UFC, Onnit, Brendan Schaub and Tito Ortiz among those who received COVID-19 relief loans

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world’s economy. A recent study from the University of Southern California found the U.S. real gross domestic product losses could range from a low of $3.2 trillion to as high as $4.8 trillion over two years. The study also found that job losses could range from 14.7 percent to 23.8 percent and could affect 36.5 million U.S. workers. The U.S. government has helped businesses in need via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed into law on March 27, 2020.

The United States government’s Small Business Administration (SBA) provided businesses with two types of relief due to the COVID-19 pandemic via the CARES Act. Those two types of relief were the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The EIDL is a low interest loan with a rate of 3.75 percent APR or 2.75 percent APR for non-profits. Businesses who receive an EIDL loan have 30 years to pay back that loan. (For more in-depth details on the EIDL loan program click here.)

The SBA granted businesses PPP funds as an incentive to keep workers on the payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic. These loans are forgivable (they do not have to be paid back) if “all employee retention criteria are met and funds used for eligible expenses,” according to the SBA. (For more info on PPP click here.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has touched the MMA world from the top down. Almost every MMA promotion has changed its business practices and health and safety programs. Gyms of every size have also felt the effects of the pandemic and have had to adapt to new requirements and procedures. There has also been a very real human cost to the pandemic in the MMA world as one of the sports most respected figures, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov died from COVID-19 complications.

Many businesses connected to MMA have sought government assistance to remain in businesses via the CARES Act. Bloody Elbow used several tracking databases to research these businesses and compiled a list of loans and the dates and amounts that each business received via the CARES Act through the EIDL and PPP programs.

Below is a list of businesses sorted by the amount the SBA provided them. This is an ongoing project and not a complete list. As Bloody Elbow discovers additional information, we will update our list.