Why fighters are testing the free market out and why Conor has alot to do with it

[JollyRants]

Lately they been a string of fighters testing the free market out. Here i will explain why fighters are testing out the free market more than ever. What started this out was the UFC taking away sponsors from the fighters. The UFC taking sponsors away from fighters took a huge amount of money away from the fighters, maybe 50 percent from some of them or more. Suddenly Bellator became a real interesting offer for some fighters, because the money Bellator was offering fighters was double what the UFC was willing to pay some fighters and the sponsorship.

Another reason why Fighters are testing out the free market is because fighters came along like Conor Mcgregor, Paige, and Sage Northcutt. Suddenly fighters started paying attention to what others are being paid. The final and the most important reason fighters are testing the free market is because Conor McGregor. Here's why when Conor came on the scene he was one of the first fighters to realized that he had leverage over the UFC and how to take advantage over it. Oh boy did he take advantage of it making the UFC pay him a minimum of a million dollars not including Pay.Per.View take. Conor makes a estimate of 10 million dollars a fight, and he sure loves to brag about it.

So alot of fighters taking note of what Conor makes realized and learn how much leverage they have over the UFC. Long story short fighters got tired of the UFC greed, favoritism and killing themselves for pennies. Fighters like Josh thompson, Phil Davis, Ben Henderson, Aljamain Sterling, Matt Mitrione, Alistair Overeem and soon Rory McDonald. As long as the UFC continues there greed many top fighters will leave. So in a way Conor is good for the sport as douchey as he is because he can teach fighters the leverage and worth they have over the UFC.

 

[BokaBokte]

Tank him. Tank me.

 

[mangokush]

MMA fighters in the UFC have realized WWE antics along been a good fighter will get them paid the big bucks.

As much i despise Conor for turning MMA in the UFC into a WWE wankfest i do respect his hustle.

 

[Saren]

Hahahahahaha if you think any of those fighters have "leverage"

Aljamain: Bellator offered shit
Davis: UFC didn't want to match
Thomson: Gets 10k/10k
Reem: Bellaor offered shit
Henderson: UFC didn't want to match
Rory: Won't get offered much by Bellator since he isn't the demographic they're reaching for

 

[exHeavyHippie]

Bellator 142: The total disclosed MMA payroll for the event was $653,750 (Ortiz take 300K).

UFC 194: The total disclosed payroll was $2,568,000 (McGregor takes 500K).

 

[honzo]

Melendez did well too I believe, Rory should be on 6 figures per fight, he lost 5 years of his life against Robbie n he's been top 5 for a long time

 

[lsa]

I like how you mention fighters that got resigned with the UFC.
Some of them got shit offers from Bellator..

 

[rbastid]

Hahahahahaha if you think any of those fighters have "leverage"

Aljamain: Bellator offered shit
Davis: UFC didn't want to match
Thomson: Gets 10k/10k
Reem: Bellaor offered shit
Henderson: UFC didn't want to match
Rory: Won't get offered much by Bellator since he isn't the demographic they're reaching for

People think that guys left for Bellator because they outbid the UFC, but basically the UFC dropped them.

Josh tried to save face by saying "Bellator offered me more" which on the surface is true, but what he fails to mention is that the UFC most likely lowered their offer from his current $75K a fight contract to $5K a fight in order to kick him out the door.

Bellator is a good landing pad for guys who see no way of moving up in the UFC. You leave because you know you'll never again have a belt. Why else would you go to Bellator if you had the chance to be champ? A 5 fight contract with sponsorships wouldn't equal 1 UFC Title fight with PPV points.

Young guys like Sterling and Rory (will) use(d) the threat of going on the open market to get a small boost in what the UFC was going to pay them, but if the UFC called their bluff, they'd be up sh!ts creek.

A good gauge of what promotions are willing to pay will come out when Justin Gathje goes on the market. He's making $30K/$30K now as champ and most constant fighter in WSOF.

 

[JollyRants]

I like how you mention fighters that got resigned with the UFC.
Some of them got shit offers from Bellator..

Nope most of them used bellator as leverage, like if Bellator offered them more than the UFC did as an incentive to get the UFC to pay them more to keep them then they were originally offered. Both Aljo and Alistair did this getting payed more than than the UFC originally offered them. This is also a strategy Rory will use if he wins his next fight. Ben Henderson tried this strategy but the UFC decided not to match because his style isn't exciting enough, so he followed the money.

 

[Fatal Catro]

This is good for the organizations and for MMA and the fighters.

 

[Saren]

People think that guys left for Bellator because they outbid the UFC, but basically the UFC dropped them.

Josh tried to save face by saying "Bellator offered me more" which on the surface is true, but what he fails to mention is that the UFC most likely lowered their offer from his current $75K a fight contract to $5K a fight in order to kick him out the door.

Bellator is a good landing pad for guys who see no way of moving up in the UFC. You leave because you know you'll never again have a belt. Why else would you go to Bellator if you had the chance to be champ? A 5 fight contract with sponsorships wouldn't equal 1 UFC Title fight with PPV points.

Young guys like Sterling and Rory (will) use(d) the threat of going on the open market to get a small boost in what the UFC was going to pay them, but if the UFC called their bluff, they'd be up sh!ts creek.

A good gauge of what promotions are willing to pay will come out when Justin Gathje goes on the market. He's making $30K/$30K now as champ and most constant fighter in WSOF.

Remember Thomson whined that the UFC matched him with low-ranking fighters? And how he deserved higher ranked guys and that's why he left?

He goes on to crush two unranked cans and proclaims he loves Bellator lmao

 

[karatekick1]

USADA also has a lot to do with it.

 

[rbastid]

Melendez did well too I believe, Rory should be on 6 figures per fight, he lost 5 years of his life against Robbie n he's been top 5 for a long time

Rory made $59K verus Lawler, which is kinda low, but look at his salary history.

Can't find his salary for his first fight. But he was making $8K with $5K win increments for his next 4 fights. Then the fight against BJ Penn he made $21K and $24K against Ellenberger. Which means his management didn't do their job. They basically signed a contract where he would make less on the first fight of his new contract than he would have if he was still on his old contract. Unless there was an underlying deal that netted him a big signing bonus, the blame for his salary lays directly on Rory and his management.

His new contract came with the first Lawler fight and it was for $50K with $3K win increments. While it was a nice boost to the overall pay, now double of the last contract. Why stay with the lowered win increments when you were making $5K?

This is a sport where your management helps set your value. That first contract renewal basically set Rory's value very low, as they basically let him fight for a pay cut.

 

[DaGenius]

Giving a little too much credit to mcgregor on this one guys

 

[rbastid]

Remember Thomson whined that the UFC matched him with low-ranking fighters? And how he deserved higher ranked guys and that's why he left?

He goes on to crush two unranked cans and proclaims he loves Bellator lmao

He lost on the judges scorecards (I know in my eyes he won the Green fight If i remember correctly, and Benson was very close) to these low ranked guys, the hell would have happened if they gave him highly ranked guys like RDA or Khabib?

 

[The Invisible]

Conor changes there bum lifes. Be grateful.

 

[rbastid]

Giving a little too much credit to mcgregor on this one guys

While seeing Conor's pay may get guys to challenge their perceived low pay, they need to step up if they want that type of money.

Most of Conor's pay is coming from PPV points, which is based on who fans want to see fight. You've got too many guys who want to make $100K+ a fight and they bring a total of 7 eyes to the event, and all those people are watching on the same TV in the fighters house.

I'm not a huge Conor fan, but he does the work needed to make the money. This isn't a sport like basketball or football where you can field a team of children and still get sell outs and millions of people watching on TV, therefore players make ridiculous amounts of money. You're basically responsible for your PPV, and thus your total pay.

 

[chubbman]

Have you tanked Conor for gravity yet?

 

[ZuffaExecutive]

Honestly more fighters need to test free agency its something they all should do unless they keep getting improved contracts every other fight like conor.

That being said i believe a few of the people u mentioned got super low balled by the ufc.But the biggest success story out of the free agency market is Gil.Think he was on 150k a week orginallly or 200k maybe,and the ufc offered him 100k or less.And he said no and dana did that whole speech about how his manager i an idiot (If dana criticize your manager means he has your best interests at heart,the manager not dana)and he signed with bellator for 250k + i believe a 250k or so signing bonus,tv show + title shot and ppv points.Without free agency and a rival org he would never had gotten that