Josh Thomson: "The UFC did try to re-sign me, but couldn't match Bellator's offer"

[Rational Poster]

yep. its not like bellator isn't paying well to who they consider draws, i think Kongo makes 50k/50k per fight, and that doesn't include sponsors, not to bad for a 40 year old who was a good gatekeeper in the ufc and whose getting easier comp in the 2nd best promotion. If bellator offered a similar deal to the ufc i would take bellator, unless you had teh mindset of having to try and beat the best.

you can probably make more in the ufc in most cases, but i can see the promise of bellator especially if you can manage main card spots and get some sponsors

The only reason Kongo makes that kind of money is because he is a heavyweight and because he had 17 fights with the UFC and fought there for nearly 10 years.

He has value because he's a former UFC fighter.

 

[LouisBolanos]

This is just the beginning. As fighter revenue declines due to sponsorship, more fighters will join Bellator. I just hope Bellator can provide proper compensation to these fighters and not withhold on salary and obligations.

No it's not: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2015/6/9...dea-of-free-agency-signs-new-8-fight-ufc-deal

From Chad Mendes:

I'm very excited about it," Mendes told FOX Sports. "I had one fight left on my contract and I was open to fighting it out and just kind of seeing what I was worth on the open market and the UFC made it pretty clear they did not want to lose me.

Anybody who's worth a damn to the UFC will be shown $$ in accordance with their worth. Josh Thompson was clearly not worth a damn to the UFC. UFC will always get to keep the majority of the best fighters and that's what matters. The Josh Thompsons and Josh Koschecks of the world can do whatever they want, won't change much of anything.

 

[TheComputerGuy]

The UFC can pretty much match any offer that Bellator puts on the table. The fact is they didn't want to match that offer. You think if Rousey or McGregor were on the open market that the UFC couldn't match Bellator?

Every fighter has a value. Just because one value makes sense for Bellator doesn't mean it makes sense for the UFC.

Bellator is owned by a company that names more in a day then the UFC makes in a year. If they see MMA ias a big profit they could get every big fighter.

 

[Rational Poster]

He specifically pointed to the Reebok deal. The sponsorship money he'll be making again in Bellator will be far more than anything the UFC would ever pay him, yet you didn't even acknowledge that (which is a huge variable).

If Josh wasn't 37 years old and on a three fight losing streak and contemplating retirement since 2012 I'm quite certain UFC would have found the money to keep him around.

He isn't worth it.

Bellator is owned by a company that names more in a day then the UFC makes in a year. If they see MMA ias a big profit they could get every big fighter.

Just because Viacom owns Bellator doesn't mean they're going to pump them full of cash.

The only money Bellator will ever receive from Viacom was received from the initial buyout.

It's up to Bellator to sink or swim on their own now.

 

[Ragnarocker]

Josh isn't top 10. He's lost his last three fights.

He's not top 10 only because he's not in the UFC rankings at all anymore. Two of those losses were split decisions and very close fights. Writing him off because he's no longer with the UFC is typical Zuffa cronyism, like there is no MMA outside the UFC :redface:.

 

[method115]

my mistake, 2 of those loses were splits and weren't blowouts by any means, i just feel not attempting to match isn't a great choice by the ufc.

I'd have to see how much he was asking for before I could agree. The LW division is stacked so it's not like they needed another american fighter on their roster.

 

[method115]

He's not top 10 only because he's not in the UFC rankings at all anymore. Two of those losses were split decisions and very close fights. Writing him off because he's no longer with the UFC is typical Zuffa cronyism, like there is no MMA outside the UFC :redface:.

I got the rankings from Sherdog. I don't even know what the UFC rankings say. He lost his last three fights in one of if not the most stacked division in MMA and you still think he's top 10? Josh we get it your still a great fighter. You'll do great in Bellator.

 

[bonanza comer]

Alot of you scallywags arent even reading what thomson is saying. Im sure we all know ufc could match the bellator offer financially. Hes saying that because of the reebok and fox contracts, the ufc couldnt match in other areas.

 

[RoscoeRufus]

This is just the beginning. As fighter revenue declines due to sponsorship, more fighters will join Bellator. I just hope Bellator can provide proper compensation to these fighters and not withhold on salary and obligations.

I see this happening too. can't wait to see how things go over the next year or so...

 

[Orni]

damn Dana sounds like he gives literally 0 shits about fighters not named Mcgregor or Ronda Rousey

dude has no value for his overall "staff" whatsoever

The ufc / Dana sounds like these insecure ex's that goes around telling people they broke up with you when they were begging you not to leave in the first place.

 

[AWilder]

If Josh wasn't 37 years old and on a three fight losing streak and contemplating retirement since 2012 I'm quite certain UFC would have found the money to keep him around.

He isn't worth it.



Just because Viacom owns Bellator doesn't mean they're going to pump them full of cash.

The only money Bellator will ever receive from Viacom was received from the initial buyout.

It's up to Bellator to sink or swim on their own now.

Damn is he really 37? He has an exciting style of fighting and i think one thing Coker is/was good at is making exciting fights. I hope Josh does well and makes some money too.

 

[Ragnarocker]

I got the rankings from Sherdog. I don't even know what the UFC rankings say. He lost his last three fights in one of if not the most stacked division in MMA and you still think he's top 10? Josh we get it your still a great fighter. You'll do great in Bellator.

They were close fights and probably qualify as draws. Or did you not actually watch the Bendo and Green fights? His only legit loss was to Tony Cucuy.

 

[Rational Poster]

Alot of you scallywags arent even reading what thomson is saying. Im sure we all know ufc could match the ballator offer financially. Hes saying that because of the reebok and fox contracts, the ufc couldnt match in other areas.

They could if they wanted to, but they didn't.

They were close fights and probably qualify as draws. Or did you not actually watch the Bendo and Green fights? His only legit loss was to Tony Cucuy.

I watched all three. He should have beat Green and Tony handily, but I had them both winning. The Green fight was an embarrassment for Josh and I thought it was a pretty clear win for Green.


Bendo fight was really close, though, but that's how most Bendo fights go.

Damn is he really 37? He has an exciting style of fighting and i think one thing Coker is/was good at is making exciting fights. I hope Josh does well and makes some money too.

Well technically he is still 36, but his birthday is next month.

 

[cartizel]

How comes Rampage came back to the UFC though? or was it to pursue rematches?

Look, shit goes both way imo.

 

[CardinalAqua]

Agreed with all of this. If anything Viacom seems more reluctant to spend money. They are doing less shows and no reality TV series.

theyre reluctant because they are trying to "tighten the ship" so to speak

"On thursday, shares of the media giant lost 13.6%... viacom cited lower-than-expected ad revenue from its US cable business"

"viacom domestic ad revenue was down 9 percent, versus consensus expectations of -5.5 percent and our forecast of -5 percent," sanford c. bernstein analyst todd juenger said in a first reaction. "We estimate conventional audiences were down 18 percent, and viacom stuffed 7 percent more paid advertising into their linear programming."

​

 

[HereticBD]

"Couldn't match".......

Pfffft, ROFL.

I believe the word he meant to say was "Wouldn't". As in they wouldn't match a silly offer for a no draw, irrelevent fighter like Josh Thomson.

 

[FlowWithTheGo23]

If Josh wasn't 37 years old and on a three fight losing streak and contemplating retirement since 2012 I'm quite certain UFC would have found the money to keep him around.

He isn't worth it.



Just because Viacom owns Bellator doesn't mean they're going to pump them full of cash.

The only money Bellator will ever receive from Viacom was received from the initial buyout.

It's up to Bellator to sink or swim on their own now.

You're totally sidestepping the issue. You said nothing. Outside of maybe the top five to ten athletes in the entire organization, this Reebok deal is screwing the fighters majorly and is a huge incentive to go to other organizations.

 

[Ragnarocker]

They could if they wanted to, but they didn't.

They'd have to pay him more than $100k per fight to make up for the sponsorship monies he'd lose if he stayed with the UFC. There are very few fighters the UFC would pay that money to because it defeats the purpose of the Rebox deal.

 

[method115]

They were close fights and probably qualify as draws. Or did you not actually watch the Bendo and Green fights? His only legit loss was to Tony Cucuy.

I get the fights were close. They are still loses though and not moving him down in rank and moving other LW's on winning streaks up is absurd. That's the way it works in MMA if you lose you move down and other guys who are winning move up. How many close fights does Josh have to lose before you don't rank him in the top 10 anymore? If he loses his next fight but it's very close is he still in your top 10? That would be a four fight losing streak.

 

[KantoTerror]

lol I don't believe for one second they couldn't match the Bellator offer. They didn't want to is the thing. They could have paid him more to cancel out any sponsorship money but they choose not to and who blames them he's on a three fight losing streak and was contemplating retirement. Good for Josh though he can get some more money in Bellator and then retire.

Nice try. They would match if they could. It's just that they can't. You don't probably know how this works. Zuffa has budget for every fighter. They know what they are willing to pay. They made an offer to re-sign...thompson went to shop...got a better deal from bellator...Of course it all boils down to that extra sponsorship money - That UFC won't be able to match (because of the Reebok deal).