It's a Good Time to Be a Free Agent in Mixed Martial Arts

by Michael Rome on Jul 24, 2008 1:29 PM EDT in News

The Vancouver Sun has a piece up discussing Georges St. Pierre's contract negotiations:

"Before it expires, they'll want to negotiate because they won't want me to be a free agent, let the Japanese get their hands on me," St-Pierre said....

Standing in the way of a more lucrative deal, obviously, is Fitch. St-Pierre will be fighting in the U.S., without the home-field advantage that buoyed him against Serra last April.

That could change soon enough; St-Pierre is hearing rumours the UFC will return to Montreal, perhaps next year, and might even try to fill up Olympic Stadium."

It's a good time to be a free agent, and I think St. Pierre will end up getting a very good deal. With the Affliction salaries floating around, the UFC won't risk losing one of their top stars. St. Pierre is already paid well, but most of it is in discretionary bonuses, and it's in his best interest to guarantee himself that money in the future. If he has good management, he is in a strong position to demand money that would make him the top paid fighter in the UFC. He is one guy they definitely won't let go, and his contract will be another example of how fighters benefit from competition.

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And don’t forget, he already has a very close relationship with Affliction. The UFC will have to pay a ton to keep him around.

by Luke Thomas on Jul 24, 2008 1:31 PM EDT 0 recs

I still have my doubts about fighters who may move from UFC to Affliction. I just think it is best to stay with an established organization than moving to a start up.
We’ve seen this fail too many times already.

by lovingmma25 on Jul 24, 2008 1:35 PM EDT 0 recs

Right, moving is such a gigantic risk right now. Affliction could be gone in 3 months as a fighting promotion, and Dana White can be a very spiteful person. The stardom and stability that comes with the UFC cannot be overstated. They’ll pay, and I suspect it’s going to be in the 2-3m per fight range.

by Michael Rome on Jul 24, 2008 1:39 PM EDT 0 recs

“They’ll pay, and I suspect it’s going to be in the 2-3m per fight range.”

2-3 million per fight? Do you really think that or am I reading your post wrong?

by SplitBreast on Jul 24, 2008 2:46 PM EDT up 0 recs

He’s heavily rumored to have received a discretionary bonus of over $1m for the Serra fight. They are already paying him a lot, and there’s no reason he shouldn’t be pushed up to the high range of things. I suspect with his drawing power in Canada and the U.S., he can demand a deal worth millions and get it.

by Michael Rome on Jul 24, 2008 2:55 PM EDT up 0 recs

Cool. I really hope he gets it. Any idea what the extension on A. Silva’s contract paid?

by SplitBreast on Jul 24, 2008 2:58 PM EDT up 0 recs

If that’s the case, then he’ll get pay 300k, plus 2.7 mil behind the scenes.

by cyph on Jul 24, 2008 7:09 PM EDT up 0 recs

An established fighter would be a fool to leave the UFC for an upstart promotion like Affliction…and as Michael alluded to…you do not want to shaft Dana White.

http://tharealness.wordpress.com/

by Tha Realness on Jul 24, 2008 1:45 PM EDT 0 recs

Dana White took back BJ Penn, Jens Pulver, and Tito Ortiz for slights that would be equal or worse to GSP walking out. If they believe GSP can fill Olympic Stadium, or at least cover costs there, you really think they wouldn’t take him back were he to leave and the first promotion to grab him failed?

by D.Capitated on Jul 24, 2008 2:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

GSP will get his chedda’. Canada = GSP, GSP = Canada.

by cyph on Jul 24, 2008 7:10 PM EDT up 0 recs

GSP has about as much leverage as any fighter. I don’t see him going anywhere. I hope he doesn’t, because there are so many potentially great fights for him in the UFC.

by Cannon J on Jul 24, 2008 1:52 PM EDT 0 recs

Does anyone think a consummate competitor like Georges St. Pierre would leave UFC to fight where there are no welterweights of substance?

by Popetastic on Jul 24, 2008 1:57 PM EDT 0 recs

What is GSP’s profession?

by D.Capitated on Jul 24, 2008 1:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

Certified ass-kicker

by Hardcharger on Jul 24, 2008 2:49 PM EDT up 0 recs

GSP isn’t going anywhere. He’s happy in the UFC, they will compensate him and he certainly isn’t ready to relinquish his title so that he can leave. Affliction is predominantly comprised of guys that the UFC let leave and fighters that were never in UFC to begin with.

As for GSP not having hometown advantage, Minneapolis is pretty close to home for him and Fitch isn’t exactly the most popular fighter in the world. And come on, who’s plopping down a hundo on Fitch to pull off this upset?

PS; I’ll be there and it’s going to be awesome.

by Blackout612 on Jul 24, 2008 2:31 PM EDT 0 recs

Minneapolis is close to Montreal?

by D.Capitated on Jul 24, 2008 2:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

Dude.. Canada.

by Blackout612 on Jul 24, 2008 2:49 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’m sure he’ll be pulling lots of francophones from Winnipeg.

by D.Capitated on Jul 24, 2008 3:50 PM EDT up 0 recs

Hahaaha, I tried to get one of my Canadian friends into the UFC by hyping up GSP-Serra II. She was totally down until she found out he was from Montreal.

“Oh, forget that then, hes not Canadian, hes French-Canadian”

Cracked me up.

by Day Man on Jul 24, 2008 3:58 PM EDT up 0 recs

”...puts it just below GSP vs. Matt Serra, which did 525,000. It is worth noting however that the latter did that big number largely because it did incredible numbers in Canada.”

You’re really impressed with yourself, I can tell..

by Blackout612 on Jul 24, 2008 10:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

The above is intended for self-proclaimed Canadian culture expert, D. Cap.. For the sake of clarity..

by Blackout612 on Jul 24, 2008 10:45 PM EDT up 0 recs

So Quebec isn’t in Canada? I don’t understand your point, unless you’re claiming that Canada has a homogeneous culture.

by D.Capitated on Jul 24, 2008 11:54 PM EDT up 0 recs

You’re a funny guy. The pretension is palpable.

Look, I live in Minneapolis. People like GSP. Minnesota is close to Canada. My point was made; you’re picking at scraps. Get over it kid..

by Blackout612 on Jul 25, 2008 12:20 PM EDT up 0 recs

I wouldn’t count on what Affliction did to much. It is clear they lost money and the ridiculous amounts they paid Whitehead and Buentello, for example, will never happen in the UFC.

I think we are going to see performance based contracts become more common in mma, but that’s just my opinion.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Jul 24, 2008 2:34 PM EDT 0 recs

I think MMA will be much like other sports. The proven, big name guys will get some big contracts, and the other guys will have to prove themselves with a significant amount of their income coming from performance bonuses. In the end, most of the guys are expendable. Some may not like that, but I believe it’s the reality. All these promotions have to, eventually, make money or die.

by Cannon J on Jul 24, 2008 2:45 PM EDT up 0 recs

They are going to be doing severe cost cutting for the second show too.

by Michael Rome on Jul 24, 2008 2:53 PM EDT 0 recs

I really hate being Mr. Negative but...

UFC contracts have an automatic renewal clause if the fighter is a champion.

If the UFC realizes they aren’t going to match what GSP is asking for then can’t they just quit negotiating in good faith and if he don’t lose the title before the contract ends it will automatically renew at the same pay rate as the old contract.

Or could he vacate the title like Randy tried to do to avoid that?

by mattman73 on Jul 24, 2008 2:55 PM EDT 0 recs

That’s a rumor. I’m no lawyer, but I don’t think auto-renewal is enforceable in court.

by cyph on Jul 24, 2008 7:11 PM EDT up 0 recs

Just rumor?

In this article it appears to be fact.

St Pierre mentions that he has only two fights left on his deal, but in reality, even if he finished up his contract he would still be locked in to his Zuffa deal. Under section 5.2 of the standard Zuffa contract, what is known as the Champion’s clause, as long as he has the belt at the end of his contract, the UFC can automatically roll over his contract for another year or three fights, whichever comes first, under the same terms.

Here is where it came from: http://www.mmapayout.com/2008/07/st-pierre-comments-on-contract-status/

From my experience MMA Payout seems to be accurate.

As far as being enforceable I don’t know but I’m sure one of these days we will find out when somebody challenges it in court.

by mattman73 on Jul 24, 2008 9:51 PM EDT up 0 recs

They could do that, but it doesn’t make sense for them to enter into the legal battle a la Randy with yet another big star. Whereas Randy has 1 or 2 fights left, GSP has a whole career ahead of him. I think they’ll make a deal for sure.

by Michael Rome on Jul 24, 2008 3:08 PM EDT 1 recs

I agree it wouldn’t make sense but what is going on with Randy don’t make much sense to me either.

But I was suggesting a situation where maybe Affliction was going to pay crazy money that the UFC wouldn’t match then my hypothetical could come into play. Where since they realize he is leaving they can prolong that by just letting the renewal clause go into effect.

by mattman73 on Jul 24, 2008 3:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

One thing Ilove about this site is the guy writing the articles responding to the comments and having a conversation. Good stuff.

by SplitBreast on Jul 24, 2008 4:39 PM EDT up 0 recs

It’ll be even better when Michael starts using the reply function. :-P

Intentional Blog on Balls

by Richard on Jul 24, 2008 6:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

Affliction’s day’s of offering crazy money are over IMO…I think they did that to that small group of ‘known’ fighter’s to help legitimize their first show…watch the 2nd show payscale be much lower.

http://tharealness.wordpress.com/

by Tha Realness on Jul 24, 2008 3:47 PM EDT 0 recs

Yeah, the large pay scale is not going to happen for show #2 if Affliction plans on breaking even, let alone making money.

by pud333 on Jul 24, 2008 5:49 PM EDT up 0 recs

They gotta slash the pay for Lindland, get rid of Megadeath, drop Tim and Rothwell, etc. Fedor/Arlovski alone is going to draw just as well as this whole card did.

by Michael Rome on Jul 24, 2008 7:43 PM EDT 0 recs

I’ll be clamoring for Megadeth’s return if they get some crap nu-metal act on the next card. Probably best to hope for no live band at all..

by Blackout612 on Jul 24, 2008 10:46 PM EDT up 0 recs