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          UFC newcomer quits job after earning $50,000 bonus in debut

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          Malcolm Wellmaker sends Adam Bramhald to mat with ridiculous KO (0:54)

          Malcolm Wellmaker sends Adam Bramhald to the ground with an unbelievable knockout at Dana White's Contender Series. (0:54)

          • Brett OkamotoApr 29, 2025, 01:49 PM ET
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              Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
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          One fight into his UFC career, bantamweight Malcolm Wellmaker has officially quit his day job.

          Wellmaker, 30, made his UFC debut on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri, and scored a memorable first-round knockout over Cameron Saaiman. The former contestant on "Dana White's Contender Series" earned one of the UFC's $50,000 performance bonuses for the knockout. On Monday, Wellmaker said on social media he had quit his job as a pipefitter welder in Augusta, Georgia.

          "In 2015 I joined the pipefitters union in Augusta, Local 150 as an apprentice," Wellmaker wrote on Instagram. "Since then, I've worked full time in the trade while chasing my dream. All my career I swore that if I made it to the UFC and earned a 50k bonus I would quit my job, and today it finally happened."

          Wellmaker (9-0) made his professional MMA debut in 2022 and has recorded finishes in seven of his nine wins. He earned a contract on the "Contender Series" last August with a right hook knockout in Las Vegas.