Miesha Tate clarified her previous remarks about her UFC fight purse, saying that “my camp was very expensive, but the results were great.”
After having not fought for five years, Tate returned to the Octagon in July when she fought Marion Reneau. In what was one of Tate’s best performances of her MMA career, she finished Reneau in the third round via TKO. The victory earned Tate $200,000 for her purse, plus another $50,000 for “Performance of the Night.” However, “Cupcake” recently said that she has already spent 98% of what she made from her purse against Reneau.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, Tate explained her comments, suggesting that she was never complaining about fighter pay, but rather giving insight on what it can cost to be an elite-level athlete in this sport.
.@MieshaTate clarifies her previous comments over her fight purse from her #UFC comeback:
"My camp was very expensive. But, the results were great."
Watch full interview from #theMMAhour: https://t.co/aYhmaOhb5g pic.twitter.com/7oiWUMkG6Y
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) August 26, 2021
“What I was trying to say is that it’s not just money that gets to go into the bank. 60-70% of my check goes to taxes, coaches, and other things. I’m ok with that, because that’s me investing in myself,” Tate said.
“I’m not going to complain that I’m in the 37 percent tax bracket, which means that I make a lot of money. You know what I mean? Having to pay taxes is a good thing. And also paying my coaches, I have more coaches and more people that understand what’s going on in the game. Hey, it’s alright. I’m down to spend the money on myself. I spent it on organic (food), my diet was very expensive, my food prep. And to be fair, a lot of them were first-time purchases that will benefit me because I haven’t fought in five years. You invest in new running shoes, you invest in a new bike, you invest in a new heart-rate monitor and these things,” Tate said. “My camp was very expensive, but the results were great. I would spend every last penny to touch that belt again. I’ll spend it all I’m not complaining about what the UFC paid me. The UFC paid me $200,000, I’m mean, I wouldn’t get that anywhere else I don’t think. Look, I got $200,000 to spend on my camp. I reinvested in myself, almost all of it. I don’t think that was a bad choice. I’m not broke.”
Do you agree with Miesha Tate that she made a worthwhile investment in herself?