Nicky
25-08-2004, 16:58
-As the argument continues to gain strength over time that Randy Couture is the greatest MMA fighter of all time, Couture's UFC paychecks have also steadily increased over time. According to the state of Nevada, (which is public record) for his UFC 44 fight with Tito Ortiz, Couture's bout agreement was for $105,000 to fight and $70,000 more to win. Couture's UFC 46 bout agreement for the Belfort fight was for $120,000 to fight and $80,000 to win. Couture's UFC 49 bout agreement for the Belfort rematch was for $150,000 to fight and $75,000 to win.
It only makes sense that Couture's salary is steadily increasing over time because not only is he cementing his legacy among hardcore fans as perhaps the most accomplished MMA fighter ever, but just as importantly he is getting the recognition from casual fans that he deserves (as evidenced by the crowd's reaction to him at UFC 49). Couture is a huge star even among casual fans after dismantling Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, and will only be seen as a bigger star in fans' eyes after his complete domination of Vitor Belfort at UFC 49. Randy Couture is at the top level of the UFC salary pyramid, and deservedly so.
-Chuck Liddell's salary continues to rise as time passes. His salary went from its old mark of $40,000 to fight and $40,000 more to win to the higher amount of $50,000 to fight and $50,000 more to win for his UFC 47 fight with Tito Ortiz, and it increased further at UFC 49 with a bout agreement that paid him $60,000 to fight and $60,000 more to win. For perspective, that's more than Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir (who makes $60,000 to fight and $30,000 more to win), but Mir hasn't spent as many years being a top-level fighter and is not the mega-star that Chuck Liddell became after the Tito Ortiz fight.
The casual fans who make up the majority of the UFC's audience were much more surprised than hardcore fans when Liddell dominated and knocked out Ortiz at UFC 47, and Liddell is now a much bigger star than he was before that fight (as the crowd's reaction to him at UFC 49 certainly illustrated).
-Vitor Belfort's salary in the Zuffa-owned UFC has traditionally been $100,000 to fight and $30,000 more to win. He got a slight raise in his UFC 49 salary with a bout agreement of $100,000 to fight and $40,000 more to win, but it ended up not making a difference because he didn't win and thus didn't collect his win bonus. When you analyze the top tier of the UFC's pay scale, Belfort's salary is right where it should be on the totem pole for the most part. He's making six figures, but not much more than $100,000. The most Belfort can make for any given fight is $140,000, while fighters who are bigger proven draws like Randy Couture, Ken Shamrock, and Tito Ortiz have maximum amounts that range from $170,000 to $225,000 for any given fight. If there's any discrepancy in the pay scale where Belfort is concerned, it's when you compare his contract to Chuck Liddell's.
-Comparing Belfort and Liddell on the totem pole, Belfort has a richer contract with a higher guaranteed amount and a higher maximum amount for any given fight, despite the fact that Liddell is now a far bigger star in casual fans' eyes than Belfort. However, this may be able to be justified by the fact that salaries are ultimately dictated by the supply and demand of what the competition would be willing to pay for any given fighter, and Belfort would probably command more on the Japanese market than Liddell. Belfort has fought a lot more than Liddell has in Japan, and Belfort is certainly more well-known in Japan among casual fans. So, if you want to know why Vitor Belfort has a richer UFC contract that Chuck Liddell despite the fact that Liddell is a bigger star in the USA, you can chalk it up to the unspoken but ever-present "Pride Factor."
The Rest of the Pay Scale
-Moving on to the rest of the pay scale, Matt Lindland's salary of $20,000 to fight and $20,000 is interesting. Fighters in the UFC are rewarded over the course of time for having had fights in the UFC, and especially having had wins in the UFC. Going into the UFC 49 fight with David Terrell, Lindland had eight fights in the UFC, and he had only lost two of them (with one of those two losses being the freak accident against Falaniko Vitale). You also can't ignore the fact that Lindland is an Olympic Silver Medalist and gives the sport a huge credibility boost in the eyes of mainstream media types who tend to ignorantly dismiss MMA competitors as untrained street fighters.
-Yves Edwards' bout agreement paid him $7,000 to fight and $7,000 to more to win. That is actually an excellent paycheck for a lightweight fighter in the US, which actually speaks volumes about how underpaid lightweight fighters are in the US. There's no doubt that Edwards deserves his salary on the UFC pay scale because as previously mentioned, UFC fighters are normally rewarded for fighting in the UFC and for winning in the UFC. Going into his UFC 49 fight with Josh Thomson, Yves had seven fights in the UFC and had won his last five UFC fights. Yves is a talented fighter who is also marketable, and he has plowed through a who's who of the lightweight division without having lost in the UFC for over two years. Taking all of that into consideration, it's fair to say that when $7,000 and $7,000 is the top of a weight division's pay scale instead of the bottom, and when the UFC has ridiculously not had a Lightweight Champion since early 2002 and has no plans to crown one, I think that illustrates perfectly how little the UFC cares about or respects the lightweight division. If the UFC does care about or respect the lightweight division, they certainly haven't shown it in the last two-and-a-half years.
-David Terrell's salary was a decent amount for a fighter making his UFC debut, and it was unique in the sense that Terrell's fight money and his win bonus were not identical as those numbers usually are. Terrell was only paid $3,000 to fight and had a win bonus of $5,000, which he collected by beating Matt Lindland. Terrell may be in line for a big push from the UFC in the future, and it would seem that he is less likely to get a big head than most in his position due to the fact that he is part of the well-grounded Cesar Gracie fight team and also has no history of attitude problems.
-Josh Thomson and Nick Diaz serve as good examples of the fact that fighters make more money as they get more UFC fights under their belt. Thomson started off in the UFC making a mere $2,000 to fight and $2,000 more to win, and he is now making $6,000 to fight and $6,000 more to win. Meanwhile, Diaz started off making $2,000 to fight and $2,000 more to win; then he made $3,000 to fight and $3,000 more to win; and he now makes $6,000 to fight and $5,000 more to win. In Diaz' case, I would actually expect him to be making more money due to the fact that he not only defeated UFC poster boy Robbie Lawler, but he did so in impressive fashion by beating Lawler at his own game and knocking him out. Thomson and Diaz still aren't making much money, but it's a big improvement over what they were initially making and it demonstrates the usual trend for fighters who are relatively new to the UFC. Even though Thomson and Diaz both lost their fights on this card, it's safe to say (or at least it should be) that with all of their previous wins, they will both still be major players in their respective weight classes in the future.
It only makes sense that Couture's salary is steadily increasing over time because not only is he cementing his legacy among hardcore fans as perhaps the most accomplished MMA fighter ever, but just as importantly he is getting the recognition from casual fans that he deserves (as evidenced by the crowd's reaction to him at UFC 49). Couture is a huge star even among casual fans after dismantling Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, and will only be seen as a bigger star in fans' eyes after his complete domination of Vitor Belfort at UFC 49. Randy Couture is at the top level of the UFC salary pyramid, and deservedly so.
-Chuck Liddell's salary continues to rise as time passes. His salary went from its old mark of $40,000 to fight and $40,000 more to win to the higher amount of $50,000 to fight and $50,000 more to win for his UFC 47 fight with Tito Ortiz, and it increased further at UFC 49 with a bout agreement that paid him $60,000 to fight and $60,000 more to win. For perspective, that's more than Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir (who makes $60,000 to fight and $30,000 more to win), but Mir hasn't spent as many years being a top-level fighter and is not the mega-star that Chuck Liddell became after the Tito Ortiz fight.
The casual fans who make up the majority of the UFC's audience were much more surprised than hardcore fans when Liddell dominated and knocked out Ortiz at UFC 47, and Liddell is now a much bigger star than he was before that fight (as the crowd's reaction to him at UFC 49 certainly illustrated).
-Vitor Belfort's salary in the Zuffa-owned UFC has traditionally been $100,000 to fight and $30,000 more to win. He got a slight raise in his UFC 49 salary with a bout agreement of $100,000 to fight and $40,000 more to win, but it ended up not making a difference because he didn't win and thus didn't collect his win bonus. When you analyze the top tier of the UFC's pay scale, Belfort's salary is right where it should be on the totem pole for the most part. He's making six figures, but not much more than $100,000. The most Belfort can make for any given fight is $140,000, while fighters who are bigger proven draws like Randy Couture, Ken Shamrock, and Tito Ortiz have maximum amounts that range from $170,000 to $225,000 for any given fight. If there's any discrepancy in the pay scale where Belfort is concerned, it's when you compare his contract to Chuck Liddell's.
-Comparing Belfort and Liddell on the totem pole, Belfort has a richer contract with a higher guaranteed amount and a higher maximum amount for any given fight, despite the fact that Liddell is now a far bigger star in casual fans' eyes than Belfort. However, this may be able to be justified by the fact that salaries are ultimately dictated by the supply and demand of what the competition would be willing to pay for any given fighter, and Belfort would probably command more on the Japanese market than Liddell. Belfort has fought a lot more than Liddell has in Japan, and Belfort is certainly more well-known in Japan among casual fans. So, if you want to know why Vitor Belfort has a richer UFC contract that Chuck Liddell despite the fact that Liddell is a bigger star in the USA, you can chalk it up to the unspoken but ever-present "Pride Factor."
The Rest of the Pay Scale
-Moving on to the rest of the pay scale, Matt Lindland's salary of $20,000 to fight and $20,000 is interesting. Fighters in the UFC are rewarded over the course of time for having had fights in the UFC, and especially having had wins in the UFC. Going into the UFC 49 fight with David Terrell, Lindland had eight fights in the UFC, and he had only lost two of them (with one of those two losses being the freak accident against Falaniko Vitale). You also can't ignore the fact that Lindland is an Olympic Silver Medalist and gives the sport a huge credibility boost in the eyes of mainstream media types who tend to ignorantly dismiss MMA competitors as untrained street fighters.
-Yves Edwards' bout agreement paid him $7,000 to fight and $7,000 to more to win. That is actually an excellent paycheck for a lightweight fighter in the US, which actually speaks volumes about how underpaid lightweight fighters are in the US. There's no doubt that Edwards deserves his salary on the UFC pay scale because as previously mentioned, UFC fighters are normally rewarded for fighting in the UFC and for winning in the UFC. Going into his UFC 49 fight with Josh Thomson, Yves had seven fights in the UFC and had won his last five UFC fights. Yves is a talented fighter who is also marketable, and he has plowed through a who's who of the lightweight division without having lost in the UFC for over two years. Taking all of that into consideration, it's fair to say that when $7,000 and $7,000 is the top of a weight division's pay scale instead of the bottom, and when the UFC has ridiculously not had a Lightweight Champion since early 2002 and has no plans to crown one, I think that illustrates perfectly how little the UFC cares about or respects the lightweight division. If the UFC does care about or respect the lightweight division, they certainly haven't shown it in the last two-and-a-half years.
-David Terrell's salary was a decent amount for a fighter making his UFC debut, and it was unique in the sense that Terrell's fight money and his win bonus were not identical as those numbers usually are. Terrell was only paid $3,000 to fight and had a win bonus of $5,000, which he collected by beating Matt Lindland. Terrell may be in line for a big push from the UFC in the future, and it would seem that he is less likely to get a big head than most in his position due to the fact that he is part of the well-grounded Cesar Gracie fight team and also has no history of attitude problems.
-Josh Thomson and Nick Diaz serve as good examples of the fact that fighters make more money as they get more UFC fights under their belt. Thomson started off in the UFC making a mere $2,000 to fight and $2,000 more to win, and he is now making $6,000 to fight and $6,000 more to win. Meanwhile, Diaz started off making $2,000 to fight and $2,000 more to win; then he made $3,000 to fight and $3,000 more to win; and he now makes $6,000 to fight and $5,000 more to win. In Diaz' case, I would actually expect him to be making more money due to the fact that he not only defeated UFC poster boy Robbie Lawler, but he did so in impressive fashion by beating Lawler at his own game and knocking him out. Thomson and Diaz still aren't making much money, but it's a big improvement over what they were initially making and it demonstrates the usual trend for fighters who are relatively new to the UFC. Even though Thomson and Diaz both lost their fights on this card, it's safe to say (or at least it should be) that with all of their previous wins, they will both still be major players in their respective weight classes in the future.