There are so many things on here to respond to, that I don't even know where to start. Off the top of my head:
- It's correct that some of the champs signed deals back before they won the title, and they're still locked into those contracts so they aren't getting paid like champs. Andrei Arlovski makes more than Tim Sylvia because he was champ when it was time to renegotiate, and he was sitting on top of the world. Rich Franklin still isn't getting paid like a champion.
- No UFC fighter is on salary, and as someone said, Chuck and Randy were the only guys to get any PPV money so far. I don't think it's a perk that Dana White will be offering to too many other fighters (Edited to add: I wasn't aware that Royce and Hughes got it for their fight. Cool.)
- How much you're getting per fight is the direct result of how much of a draw you are and who's doing your negotiating for you. Royce got over a million bucks for his Matt Hughes fight (sponsorship included), because it was a one-shot deal and Dana was banking on it being the biggest fight of all time that would sell out the Staples centre and break a million PPV buys. It didn't quite happen that way.
- There's no standard clause that says if your fight goes to a decision they withhold some of the loot, but apparently it was added to the Sylvia-Arlovski fight. Maybe it's a clause in title fights only?
- The UFC doesn't pay any additional money for expenses and training. That's what sponsors are for. Sponsorship money and the potential to earn more on your next contract is what keeps these guys fighting for two grand per fight.
- They're running a business, and their business isn't putting money in fighters' pockets. It's Dana White's job to feature the best talent he can, and to pay them as little as possible. Just like it's the agent's job to convince the UFC that they need his fighter, and to maximize what that fighter will get paid. My point is that how much the UFC makes per event has nothing to do with how much the fighters get paid, as long as they keep finding quality fighters who will take what they're offering. If Matt Hughes accepts 100,000 per fight for his next three fights and the UFC makes fifty billion dollars at each (lol), when it's time to negotiate, they're still going to try and get Matt to renew for $100,000 per fight, while Dana and the Fertitas get richer. That's what happens when you own the company.
- The beauty of TUF is that Dana's found a way to make young, untested fighters into marketable stars while still paying them like scrubs. People were wondering why Dana didn't even make Rampage an offer. He knew Rampage was after Chuck Liddell kinda money (a million bucks a year between fights and sponsorships), so why should he bother? You only have to consider the luke warm response to Wandy coming into the octagon at UFC 61 to see where the UFC fans' heads are at. I'd bet you all my points that people would have gone crazier if Dana brought Forrest Griffin out and announced that he'd be fighting Chuck next.
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