The problem is that a lot of these fighters don't shop themselves around, often times, it's like this:
Manager: "Hey UFC, I've got a fighter who wants to fight in the UFC, what can you do?"
Then, the power is in the UFC's hands and it becomes a game of 'how much can I lowball you and get you to fight?'
Rich Franklin is a prime example. He wanted to fight in the UFC, had a bad manager, forsight, etc and got a crappy, crappy multi-fight deal.
If more fighters would literally pimp themselves to UFC, K1, Pride etc, they'd get a bidding war and get better money. You have to keep relationships open with all organizations.
I'll use another local example; Carlos and his manager were very smart initally and kept lines of communication open with all the major organizations; for the match he lost the title to Matt Hughes, he got 90k (and a bonus no one is supposed to know about; especially Matt), and matt got something mediocre like 7k or some such.
Even when he lost again in the UFC and they suddenly didn't think he was worth that much, they kept in touch with Pride and K1 and got a great deal to fight in Pride.
__________________
- Imdahman
We've all been raised on television to believe that
one day we'd all be millionaires and movie gods and
rock stars - but we won't. And we're slowly learning
that fact; and we're very, very pissed off.
-Fight Club
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