Sure, I can appreciate the real possibility that's true. Then again speaking of Kayla she ultimately took Bellator's offer before PFL matched.
I meant more then KSW, not more then the UFC. If they could offer a deal roughly similar to KSW's offer but still more then the UFC offer. Same idea as Harrison (who accepted an offer from Bellator before PFL matched) and Horiguchi.
Some are. Soldic is a pretty special talent and he's up for grabs to at least some extent. Maybe you give him 200 or 225 flat and let him fight in KSW for 268 once a year.
Mineev seems be a kind of guy that will fight once a year for Bellator if he will be signed. Like, for example there is no mma fights for him scheduled but he is fighting Timur Nikulin in boxing in July. Nikulin is from pop mma/bare knuckle boxing scene and if I am not mistaken brags that all his boxing training is boxing classes at his university once or two times in a week.
It wouldnt make sense for Bellator to sign Soldic unless they are planning on going to Poland, or co-promote with KSW. Otherwise, Soldic is out of budget entirely.
That's the exact type of opportunity that fighting in Bellator would afford over UFC.
I think it makes sense for Bellator to try to sign every world class fighter that hits the market.
They have enough Brazilian fighters, signing the Bonfim brothers doesn't change a thing tbh, they could use that money to sign someone with more name value
Bellator has a limited budget, though. That $250k per fight used for Soldic might be too steep for them. In other words, Soldic is not a name or needlemover by any means, so he might not be worth that much for them.
I just think that MMA has such low pay in general due to the way the UFC has set the market you're being penny wise but pound stupid when you pass on a world class fighter who has a following and can generate any amount of buzz for the promotion because it costs 50 or 100k more then you want it to.
I think Cyborg, Patricio, Patricky, Lima, and Neiman might be trhe only ones with a bit of a name in Brazil but the rest are probably widely unknown even in Brazil. Machida finished his contract this last fight and I doubt Bellator will want to keep him. Im not saying the rest arent good but they I doubt you can build events around them.
I agree, with your sentiment but it seems Bellator does not have a blank check to sign whoever they want. If that was the case then by all means sign away. For example, I would have rather let Bendo go to EagleFC and use that money to make good offers for these type of fighters (Soldic, Mineev, etc.). But being a former UFC champion will help you sell a bunch of tickets.
For example, Queally vs Benson is way more compelling for the Irish fans for the fact that Queally has an opportunity to beat a former UFC champion. That in itself can probably command higher price for tickets, which translates to Benson getting a nice new contract (that he doesnt deserve).
I agree, those fighters are UFC bound by the end of the year. What I meant was, that if Bellator is seriously looking to get a piece of the pie of the Brazilian MMA market they need a young Brazilian star-in-the-making, which they dont have one right now. So, throwing some decent money at one of these young blue chip prospect to be at their forefront of their Brazilian expedition would be the move to make. If they were paying $50k for Crosbie and over $100k for Jury, I cant see why they wouldnt spend that money on a Brazilian blue chip prospect and build him as they continue to go to Brazil.
