PRIME became one of the official UFC sponsors a while back. Considering it’s a company owned by Logan Paul, there was talk about what they would do for UFC stars. Jake Paul has long been one of the biggest voices pointing to how UFC is robbing their talent by locking them into sponsorships they’re not getting anything from.
UFC has a ton of lucrative contracts from Crypto.com, Venum, The Rock’s infamous shoe and plenty of other product placements. But the stars seldom see any of the money. Venum more or less inherited Reebok’s legacy model where ‘compliance’ earns people a steady rate determined by the number of bouts they had in the UFC.
PRIME’s compensation model has also been criticized by UFC stars. Kevin Holland recently called out PRIME for offering him merchandise instead of payment to promote the product on his social media channels. In a clip from his Real Eyes Recognize YouTube show, Holland criticized the company’s lack of payment, despite claiming to be advocates for athlete pay.
PRIME offered Holland’s manager only $600 for a main page post, which he found insulting.
But the company might be rounding a corner. After Gunnar Nelson pointed to a viral clip of Logan Paul and KSI reacting to his win at UFC 286 – he actually got a cash bonus.
The sports drink company provided an added incentive to Nelson for securing a win on their logo during a match. Gunnar Nelson earned a $5000 bonus for submitting Bryan Barberena with an armbar on the PRIME logo placed on the canvas.
$5k to @GunniNelson for submission on the PRIME bottle!
— DrinkPrime (@PrimeHydrate) March 18, 2023
However, this move has raised questions about whether this compensation will continue in the future or if it was a one-time occurrence. Additionally, PRIME’s partnership with UFC has been controversial due to its perceived rivalry with Monster Energy, which has been UFC’s partner for years.