Why Jon Jones shouldn't sign a new contract....yet

[Ogg]

there's a thing called championship clause meaning he can't leave the ufc een if he wanted to

 

[giusti825]

there's a thing called championship clause meaning he can't leave the ufc een if he wanted to

Championship clause only adds 3 fights to the contract upon winning the belt. It doesn't continue in perpetuity. That would be a violation of the 13th amendment.

 

[giusti825]

Couture tried to "resign" as UFC HW champion so he could go fight Fedor, and it didn't work out well for him.

Couture was also in his fourties and figured by the time the legal battle was done, he would be too old to fight. Its mindboggling to imagine that Jones is not even in his prime yet....

 

[giusti825]

Ttt

 

[mma2013]

it's the job of jones' manager to go get the best deal for his client. a competent manager should shop for the best deal because it's in the best interest for jones. if the manager didn't, jones should fire him. at the very minimum, jones should consider other offers before making a final decision if he will re-sign with the ufc.

 

[giusti825]

it's the job of jones' manager to go get the best deal for his client. a competent manager should shop for the best deal because it's in the best interest for jones. if the manager didn't, jones should fire him. at the very minimum, jones should consider other offers before making a final decision if he will re-sign with the ufc.

His manager has been meeting with Lorenzo, but no agreement has been reached yet. But a manager is just representation. Its up to Jones to sign a deal.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Agree, i'm not sure why more champions who win out their contract plus 3 fights aren't doing this, I feel like there has to be something in the contract language to prevent it or a guy like Aldo would have done it by now.

 

[MMA made EASY]

valid points, really. Jones hasn't exactly felt the love from Dana. Fielding offers is a valid thing to do, and he doesn't have to be a dick about it. "Gee Dana, I really would like to stay here - do you you think you could at least match some of these other offers? I'd rather fight for the UFC but gosh darn if these other promotions aren't in something of a bidding war..."

 

[theheater]

Championship clause only adds 3 fights to the contract upon winning the belt. It doesn't continue in perpetuity. That would be a violation of the 13th amendment.

i think the point is that when randy tried to go elsewhere as champ he couldn't. its not that hes locked down forever, its just that you cant fight outside the ufc for like a year or more

jones has a solid negotiating position. hes a star and the ufc wants to make the gus fight happen. on the other hand hes under contract and if they dont come to terms jones will miss out on a huge payday and be sidelined during the prime of his career which is very expensive. jones also knows that theres no big fights for him outside the ufc. like none. if jones was a LW then bellator could be an option but as a LHW or even HW theres nobody out there to sustain any sort of big payday fights

 

[giusti825]

i think the point is that when randy tried to go elsewhere as champ he couldn't. its not that hes locked down forever, its just that you cant fight outside the ufc for like a year or more

jones has a solid negotiating position. hes a star and the ufc wants to make the gus fight happen. on the other hand hes under contract and if they dont come to terms jones will miss out on a huge payday and be sidelined during the prime of his career which is very expensive. jones also knows that theres no big fights for him outside the ufc. like none. if jones was a LW then bellator could be an option but as a LHW or even HW theres nobody out there to sustain any sort of big payday fights

Randy couture never finished his championship clause prior to trying to leave the ufc. He only fought gonzaga after the Sylvia fight.

Jones on the other hand finished the championship clause over 2 years ago when he beat rashad.

 

[giusti825]

Bump

 

[HaterSlayer]

1. Jon isn't going to be a free agent any time soon.
2. Someone like Bellator wouldn't pay Jon what he's making now(which is probably $2-3 million per fight)

 

[giusti825]

1. Jon isn't going to be a free agent any time soon.
2. Someone like Bellator wouldn't pay Jon what he's making now(which is probably $2-3 million per fight)

I'm not talking about sponsorship money. I'm referring to guaranteed or win/show money. Not including " backroom bonuses" or fancy gifts from the promoters.

If there is no free agency risk why does Dana want to sign a new contract with Jones BEFORE getting him to sign a bout agreement for Gustafson?

 

[hoyle1911]

there's a thing called championship clause meaning he can't leave the ufc een if he wanted to

Non-competes only last a year or two depending on jurisdiction and court precedent. The legal system takes a dim view on slavery. The clause doesn't really apply to free agents and people who defended three times.

Bones would wait a year and renounce his title. Simple enough if he wanted to leave. All we're talking about here is Bones shopping for a better deal and then forcing the UFC to match it. By all means he should do it.

Bones have already said he's never going to be Chuck Liddell or any Zuffa "company man." So it's an adversarial relationship where Bones tries to jack as much money as he can from Zuffa until it's time to retire. He has every right to do this and should make the money while he can.

Zuffa for their part will have a love/hate relationship trying to find contenders to knock him off his perch. Once he's no longer champion, they'll try to muscle him for less money or try to diminish him to justify cutting him, or hope he goes on a losing streak. So long as Bones keeps winning they can't hurt him. They did the same shit with Tito, although to be fair Zuffa kept him much longer than they needed before cutting him.

 

[HaterSlayer]

I'm not talking about sponsorship money. I'm referring to guaranteed or win/show money. Not including " backroom bonuses" or fancy gifts from the promoters.

If there is no free agency risk why does Dana want to sign a new contract with Jones BEFORE getting him to sign a bout agreement for Gustafson?

By there is no risk of free agency I mean it's not gonna get to that point with Jon. Anyway, Jon's pay and show may go up a bit more, but what he probably really wants is a bigger cut of the PPV. That is where the real money is. I'd also be willing to bet that Jon(well unless he keeps doing 300K buys) gets north of $1.5 million per fight before sponsorships.

 

[Clear Winner]

The UFC doesn't know how to create stars.

Kind of agree, because most stars are born from unique circumstances, there is no guaranteed way, even in the WWE. Fans aren't as gullible as they once were.

Thing is, if Jones leaves, how could you even claim that the next star is the best LHW in the world? Jones has beaten everyone in the frame except for Cormier.

 

[giusti825]

Kind of agree, because most stars are born from unique circumstances, there is no guaranteed way, even in the WWE. Fans aren't as gullible as they once were.

Thing is, if Jones leaves, how could you even claim that the next star is the best LHW in the world? Jones has beaten everyone in the frame except for Cormier.

If elitexc can make limbo the biggest star in mma, promoting Jones should be no problem.

 

[fzoid4454]

Jon Jones should let himself hit the open market while still ranked #1. Imagine the ufc lhw champ receiving bids from all the promotions like the situation with malendez. He would be looking at making "Fedor money" and may up the bar for fighter pay for all mma fighters. He is the only top fighter young and marketable enough to make the move.

He would probably be the first fighter since Royce to have a seven-figure guarantee from a major promotion in the history of the sport. The free market would be his friend.

From another thread where the argument came up:

You are all missing the bigger picture.

Jones isn't afraid or ducking anyone. That's what Dana is insinuating in order to try to make Jones sign a less favorable deal than he can get by waiting and properly negotiating terms. Gus will still be fighting when these negotiations are over. The last time Dana tried using fans and media to pressure Jones was ufc 151. Jones didn't bend over then, and he is not going to bend over now.

All you guys complain about fighter pay and you want Jones to sign a new contract as soon as possible even if he doesn't like the terms. It makes no sense.

If Jones has finished the fights on his contract, he and his manager should be fielding offers from other promotions for the ufc to match.

If he hasn't, then why is the ufc trying to make a new deal before the Gus fight? What if Jones wants to finish his current contract BEFORE signing a new one? The open market would end up making Jones a lot more money just because the ufc would match any offer made to him.

Think of the position Jones is in:

1. Approaching free agency
2. P4P #1
3. Number 1 in his division
4. Has beaten 5 ufc champs
5. Arguably undefeated except for one bs technicality

Does this look familiar? Remind you of a situation from a few years back where a fighter was offered 6 million dollars a fight? Now imagine that fighter was only 26 years old. Jones has more leverage than arguably any fighter in ufc history. He won't be bullied through fans and the media into a deal that he doesn't like.

What's it you guys always say? If you don't like the contract, don't sign it.

Jones is going to take that advice. Its time to find out how much one fighter can really be worth to the ufc.

He'll probably sign one now, and should. Your points are all correct, but, with the UFC announcing the Gus fight without Jones signing, he has a bit of leverage to sign an extension while also renegotiating his rate for this fight, which is why I think he hasn't signed it yet.

 

[Metal_Daze]

it's the job of jones' manager to go get the best deal for his client. a competent manager should shop for the best deal because it's in the best interest for jones. if the manager didn't, jones should fire him. at the very minimum, jones should consider other offers before making a final decision if he will re-sign with the ufc.

Assuming Jones gets PPV points that go up with the buys (ex: 1$/PPV < 100k, 2$/PPV >100k, 3$ PPV >200 etc), no other promotion can compete with the UFC. Bellator or ONE FC would have to offer millions/fight to even get in the same range. His manager is only waiting for the UFC to raise their offer, he's not going to even consider other offers.

Jones has the UFC by the balls anyways: he's the undisputed LHW champ and the best draw in the UFC. He doesn't have to use the threat of going to another promotion, just sitting out is threat enough for the UFC in this case.

 

[giusti825]

Bump