TUF was about getting talent under contract" Ken Shamrock

[TMAN29]

Ken Shamrock says that TUF is about getting the next top talent at a premium price before you have to pay them for it. With the contracts being as long as they are, and how the show helped the brand so much; I agree. Do you? 4:38 remarks

 

[EndlessCritic]

That's one way of looking at it, and not a wrong way.

The problem is that fighters go on TUF for a reason. It is in their interest too. It is a faster path to the UFC, and the potential for riches.

Do you really think guys like Kelvin Gastelum, Neil Magny, and Yair Rodriguez would be in the UFC right now if not for TUF?

Gastelum was a 5-0 nobody before TUF.

Magny was an 8-1 nobody

Yair was a 4-1 nobody.

 

[Goatenstein]

That's one way of looking at it, and not a wrong way.

The problem is that fighters go on TUF for a reason. It is in their interest too. It is a faster path to the UFC, and the potential for riches.

Do you really think guys like Kelvin Gastelum, Neil Magny, and Yair Rodriguez would be in the UFC right now if not for TUF?

Gastelum was a 5-0 nobody before TUF.

Magny was an 8-1 nobody

Yair was a 4-1 nobody.

Yes all of them would be.

 

[Pixelated Porn]

Is there any salt to go with these crackers.....oh yes, tons of salt.

 

[qw3rty]

Yes all of them would be.

I don't know man
I think a lot of Latin American fighters wouldn't have been in UFC if TUF LA wasn't existed (I'm from there btw, not bashing LA fighters)
Probably the same applies to China and Australia

 

[Deleted member 196663]

It's hard to blame the UFC, imo. These fighters weren't forced to sign with them, so why would they think they are entitled to a certain share of the company's profits? Where else does this happen in the world? The NFL or MLB? Well, the UFC isn't a league, it's a promotion. It doesn't control the entire sport of MMA.

 

[axion]

Get injured before you're locked in to that ridiculous contract. Best way to do TUF, all the exposure, none of the drawback.

 

[lagofala]

Guys that come out of TUF even as losers probably get better paydays in other orgs. I'm talking about guys like Mike Ricci, Cody Bollinger, Justin Lawrence, Let me bang bro and Chuck O' Neil

 

[Slayer88]

Shamrock is clearly referring to the intial seasons, as the talent pool definitely dropped off significantly along the way (with a few select seasons as obvious exceptions).

Ken is likely referring to guys like Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Rashad Evans, and Michael Bisping, as they all had some credibility and star potential prior to being on TUF.

The UFC definitely benefitted by signing fighters like them through the early seasons of TUF, as the way those contracts were structured, they were able to keep their payouts fairly low for quite some time.

 

[NHB7]

Sky is blue.

 

[rad]

This is a business after all.


No soup kitchen either

 

[JSN]

TUF was a Tough Enough knockoff, the guys who won it were making better money than most fighters in the UFC, and have generally always been poorer quality fighters than guys who simply got in the old fashioned way.

I would guess that if you compare two hypothetical identical fighters, one who goes through TUF earns more money in their careers. The exposure does give people a brand name. Or at least did when they were getting like 200k viewers or whatever laughable ratings they get now.

 

[Oblivian]

Yes all of them would be.

Let me put it to you another way. Stack up the amount of money Dennis Burmedez has made since TUF vs. Jimmie Rivera's income. Bermudez beat Rivera to get into the TUF house and has been in the UFC ever since. That was in 2011. Rivera had to rack up 7 wins before getting in the UFC in 2015. The amount of money Bermudez made during that time in the UFC vs. what Rivera likely made in those 7 fights is probably not even in close. In fact, I'll venture to guess that Bermudez made more money in bonuses alone than Rivera made in that time. Financially, it's the best move for most fighters because they don't make shit elsewhere.

 

[JohnMc]

Is there any salt to go with these crackers.....oh yes, tons of salt.

Salty, but there is truth in there.