There is no difference between Contender Series fighters and Regular UFC direct hires

The Contender series level of talent is just turning the UFC into a C level of kickboxing with small gloves.
 
JohnMangala said:
But it still happened. Besides later more fighters from TUF became champs.
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A. So you're saying a DWCS person needs to get an immediate title shot and win via huge upset to prove me wrong?
B. Forrest was the first TUF guy to win a title, it took him a little over 3 years. Compare that to DWCS -- season 1 guy Alex Perez just had a title shot in the same amount of time. There are some really great fighters coming off of this show -- Miguel Baeza & Jamahal Hill are the two that first come to find that have impressed me recently, but I'm sure if I poked through the list I'd come up with others with big futures ahead of them. Don't be surprised when a DWCS champ comes along in the next 1-2 years.
 
Dreyga2000 said:
Lol... I never said they were paying them well. Just the same.
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Yeah I get that mate. Just a damn shame. the 50k bonus is more than he would have earned even with the win money. UFC pay is so shit.
 
Dreyga2000 said:
Chandler is a special case.

Most UFC fighters get a standard contract regardless of how they were hired. It scales up if they can rake up wins.

Here a comparison of the pay of the first three fights between Sodiq Yusuff who was awarded a contract on the Contender Series and Zabit Magomedsharipov who was a direct hire to the UFC.

They are paid EXACTLY THE SAME

Granted we can debate whether this contract is good or not. Or whether not fighters are getting their worth. Those are fair arguments.

But saying that DWCS guys are cheaper simply isn't true.

Sodiq Yusuff: $73,500 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)
Sodiq Yusuff: $28,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 win bonus, $4,000 fight week incentive pay)
Sodiq Yusuff: $31,500 ($14,000 to show, $14,000 win bonus, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)

Zabit Magomedsharipov– Sept 2/17 – W (Santiago) – $72,500 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, $2,500 Reebok sponsorship)
Zabit Magomedsharipov – Nov 25/17 – W (Moraes) – $76,500 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night, $2,500 Reebok sponsorship)
Zabit Magomedsharipov
– W (Bochniak) – $81,500 ($14,000 to show, $14,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)
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It's not just Chandler.

Prochazka started on 50/50, Lins got signed on 80/80 I think.

There are a few exceptions.
 
mangokush said:
The Contender series level of talent is just turning the UFC into a C level of kickboxing with small gloves.
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That's not really to do with the Contender Series though. UFC has been passing on wrestlers who have a boring style for a while now. They didn't give contracts to Lance Palmer, Andre Harrison (dude was 19-0 at one point), Raufeon Stots etc etc.
 
DarthChen731 said:
A. So you're saying a DWCS person needs to get an immediate title shot and win via huge upset to prove me wrong?
B. Forrest was the first TUF guy to win a title, it took him a little over 3 years. Compare that to DWCS -- season 1 guy Alex Perez just had a title shot in the same amount of time. There are some really great fighters coming off of this show -- Miguel Baeza & Jamahal Hill are the two that first come to find that have impressed me recently, but I'm sure if I poked through the list I'd come up with others with big futures ahead of them. Don't be surprised when a DWCS champ comes along in the next 1-2 years.
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No Serra was the first and he won in 2 years. DWCS was around for nearly 4 years and still nothing.
 
Dreyga2000 said:
All this hate/ criticism against contenders series guys makes no logical sense.

Guys who got contracts off the contender series get the same starting contracts as direct hires.

Fighters recruited to fight on contender series are plucked from the same promotions they get their direct hires.

The is no logical reason fighters coming through one show would be any better or worse than fighters on the other show.

It’s the same people recruiting them.

Imagine if this seasons DWCS fighters were cast on TUF instead or if the TUF guys had to earn a contract through DWCS. Their fighting ability wouldn’t be any different
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I dont think there is anything wrong with signing fighters off DWCS, as opposed to direct signings. Some of these fighters are pretty solid actually and can become contenders eventually. The problem is that the standard for signing with the UFC has been lowered substantially in the past years. Particularly this year, it seems like they were scrapping the bottom of the barrel just to fill up some cards. "UFC level fighter" used to mean something 5 years ago, now it just means to have a decent record. The other problem is that this year Bellator has been signing pretty decent prospects and very solid contenders that fans were expecting to be signed by the UFC. However, the UFC has concentrated on filling the roster with regional fighters with some solid contenders sprinkled here and there. So I guess its more about he amount of regional fighters being signed that you can clearly see are not on a "UFC level", plus the expectation we have by the UFC signing just the best.

I think its more of an issue about stacking cards with guys from the show, instead of showcasing top 15 fighters consistently. Particularly, these past events have been filled with random no-namers. Dont get me wrong, the shows have been pretty good, but you can tell that Dana is just putting up whatever show and filling it up with whatever fighters just to fulfill the ESPN quota.
 
So sure, the individual fighters get paid the same regardless of where they sign from, but the actual cards shouldnt be filled by DWCS guys because it just dilutes the product. Then you have some good contenders being let go and you realize that they had a pretty good purse. And you start to question whether the UFC is just saving money by using DWCS fighters (for cheap) to fill up cards in order to fulfill the ESPN quota, instead of your regular stacked card with more established fighters and hence, better paid fighters.

So, there might some truth to the idea of the UFC using DWCS fighters to save money, at the end of the day, people will watch regardless of who's fighting, so why spend more money on more expensive fighters, when you can use DWCS guys for cheap and save the more expensive fighters for PPVs or sprinkle them in some regular cards.
 
JohnMangala said:
No Serra was the first and he won in 2 years. DWCS was around for nearly 4 years and still nothing.
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So yes, you're saying that a DWCS person needs to be given an immediate title shot and pull of one of the biggest betting upsets in MMA history.


Cool.
 
careto said:
I dont think there is anything wrong with signing fighters off DWCS, as opposed to direct signings. Some of these fighters are pretty solid actually and can become contenders eventually. The problem is that the standard for signing with the UFC has been lowered substantially in the past years. Particularly this year, it seems like they were scrapping the bottom of the barrel just to fill up some cards. "UFC level fighter" used to mean something 5 years ago, now it just means to have a decent record. The other problem is that this year Bellator has been signing pretty decent prospects and very solid contenders that fans were expecting to be signed by the UFC. However, the UFC has concentrated on filling the roster with regional fighters with some solid contenders sprinkled here and there. So I guess its more about he amount of regional fighters being signed that you can clearly see are not on a "UFC level", plus the expectation we have by the UFC signing just the best.

I think its more of an issue about stacking cards with guys from the show, instead of showcasing top 15 fighters consistently. Particularly, these past events have been filled with random no-namers. Dont get me wrong, the shows have been pretty good, but you can tell that Dana is just putting up whatever show and filling it up with whatever fighters just to fulfill the ESPN quota.
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Christian Morecraft was a UFC fighter 10 years ago -- did the level really decrease that much?
 
I dont think its hate towards the skills of the fighters but more tgat they are seen as fighters taking lowball offers and fucking over fighters that are trying to get paid more. And a lot of fans think that they should be paid more.

Also, having risen tbrough "Dana Whites" series they will feel loyalty to him when he has absolutely zero feeling towards them and sees them as nothing more than a product. And will do things like fight back to back unhealthy or take bad match ups to set up someone elses star the company deems as marketable when, tbey should be looking out for themselves.
 
DarthChen731 said:
So yes, you're saying that a DWCS person needs to be given an immediate title shot and pull of one of the biggest betting upsets in MMA history.


Cool.
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No they already failed. It’s been nearly 4 years and just now one got a title shot (because of pullouts not like he was preferred) and got finished in the 1st round.

TUF produced one of the, if not the, biggest upsets in MMA history in 2 years. That’s a credit not negative. DWCS in 4 years did shit.

DWCS are already behind. TUF was also more memorable, everyone remembers guys from the 1st season. No one knows who was on the 1st season of DWCS.
 
DarthChen731 said:
Christian Morecraft was a UFC fighter 10 years ago -- did the level really decrease that much?
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Well, if you cherry pick examples then no. But the level of the roster as a whole has lowered considerably. Shit, I had the misfortune of watching these guys at least twice in the past months: Parker Porter, fat Jake Collier, Gian Villante, Josh Parisyan, Ike Villanueva...
 
I've seen too many squash matches in the Contender Series where it's clear they just want a guy to score a KO so they can promote their new contender series guy in a UFC fight
 
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