Lesnar/Barnett would be a lot of fun. I hope he's healthy. Returning to MMA is going to put a lot of stress on his body. I hope he can handle it.
Well he hasn't wrestled a ton the past couple years, I think he will be healthy. I'm excited to see his return happen, he is what really got me into MMA.
Rogan more or less confirmed that Lesnar is returning on his podcast. It's going to be interesting to see what comes of the division. They really need Velasquez to get healthy. Shane Carwin has said repeatedly that he would return to fight Lesnar given the opportunity.
I was reading a thread on Sheepdog about how pathetic the HW division is. It really is in complete shambles right now. The biggest threat in the division outside of Cain seems to be JDS. However, he poses no threats to Cain. The UFC really needs to hit the trails and scout some good HW prospects.
as bad as the HW may seem to be, it's still miles better than it was 5+ years ago. I guess anyone who is big and athletic can go into a better paying sport. I mean why get $35+$35K (if you win) to get punched in the head if you're 6'4" and 250lbs when you could be a tight end/linebacker and sit on an NFL bench and get paid $1,000,000?
You can make more on an NFL practice squad than being a middle of the pack UFC fighter. Tackling dummies make $6-10k/week.
exactly and that's why I think the HW division is not as deep or as athletic as other divisions. If you're not an American, get into Rugby or some other better paying professional sport IMO.
I posted in the other thread that Chuck Liddell was making 500k base in 2007 and that's what JJ made this weekend, which is outrageous. In order for the UFC to get the best athletes coming their way they need to give them more incentive. Jones would be in the NFL making millions like his brothers had he not had a kid at a young age and went to junior college.
I can kinda understand that as the PPV buys have not vastly improved in the last 5 years and the roster of the UFC has expanded a lot. But it's the star fighters who are not quite title holders who should be paid better IMO. Guys like Cerrone who put on good fights and have a lot of fights in the UFC. I wonder if the % of the PPV buys have gone up for the stars... highly unlikley. If Dana and the Fertitta's can continue to earn hundreds of millions off of the fighters without having to pay them much more, then they will.
PPV shares mean a lot more now that the UFC will not allow fighters to have their own in-ring sponsors. With PPV down 40% from last year alone that is pay out of the pockets of stars. The fact is the UFC has gone from making no money between the 90's and mid 00's to being a $2B+ company now and fighter pay hasn't improved at an equal rate. Low level fighters are still signing 8/8 - 12/12 - 16/16 - 24/24 contracts. Those haven't changed in years. Mid level fighters are more concerned with not losing more than 1/3 fights and have no negotiating leverage. Tell me DC and Jones wouldn't have fought harder if the win bonus on Saturday was $5-million. I'm not in a position to say how much the UFC can afford to pay it's fighters but rising salaries and job security have made the major pro leagues, arguably, the best they've ever been. If the UFC is going to splash out on guys like Lesnar and Brooks they should be spreading that wealth among the workers in the company. Oh yeah the UFC is building a massive new corporate headquarters in Vegas.
I remember back in 07-09 new fighters were getting 2/2, 2.5/2.5 and then 3/3. I will say they have at least brought up the entry level pay to a decent level. Unfortunately it costs so much more now to get your medicals done pre-fight because the boxing/combat sports comissions in the various states and countries see an opportunity to gouge the fighters a bit too. Fighter pay has always been an issue, especially when you can look at boxing and it's payouts for their stars. Jones should be making at least a million/fight as should any champion.
I think the answer is pretty obvious what to do, go fully over the air, get a massive TV deal from the highest bidder, they'd get WAY better advertisers too if they did it. MMA would likely fill Americas 5th sport after NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL. More money bottomline.
Yes, MMA is a worldwide sport, fights happen year round and fighters are more marketable to the public than NASCAR drivers.
FOX is paying $90-million/year to the UFC to spread their programming across their properties and that isn't touching PPV. For the UFC to be bought out of PPV they would need to be paid the equivalent (5-million PPV buys per year = about $138-million gross revenue) plus their television fees. Until we see a channel ready to pony-up about $200-million per annum to purchase everything the UFC has to offer they will continue to be on multiple formats. FOX has them for another five or so years and who knows where the company will be then?
