MMApayout looks at the Bellator fighter contract.

by who me on Mar 17, 2009 1:18 PM EDT

MMApayout has an interesting article looking at clauses in the Bellator fighter contract. It is an interesting read.

A couple of the highlights:

One area of the ancillary agreement that is raising the ire of fighter advocates and mangers is a clause that has Bellator reserving the right to register as a trademark the fighter’s name, stage name, or identity for the purposes of Bellator carrying out their promotional duties. This sort of arrangement hearkens almost to the type of deals prevalent in the WWE, where the company holds trademarks over the performers stagenames and likenesses. As jaded as MMA reps are at this point by the contractual grabbiness of Zuffa contracts, this clause is seen in some quarters as being beyond the pale, which takes some doing.

Unlike in pro wrestling MMA fighters use their own name instead of a stage name, having your actual name and likeness trademarked by a company would be a real problem if you ever wanted to work anywhere else in the sport.

The standard term is 36 months or eight bouts, whichever comes first. The contract also has a clause that states that if a fighter is declared champion of his division, wins a tournament or is a tournament runner-up, the contract automatically extends by 18 months or three fights.

That goes beyond even the UFC champion clause. They are locking up guys for 4 1/2 years at a set pay rate, good for Bellator but not so good for the fighters involved. I can see why people on the internet have been talking about these contracts as they have some real "interesting" things going on in them.

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Comments

This is interesting. Good find.

by Cannon Jacques on Mar 17, 2009 1:37 PM EDT reply actions

Nice.

Rob is the first person I’ve seen discuss the contract in-depth who’s actually had a good look at one. Unfortunately it sounds just as brutal as everyone had speculated.

Contributor Emeritus - BloodyElbow.com

by Chris Nelson on Mar 17, 2009 1:48 PM EDT reply actions

What No One Has Started Looking Into Yet

Is the fact that Lombard, Alvarez, Reis, Goode, Urbina, etc, could all have been picked up by Strikeforce in the ProElite asset purchase. If that is the case and fighters have contracts with both Bellator and Strikeforce now (like Alvarez, Reis for sure), what is goign to happen in the future? Nasty legal battles coming?

by MMASuPreMaCy on Mar 17, 2009 2:01 PM EDT reply actions

The big name fighters almost certainly have different contracts.

A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.

by iiowyn on Mar 17, 2009 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Some of the bigger names might of had some leverage to get better contracts (although you have to wonder why Paulo Filho didn’t). I’m sure the bigger names didn’t sign in with the contract’s pay structure either (which the article discusses). The Bellator contracts are exclusive so there could be some issues in the future with fighters with multiple contracts.

by who me on Mar 17, 2009 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions

See, I am not sure about that.
How could anyone make that statement after Filho himself said the contract was nuts?

by MMASuPreMaCy on Mar 17, 2009 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Eddie Alvarez almost certainly had to have a different(non-exclusive) contract as he is already under a number of other contracts but who knows if any of the other guys got anything changed at all.

by who me on Mar 17, 2009 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Alvarez is the one fighter that has a different contract. His deal is through Monte’s brand and gives him the right to compete elsewhere.

I would guess that some got signing bonuses, but I don’t think anyone got bigger contracts.

by Lynchman on Mar 19, 2009 9:15 AM EDT up reply actions

I don’t think Paulo Filho has any more leverage after his last performance for the WEC.

I’d be surprised if anyone was even offering him a standard fighter contract. If I was signing him I’d have a whole bunch of extra shit thrown in there to hopefully prevent what happened last time.

by Phildo on Mar 17, 2009 3:24 PM EDT reply actions

Regardless of personal demons he’s still one of the best fighters in the world and Bellator is a new untested promotion. I can’t imagine that he would sign a 7k/7k contract even if it didn’t have all this other stuff attached to it. It’s just makes you wonder if any of these other guys got better deals when a guy the calibre of Filho couldn’t.

by who me on Mar 17, 2009 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t know, Filho looked atrocious in his last fight. I can’t see any promoter signing him to a big contract right now. He’s not a proven commodity anymore.

by Andy R on Mar 17, 2009 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions

WARGODS could use him.

Yeah, who got the final Death Blow? 'Cause I thought that Hawaiian guy had it comin' to him. - C. K.

by monkeyfightclub! on Mar 18, 2009 4:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Bellator wont last long

unless they start treating their fighters better. Trademarking their fighters’ names?? This is so ridiculous. Unless there is a significant raise, the championship clause is a disincentive to win the championship. You just won the title in this shitty little promotion, your contract will end soon and now you are their slave for another 1 1/2 years automatically. Even a fighter with 0 pro fights would be better off taking less $$ and less clauses from a different organization.

by GroundNPound561 on Mar 18, 2009 5:48 PM EDT reply actions

Their payscale was also in the article. The tournament pay is pretty darn good but outside of that their payscale isn’t very good (even for tournament winners).

Tourney Compensation -
Lose in the First Round of Bellator Tournament – $10,000
Win in the First Round of Bellator Tournament – $25,000 ($10K base, $15K Bonus)

Lose in the Semi-Finals – $25,000
Win In Semi-Finals – $50,000 ($25K base, $25K Bonus)

Lose in Finals – $40,000
Win in Finals – $100,000 ($40K base, $60K Bonus)

If a fighter is used as a substitute in the tournament he will receive a base pay of whatever round he lost at, but his bonus payment for a win will correspond with whatever round he is being inserted at. For example if someone lost in the first round, and was inserted into the Semi’s and won they would receive $10k as base for the semi’s and for winning would get a bonus of $25 for total compensation for that round of $35k.

Non-Tourney Compensation-
If a fighter wins a tournament, and subsequently fights in a non-tournament bout, he will receive $7k in base and $7k to win for his initial bout. With each subsequent win the base and win bonus would both increase by $1k. If they lose, their base and bonus would remain the same for the next bout. As you go further down the tournament standings the pay winnows down as well.

Tournament Winner – $7K base and $7K bonus with these numbers increasing by $1K and $1K with each subsequent win.
Tournament Runner Up – $6K base and $6K bonus with these numbers increasing by $1K and $1K with each subsequent win.
Lose in the Semi’s – $3K base and $3K bonus with these increasing by $1K and $1K with each subsequent win.
Lose in Opening Round – $2500 base and $2500 bonus with these increasing by $500 and $500 with each subsequent win.