Tim Welch, coach and longtime friend of Sean O’Malley, sat down with Sean Kelly on the Digital Social Hour Podcast ahead of O’Malley’s match against Song Yadong. During the conversation, Welch opened up about the financial reality facing the vast majority of MMA athletes.
“You come in there, you’re not going to make any money for a long time. Sometimes most of the times never. Probably 80% of people will never make money to live,” Welch said. “Maybe 20%, and that’s a high percentage, will make enough money to support their family.”
He reflected on the athletes he has known personally who gave everything to the sport and walked away with nothing to show for it financially.
He stated, “I have so many friends and former teammates that dedicated their whole lives, 10 to 15 years, and they never got anything from it. Now that 15 years comes and they’re like, ‘Well, now I got to go start a new career, try to be a firefig hter or start to find a job or something.’ That’s majority of athletes.”
Welch spoke from personal experience, having competed professionally himself before transitioning to coaching. He recalled a moment that crystallized just how precarious life as an athlete can be.
He noted, “I remember I had zero dollars. I was going to this match and I had zero, I couldn’t even buy a coffee at the airport. I’m like, I need to win this match or I have to go home and find some sort of job.”
Despite those pressures, Welch said his love for martial arts kept him going even when the money was not there.
“I was just so passionate about martial arts. I love learning jiu-jitsu,” he said. “I love learning wrestling and Muay Thai and kickboxing and boxing, all these different martial arts. I just was obsessed with learning. So I was always living my dream even though I was broke.”
He also discussed how money changes athletes once it starts coming in, and why hunger can be so difficult to maintain after financial stability arrives.
“When you don’t have money, your only option is to show up to the gym every day and really grind twice a day,” he mentioned. “Once you start having money, you’re like, ‘Wow, I don’t need to do this. I don’t need to go spar and get concussed and beat my body down. I don’t need to do this anymore.’ So you really have to find kind of your reason why you want to do it.”
He also pointed to the mental toll athletes carry into the cage when financial pressure is at its highest.
“They start thinking about, if I lose, I only get half my money. If I lose, my contract goes down. They start thinking about all these external things except being present in the moment,” he stated.
For Welch, coaching became the more sustainable path, starting from a 900 square foot mechanics garage and building to a gym with over 400 members.
