The UFC ruined itself for $4 billion | New York Post: The old UFC hit its pinnacle with Ronda Rousey, whose reign of unprecedented dominance came to an end just as uber talent agency�WME-IMG stepped in and purchased the UFC for $4 billion.
The May 2016 sale rocked the UFC to its core. On the management side, the man working in the shadows behind White, the company’s longtime match maker Joe Silva, announced his retirement. Worse still for the company as a whole,�its stable of more than 500 contracted fighters all of a sudden knew exactly how much they were worth.
For years, the UFC paid its fighters next to nothing because there was nowhere else for fighters to go and because there was no way for the fighters to know if they were getting a good deal or not. Unlike the NFL or NBA, nobody knew what franchises�were worth or even if the sport had a viable future.
As a result, the standard contracts for low-level fighters became what is called “5 & 5,” “10 & 10” or “20 & 20,”�which means that the fighter is paid $20,000 to show up on weight on fight day and another $20,000 if he or she wins. Even champions coming in from other organizations, like Eddie Alvarez, were paid next to nothing. His first contract with the UFC paid him a measly “70 & 70,” according to MMA Junkie, a fact only revealed because his 2013 contract was part of a court case and thus became a public document. It is still the only full UFC contract to be made public.
The May 2016 sale rocked the UFC to its core. On the management side, the man working in the shadows behind White, the company’s longtime match maker Joe Silva, announced his retirement. Worse still for the company as a whole,�its stable of more than 500 contracted fighters all of a sudden knew exactly how much they were worth.
For years, the UFC paid its fighters next to nothing because there was nowhere else for fighters to go and because there was no way for the fighters to know if they were getting a good deal or not. Unlike the NFL or NBA, nobody knew what franchises�were worth or even if the sport had a viable future.
As a result, the standard contracts for low-level fighters became what is called “5 & 5,” “10 & 10” or “20 & 20,”�which means that the fighter is paid $20,000 to show up on weight on fight day and another $20,000 if he or she wins. Even champions coming in from other organizations, like Eddie Alvarez, were paid next to nothing. His first contract with the UFC paid him a measly “70 & 70,” according to MMA Junkie, a fact only revealed because his 2013 contract was part of a court case and thus became a public document. It is still the only full UFC contract to be made public.