UFC woman’s strawweight fighter Joanne Calderwood finally lived up to her potential during her TKO victory against Valerie Letourneau at UFC Fight Night 89 on Saturday night, but admitted afterwards that she was now ‘broke as hell,’ prompting a swift response from Dana White.
“Gutted I didn’t get the bonus tonight but I’m not afraid to go home work and save so I can get back to @tristargym asap and hopefully be back in the octagon soon #wheretheresawilltheresaway #brokeashell #11-1,” Calderwood wrote on Instagram.
Calderwood is believed to have earned a rock-bottom salary of $12,000 to show, $12,000 to win at the weekend, together with a low-tier $2,500 Reebok sponsorship, for a total of $26,500.
That’s not a whole hell of a lot for a top 10 ranked fighter, especially since it doesn’t include expenses like taxes and the cost of her fight camp and training at Tristar.
It’s not a good look for a talented fighter to have to get another job just to make ends meet, but thankfully, it seems that on this occasion UFC President Dana White has decided to step in and help out.
“She will be bonused for that fight,” White told Matt Serra and Jim Norton on the debut episode of the ‘UFC Unfiltered’ podcast. “There were so many good fights that night, people were going crazy. Me and Lorenzo were saying, ‘How the hell did that skip us? She should have got a bonus.
“In that 115-pound division, you don’t see finishes the way she finished Valerie. Valerie went five rounds with Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Joanna didn’t do that to her. We’re going to take care of her, and we’re going to sign her to a new deal.”
That’s great news for ‘Jojo’, though spare a thought for the many other fighters on the UFC roster that are still scraping by on similary meager salaries.
