Earlier this week, UFC President Dana White announced a deal with JAKKS Pacific Inc that would lead to UFC action figures. While such a deal is great for the UFC and for MMA in general, a lingering question has been how much fighters would financially benefit. According to a report on UFC.com, fighters appear to benefit from the deal quite a bit.

From the report:

Already, close to 80 current UFC fighters have signed on for these licensing deals, with more coming on board every day. And while favorable royalty percentages and the ability to make money even when retired from the sport are nice, what has put smiles on the faces of these athletes is that the UFC licensing deals are non-exclusive, still freeing the fighters up to do whatever they choose in terms of other non-exclusive deals.

White says:

“Our deal is non-exclusive. These guys can do any other non-exclusive deal they want as long as they don’t use the Zuffa name. If they want to market their image and do that themselves, they can. We’re not trying to take money out of their pockets; we’re trying to put it in their pocket in perpetuity. And on top of that we’re trying to enhance their Octagon image with the UFC to the world.”

Ed Soares, manager of Anderson Silva, Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira, and Lyoto Machida, says:

“All of our fighters are really excited to see themselves, along with the UFC, becoming a brand. And I think this merchandising deal with the UFC is going to help build these guys into their own individual brands. As a manager, it’s always important what’s best for our athletes, but at the end of the day, we’re all on the same team in a sense, and we have to find out what’s going to be the best deal for both parties, because the more money that the UFC makes on this deal, the more money we make on this deal, so it’s a win-win all around.”

Forrest Griffin says:

“Being an action figure is cool enough and an honor – but getting checks in the mail without getting hit is a perk of the job and it’s just awesome. It seems like we’re finally now starting to get the recognition and respect we’ve fought for all these years.”

While this is a UFC.com report and thus has to be partly taken as propoganda and while details of the fighters' licensing deals were not provided in the report, the report is encouraging for fighters trying to get a bigger cut of the growing MMA pie.

For the full report, head over to UFC.com.

(Photo of Forrest Griffin courtesy of Zuffa, LLC.)