UFC 187: Donald Cerrone stands to lose $60,000 per fight with 'awesome' UFC-Reebok deal

Dana White isn't buying Brendan Schaub's claims that "Big Brown" made over $100,000 in sponsorship money in his previous fights, but would he believe that Donald Cerrone will lose out on close to $60,000 per fight once the heavily-criticized Reebok deal kicks in later this year?

That's what "Cowboy" recently told Yahoo! Sports, insisting he'll be losing out on some sponsorship checks, which means his paydays won't be as big as they once were.

"Per fight, yeah, I'm going to take a little bit of a cut, sure," Cerrone declared. "I think my pay grade with the Reebok deal is $20,000, or $22,000. So comfortably, [I'm] saying that I'm going to be losing $60,000 a fight, probably."

Donald will receive exactly $20,000 of the Reebok sponsorship pie per fight, as he has well over 21 fights under the Zuffa banner to receive the maximum cut (champions and title contenders excluded).

On the bright side, two of Cerrone's major sponsors, Fram and Budweiser, are affiliated with UFC and the company's logo will be emblazoned across his Reebok-inspired uniform come fight night. That should go a long way in helping make up the difference.

"Budweiser, along with Fram and others are on board with the UFC and Reebok, so I kind of lucked out," Cerrone said. "I got lucky and all my sponsors are sticking by me. We'll figure how to make it work outside of the UFC. No, I'm not going to be making the big money on the fights like I am now, but it's all going to work out. Budweiser is a year deal with me, so I guess fortunately for me, I'm getting paid regardless."

And while others are quick to bash the Reebok-UFC partnership, Cerrone says it will be tough at first, but thinks once the kinks get worked out, it could turn out to be awesome.

"I think the Reebok deal...you know, the first couple of fights, the first year, is gonna be kinda shaky ground while they figure everything out," he said. "But I think it's awesome. And like I said, there's a lot of people that were looking for sponsors and who were fighting for $500."

"I mean, I don't know how the pay is gonna work, but I'm sure the UFC is going to send a check, or Reebok is going to send a check right away," he continued. "It's not going to be like fighting for pennies again; knocking people out and then calling, 'Hey, it's been 90 days, where is my check? I don't have it. I need it.' So, it's going to be good for everybody and once they figure everything out, I think it's going to be just fine."

Fortunately, the deal does not kick in until UFC 189, which goes down on July 11, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada, so that means "Cowboy" can squeeze out a few more sponsorship dollars, as he is expected to face John Makdessi at UFC 187 on May 23, 2015.

Another way Cerrone plans on making up the difference is by trying even harder to get the post-fight "Performance of the Night" bonuses.

Something he's no stranger to.