Questions, Debt Remain from Shine Fights’ “Worlds Collide” event
August 31, 2010
As Shine Fights prepares for its first event since its cancelled show on May 15th, there remain unanswered questions, unfinished business and owed money from the failed “Worlds Collide” event in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Officially, Shine Fights’ May 15th event would have featured a boxer versus MMA fighter as Ricardo Mayorga was set to fight Din Thomas. However, boxing promoter Don King filed an injunction preventing Mayorga from fighting. Despite the injunction, the event could have gone forward. But, according to MMASpot.net, the North Carolina Boxing Authority shut down the event because it was discovered that Shine Fights did not have the requisite cash on hand for the fighter purses. The Authority indicated it was a state requirement for the purse money to be on hand prior to the event.
In its detailed account, MMASpot.net chronicles the problems leading up to the failed “Worlds Collide” event. Details reveal disorganization and chaos leading up to the May 15th event. Not only did Shine Fights misread the litigation threat posed by Don King, it financially overextended itself by failing to pay the venue and its fighters. According to Francis Gilpin of the Fayetteville Observer, the event venue in Fayetteville, the Crown Center, lost $42,000 in anticipation of the event. The article states that efforts to recover the money from Shine Fights have been fruitless.
In addition to the Crown Center losses, fight officials, a physician and staff were not paid. On top of this debt, fighter salaries estimated to be as much as $75,000 had not been paid.
Many fighters on the card that night speculate that the promoters never had the money.
From MMASpot.net:
Jamal Patterson, who received forty percent of his contracted “show” purse, echoes many of the sentiments shared by other fighters that are still seeking payment, “I don’t think they ever had the money. If they did it would have been at the arena. [Shine Fights CEO] Devin [Price] made promises that he couldn’t keep.”
Shine Fights CEO Devin Price told MMA Junkie in July that all contracts had been fulfilled. Price cited contractual language stating that Shine Fights, “in its discretion,” could pay fighters 25% of their stated compensation in the event of cancellation.
In an interview with MMA Weekly, Ron Foster, former matchmaker for Shine Fights spoke about the failed May 15th event.
Looking back on it all, Foster knows things could have been handled differently, but he doesn’t point fingers at anyone.
“Yes, I do believe that, but hindsight is always 20/20,” said Foster. “Of course you can look back at a situation after it has already happened and you can say ‘man if we would have done this different, if we would have just done that different,’ so hindsight is 20/20. It definitely could have been prevented.
“It wasn’t just negligence, it was the countless hours put into hyping up the fighters, it was everything. We put so much time and effort into everything; it wasn’t like we just overlooked small details. How does stuff happen that you just couldn’t prepare for?”
MMA Spot notes that some fighter contracts were never signed by Shine Fights officials:
One boxing commission official noted that in addition to the lack of payments to fighters, state commissions, and the venue, the fight contracts placed on file with the N.C.B.A. [North Carolina Boxing Authority] were not signed by the promotion. Whether intentional or unintentional the lack of a signature on the agreements leaves legal holes, in the event that a fighter did take legal action against the promotion.
Payout Perspective:
The detailed account of Shine Fights failed event in May reveals that Don King should not be the scapegoat for the canceling of the event. Based on the accounts, Shine Fights did not have the financial backing to pull off the event. Even though Ron Foster claims that they did not overlook small details, failing to abide by the governing authority’s rules providing fighter purse salaries was a major oversight. It is not clear why the Crown Center has not sued Shine Fights for breach of contract and/or to recover money owed to it. Similarly, I wonder why the fighters and/or their agents have not tried to sue Shine Fights. One can only speculate, based on the portions of the contract released to MMA Junkie, that the terms in the fighter contract indicate that it was within Shine Fights’ discretion to pay fighters. It would be very interesting to see a fighter contract in its entirety to see the contract terms concerning cancellation.
A basic tenet of a written contract is that it must be signed by a party to the contract in order to make it valid (there are exceptions but are not relevant here). Shine Fights failure to execute its fighter contracts could show a glaring oversight or a willful omission. Certainly, the lack of signature could provide a loophole if a fighter does sue for breach of contract.
Bellator Strikes Back
August 13, 2010
Earlier this week, Bellator Fighting Championship filed a lawsuit against the Ultimate Fighting Championship for alleged use of one of its contracted fighters. Bellator claims that Jonathan Brookins was under contract with Bellator when Brookins accepted a slot on Spike TV’s reality series The Ultimate Fighter. Brookins is a cast member of this fall’s Team GSP v. Team Koscheck season.
In addition to the UFC, Bellator has sued Brookins and his manager in the lawsuit. According to Bellator’s CEO, Brookins’ management team hid the fact that Brookins was going to be on The Ultimate Fighter.
Via MMA Junkie:
“We’ve been offering the fighter fights, and hindsight being 20-20, we were lied to by his management saying he was injured and couldn’t accept fights,” Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney today told MMAjunkie.com. “We find out afterward he was filming and fighting on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ – that he made the show and was in the house.”
Prior to The Ultimate Fighter, Brookins was allowed to fight for another organization on two occasions. However, Bellator approved the fights outside of Bellator.
Payout Perspective:
Bellator claims that the UFC interfered with the contractual relationship Brookins had with Bellator by offering Brookins a spot in The Ultimate Fighter. In addition, Bellator claims that Brookins and his manager misrepresented that Brookins was hurt or unavailable to fight for Bellator in order to preserve himself for The Ultimate Fighter.
Brookins’ management states that Bellator verbally told Brookins that he was released from his contract.
This lawsuit is similar to the Tennesee Titans suing USC and Lane Kiffin when Kiffin hired Titans assistant coach Kennedy Pola. In that case, Titans head coach Jeff Fisher claims that he was not notified by Kiffin that Kiffin was pursuing Pola. It is unlikely that the UFC sought approval from Bellator to pursue Brookins once he made the show.
Bellator’s lawsuit comes just weeks after Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC sued Bellator. Coincidence? Bellator’s lawsuit will depend on whether it can be show that the UFC caused Brookins to break its contract with Bellator. Brookins’ contract with Bellator will be a key issue in this case. If this lawsuit proceeds, we might be able to learn more about the nature of fighter contracts. How long are fighter contracts? Is it a set number of fights or an annual contract? If Brookins was released from his contract, did it have to be in writing or was a verbal release sufficient? Are there penalties for breach specifically included in the contract? If so, does the fighter have to pay?
Ironically, Zuffa’s lawsuit against Bellator was based in part on the alleged taking of propriety information included in UFC fighter contracts.
Jason Cruz is a freelance writer and attorney licensed in Washington state and California (currently inactive). He holds a BA in History and JD from the University of Washington and a Masters in Journalism from the University of Southern California. A longtime MMA fan, he has written about the sport for various publications.
M-1 Disappointed with Media Coverage
March 11, 2010
Dave Meltzer of Yahoo! Sports gives us an update on the fight status of Fedor Emelianenko and talks about the on-going renegotiations that are taking place between his M-1 management team and Strikeforce.
Kogan allowed that M-1 Global was disappointed in what happened with the promotion of the last fight, but was quick to say the problem wasn’t with Strikeforce. He said he was disappointed in media coverage of the event because the M-1 Global name in stories on the show wasn’t featured more visibly.
“The way the show was promoted, that was an issue to us, but we don’t have an issue with Strikeforce over it,” Kogan said. “M-1 isn’t a management company for Fedor Emelianenko. We are a fight promotion. We have done matches all over the world, U.S., Asia, Europe, Japan. But the media didn’t feature the M-1 name [in coverage of the November show]. Specifically, it wasn’t Strikeforce’s fault. They honored their agreement. The way the media perceived the event was it was Strikeforce. M-1 wasn’t promoted that much. That was an issue with us.”
Payout Perspective:
The media perceived the event to be Strikeforce because it was Strikeforce. There might be a signed contract sitting in a filing cabinet somewhere that says otherwise, but let’s look at the probable truth: Strikeforce was likely the company that booked the arena, dealt with the commission, operated the event, made the matches, paid the fighters, negotiated the North American television distribution deal, and invited the press.
What exactly did M-1 contribute?
Even if that’s not the case – say M-1 was an equal partner with regard to responsibility – can anyone blame the fighters, the fans, or the media for still perceiving this as a Strikeforce event? We’re talking about a company that has been in operation for nearly 20 years; and, in the last five, has promoted countless of MMA shows under the Strikeforce banner. Now, all of a sudden, it promotes one single event that looks, feels, and tastes exactly as it used to, only it’s called something slightly different – a “co-promotion”. Is it still Strikeforce?
Absolutely.
Therein lies the problem with M-1′s plan to leverage Fedor into building its own promotional brand: the infrequency, not to mention inadequacy, of simply slapping its brand onto a Strikeforce product isn’t fooling anyone. Not to mention the fact that Strikeforce is already having a tough enough time communicating its own brand message.
It’s bad enough for Strikeforce that many casual fans still refer to the sport as “UFC” – making it almost impossible to deliver a simple and concise message of differentiation in the first place – but now they’ve also got to decipher the meaning of “Strikeforce and M-1 Global present…”
What exactly does that mean? Why should it matter to the consumer?
….
I also find it interesting that, in the last two weeks, we’ve seen three different people from M-1 speak on the topic of Fedor – each one of them with a slightly more ambiguous and different answer than the last. Kogan’s “premature” comment is even less clear than Vadim Finkelstein’s “likely May” which is different than a loosely translated “probabl April” from Apy Echteld (whom, I’m told, may not even have anything to do with Fedor anymore).
James Toney Signs with UFC
March 3, 2010
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has officially announced the signing of former heavyweight boxing champion James “Lights Out” Toney to a multi-fight contract.
“LIGHTS OUT” IN THE OCTAGON™ – UFC® SIGNS TONEY
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – He’s one of the premier boxers of the last 25 years, a future Hall of Famer who has won world titles in three weight classes while taking on a Who’s Who of the sport, including fellow champions Evander Holyfield, John Ruiz, Hasim Rahman, Vassiliy Jirov, Roy Jones Jr., Mike McCallum, Iran Barkley, and Michael Nunn. But there is one more mountain left to climb for James “Lights Out” Toney, and that’s to show if he can defeat the mixed martial arts warriors of the UFC®.
So later this year, UFC President Dana White is prepared to give Toney his shot, signing the boxing superstar to a multi-fight contract this week to compete in the UFC.
“A lot of pro boxers have made a lot of noise about how they would do in mixed martial arts, but nobody on the level of a James Toney has been willing to back up his talk,” said White. “He’s a legend whose boxing record speaks for itself, and he’s a guy who I’ve got a lot of respect for. Now he’s got every intention of matching that success in MMA, and I think he’s got the right attitude – let’s see if he can do it.”
Owner of an amazing 72-6-3 (2 no contests) record that includes 44 wins by knockout, 41-year old James Toney is respected throughout the boxing world for his old-school approach to the fight game. For him, that means fighting anyone at anytime, and doing so by emphasizing all aspects of the sweet science.
31-2 as an amateur, Toney soon turned his sights to the pro game in 1988, and in 1991 he won his first world title at middleweight by knocking out unbeaten champion Michael Nunn in the 11th round. After six successful defenses, he moved up to 168 pounds and defeated Iran Barkley for the super middleweight championship in 1993, but he wasn’t done yet. After a stay at light heavyweight, Toney won the cruiserweight world title by defeating Vassiliy Jirov in 2003’s Fight of The Year, and his success continued at heavyweight, where he defeated Evander Holyfield, Dominick Guinn, and Fres Oquendo. In his most recent bout, on September 12, 2009, Toney – a two-time winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America’s Fighter of the Year award – halted Matthew Greer in two rounds.
Current UFC fighters Marcus Davis, Chris Lytle and Alessio Sakara have competed as professional boxers in the past, but with today’s announcement, Toney becomes the most accomplished boxing veteran to ever compete in the Octagon™.
An opponent and date for Toney’s UFC debut has not been determined, and will be announced at a later date.
Payout Perspective:
What are the prospects of this deal?
The upside: The UFC is going to make big bank on this fight and it’s going to draw a lot of attention to the sport of MMA. It may give the UFC a shot to demonstrate it’s legitimacy; throwing Toney into the cage with someone, like Cain Velasquez, that will destroy him could send a significant message to the sports world. Moreover, the amount of interest his fight(s) will draw provides a great opportunity to showcase some of the UFC’s other talent.
The downside: Toney has a punchers chance and could win his first fight; at which point MMA would be universally dismissed by many people. It could also be a lose-lose situation for the UFC on the legitimacy front: even if Toney loses, most will chalk it up to him being a 41 year-old over-the-hill former champion that was run out of boxing. Lastly, one should question whether the UFC really needs Toney. They’ve done very well without this type of freak show fight. So, why start now?
Overeem Committed to K-1 Until Early April
December 24, 2009
Steven Marrocco of MMAWeekly sheds some interesting light on the fighting and contract status of Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem:
In January, the promotion secured Overeem to a one-year, three-fight deal, obligating him to a return in lieu of an informal talent-sharing agreement with K-1 that saw him snag the title in November 2007.
Overeem, who was forced to pull out of two scheduled Strikeforce events in June and August with a serious hand injury, is scheduled to appear against Kazuyuki Fujita at K-1 Dynamite on New Year’s Eve – his fifth K-1 fight in 2009 – and is planning a sixth in late March/early April 2010.
That was grim news to those expecting a showdown between Overeem and Fedor Emelianenko under the CBS eye in April. More confounding was that it was Overeem asking to fight the Russian after sacking James Thompson at Dream 12.
“Alistair Overeem wants to fight Fedor in April 2010,” the Dutchman said after the Oct. 25 fight. “So write that down.”
And while Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told MMAWeekly.com he would invite the champion to participate on the promotion’s second CBS card in April, his manager said the K-1 opportunity – the final fight on his contract with the Japanese promotion – is too good to pass up.
“I never said he wasn’t fighting in April,” Overeem manager Bas Boon told MMAWeekly.com. “What I said was there will be a fight by the end of March or April in K-1, and actually, he did very well in K-1 and he’s got an extremely good contract. Commercial-wise, it’s better for him, and we agreed to this already on K-1, that we will do that fight. After that fight, he will fight in Strikeforce. Two, three times, whatever is available in May, June, July, we don’t care.”
Boon said Overeem could make a late April date if he wasn’t injured, but doubted Coker would agree to promote a fight under those circumstances. He said the hand injuries extended the time on his Strikeforce contract, but did not say for how long.
For now, it was time to strike when the iron was hot.
“(Golden Glory) has a 10-year relationship with Alistair, and we told him that this is a better way to work for him,” said Boon. “Think about it, man, he’s broadcast in 150 countries (on K-1). Right now, he’s got more sponsors than he ever had before. In his own country, he had a crazy rating during the Grand Prix, but also on EuroSport and also in Thailand. And this is where the UFC isn’t even broadcast. UFC is not even broadcast in Europe. Nobody knows about the UFC. Semmy Schilt and Alistair Overeem are gods there. You’re talking about a continent with 280 million people.
“(American fans) have to understand, man, to fight Badr Hari, Remy Bonjasky, Peter Aerts, Texeira, and again, Badr Hari, these are the top strikers in the world. If there would be any Americans wanting to win $400,000 or $500,000 in U.S., which is big money, why are they not there? Why are they not in K-1?”
Payout Perspective:
Herein lies the issue with non-exclusive contracts: not only does Strikeforce have to compete for fighters entering the entertainment business, but it’s also got to compete for the time and booking of its own fighters with other organizations. For as much as the contract type helps the organization secure new talent, it’s also managed to put two of Strikeforce’s divisions on hold for the better part of the last two years.
It’s tough to fault Overeem for taking the money and the exposure in Europe; the latter of which might really pay off for M-1 if and when it comes time to promote a Fedor vs. Overeem fight internationally.
However, given that Overeem only signed a one-year, three-fight contract — and that it has already been extended — you have to wonder for how many more fights he’ll remain in the organization. Depending on the type of extension that has already been applied to his contract, it’s conceivable that he could leave Strikeforce without defending the belt against Fedor. Worse still, he could beat Fedor and then walk – leaving Strikeforce in a very bad position.
Lashley Signs with Strikeforce
December 10, 2009
Strikeforce has announced the signing of former WWE Superstar Bobby Lashley has signed a multi-fight contract, and the heavyweight will make his debut in the New Year on a January 30th fight card.
FORMER WWE CHAMPION AND UNDEFEATED MMA HEAVYWEIGHT
BOBBY LASHLEY TO MAKE STRIKEFORCE DEBUT ON JANUARY 30
NEW YORK (December 10, 2009)-Former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) heavyweight champion and undefeated mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter has signed a multi-year agreement with STRIKEFORCE and will make his debut for the world championship MMA promotion at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday, January 30.
The 6 foot 3 inch, 250 pound Lashley, also a former collegiate wrestling star for Missouri Valley College and member of The United States Army, will face an opponent that has not yet been determined during the live, SHOWTIME® telecast of STRIKEFORCE: Miami, the historic, first-ever STRIKEFORCE event in the state of Florida.
Payout Perspective:
Strikeforce is making quite the power move in MMA right now; making big splashes in the free agent market with the likes of Dan Henderson, Melvin Manhoef, and Bobby Lashley all signing in recent days.
Now the question is, can the organization capitalize on all of this talent? The deals with Showtime and CBS give Strikeforce a solid distribution platform, but ultimately it’s going to be the message communicated through PR and marketing channels that determines how successful they’ll be in the future. What is the identity of Strikeforce? What will the brand come to stand for? How will it differentiate itself from the UFC and matter to the fans?
Moreover, I think the question needs to be asked, should the UFC have signed Henderson and Lashley?
The level of interest that heavyweights generate is, alone, enough to make this a valid question (not to mention the fact that Lashley brings some cross-over appeal from the WWE – albeit not nearly as much as Lesnar). In this situation it might have been wise to pay him enough that he stops with TNA, and then bring him along slowly. The risk, of course, is that public begins to confuse pro wrestling with MMA as yet another former WWE star crosses the pond.
The issue of Henderson is probably less important. He’s an excellent fighter, but competing in the middleweight and light heavyweight weight divisions where he wasn’t likely to be a title holder. In fact, he might have been more a detriment to those divisions.
Henderson to Strikeforce a Good Move for MMA
December 7, 2009
Loretta Hunt of Sherdog details the current talk surrounding newly-signed Strikeforce fighter, Dan Henderson, and when he’ll step into the cage for the promotion:
Henderson could debut for Strikeforce as early as April on a tentatively planned CBS event, Sherdog.com has learned, and might face the promotion’s middleweight champion, Jake Shields, right out of the gate. Henderson, who also fights at light heavyweight, is being eyed for matchups against Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi and the world’s No. 1 heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, said a source with knowledge of the deal.
Payout Perspective:
There are those that will continue to wonder whether Dan Henderson might still be the one capable of beating Anderson Silva, and it’s unfortunate that we may never know. However, from an MMA perspective, it’s probably better that he signed with Strikeforce.
Henderson adds a lot of value to Strikeforce, because he helps to shore up some of their thiner divisions. His addition makes Strikeforce stronger and more competitive – and competition is a great thing in MMA.
Had he stayed in the UFC, he wouldn’t have made as big of an impact on the sport as w hole. Sure, he may have fought Anderson again – maybe he even wins that fight – but in all likelihood he loses. Then he simply becomes another Rich Franklin to the UFC; someone who wrecks a division because he can beat most of the contenders, but isn’t good enough to touch the champ.
The Return of Rampage
December 4, 2009
Rampage Jackson has publicly admitted he will be returning to the Octagon in order to finish his contract with the UFC.
Bloodyelbow has the latest straight from Rampage’s blog:
Now, I wanted to let my fans know that I’m going to come back to the UFC & finish my contract. Not because the haters are talking shit about me being scared of Rashad or Titties or anybody else. I’m coming back for my fans & to shut Rashad’s mouth up & shut Dana’s mouth up. Then after that I’m going back to doing movies & I might do a boxing match once a year just to stay in shape. Hate on dis!
Payout Perspective:
It’s more or less what everyone expected, and certainly a piece of much needed good news for the UFC. Furthermore, if you look at the history of the UFC’s relationship with its fighters, it’s not a stretch to imagine that Dana White and Rampage could patch things to the point that Rampage decides he’d like to continue fighting beyond his current contract.
The news is pretty fresh, and we don’t really know a lot at this point, but it’s conceivable that Rampage vs. Evans could help to co-headline the GSP fight in March (which would essentially give the organization it’s first solid, top-end card in the span of 6 months.
Affliction Files Motion to Dismiss Fedor Litigation, Plus an Examination of Allegations in Suit
November 12, 2009
MMAPayout previously discussed the basic facts surrounding the Emelianenko v. Affliction litigation and has now learned that Affliction filed what is known in federal court as a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss the case on the ground that Emelianenko and M-1 (to simplify, “Fedor”) have failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, basically arguing that even if the court looks at all the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, Fedor still has not made a legitimate case.
Affliction’s motion to dismiss in essence argues that the lawsuit is frivolous.
Affliction’s Tom Atencio told MMAPayout.com:
“Affliction landed a serious blow to the Fedor and M-1 lawsuit by filing a motion to dismiss in federal court in response to the Russians’ complaint only eight days after being served. . . . The counter by Affliction goes to show Affliction does not intend to rollover and be extorted by the Russian visitors and how frivolous and meritless Affliction considers the allegations of their complaint.”
Before examining the nature of Affliction’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, it’s worth providing a basic analysis of Fedor’s allegations.
Although the complaint itself is quite complex, it actually can be easily summarized in lay terms. Fedor had a three-fight contract with Affliction, and fought two of the three fights, and agreed to fight Josh Barnett to close the contract. Barnett failed a steroids test, Affliction had discussions with prospective replacements for Barnett (e.g., Vitor Belfort and Brett Rogers) but ultimately reached an agreement with UFC that would permit Affliction to once again sponsor UFC fighters so long as it agreed to exit the promotion game.
All contracts have what is called an implied covenant of good faith, and Fedor argues that Affliction, instead of satisfying its obligation of booking a third fight for Fedor by finding a suitable replacement for Barnett, chose the path of least resistance by returning to UFC and cancelling the third show altogether, leaving the contracts with Fedor unsatisfied.
The substantive issues in the lawsuit are interesting: in contract law there is what’s known as the excuse of impossibility, and here the argument would be that Barnett’s failing the steroids test rendered impossible the satisfaction of Affliction’s obligations on the Fedor contracts, with Fedor arguing that Barnett’s negative drug test was used as a mere pretext to allow Affliction to exit the promotion end of MMA and stiff Fedor.
But then we come to Affliction’s motion to dismiss, which throws a monkey wrench into the entire substantive analysis. You see, Fedor argues that Affliction breached its contracts by cancelling Affliction: Trilogy and reaching agreement with UFC in July 2009.
Affliction’s motion to dismiss, however, points to the language of the contracts, which calls for termination of the agreements on either (i) March 31, 2009; or (ii) the conclusion of the third fight, with the contracts specifically stating that they terminate upon the earlier of the two dates. Since there was no third fight, the earlier date was March 31, 2009, and Affliction argues in its motion to dismiss that it cannot be alleged to have breached a contract in July 2009 that had expired four months earlier.
Although this is an attractive argument, there are many complexities to the suit, including issues of equity (i.e., fairness) in which Fedor could conceivably recover foreseeable damages suffered by his reasonably relying upon promises made by Affliction, so I do not expect this motion to dismiss to entirely end the matter.
Moreover, the language Afflcition points to in its motion to dismiss has wriggle room that could be favorable to Fedor: the contract cancels on the earlier of the two dates “unless the term of the promotion agreement or any extension thereto is . . . extended further pursuant to this Agreement or pursuant to a separate writing . . . .” I would expect some — perhaps very creative — arguments from Fedor that indeed the contract term had extended either through explicit writing, oral agreement, or even something known in contract law as course of conduct of the parties.
Stay tuned for an examination of Fedor’s upcoming response to Affliction’s motion to dismiss Emelianenko v. Affliction.
Where Go Hendo?
October 23, 2009
So MMAJunkie reported that Dana White claimed negotiations with Dan Henderson had reached a standstill due to Henderson’s wanting to be the highest paid fighter in the UFC:
“We’re at a stalemate right now,” White said. “The money that [Henderson] is asking for would make him by far the highest-paid guy in the UFC.”
White initially told Yahoo! Sports less than a week ago that his negotiations with Henderson had failed and that “Hollywood” was close to signing with Strikeforce. Henderson then refuted those claims with several media outlets, insisting his contact with Strikeforce had simply been introductory in nature.
Loretta Hunt of Sherdog.com then reported that Henderson’s camp denied that Henderson was demanding that kind of money during negotiations:
Aaron Crecy, Henderson’s business partner and manager who has been privy to all offers circulated between the two parties, reiterated similar sentiments regarding White’s contract claims.
“Contracts are confidential, so that statement’s impossible to prove or disprove,” said Crecy. “However, we have done our due diligence. We certainly don’t believe that to be the case. Dan understands and we have a certain belief on where he stands in the hierarchy. Certainly there are champions and former UFC champions that deserve to be paid more than Dan.”
Payout Perspective:
MMAPayout has discussed why Dan Henderson’s negotiating tactics were unlikely to lead to a lucrative new contract with UFC, despite his being at least temporarily the hottest free agent in Mixed Martial Arts.
Now we’re receiving seemingly contradictory reports relating to the contract negotiations themselves: Dana White makes the claim that Henderson wants to be “by far” the highest paid fighter in UFC, and Henderson’s camp dismisses it as the absurdity it would seem to be.
I’m not certain that the claims are entirely inconsistent. What we’re hearing is that the sticking point in the negotiations is Henderson’s demand for a seven figure signing bonus, as Henderson seems to believe (reasonably) that this is his last chance to make big money in the business.
I believe it’s possible that Henderson is requesting the largest signing bonus in UFC, which, in combination with his base pay, could from one perspective make him the highest paid fighter in UFC. This point of view, however, discounts the millions of dollars made by fighters whose contracts are structured to provide them shares of ppv revenue (providing the ppv reaches a certain number of buys).
Even if Henderson were to be given a share of ppv revenue, he’s never proven to be a huge draw, and I’d say it’s impossible that, if granted, his demands would make him UFC’s highest paid fighter. I’m not even going to research this one, I’ll tell you who it is in 2009 (and probably going forward into the future): Brock Lesnar.
Unfortunately by stating early in negotiations that he had no desire to work for Strikeforce, Henderson gave away all leverage in his negotiations with UFC, and Dana White seems to believe Henderson will eventually come around and will agree to what the UFC is offering him, with maybe a small concession from the promotional juggernaut to let Dan save face.
And I’d bet more money than I’d be willing to place — with even odds – on Lyoto Machida at UFC 104 that Dana White is 100% correct.
