Cut UFC fighter Vik Grujic forced to sell memorabilia on eBay to survive

THOUGHT fighting in the UFC was tough? That’s nothing compared to the fight Vik Grujic has ahead of him right now. Here’s what happens when the UFC decides you’ve had enough.

UFC - Adelaide Entertainment Centre

A CRISP Melbourne morning served as a fitting backdrop for what was about to transpire in the Grujic household on June 2.

With a warm coffee in hand, Vik Grujic, who had lost back-to-back fights in the UFC, sat in front of the computer and tried to come to terms with what had just happened. With a click of the mouse and a long, painful stare at the screen in front of him, it was revealed he was unemployed.

He was reading his termination letter from the UFC.

Just like that — his dream of fighting in the Octagon was over.

“I sat there and I read it over and over a few times,” Grujic told news.com.au.

“The words are pretty much burnt into my memory at the moment. There was a lot of emotion around it, I was devastated. Sure enough, when I opened the email from [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva, it was the bad news I had been dreading.

“I’m still trying to come to terms with not being employed by the UFC. I feel like I gave so much of myself to the organisation, of course, I’m a fighter and I have to perform, but at the same time with everything that has been happening over the past few years it kind of makes you feel like the rug has been pulled from beneath you, and it’s extremely difficult to take.”

Vik Grujic was an Australian poster boy for the UFC. Picture: Mark Dadswell

Making the news more difficult was the fact that up until a few weeks ago, he seemed certain to realise a lifelong dream.

Labor’s victory in the Victorian state election earlier this year was big news for the UFC. Under the previous Coalition government, there was a strict ban on cage fighting. With the UFC using a fenced, eight-sided ring (the Octagon), it meant it was unable to host events in Australia’s sporting capital.

Grujic himself played a key role assisting the UFC in having the cage ban abolished, advocating for the sport on social media.

***THE CAGE BAN HAS BEEN LIFTED IN MELBOURNE*** @VictorianLabor has shown it's commitment to the people. @ufc in Melbourne come November!✊✊✊

— Vik Grujic (@VikGrujic) March 4, 2015

The change of government paved the way for the UFC to finally appear in Grujic’s hometown — at UFC 193 on November 15, most probably at a packed Etihad Stadium.

Sadly for Gujic, his axing by the UFC means he won’t be on that card.

“I’m gutted — there’s no other way to put it,” Grujic continued.

“I feel like the UFC has literally pulled my heart out. I poured so much of my life into being in the UFC and fighting and representing the best that I could, and representing Melbourne and Australia.

“I’ve invested everything that I’ve got — all the money that I’ve made just to try and succeed, there is so much sacrifice and then, just like that, it’s gone. There are a lot of people out there that could debate that it was rightfully so, but I still feel gutted.”

The fact is, the world of combat sport is unforgiving. For every battle that a fighter undertakes inside the ring, or cage, there is one that is just as hard being fought on the outside. The fighter is a commodity, and with every win their worth increases and on the other side of the spectrum, with every loss, they become less and less valuable to the industry into which they pour their lives.

Grujic, who finds himself without an employer, has resorted to parting ways with his own UFC memorabilia in an attempt scrape together some extra money.

http://t.co/eIFIA8uAaD Check out my ebay listing with exclusive UFC Adelaide Reebok gear I'm selling. Regretful sale for needed funds.

— Vik Grujic (@VikGrujic) June 15, 2015

“I’ve got a world of respect for the UFC and I hope that somehow they have a change of heart,” Grujic explained.

“That being said, there hasn’t been a great deal of money made by myself over the last couple of years being in the UFC, and with the little money that I did make, I reinvested it in training camps.

“Me selling that Reebok merchandise on eBay is hopefully money that I can use to put food on the table for the time being. All the money that I got after my last fight went to debts, I had two mortgage payments, money that I had borrowed off friends and family and now I’m virtually broke again.”

Vik Grujic was defeated by Brendan O'Reilly in their welterweight bout in Adelaide earlier this month. Photo Sarah Reed.

Vik Grujic after round one in his bout with Brendan O'Reilly. Photo Sarah Reed.

The struggle that is life after fighting is a common theme among combat sport athletes when they are no longer competing at an elite level.

For the vast majority of competitors it’s not a glamorous life, and really, there is no sum of money that can cure the long-lasting effects of constant head trauma. While the financial reward is minimal — and quite possibly always will be for the remainder of his career — there’s something else that drives Grujic to continue competing.

“The thing is that you have this self-belief,” Grujic said. “A lot of guys either succeed or fail. I’m not one to lose sight because I know in my heart what I’ve got to offer and what I’ve got to give and I know how competitive I am. There’s not a lot that separates me from the next person or makes me better than any other man but there’s something in my heart that tells me I can do better.

“I hadn’t really been able to earn all that much money being in the UFC. Between fights and money that I’d been scraping together doing PT’s and the odd sponsor here and there, it was extremely difficult.

So much support from loyal fans who want @VikGrujic on the Melbourne card Well deserved & the fans know it...@ufc pic.twitter.com/NXqORVVPce

— RiTa Grujic (@Rita_Grujic) June 4, 2015

“I probably could have made more money by working at McDonald’s to be quite honest [laughs], there’s no joke about it, that’s the sad reality, but my wife (Rita) believed in me. I never really got the chance, or opportunity, to perform at my best or succeed the way I wanted to.

“I felt that it was just about to happen, I felt that the ball of success was about to roll over and turn in my favour for a change, but I never got that chance, and I’m not too sure that I ever will.”

While Grujic may have resorted to selling merchandise to make a few bucks for now, that’s not all that lies in his future. The path that lies ahead for the 38-year-old may not be that easy, or glamorous, but that doesn’t mean he is going to stop walking down it — not by a long shot.

“I’ve had surgery booked for the past couple of weeks and I’m getting surgery on my nose,” Grujic said.

“I’ve spent my entire fighting career basically not being able to breathe through my nose. That surgery is going to do wonders for my cardio and I hope to get back up and bounce back and hopefully get a fight in the next couple of months with one of the larger organisations overseas or fingers crossed the UFC has a change of heart — that’s very unlikely, but I’ve just gotta see what my options are.

“I’ve been in talks with a management team over in the States and they’ve been helping me out and looking to find me a new home with another organisation and I’ve just gotta weigh up what the options are for me next. It’s tough times at the moment, very tough.”

“It’s tough times at the moment”, says Vik Grujic, pictured here with his children and wife Rita. Picture: Mark Dadswell