Dave Meltzer: UFC agreed to what Conor wanted,then Conor changed what he wanted

[i used to have a six pack]

I'm not sure if people just don't understand or don't want too but when talking about McGregor or any other top star. When these guys are negotiating it's not for the UFC's money, like Dana and Co. are paying him out of their own pocket, it's for a larger portion of the money that McGregor brings in just by being on the card. If he's on the card, the card does 1mill+ if he isn't it may do 300k ish if they are lucky. Thats a lot of money and why shouldn't the fighter who is pulling that money in get what he/she is worth?

 

[FrankieNYC]

I'm not sure if people just don't understand or don't want too but when talking about McGregor or any other top star. When these guys are negotiating it's not for the UFC's money, like Dana and Co. are paying him out of their own pocket, it's for a larger portion of the money that McGregor brings in just by being on the card. If he's on the card, the card does 1mill+ if he isn't it may do 300k ish if they are lucky. Thats a lot of money and why shouldn't the fighter who is pulling that money in get what he/she is worth?

Agreed 100%
But I don't think its about money
Conor said from the get-go that if he was to do 12/30, he did not want to take time away from the holidays to do press, etc.
He wanted to be in Ireland with his new family

I'd bet it was more about obligations then money
That was the issue in the past

 

[giusti825]

All he did was call out the top guys in the UFC from day one.. But idiots now say he got scared of losing the belts so suddenly he grew a giant pussy. I got news for you, Conor will fight anyone as long as you pay him what he wants. He never boxed professionally in his life but was ready to take on the pound for pound all time king for the right price. The same goes for Tony, Khabib, or even King Fucking Kong. Start filling up his bank account and he is down. That is the truth. Look at his history. He never pulled from a fight in the UFC, and when his foes pulled out he still fought the replacements. Conor will fight as long as you pay. Period..

At some point, if the asking price is too high, the ufc will just bench him....

If he made an offer and the UFC accepted it, he shouldnt be pitching new offers. It makes it look like he just doesnt want to fight....

 

[Broder]

At some point, if the asking price is too high, the ufc will just bench him....

If he made an offer and the UFC accepted it, he shouldnt be pitching new offers. It makes it look like he just doesnt want to fight....

Benching him is the last and worst case scenario. The whole objective of the negotiation is to get him to fight.

 

[giusti825]

Benching him is the last and worst case scenario. The whole objective of the negotiation is to get him to fight.

Not from the UFC's perspective.....

the projections made during the sale were based on the current revenue split....(87/13)

If the UFC drasticly alters that ratio in favor of the fighters, it would affect their ability to pay back their loans....if they let mcgregor drastically change the typical split, its a matter of months before other fighters ask for the same....

 

[Jizzer]

Huge Conor fan but rapidly losing interest in him now, well it was a good few years i guess.

 

[BionicCommando]

The deal is, that all these turn downs happen because fighters feel that they don't get paid enough.

The UFC historically has had less issues with fighters turning down fights when fighters were earning a lot less. As much as people don't wanna believe that or as much as they'll cling to the opposite narrative, earning more makes you more selective and not less selective. There's a desperation factor.

As soon as they DO get paid enough, they will stop doing this.

This is really the opposite of what combat sports has been always about though. Look at boxing as the big money prize fight model. You realize how many "tune ups/warm ups/stay busy/keep active" fights we get vs lower level competition before we get the actual fight we want to see? How many times does an obvious fight with the biggest commercial appeal NOT happen because "it's not ready enough." We could probably all name about 4-5 fights where "lemme get a tune up vs X for good money" and milking the eventual payoff backfired in the face of boxing and probably for the UFC as well.


Like I said we can all want fighters to have more rights/get paid more, so long as we're willing to accept the inconveniences it's going to put on the product and not get all pissed about it.

 

[Hardkore]

sherdog: fuck the ufc it should be about the fighters!
sherdog: fuck the fighters! it should be about the ufc!

It needs a balance of both

 

[UhHuhSure]

Conor is like a Sherdogger (the asshole ones, not the cool ones) moving the goal posts

 

[Hardkore]

Wow, you're just full of hatred, aren't ya? It devours you, it doesn't let you sleep at night.

I sleep just fine. But keep white knighting McDuck

 

[FrankieNYC]

Like I said we can all want fighters to have more rights/get paid more, so long as we're willing to accept the inconveniences it's going to put on the product and not get all pissed about it.

You been here enough to know there is ZERO chance of that

 

[CoffeeAndBeer]

And what is the Champ doing exactly? He took a paternity leave, fought a boxing match and now is apparently shopping for the largest sum of money vs. an opponent that will accommodate that which may or may not be Tony Ferguson. In all other instances that I’m aware of the holder fights the interm champ to unify. If not...the holder forfits the belt.

But fuck it right? Let Conor make any and all rules. This is coming from someone who roots for Conor in all of his fights. For whatever the reason I like this fighter but all the shit adds up to a massive ball of garbage.

Just fight Tony. It’s the best fight to make period. Conor’s been paid. Time to fight and attempt a defense.

You answered your own question... he's busy fighting bigger fights.

MMA, like Boxing, is prizefighting.

Yes, fcuk it... Nate fighting for the Title is MUCH MORE INTERESTING than watching Tony Ferguson doing it. Tony can wait.

P.S.
"Forfeiting the belt" is meaningless. The Champs is the Champ until he loses. Interim belts are virtually meaningless too.

 

[Hardkore]

You answered your own question... he's busy fighting bigger fights.

MMA, like Boxing, is prizefighting.

Yes, fcuk it... Nate fighting for the Title is MUCH MORE INTERESTING than watching Tony Ferguson doing it. Tony can wait.

P.S.
"Forfeiting the belt" is meaningless. The Champs is the Champ until he loses. Interim belts are virtually meaningless too.

Yeah we all saw how popular boxing became after Tyson.....

 

[originalbadguy]

I think Conor is about to go on a bad losing streak if he faces the guys who deserve it. I'd even pick Diaz over him again because everyone knows that Conor has about seven minutes and all will have the same game plan. It showed how mediocre Nate is IMO when he didn't turn it up and got beat by a gassed Conor over the last 3 rounds.

Nate is a very good fighter, just not elite. He looked like he was coasting to a loss so he could have match 3 (money fight)

 

[CoffeeAndBeer]

Yeah we all saw how popular boxing became after Tyson.....

What.

What point do you think you're making?

 

[Myrddin Wild]

Who wants fighters to have more say? Thats why we are in shit show we are in and ceased becoming a sport. Thats the last thing fans should want because fighters will take easiest route for most amount of money.

Be like Cleveland wont play Golden State in Finals but shitty Dallas instead.

I want champs fight 3x a year or get stripped (every 4 months)
If injured you still get stripped but get next shot when healthy
Champs must fight 1-3 contenders
etc

Fighter pay is a different story They are way underpaid dont have health insurance and if you read Eddies UFC's slave contract have no rights. they need a union to leverage more of revenue and get basics like other unions have...pension HC etc.

This combo would build a real sport public could believe in.

Conor fought 3 times in 2016. The UFC couldn't get their negotiations right for the Floyd fight till the end of the first quarter 2017... & the fight was booked at the end of August. After that, Conor's next fight was still to be decided on Oct. 6, 2017

mac/may is what it is... It's not like everyday a chance to have the boxing GOAT vs. a 2 division UFC champ pops up. Just accept that Mac/May happened... & things are moving along nicely now that it's over.

Oct. 7th 2017 - Negotiations began for Ferg vs. Conor
Nov 10th 2017 - Negotiations weren't done yet & Conor slapped a Bellator official so the UFC put off negotiations

Nov 11th 2017 - present - Meanwhile all parties are pointing toward Vegas in March 3, 2018 for Mac vs. Ferg

Oct 7, 2017 - March 3, 2018 = 5 months.
That's not excessive people

Can y'all just chill a bit.

 

[skylolow]

What type of business do you you run?

I actually own a very successful business that has been around since 1975 if you must know and have been owner of that for closing in on 20 years.

 

[Myrddin Wild]

Not from the UFC's perspective.....

the projections made during the sale were based on the current revenue split....(87/13)

If the UFC drasticly alters that ratio in favor of the fighters, it would affect their ability to pay back their loans....if they let mcgregor drastically change the typical split, its a matter of months before other fighters ask for the same....

conor is in a league of his own. Not a single other fighter not named GSP could even think of negotiating with the UFC the same way conor does.

 

[Myrddin Wild]

Huge Conor fan but rapidly losing interest in him now, well it was a good few years i guess.

Don't buy all this BS hype.

Conor was one month into negotiations & the UFC cut it off due to him getting excited & jumping the cage to congradulate his friend. it got rough & so the UFC had to cut off negotiations.

Everything is pointing at March 3, 2018 for Mac vs. Ferg. (only 5 months after negotiations began)

That's not excessive. The resistance just has their red panties in a wad... don't buy into it.

Spoiler

Oct. 7th 2017 - Negotiations began for Ferg vs. Conor
Nov 10th 2017 - Negotiations weren't done yet & Conor slapped a Bellator official so the UFC put off negotiations

Nov 11th 2017 - present - Meanwhile all parties are pointing toward Vegas in March 3, 2018 for Mac vs. Ferg

Oct 7, 2017 - March 3, 2018 = 5 months.
That's not excessive people

 

[rearnakedchoke]

I wish the UFC would just release him so he can go do his own show, because right now it is all a shit show.

Conor needs the UFC platform so people can hear him. Without the UFC, Conor wouldn't amount to much. Yeah, he made a grip of money on the past couple of fights and the Mayweather fight, but he won't get $100 million fights in boxing, he won't get $10 million fights in MMA. If he was going to promote shows or start his very own promotion, I doubt he would be able to pay fighters what the UFC pays them. The whole business side to promoting costs a lot of money and he would burn through $50 million in no time just trying to set everything up. Legal fees, insurance, stadiums, what type of ring/cage he uses, roster of fighters, sponsors, lots of money gone before the first card.

At least that is my opinion...

The ufc has no reason to release him. They can keep him in limbo and offer him what his latest contract says. At least for mma. For boxing, i have no clue, although they would get a chunk of what he makes.