Looks Like Eddie's Probably Heading Back to Bellator

[MikeCandler]

Originally Posted by CDF47

I figured. He had a matching clause and Bellator matched. It seems pretty simple. Will wait to see what happens in court but I would bet Eddie needs to fulfill his contractual obligations and return to Bellator or wait out the contract duration. I haven't read all the contracts or the matching clause but this just seems simple enough. As bad as I wanted to see Fedor vs. Couture back in the day, I knew he would have to fulfill his contractual obligations. I was just hoping for cross-promotion or some other deal.

The difference in the deal is the potential PPV % dollars, the actual per fight and bonus' are the same as far as I know. This is why Eddie wants to go to the UFC, one because competition and two because he feels the PPV % dollars is going to give him a lot more money.

If he did in fact fight at UFC 159 co-maining to Jones/Sonnen he would stand to make a lot of money from that deal...again all comes down to how the court takes those details into it.

[RonnyB]

Originally Posted by Judo gi

I'm not a lwayer, but what if at the end of every fight he wins in Bellator or interview he did, he just constantly referred to Bellator as "better than nothing..I guess" "It's not the best promotion in the world or anything"..Basically not calling them bad names and setting himself up for slander. Just putting out benign opinions that it's not the cream of the crop. Calling your employer second/third rate is not illegal. Maybe pull a Diaz and just never show up to any press conferences. Just basically be a huge thorn in their side.

That wouldn't be smart because the contract says " 8 fights or 40 months" if he didn't play nice I'm sure Bjorn would give him a fight per year, he's a dick like that.

[emeraldgsl]

Hope the judge is an MMA fan. Going to the UFC is the right decision at this point.

[Cantalope]

As a fan I'd rather see him in the UFC. So many awesome fights for him there.

[PIT FIGHTER]

For everyone claiming it's a match........

A PPV Eddie is on would need to break the 200,000 buyrate mark for him to earn a bonus off it.

Is fighting on a PPV in Jones v Sonnen which is guaranteed to do over 200,000 worldwide (backed up by previous Jones and Sonnen buyrates) really a match to fighting on a PPV which doesn't have a prayer of cracking 200,000 buys?

Only way I ever see a Bellator PPV breaking 200,000 buys is if they severely lowballed the PPV price. And if Bellator went that route, in all likelihood they would end up losing a lot money on the PPV if they priced it too low and honored the PPV bonus system the UFC offered him.

[jonvoight's car]

As a fan, I want to see Eddie fight the best competition out there. Outside of a Chandler rematch, what can Bellator give him?

But Eddie signed the contract with a matching clause. You can't blame Bellator for acting under the agreed-upon terms of the contract to hold onto one of its biggest stars. I mean, I hope Bellator loses and we get to see Eddie mixing it up with all the UFC LWs. But I don't blame Bellator at all for trying its best to keep Eddie.

[thedevious]

Pfft. Eddie will win. Justice will prevail, motherfuckers.

[Seph]

Originally Posted by jonvoight's car

As a fan, I want to see Eddie fight the best competition out there. Outside of a Chandler rematch, what can Bellator give him?

But Eddie signed the contract with a matching clause. You can't blame Bellator for acting under the agreed-upon terms of the contract to hold onto one of its biggest stars. I mean, I hope Bellator loses and we get to see Eddie mixing it up with all the UFC LWs. But I don't blame Bellator at all for trying its best to keep Eddie.

But you said it right in your post? It is a matching clause. Do you really thinking Bellotor is matching his offer in good faith? That would mean Bellator don’t believe any PPV Eddie is on would sell.

Bellator is not acting in good faith or in the best interest of MMA or the fighter, they are being vindictive and saying we would rather tie a fighter up legally so he can not fight and provide for his family as a warning to other fighters under contract not to try to leave the company.

[The Outlaw707]

Bellator is messed up

[JonSnitchPhones]

Originally Posted by PIT FIGHTER

For everyone claiming it's a match........

A PPV Eddie is on would need to break the 200,000 buyrate mark for him to earn a bonus off it.

Is fighting on a PPV in Jones v Sonnen which is guaranteed to do over 200,000 worldwide (backed up by previous Jones and Sonnen buyrates) really a match to fighting on a PPV which doesn't have a prayer of cracking 200,000 buys?

Only way I ever see a Bellator PPV breaking 200,000 buys is if they severely lowballed the PPV price. And if Bellator went that route, in all likelihood they would end up losing a lot money on the PPV if they priced it too low and honored the PPV bonus system the UFC offered him.

Oh, Jones/Sonnen will do way over 200K buys, probably 3-4 times that, but Bellator doesn't have to match that term since it wasn't in the original contract that UFC offered. They were trying to put poison pills in there they weren't necessarily going to deliver on unless Alvarez built up a strong rep in their org first. It wasn't until that didn't scare off Bellator that they asked for a mulligan. That's not the way restricted free agency works though throughout sports and I don't see major objections about it. Eric Gordon signed an offer sheet with the Suns, asked the Hornets not to match, but they did anyways, and I don't recall a big fuss. Teams in the NBA sign players to offer sheets all the time, guessing what their original employer would be willing to pay, and when they're wrong, they can't keep coming over the top until they find a number that won't be matched. I'm sure many would like to. Are the original teams screwing over players for not ripping up the contract and letting players go for the maximum of what their competitor would have been willing to pay for them? You don't see that argument in NBA circles, because, well for one we are dealing with higher numbers, but it's relative, and more so you don't hear about it because it's NBA vs. NBA, and the guy is getting paid regardless. Here it's the artist formerly known as BFC vs. UFC and Eddie is getting paid regardless here, to the point the UFC champ is bitching about it. That tells you all you need to know.

As far as a 200k buy PPV, Bellator couldn't put that together as of today, in a year or two when UFC could have put Alvarez in a main event on a PPV going by the original contract, is anyone's guess. It depends how good of a launching pad Spike is. I think everyone should reserve their rightful anger toward Bellator and accusations they aren't acting in good faith until they didn't actually put Alvarez in a PPV after 2-3 wins.