Back in February, Gilbert Melendez re-signed with the UFC after it was initially reported that he had agreed to a deal with Bellator. But, the UFC exercised its “right to match” in Gil’s contract. The move showed a newfound Bellator strategy to become more competitive with the UFC
Melendez became a free agent after his contract with Zuffa ended with his fight against Diego Sanchez at UFC 166. Melendez was given offers from Bellator and the WSOF. It was thought that Bellator had secured the lightweight but the UFC agreed to match the terms of the Bellator deal. Melendez also received a title shot for the lightweight title and became a coach on TUF opposite Anthony Pettis.
Via MMA Fighting:
Per the terms of the agreement, according to several sources, Melendez’s deal guarantees that at least 75 percent of the 31-year-old’s fights will be contested on pay-per-view moving forward. Additionally, income earned from Melendez’s contracted pay-per-view points will kick in at a lower minimum buy rate than for any contract in UFC history, meaning Melendez will still earn pay-per-view point earnings on an event that performs poorly at the box office.
Payout Perspective:
The Gil deal makes the list because it revealed some key points that his representation was able to get on his behalf. This drew the envy, of some fighters. Shortly after Gil’s deal, Nate Diaz went on a twitter rant about his unhappiness with his UFC contract and asked to be released. Gil’s deal was a rare example of fighter leverage and the invocation of the “right to match” clause. We recall the problems occurring with this in the Eddie Alvarez legal battle. Here, there were no problems, and in fact, Gil made out well. Of course, his next fight was a loss to Anthony Pettis at UFC 181. He made a base of $200,000 and should receive PPV points from the PPV buys.
With the recent UFC lawsuit filings in San Jose, new uniform deal, potential new sponsors in the UFC and the rise of Bellator, it will be interesting to see if/when another top free agent comes up, how the UFC deals with the negotiations.
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