What would happen if a champion demanded to renegotiate their contract the week of the fight?

Jkillah

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What would happen if a champion demanded to renegotiate their contract the week of the fight? Let's say they ask for something like an extra four million for this fight. If the UFC doesn't give them a new contract for an extra four million for this fight, they pull out of the fight. An extra four million would be huge for most of the fighters. It would not be a huge amount of money for the UFC, and having to flat cancel an event would probably cost them a lot more.

Would the UFC refuse out of principle? Would the UFC rather cancel the event and lose money on this one event to show other fighters they can't do this? Would the UFC agree, but then immediately sue afterward?

I'm kind of surprised this hasn't been done before in a big way. Especially for an aging champion who planned to retire soon anyway. This is one of the few scenarios I could potentially see a fighter having leverage over the UFC.

I imagine the reason why this hasn't been done is because they are worried about either being cut or sued. If it were at the end of their career though, being cut wouldn't matter. An extra four million would be enough to retire off of. I wonder if they could potentially avoid being sued if they claimed they had an injury and began the conversation with I have an injury and I would prefer to pull out, and see if that prompts the UFC to initiate making higher offers. Most fighters have some kind of slight injury or another, and fighters have pulled out for like toe injuries before without getting sued.
 
They certainly can, but doing a serious contract negotiation would be extremely unprofessional and the media/fans would never let the fighter live it down

Secondly a company like the UFC would never comply and give in to demands and sue the fuck out of the fighter, especially if they invested money into commercials and venue etc like you said in your post
 
They would've signed the fight contract which is addition to the UFC employment contract so they would be sued
 
I don’t think some people in here understand the concept of a contract. Trying to renegotiate prior to a signing of a fight is one thing. And seems to happen all the time. But after the specific fight has been signed?
 
What would happen if a champion demanded to renegotiate their contract the week of the fight? Let's say they ask for something like an extra four million for this fight. If the UFC doesn't give them a new contract for an extra four million for this fight, they pull out of the fight. An extra four million would be huge for most of the fighters. It would not be a huge amount of money for the UFC, and having to flat cancel an event would probably cost them a lot more.

Would the UFC refuse out of principle? Would the UFC rather cancel the event and lose money on this one event to show other fighters they can't do this? Would the UFC agree, but then immediately sue afterward?

I'm kind of surprised this hasn't been done before in a big way. Especially for an aging champion who planned to retire soon anyway. This is one of the few scenarios I could potentially see a fighter having leverage over the UFC.

I imagine the reason why this hasn't been done is because they are worried about either being cut or sued. If it were at the end of their career though, being cut wouldn't matter. An extra four million would be enough to retire off of. I wonder if they could potentially avoid being sued if they claimed they had an injury and began the conversation with I have an injury and I would prefer to pull out, and see if that prompts the UFC to initiate making higher offers. Most fighters have some kind of slight injury or another, and fighters have pulled out for like toe injuries before without getting sued.

cause the back lash on the champion would be awful. yes they would be sued big time.
 
There's a contract they sign before the fight. They call it a bout agreement. In that agreement there is an opponent, date, place, and amount the flat rate they would be paid. Some might say this would be legal binding and if the user breaks the agreement they would be sued for the total losses that the UFC could prove. So that 4 mil they wanted would become something like 100 mil in losses. Better to fight for the peanuts then to ruin their careers.
 
There's a contract they sign before the fight. They call it a bout agreement. In that agreement there is an opponent, date, place, and amount the flat rate they would be paid. Some might say this would be legal binding and if the user breaks the agreement they would be sued for the total losses that the UFC could prove. So that 4 mil they wanted would become something like 100 mil in losses. Better to fight for the peanuts then to ruin their careers.

alternatively , the Ufc could go to court and get an injection forcing them to performance as any judgment would likely not be recoverable

If they refused they could go to jail

but as you said , why walk out after you agreed and signer makes no sense - in a state like Nevada where professional sports hold so much weight I could also see a DA charging the person with extortion
 
even with a signed contract, you can't force a guy to fight if he doesn't want to fight. that is illegal

define force ? Like have a bunch of guys kidnap him , carry him into the arena and hold a gun on him while he fights?
 
Well, fighters sign like five fight contracts and then renegotiate before the end of those agreements. How are they able to do that?

What if the fighter said they were injured? What if they said they had a toe injury and would prefer to pull out, but could be persuaded to fight for more money. Fighters pull out for injuries all of the time.
 
What would happen if a champion demanded to renegotiate their contract the week of the fight? Let's say they ask for something like an extra four million for this fight. If the UFC doesn't give them a new contract for an extra four million for this fight, they pull out of the fight. An extra four million would be huge for most of the fighters. It would not be a huge amount of money for the UFC, and having to flat cancel an event would probably cost them a lot more.

Would the UFC refuse out of principle? Would the UFC rather cancel the event and lose money on this one event to show other fighters they can't do this? Would the UFC agree, but then immediately sue afterward?

I'm kind of surprised this hasn't been done before in a big way. Especially for an aging champion who planned to retire soon anyway. This is one of the few scenarios I could potentially see a fighter having leverage over the UFC.

I imagine the reason why this hasn't been done is because they are worried about either being cut or sued. If it were at the end of their career though, being cut wouldn't matter. An extra four million would be enough to retire off of. I wonder if they could potentially avoid being sued if they claimed they had an injury and began the conversation with I have an injury and I would prefer to pull out, and see if that prompts the UFC to initiate making higher offers. Most fighters have some kind of slight injury or another, and fighters have pulled out for like toe injuries before without getting sued.
It hasn't been done because when they signed the contract for that particular fight they obligated themselves to show up on that night and do their job.

If they tried to renegotiate the week of the fight they would be sued for breach of contract probably stripped of their title and completely embarrassed.

Your over all contract and fight contract are 2 different things.
 
Blacklisted from the UFC, erased from the fight library/history as if they never existed.

UFC would take the hit and then never speak with them again
 
Blacklisted from the UFC, erased from the fight library/history as if they never existed.

UFC would take the hit and then never speak with them again


Also prolly sued for millions of dollars of cost incurred in promotion and have shark lawyers try to take everything they have (home, cars, money in bank) out of principle so nobody even thinks about something so dumb again
 
even with a signed contract, you can't force a guy to fight if he doesn't want to fight. that is illegal

No he can’t be forced. But, literally every court in the land would find that fighter liable for any money the UFC put out promoting that fight. And if it actually resulted in a card cancellation... You know, within a week of said card. Think about that for one minute.

How is this even a question?
 
Again though, what if they have some kind of injury? One that is small, but realistically they could fight through it. What if they walk up to Dana in private and say, "I injured my toe/pinky/have a stomach virus from bad sushi. I think I want to pull out." Fighters have pulled out of fights for both injuries and illnesses without being sued. Fighters have pulled out the day before the fight without being sued. Could the UFC sue if they claimed they wanted to pull out due to illness/injury?
 
define force ? Like have a bunch of guys kidnap him , carry him into the arena and hold a gun on him while he fights?
yes, that is exactly what i meant. you got it.

there is no contract on this planet where a professional athlete, in a sport where they can lose their life, is required to provide their services... now the company can blackball the athlete from ever competing within their organization again, that can happen. but outside of that the company has zero recourse for a fighter refusing to fight

No he can’t be forced. But, literally every court in the land would find that fighter liable for any money the UFC put out promoting that fight. And if it actually resulted in a card cancellation... You know, within a week of said card. Think about that for one minute.

How is this even a question?
no, this can not happen. if i as a fighter retire from mma while i am contracted to fight in the ufc, there is absolutely zero legal recourse for the ufc. i'm sorry, what you're saying is utter nonsense and you should think about what you are saying for a minute. fighters drop out of fights 500 times a year for a million different reasons. a lot of them are injury related, but not all of them are. you live in a world where fighters cant drop out of a fight because of a love one dying... that isn't the real world
 
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