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[alr1ght]

Official Filing: http://www.cohenmilstein.com/media/pnc/5/media.1675.pdf

Conference Call Audio: https://soundcloud.com/themmareport...ouncement-of-class-action-lawsuit-against-ufc

http://espn.go.com/mma/story/_/id/1...suit-filed-ufc-parent-company-claims-monopoly

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A group of current and former mixed martial arts fighters is suing the company that owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship in what could evolve into a class-action antitrust lawsuit involving hundreds of fighters, according to one of the attorneys involved.

The lawsuit, the culmination of months of rumors about pending legal action, was filed against Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the UFC, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It has three named plaintiffs: current UFC middleweight Cung Le and former UFC fighters Jon Fitch and Nathan Quarry.

It accuses the UFC of being a monopoly that forces out rival promotions and limits fighter earnings.

"All UFC fighters are paid a mere fraction of what they would make in a competitive market," said Benjamin Brown, another of the plaintiffs' attorneys.

"Rather than earning paydays comparable to boxers -- a sport with many natural parallels -- MMA fighters go substantially undercompensated despite the punishing nature of their profession," Brown added.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/12/...-named-plaintiffs-in-class-action-suit-vs-ufc

The primary lawfirms involved are Joseph Saveri Law Firm, Inc (recently in news for successful antitrust case against Apple, Google, Adobe other tech giants) - Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC (involved in $1billion+ victory against Dow Chemical and $500mil victory against Countrywide Financial Corporation) - Berger & Montague, P.C. It will also be taking place in the Bay Area in California. That's the home to Le and also a notoriously plaintiff friendly state in antitrust cases.

The suit alleges that the UFC has violated the Sherman Antitrust Act via an illegal scheme to eliminate competition. The result of these tactics is a marketplace where fighters are only able to earn a fraction of what they would in a competitive marketplace (along with fighters being forced to give up the rights to their name and likeness in perpetuity...etc).

The suit singles out statements by UFC officials wherein they compare the promotion to the NFL as "the only game in town," but then draws important distinctions between the NFL and UFC in that multiple teams are bidding for the services of the athletes.

Also singled out are UFC practices such as not allowing sponsors in the cage if they'd sponsored rival fighters or events. Continuing the idea that the UFC has taken action to squash potentially competitive rivals, leading to a non-competitive marketplace which prevents fighters from being able to earn their worth as high level mixed martial artists.

This gist is, UFC buys up all competition and pays their fighters like shit, while also restricting money they can earn via sponsorships. Just last week, they signed an exclusive uniform sponsorship with Reebok, banning all other sponsors from appearing at UFC sanctioned events, though fighters get a cut of Reebok merchandise sales.

Here are some recent pay figures for their last few shows.
Fox 13: http://mma-manifesto.com/ufc-fighte...-miocic-fighter-salaries-attendance-gate.html

Alistair Overeem: $385,714.28 ($264,285.71 to show, $121,428.57 win bonus)

Junior dos Santos: $290,000 ($120,000 to show, $120,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Rafael dos Anjos: $91,400 ($44,000 to show, $44,000 win bonus, $3,400 from Diaz for missing weight)

Matt Mitrione: $74,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)

Stipe Miocic: $68,000 ($18,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Ian Entwistle: $66,000 ($8,000 to show $8,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)

John Moraga: $42,000 ($21,000 to show, $21,000 win bonus)

Stefan Struve: $33,000

Gabriel Gonzaga: $29,000

Ben Saunders: $28,000 ($14,000 to show, $14,000 win bonus)

Joanna Jędrzejczyk: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus)

Jamie Varner: $17,000

Drew Dober: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Bryan Barberena: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

David Michaud: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Henry Cejudo: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Nate Diaz: $13,600 ($17,000 to show, fined $3,400 for missing weight)

Dustin Kimura: $12,000

Claudia Gadelha: $10,000

Joe Ellenberger: $10,000

Willie Gates: $8,000

Joe Riggs: $8,000

Garrett Whiteley: $8,000

Anthony Birchak: $8,000

TUF 20 Finale: http://www.mmafighting.com/2014/12/...s-carla-esparza-earns-50000-for-ufc-title-win

Main Card (FOX Sports 1)
Carla Esparza ($25,000 + $25,000 = $50,000) def. Rose Namajunas ($25,000)
Charles Oliveira ($27,000 + $27,000 = $54,000) def. Jeremy Stephens ($40,000)
K.J. Noons ($31,000) vs. Daron Cruickshank ($17,000) ruled a no contest
Yancy Medeiros ($15,000 + $15,000 = $30,000) def. Joe Proctor ($10,000)
Jessica Penne ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Randa Markos ($8,000)

Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1)
Felice Herrig ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Lisa Ellis ($8,000)
Heather Clark ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Bec Rawlings ($8,000)
Joanne Calderwood ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Seo Hee Ham ($8,000)
Tecia Torres ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Angela Magana ($8,000)

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Aisling Daly ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Alex Chambers ($8,000)
Angela Hill ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Emily Kagan ($8,000)

181 PPV: http://www.mmafighting.com/2014/12/...e-lawler-cashes-in-with-narrow-title-win-over

Main Card (Pay-per-view)
Robbie Lawler ($110,000 + $110,000 = $220,000) def. Johny Hendricks ($150,000)
Anthony Pettis ($100,000 + $100,000 = $200,000) def. Gilbert Melendez ($200,000)
Travis Browne ($50,000 + $50,000 = $100,000) def. Brendan Schaub ($32,000)
Todd Duffee ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Anthony Hamilton ($10,000)
Tony Ferguson ($24,000 + $24,000 = $48,000) def. Abel Trujillo ($14,000)

Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1)
Urijah Faber ($70,000 + $70,000 = $140,000) def. Francisco Rivera ($20,000)
Josh Samman ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. $Eddie Gordon ($15,000)
Corey Anderson ($15,000 + $15,000 = $30,000) def. Justin Jones ($8,000)
Raquel Pennington ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Ashlee Evans-Smith ($8,000)

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Sergio Pettis ($15,000 + $15,000 = $30,000) def. Matt Hobar ($10,000)
Clay Collard ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Alex White ($10,000)

Fight Night 57: http://mma-manifesto.com/ufc-fighte...s-swanson-fighter-purses-attendance-gate.html

Frankie Edgar: $330,000 ($140,000 to show, $140,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)

Joseph Benavidez: $96,000 ($48,000 to show, $48,000 win bonus)

Oleksiy Oliynyk: $70,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)

Paige VanZant: $66,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Edson Barboza: $64,000 ($32,000 to show, $32,000 win bonus)

Kailin Curran: $58,000 ($8,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Cub Swanson: $37,000

Matt Wiman: $36,000 ($18,000 to show, $18,000 win bonus)

Brad Pickett: $29,000

Chico Camus: $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 win bonus)

Bobby Green: $24,000

Yves Edwards: $24,000

Ruslan Magomedov: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus)

Dustin Ortiz: $18,000

Roger Narvaez: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

James Vick: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Akbarh Arreola: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Doo Ho Choi: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Jared Rosholt: $14,000

Isaac Vallie-Flagg: $12,000

Nick Hein: $10,000

Josh Copeland: $8,000

Luke Barnatt: $8,000

Juan Manuel Puig: $8,000

180 PPV: http://mma-manifesto.com/ufc-fighte...n/ufc-180-fighter-purses-attendance-gate.html

Fabricio Werdum: $225,000 ($125,000 to show, $50,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)

Mark Hunt: $160,000

Kelvin Gastelum: $90,000 ($20,000 to show, $20,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)

Jake Ellenberger: $68,000

Henry Briones: $66,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Guido Canetti: $58,000 ($8,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Ricardo Lamas: $32,000 ($16,000 to show, $16,000 win bonus)

Dennis Bermudez: $28,000

Augusto Montano: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Hector Urbina: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Yair Rodriguez: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Alejandro Perez: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Jessica Eye: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Gabriel Benitez: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Marco Beltran: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Leslie Smith: $10,000

Chris Heatherly: $8,000

Edgar Garcia: $8,000

Leonardo Morales: $8,000

Jose Quinonez: $8,000

Humberto Brown: $8,000

Marlon Vera: $8,000

Fight Night 56: http://mma-manifesto.com/ufc-fighte...int-preux-fighter-purses-attendance-gate.html

Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua: $175,000

Ovince Saint Preux: $96,000 ($23,000 to show, $23,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)

Leandro Silva: $66,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)

Thomas Almeida: $66,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Tim Gorman: $58,000 ($8,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Warlley Alves: $30,000 ($15,000 to show, $15,000 win bonus)

Caio Magalhaes: $28,000 ($14,000 to show, $14,000 win bonus)

Claudio Silva: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus)

Colby Covington: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus)

Dhiego Lima: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Juliana Lima: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

Diego Rivas: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)

John Lineker: $14,000

Trevor Smith: $12,000

Alan Jouban: $10,000

Charlie Brenneman: $10,000

Ian McCall: $9,000

Leon Edwards: $8,000

Jorge Oliveira: $8,000

Nina Ansaroff: $8,000

Rodolfo Rubio: $8,000

Wagner Silva: $8,000

 

[BobTheFork]

Is Kimbo Slice named as a defendant? He helped kill a promotion all on his own!

 

[Kaladin]

Gotta have enough money to pay this guy:

 

[Reg]

The chickens are coming home to roost. Fuck Dana White and his wolf tickets.

 

[Chie Satonaka]

Huh.

They get paid significantly less than I expected.

 

[GONZO]

I cn't wait for Dana white to get f-ed up the ass for this. People who have been following this sport since it's inception have all known about the dirty tactics white uses to maintain and grow his monopoly. It's wrong, and the fighters who bleed for money deserve their fair share.

 

[Heel]

I know it's kind of a hurdle, but it will be hard to have any kind of meaningful discussion on this without reading the complaint in full. "Well, there's Bellator ain't there?" does not magically invalidate the lawsuit.

There's multiple damning claims presented, most of which are common knowledge to MMA fans. Here's a few plucked from the complaint in MMA-GAF:

For example, the UFC negotiated a deal with THQ, Inc. for the development of a UFC video game. Zuffa required its athletes, for no compensation, to assign exclusively and in perpetuity their likeness rights for video game use. Fighters who wished to negotiate this request were terminated, including Plaintiff Jon Fitch. White also publicly threatened all MMA Fighters, even those not under contract with Zuffa with a permanent ban from competing in the UFC if the Fighter chose to sign with EA Sports.

Additionally, following his victory over Matt Hughes in a welterweight title bout that had been promoted by the UFC, UFC Fighter B.J. Penn informed the UFC that he planned to sign with an actual or potential rival promotion company for a much higher payday than UFC was then offering. In response, the UFC’s Dana White called Penn and threatened that the UFC would ban Penn from fighting for the UFC forever if Penn worked with another promoter. White told Penn that Penn was “f***ing done! You’ll never fight in the UFC again! You’re finished. You’re scorched earth, motherf***er. Scorched earth. Don’t call me crying saying you want to come back because your f***ing done!” White also threatened to remove or blur Penn’s face from UFC videos and promotions and said he would remove his bout with Hughes from the UFC’s DVD library so that Penn “would be forgotten.”

As a result of the UFC’s dominance in the Relevant Markets and as part of its exclusionary scheme, the UFC imposes exclusivity provisions into its physical venue agreements that severely limit, and in some cases remove altogether, the ability of any would-be competitor to hold MMA events at premier venues in the U.S. For example, before and continuing through the Class Period, the UFC has intentionally inserted provisions into its agreements with event venues that prohibit the venues from staging live Elite Professional MMA events promoted by a would-be UFC rival promoter within a specified time either before or after a UFC event at the venue. Throughout the Class Period, the UFC has entered into such exclusionary provisions with top event venues along the Las Vegas Strip and elsewhere. Intending to shut out actual or potential rivals with these “black out” provisions in its venue contracts, the UFC has, for example, staggered its events in such venues along the Las Vegas Strip so that no would-be rival promoter can hold live Elite Professional MMA Promotions anywhere along the Las Vegas Strip—some of the most important and profitable venues for MMA events in the world. As a result of the UFC’s exclusionary conduct, competing MMA Promotions are therefore forced to use second-rate venues, thereby inhibiting their ability to promote successful and profitable events, sell tickets and merchandise, secure major television distribution outlets, attract Elite Professional MMA Fighters, and otherwise generate revenues from MMA events.

HDNet Fights. HDNet Fights was founded in 2007 by billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks and HDNet founder, Mark Cuban. HDNet Fights briefly promoted its own live Professional MMA bouts. By 2009, the UFC had forced Cuban to shut down and, instead, become a bondholder in Zuffa.

"in or about January 2014, [UFC] added provisions—such as, e.g., the “unilateral demotion-in-pay” provision which resets a Fighter’s pay to lower purse levels if a given UFC Fighter loses a bout, and additional restrictions on sponsorship rights—that further enhanced the UFC’s control over its Fighters."

In short, I just do not see this fairing well for UFC if it sees a jury, which they're seeking, especially with Dana White quotes placed front-and-center.

 

[Ikuu]

lol

 

[Kaladin]

Somewhere, Vince McMahon wishes he had signed an exclusivity agreement with arenas during the Monday night war.

 

[Maklershed]

Monopoly business practices?

 

[AJLma]

Dana always came off to me as an incredibly slimey guy, but DAMN @ those fighter payouts.

Mayweather makes more in one fight than all of them combined.

EDIT: That's an overstatement, he makes WAY more.

I'd like to see the numbers for Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

I love UFC, but yeah. Their fighters are paid absolute garbage for the punishment they put themselves through.

 

[molotrok]

lol

Wow, what a classy organization.

 

[Radian8]

I hope they win. How Dana White and the Fertitta brothers treat the fighters is pretty disgusting.

 

[Rest]

Willie Gates: $8,000

Joe Riggs: $8,000

Garrett Whiteley: $8,000

Anthony Birchak: $8,000

Ham & Eggers indeed. If they're doing four fights a year, that seems like hardly enough to cover training and medical expenses, plus have enough left over to live on. I'd heard White try to say that UFC fighters make enough, but the idea that he even has to defend himself says a lot. If these numbers are all correct, I hope more fighters throw their names on the suit, and that they win.

 

[Chumly]

Honestly this should be a slam dunk. It's clear that they are a monopoly and use that power to keep it a monopoly. Dana white should have ever fucking dime taken from him.

 

[Dr.Acula]

It always struck me as really shady that these guys weren't getting eight, or even seven-figure purses for fighting. Sure, ten years ago, but now? As soon as you see a sold out arena in Vegas, and record PPV numbers, it becomes glaring that they can pay Roy Jones 25 million and GSP is earning in the six-figures, and it's the exact same money from the gate and from the PPV.

 

[AJLma]

This also puts the Joe Rogan talk with Brendan Schaub into perspective. Risking brain damage for $32,000.

 

[Kaladin]

Is this enough to ruin UFC, or at least make Dana White and Zuffa sell it to someone else?

 

[Heroman]

In comparison how does wrestlers get paid?

 

[User 479360]

I hate the UFC and wouldn't miss it if it was gone.

That's not really the reason for this post, though: I'm really surprised by how little it pays its fighters in comparison to other 'sports.'

 

[Maklershed]

I wonder if the people over at the Las Vegas Culinary Union are poppin corks right now?

 

[AstroLad]

Is this enough to ruin UFC, or at least make Dana White and Zuffa sell it to someone else?

UFC's kind of in a death spiral already, so I'm sure this doesn't help. Especially when they try to get loans to continue to sustain the business for example.

 

[Jake.]

Is this enough to ruin UFC, or at least make Dana White and Zuffa sell it to someone else?

no and highly unlikely.

 

[CadetMahoney]

Alistair Overeem: $386k

Stefan Struve: $33k

top kek

 

[Rest]

UFC's kind of in a death spiral already, so I'm sure this doesn't help. Especially when they try to get loans to continue to sustain the business for example.

More on this?

 

[Heel]

Ham & Eggers indeed. If they're doing four fights a year, that seems like hardly enough to cover training and medical expenses, plus have enough left over to live on. I'd heard White try to say that UFC fighters make enough, but the idea that he even has to defend himself says a lot. If these numbers are all correct, I hope more fighters throw their names on the suit, and that they win.

The complaint actually presents the following:

As part of its effort to foreclose potential rival MMA Promoters from accessing Elite Professional MMA Fighters, the UFC has contracted with more Fighters than it needs for bouts during any given year. For example, as of January 2013, the UFC staged an average of 1.66 MMA bouts per UFC Fighter per year, well under the three bouts per year the UFC claims it is obligated to make available to UFC Fighters. The UFC has approximately 500 Elite Professional MMA Fighters under contract, but only has plans for 45 events in 2015; each UFC event typically has 11 bouts. Each bout has slots for two UFC Fighters or a total of 990 slots across the planned 45 events—far below the 1,500 slots necessary to provide each UFC Fighter under contract with three bouts per year. In April 2014, UFC President Dana White acknowledged that the UFC has contracts with more Elite Professional MMA Fighters than necessary, stating: “We have 500 guys under contract, which is a lot more than we really need, and after each show, we really, really need to take a close look at what we do with guys.”

I'd argue that there's currently a bit of an arms race for fighter talent in MMA, and the UFC is purposefully holding as many contracts as possible to stifle competition regardless of what their contract stipulates. If they don't get their 3 fights a year, they're paid, but it's nothing in the grand scheme of things. They're also putting on a record amount of events, but the numbers just do not add up. None of this is alleged in the complaint, though.

 

[A More Normal Bird]

In short, I just do not see this fairing well for UFC if it sees a jury, which they're seeking, especially with Dana White quotes placed front-and-center.

Agreed, none of it looks good regardless, but it's going to play especially poorly to a jury. UFC are probably wishing it were an Athletic Commission adjudicating this, though even then they'd probably want to scrub all of Dana's cursing from the record to be in with a fighting chance.

 

[Guru-Guru]

It always struck me as really shady that these guys weren't getting eight, or even seven-figure purses for fighting. Sure, ten years ago, but now? As soon as you see a sold out arena in Vegas, and record PPV numbers, it becomes glaring that they can pay Roy Jones 25 million and GSP is earning in the six-figures, and it's the exact same money from the gate and from the PPV.

GSP's disclosed pay is in the six figures, but that doesn't include PPV points and non-disclosed pay. It has been confirmed that he makes about 3-5 million per fight. Disclosed pay shouldn't be taken at face value for the elite fighters/champions of the UFC.

 

[coleco]

Long time coming. This should be interesting but I wouldn't rule out any shady deals to get away with a favourable ruling.

 

[hunchback]

This isn't surprising in the least bit. There has always been this vibe from Dana White that shows he will screw you over if you aren't a good little soldier. I think that is the main reason St Pierre (sp) has no desire to come back to UFC. They lost me when they decided to bring Kimbo and Brock in. I can't remember the last time I sat down and watched a PPV that was worth the money.

 

[liger05]

I bet many fighters reminince about the good old days of Pride FC where the pay was good and and it came in brown paper bags.

The UFC salaries are a good example of why even though Boxing with all its BS and fights not being made its better that the fighters have more power in the money they earn.

Granted only a small percentage make the mega mega money but still more fighters in Boxing take more than $250k - $1 mil for a fight than ufc fighters.

 

[AstroLad]

More on this?

Declining ratings, overexpansion, mainstream concerns about violent sports, etc.
http://www.cagepotato.com/is-it-time-to-admit-mma-will-never-become-a-mainstream-success/

 

[industrian]

Ham & Eggers indeed. If they're doing four fights a year, that seems like hardly enough to cover training and medical expenses, plus have enough left over to live on. I'd heard White try to say that UFC fighters make enough, but the idea that he even has to defend himself says a lot. If these numbers are all correct, I hope more fighters throw their names on the suit, and that they win.

These are legally disclosed earnings. Dana White has made it a point never to disclose the full earnings of fighters. It's one of the lessons learned from boxing and all the leeches that latched on to guys like Tyson when he made it big.

That said, unless you're a superstar you won't be making big money.

And to my knowledge the UFC still provides health insurance to its fighters.

 

[Rest]

The complaint actually presents the following:



I'd argue that there's currently a bit of an arms race for fighter talent in MMA, and the UFC is purposefully holding as many contracts as possible to stifle competition regardless of what their contract stipulates. If they don't get their 3 fights a year, they're paid, but it's nothing in the grand scheme of things. They're also putting on a record amount of events, but the numbers just do not add up. None of this is alleged in the complaint, though.

26k a year is fucking nothing. Wow. They must have to train and hold down a second job. I can't imagine the few weeks of solid prep needed for a fight followed by a week + for recovery to allow anybody to even maintain secondary employment. They're holding people in poverty.

These are legally disclosed earnings. Dana White has made it a point never to disclose the full earnings of fighters. It's one of the lessons learned from boxing and all the leeches that latched on to guys like Tyson when he made it big.

That said, unless you're a superstar you won't be making big money.

And to my knowledge the UFC still provides health insurance to its fighters.

Are bottom card guys really getting much more than what's disclosed? How much more can we estimate that they're making? Real questions, I don't follow MMA closely so this is all new to me.

 

[alr1ght]

Stipe Miocic fought in the main event on last Saturday's FOX card and still holds a job as a local firefighter. He was scheduled to make 18K, but earned an extra 50K for fight of the night.

 

[liger05]

How much would people say it costs for a fighter to do all that training per year. $50k - $100k

 

[GaimeGuy]

It's painfully obvious. UFC has hundreds of fighters, but not enough card+undercard space for even 1.25 fights per fighter per year. They're overexpanded solely for the sake of maintaining a monopoly

 

[Officerrob]

This doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell. The main argument is that the UFC is a monopoly and that there is no other promotional option. The problem is Bellator just did 1.8 million viewers on Spike T.V. (peaking at 2 million, making it the most-watched and highest–rated MMA fight on cable in 2014).

 

[jchap]

On one hand fighters are risking personal injury for tiny cut. On the other you get competitive match-ups, one belt per division, and less of the hyped up tomato can records you see in boxing. Also a loss is not a career ender in MMA. If this case breaks it up it will become like boxing for better or worse.

 

[Rest]

This doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell. The main argument is that the UFC is a monopoly and that there is no other promotional option. The problem is Bellator just did 1.8 million viewers on Spike T.V. (peaking at 2 million, making it the most-watched and highest–rated MMA fight on cable in 2014).

Aww, you edited.

 

[block tower]

would love to see the same thing happen to the WWE.

 

[Angry Grimace]

They don't have the money and incomes to pay these guys like boxers.

 

[Officerrob]

would love to see the same thing happen to the WWE.

WWE is a whole different ball of wax, why the whole "independent contractor" bullshit hasn't been challenged yet I have no idea

 

[mreddie]

Declining ratings, overexpansion, mainstream concerns about violent sports, etc.
http://www.cagepotato.com/is-it-time-to-admit-mma-will-never-become-a-mainstream-success/

Sounds like the sport has plateaued and everyone overly concerned about concussions. Plus, unless you're a household name like GSP, Bones, Ronda or Silva, some people won't see the fights. Plus, Dana saying he beat his rivals and gloating isn't helping, it's almost Vince McMahon like.

 

[liger05]

Declining ratings, overexpansion, mainstream concerns about violent sports, etc.
http://www.cagepotato.com/is-it-time-to-admit-mma-will-never-become-a-mainstream-success/

Correct. UFC/MMA will be a niche sport and I wouldn't be surprised if Zuffa sell up once they have milked the cow dry.

I don't watch much these days but does anyone believe the more refined and skillful fighters get it turns off the blood thirsty men who don't want to see guys rolling around.

 

[Heel]

26k a year is fucking nothing. Wow. They must have to train and hold down a second job. I can't imagine the few weeks of solid prep needed for a fight followed by a week + for recovery to allow anybody to even maintain secondary employment. They're holding people in poverty.


Are bottom card guys really getting much more than what's disclosed? How much more can we estimate that they're making? Real questions, I don't follow MMA closely so this is all new to me.

How much would people say it costs for a fighter to do all that training per year. $50k - $100k

A lot of fighters hold a second job or work at their gym. From the complaint:

UFC Fighters typically pay out approximately 15 to 25% of their MMA earnings to cover the costs of gym memberships and management fees and must pay the costs of any necessary sparring partners brought into the athlete’s training camp in preparation for a bout.

It's being kind. I want to say a fighter went on record saying when he factored in flying his coaches to corner him and hotel rooms (UFC only covers this to the bare minimum) he basically fought for free. Not remembering who it is right now to link the story. Maybe someone remembers this.

As far as undisclosed bonuses goes, some fighters have gone on record. I don't remember exact figures, but I've seen a few thousand for guys like Sean McCorkle to someone like Joe Lauzon saying he got a 5 figure amount for a fight in which he likely bled like a stuck pig. Again, not finding links at the moment.

 

[coleco]

They don't have the money and incomes to pay these guys like boxers.

What are the numbers of their ppv shows and how much do they cost? They used to be around 300-500k per show, sometimes much higher. Then the live gate could be another 2-5 million. There's also the ads and additional merchandising, tv deals, tv shows, game licenses, etc.

There's lots of money, even though it's less than it used to be.

 

[AstroLad]

Sounds like the sport has plateaued and everyone overly concerned about concussions. Plus, unless you're a household name like GSP, Bones, Ronda or Silva, some people won't see the fights. Plus, Dana saying he beat his rivals and gloating isn't helping, it's almost Vince McMahon like.

Definitely has. I used to watch every single card and even the prelims most of the time. I don't know what it is about cards the past few years but now I just miss most of them and maybe read about the ME days after the fact.

 

[Jest Chillin]

How much would people say it costs for a fighter to do all that training per year. $50k - $100k

It would depend on the gym but I doubt the talent that's actually signed to major* organizations, thus are fighting in televised events are paying very much, if at all. They're walking advertisements for the gyms, which likely generate most of their money from non-signed and lower-signed members.

I imagine bigger gyms (Tristar, Jackson's MMA, The Lab, Alpha Male) probably get so much interest they actively turn people away. And the ones they don't turn away probably pay a pretty penny.