- Joined
- Jan 21, 2010
- Messages
- 1,748
- Reaction score
- 1

bloodyelbow.com said:According to some fighters and managers bellator contracts are the stickiest they've seen.
bloodyelbow.com said:The managers complaints focused on a few provisions that they thought were particularly egregious in comparison to what is found in other MMA promotions' agreements.
The most objectionable part of the contract, according to a consensus from my sources, was found in what many refer to as the "champion clause."
bloodyelbow.com said:Back in September of 2009, [size=+1]MMApayout posted the text for this clause[/size], which read:
"If, at any time during the term, FIGHTER is declared the champion of his weight class, a Tournament winner, or a Tournament runner-up, the Term shall be automatically extended for a period commencing on the Termination Date and ending on the earlier of (i) eighteen (18) months from the Termination Date, or (ii) the date in which FIGHTER has participated in three (3) bouts promoted by PROMOTER following the Termination Date ("Extension Term"). Any reference to the Term herein shall be deemed to include a reference to the extension term where applicable."
The one change bellator seems to have made since then is the insertion of the phrase "by the PROMOTER" into the clause, so that it now reads:
"If, at any time during the term, FIGHTER is declared by the PROMOTER the champion of his weight class, a Tournament winner, or a Tournament runner-up"
bloodyelbow.com said:Fighting under these terms, eddie alvarez, Hector Lombard, and ben askren - all of whom were tournament winners and a champion in their weight class - saw three additional fights added to their agreement as part of the extension detailed above. Once these additional bouts were completed though each was free to contact and negotiate with other promoters (although bellator did retain matching rights). While the tournament wins and time as champions obviously increased Lombard and alvarez's value, as evidenced by the rather lucrative (by MMA standards) deals they ended up receiving, current and future bellator champions are unlikely to have the same opportunity to cash in on their in-cage success.
According to our sources, bellator has informed the fighters and managers that this extension can be enacted each time a fighter is declared "the champion of his weight class, a tournament winner, or a tournament runner-up" and that the extensions accumulate. What this means is that a tournament winner who then fought and won a bellator title would have two extensions added to his contract, one for being declared a tournament winner and one for being declared a champion of his weight class. [size=+1]There also does not seem to be a limit to the number of extensions that can accumulate, so that a fighter who wins or reaches the finals of multiple tournaments or who wins the championship on separate occasions or in different weight classes could have 3, 4, or even more extensions added to his deal.[/size]
bloodyelbow.com said:[size=+1]But for the "Extension Terms" in the bellator contracts we examined there doesn't seem to be any minimum bout requirements.[/size]
HOLY FUCK![]()
The fear that one manager expressed was that bellator would not be obligated to provide any fights for the duration of the twelve or eighteen-month extension.
bloodyelbow.com said:MOTHER OF GOD IT JUST DOESNT END!!!! :icon_conf
In addition, Bellator has added an option clause to many of their agreements that gives them the right to continue promoting a fighter for an additional bout ("Option Bout") if the fighter is a champion in his weight class at the end of his contact. To exercise this option bellator only has to give written notice to the fighter and pay an option fee.
If the fighter wins this first Option Bout, or the fight ends in a draw or no decision, bellator has the option for a second Option Bout, which they can exercise by giving the fighter written notice within a set number of business days and paying another option fee. If the fighter wins (or if it ends in a draw or no decision) this next Option Bout, they have an option for yet another bout. [size=+1]The total number of potential Option Bouts for a bellator champion could be as high as 5 or more.[/size]
bloodyelbow.com said:In addition to the Extension Terms and Option Bouts, the managers I spoke to were also troubled by a few of the other terms found within bellator's contracts:
In the case that a bout has to be postponed for any reason, be it injury, suspension, failed drug test, retirement, or any other similar reason to either fighter, bellator can apparently extend the terms of the agreement as long as necessary to reschedule the bout. This could be interpreted to mean that if a fighter's opponent is injured before their fight bellator could extend the [size=+1]uninjured fighter's contract[/size] as long as it took for the other fighter to be healthy enough to rebook the fight.
WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU EXTEND THE UNINJURED FIGHTERS CONTRACT?!?!?!
In addition, upon completion of the contract, Extensions Terms, and Option Bouts, there is also the matter of the matching clause. According to the managers we spoke to and the contracts that we examined, the promotion has changed the wording on their right to match since the eddie alvarez case.
After a ninety-day exclusive negotiating period, bellator now retains the exclusive right to match the "material terms" of any agreements offered to a fighter for a "period of eighteen months." [size=+1]This is 6 months longer than what existed in askren's and alvarez's contracts.[/size]
It's also worth noting the use of "material" in light of the eddie alvarez dispute. alvarez's attorney filed a brief on his behalf that argued "The fact that Bellator was required to match the Zuffa Offer on the ‘same' terms" and that they instead attempted to modify the agreement so that they were required to instead "match the material terms."
For how the addition of "material" might change the agreement, my colleague Ben Thapa, provided me the following example:
To those who know good food, Thomas Keller is not the same as Guy Fieri. However, in another view, they're both famous, have high prices and can cook food far better than the average chef.
So are they materially the same? Would swapping Fieri for Iron Chef Morimoto change anything? Is a bellator ppv the same as a UFC one? Is a spike tv reality show better than an FS Sports 1 reality show?
This use of "material" could therefore help mitigate a claim of bad faith in any negotiation were bellator was unable to make an exact match and instead had to make a substitution.
bloodyelbow.com said:The opinion amongst all the managers I spoke to is that the current bellator contracts represent, from a fighter's perspective, the least favorable contracts of any promotion. As one manager said, "They are the worst contracts in MMA. By far the very fucking worst."
eeeeek :icon_evil
the article delves deep into the matter
definitely check it out
Last edited: