In a recent interview with MMAfighting.com, Jason Knight opened up about his recent UFC release and how success led him to debt and took the fun out of fighting.
“I got caught up in the lifestyle,” Knight said. “I won four fights in a row in the UFC, I made several hundred thousand dollars. I went from making a hundred thousand dollars a fight and being able to live that lifestyle of having a hundred thousand dollars in my account to after the Ricardo Lamas fight I only had a $30,000 paycheck. I still tried to live the hundred thousand dollar lifestyle for a while like I had that money there.
“Next thing you know I started getting myself in debt and it went from I was fighting for fun to I had to fight to get the money. I had to get this money to get my life back straight, to get back on top. What I’m doing right now I’m pretty much completely out of debt and I’m getting my life to where I don’t have to worry about fighting to provide for my family and stuff. I’m providing for my family outside of that so I can get back to fighting for the love of the fight.”
Knight on UFC release: I went from ‘fighting for fun’ to ‘I had to fight to get the money’