O'Malley: Reebok gave me $3K despite making over $1M on my merchandise

UFC bantamweight Sean O'Malley recently shed light on the promotion's apparel deal with Reebok.

"Suga" claimed in an interview on Brendan Schaub's "Food Truck Diaries" that he received about $3,000 in royalties after Reebok made more than $1 million from his merchandise.

"I got a royalty from Reebok," O'Malley said. "If I read it right, which I think I did, and I even sent it to my dad, I'm like, 'Did I read this right?' He said yes. So unless we both can't read, Reebok made over $1 million on all my merch and I got like $3,000. I'm like, 'What the f---?' It's ridiculous.

"I thought I got 15%. They're like, 'Well, you get 15% of this, but of this, and then these guys get it, and then you get 15% of that.' I'm like, 'Holy shit.' And then they make all these sweet shirts on Reebok. I'm like, 'Damn.' I tell people, 'Don't buy that.'"

The Reebok deal, which was put in place in 2015, offers a tiered system of sponsorship for UFC fighters. The more bouts you have in the promotion, the more money you receive. Champions and title challengers earn a greater amount. Additionally, athletes are compensated a percentage of the revenue generated from their own merchandise sales.

"Royalties paid out on sales of co-branded UFC and Reebok merchandise are dictated by the contract between the individual fighter and the UFC," Reebok said in an emailed statement to Footwear News' Peter Verry.

O'Malley, one of the hottest prospects at 135 pounds, is 4-0 in the Octagon. He's coming off a first-round knockout of veteran Eddie Wineland at UFC 250 earlier in June.