Dominick Cruz has revealed that he doesn’t have a manager as he doesn’t feel there’s a need for one most of the time as a UFC fighter.
“I don’t necessarily manage myself, I just represent myself. That’s the best way to put it. I communicate for myself,” Cruz said on The MMA Hour show this week ahead of his UFC On ESPN 41 headlining bout with Marlon Vera.
“I think in the UFC, we’re signed a six-fight contract, are we not? Four-fight contract, usually, at the lowest. So why would I pay somebody for four fights when it’s set after one?
“A manager’s really only having one conversation and is getting paid out for four fights. That doesn’t make sense to me.
“And then on top of that, with a manager, how are they supposed to be bringing me in sponsors if the UFC dictates the sponsors? So now, the UFC dictates the sponsors, and the UFC dictates the contract.
“So what is a manager actually doing? They’re just talking and creating the communication. And what managers are good at, from my experience, is making it seem like they have all the hook-ups. But in the UFC, hook-ups can you get? The UFC makes the decisions for you.
“Now, if you’re in Bellator, if you’re in PFL, if you’re in any of these other organizations, it makes perfect sense to me for a fighter to have a representation because sponsors can get brought, they can build relationships elsewhere. They can have a line-up of ten fighters and because a manager has a line-up of ten fighters, sponsors might come to them directly and say, ‘Hey, do you have anybody?’”
However, Cruz did not that developing a good relationship with the UFC brass is important if a fighter representing themselves want things to go smoothly.
“I’ve got a good relationship with Sean Shelby in the sense of communication. If he wants to talk to me, he can reach out to me. And I think a lot of us fighters can do that with Sean Shelby whenever we want.
“I renegotiate my contract when I get within one or two fights, at the end of it, generally. I try to if the UFC’s open to it. And they’ve always been willing to work with me. I just don’t talk like a prick.
“It’s really easy if you just talk to Hunter, talk to Sean Shelby,” Cruz continued. “They’re very open to listen to you if you can create the conversation from a neutral place. It’s when you come at them all crazy, ‘I deserve this, I deserve that…’ You just gotta come from a neutral place.
“Nobody deserves anything. You earn everything you get in this sport. You gotta understand they’re running a business.”
