used to make a lot more back in 2009-2011. I was making a lot more than $20,000," Stephens said. "More towards the end when Reebok came in, those deals kind of vanished. I feel like bad management, people accepting $500 for a hat, $500 for a t-shirt, kinda ruined it for a lot of people. I blame that towards managers allowing themselves to be sold short.

Say you're paying a guy like Dominick Cruz, a champion, $30,000, but this other guy calls up management and says, 'We'll wear MusclePharm for $500!' Then you've got another manager doing that and they're like, 'Why are we paying $30,000 when we can get these other guys for $500?' And that's where it really started watering down, and then Reebok kinda stepped in and then we're stuck with that type of pay. It is what it is and you can't really do anything about it."

I feel like bad management, people accepting $500 for a hat, $500 for a t-shirt, kinda ruined it for a lot of people. I blame that towards managers allowing themselves to be sold short. -Jeremy Stephens

Stephens suggested (among other things) an increase in fight bonuses to offset the lost sponsorship money, all while lamenting the fact that boxers Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury were paid millions of dollars for a fight that was otherwise panned as boring and hard-to-watch.

"I wish there were better ways, like giving out bigger bonuses, so guys fight harder and they really do go in there and try and earn that bigger money," Stephens said. "I feel like that would be a little bit more exciting for the fans, exciting for the fighters to get those big paydays, and I feel like we deserve it. I think we're surpassing boxing with the excitement and the fights that we give. I mean, look at that Klitschko/Fury fight. That fight sucked! And they get paid what, $12 million? I've seen so many better fights from flyweights and heavyweights in the UFC, because we're true fighters at heart, we'll go in there and put on a show but we're not getting paid like that."

During UFC 193's main event between Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm, Stephens noted that Rousey was able to sport the Monster Energy drink logo on her fight kit. In Rousey's case, Monster Energy is an official UFC partner and they have their own agreement with Rousey. Otherwise, fighters aren't allowed to represent non-Reebok sponsors in UFC-sanctioned activities or during the fights themselves.

In Stephens' opinion, fighters should have the option to sport extra sponsors, and noted the cost of his own fight camp when making the argument, as well as the hard-cap of $50,000 for post-fight bonuses.

"I've spent probably $10,000 alone just on this camp trying to get to the fight. That's a lot of money. And with the rehab that I need to get, the dieting, all the food, all the stuff that I put in, paying my coaches, training partners, this and that, that stuff costs a lot of money," Stephens said. "Some guys don't have that, so they have to just deal with what they get. I feel like if you throw in an extra sponsor or two it's not really going to hurt Reebok. Make a small logo, at least let us make a little bread for some of the money that we're losing out on fight camp."

I also came from an era where you could make $100,000, $65,000, or $75,000 just on one bonus. Now it's like it's gone corporate where they're only making $50,000 a bonus. If you're going to take away our sponsors, why not bump it up to $100,000 for a fight bonus? Let us scrap it out and make the fights even better. If you're going to do that, you might as well make the bonuses a little bit bigger so they get bigger and better fights."



You can check out more of this excellent interview here or via the embedded player below (interview starts at the 01:20 mark of the audio). Remember, if you're looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we're under the MMA Nation name. Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes, Three Amigos Podcast, Iain Kidd and Mookie Alexander or our Facebook fan page, Three Amigos Podcast.