Payouts for Nick Diaz vs. Frank Shamrock
via MMAJunkie:
Nick Diaz: $39,950 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Frank Shamrock: $369,790
Gilbert Melendez: $49,890 (no win bonus)
def. Rodrigo Damm: $9,190
Scott Smith: $49,940 (includes $25,000 win bonus)
def. Benji Radach: $16,940
Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos: $18,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Hitomi Akano: $1,450
Brett Rogers: $39,940 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
def. Ron "Abongo" Humphrey: $3,205
Luke Rockhold: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
def. Buck Meredith: $1,540
Eric Lawson: $9,950 (includes $2,000 win bonus)
def. Waylon Kennell: $1,950
Raul Castillo: $7,890 (includes $3,500 win bonus)
def. Brandon Michaels: $1,500
James Terry: $3,940 (includes $2,000 win bonus)
def. Zak Bucia: $1,500
Shingo Kohara: $940 (no win bonus)
def. Jeremy Tavares: $940
Total Payout: $634,415
Attendance: 15, 211
Gate: $750,000 approx.
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Not to bad...
For the new and improved Strikeforce, if it wasn’t for Frank, they would made a nice chunk of money, but they still should have broke even.
Frank is an incredible local draw, and has done some of the best non-UFC television ratings. I believe he was worth every penny. They signed this deal hoping he might win and then they could get him and Tito, a match that would have easily justified the salary. It didn’t work, but it was a good bet.
They also get a rights fee from Showtime, the gate is not the only money they make. My impression is that the rights fee is in the 400-500k range. Given the low amount they had to pay for the arena (since their investors own it), and the fact that Showtime covers production, I think they broke even at worst or made a little money. For a first show in this day and age it’s not bad at all.
Do you know any of the details of Frank’s deal? I’m assuming his purse is tied directly to the live gate.
I know of his old deal, which was already pretty high. I assume it’s a base + percentage. The deal he had in elite was a base + % of the PPV, which obviously doesn’t apply here, maybe they reached a deal where they’d apply a percentage to attendance. However, I’m not sure, because under his old deal he made 200k first year as base, 300k second year, 400k third year. I assume this counts as the second year.
by Michael Rome on Apr 14, 2009 8:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Woah, so this could be Shamrock’s base pay only?
Frank said that he and Cung split half of the gate for their fight, if I recall correctly.
If they took the deal directly from Elite, then yes, it could be his base pay. But I never saw him say what you said, that makes a lot more sense given the gate and Strikeforce’s history with Frank.
by Michael Rome on Apr 14, 2009 9:18 PM EDT up reply actions
Why does a Shamrock loss rule out Ortiz-Shamrock?
After all, Ortiz too is coming off a loss, to Machida. And before that, a draw with Evans and another loss to Liddell. That’s worse than Shamrock’s record of 1-2 in his last 3 fights, against Renzo, Baroni and Le.
Sure, a fresh loss detracts from the luster of a grudge match, but not always. Take Liddell vs W.Silva, with both fighters coming off not 1 but 2 consecutive losses each: to Jackson and Jardine for Lidell, to CroCop and Henderson, for Silva. Another example is Serra vs Hughes. Serra comes off a loss to St-Pierre while Hughes tries to recover from two losses, to Alves and St-Pierre.
Honestly, I agree, but Coker explicitly ruled it out at the press conference. Maybe they’ll change their mind.
by Michael Rome on Apr 15, 2009 1:22 AM EDT up reply actions
Franks last big pay day
I hope he can save it and it doesn’t go to debt…
whatever happened to his TV show?
She got paid a bunch in extra bonus from Strikeforce to take the fight, and it doesn’t appear to include the amount from Cyborg, since that alone would be higher.
by Michael Rome on Apr 14, 2009 8:52 PM EDT up reply actions
With the heart she showed ill sent her $100 if i knew her address. Thats like me lasting 2+ rounds with Lesnar.
They should start an Akano fund :)
Seriously, if you can’t make weight you should not get a win bonus.
Even if it doesn’t include the “backroom bonus” to agree to this gross mismatch, or the money fined out of Cyborg’s purse, it’s still disgusting that Akano’s initial pay was $1,450.
Yep she is the one who agreed to it, of course she might of been paid in a signing fee to avoid US taxes for all we know too. One thing we all should of learned by now is that these athletic commission payout list never tell us the true story on fighter pay.
Still for what she had to go though in that mess she deserves all she can get out of it.
Strikeforce Payout
I hope Kimbo Slice isn’t getting 6 figures. Please don’t make Elitexc mistakes,in over paying hasbeens, and never was guys.
by TERRENCEFROMSOUTHEAST on Apr 14, 2009 8:48 PM EDT reply actions
Shingo Kohara: $940 (no win bonus)
def. Jeremy Tavares: $940
Wow! These guys would make more money selling blood plasma instead of training! I know they get sponsor money, but this seems ungodly low. And how does someone end up with a contract for $940 a fight, with no win bonus? Weird.
Let’s go with that. $940 × 2 fights per month = $1,880.
$1,880×12 = $22,560
No way. That’s a ridiculously low amount of money. No fighter could live off so little. And that’s working off the assumption they’ll fight 24 times a year. Now imagine how little these guys actually make.
I wonder how much they receive in sponsorship money. It can’t be much considering the fact that they’re on the Strikeforce undercard.
They cant. Fighters at that level work other jobs.
by Michael Rome on Apr 14, 2009 9:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Most of these contracts were just transferred over from Elite. I imagine these questions are more easily answered once you realize that.
by Michael Rome on Apr 14, 2009 9:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Oh I figured they were transfered over but that is part of what made me wonder about that, I thought EliteXC was crazy about Nick Diaz.
Its also brutal to think of how many guys (and girls) would have beat Shamrock on that night and got paid pennies in comparison.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
Tito Ortiz will be the new Frank Shamrock…
Fighting bums for a payday… and if they run out of bums – he’ll try to find guys 2 weight classes below his and will probably still get his ass kicked – following franks legacy to a “T”.
Cant blame him. Bottom line is Tito likes the spotlight, winning, and money. You can tell he’s not like GSP or Anderson, being the best fighter in the world isnt the most important thing to him. Strikeforce should be able to provide him with what hes looking for.
by Michael Rome on Apr 14, 2009 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Sounds like wishful thinking. I think Cung Le vs. Tito Ortiz has more big money potential than the Shamrock fight ever did, if they market it correctly.
Would Cung come up to 205 or would Tito cut off a leg to make 185? Doesn’t seem like a practical fight, no?
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
I assume Cung would have to come up. He’d be way overmatched, and he’s not really great at promoting fights.
Ironically, Frank/Tito would still do huge business. You can easily rebuild Frank, he is great with pre-fight promos, and the fight would still draw casual fans.
by Michael Rome on Apr 15, 2009 4:04 AM EDT up reply actions
he is great with pre-fight promos
If you mean the little viral videos and such, yeah those were cool. But I can’t be the only one who thought that the heat and trash talk for this one didn’t really materialize.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Apr 15, 2009 11:56 AM EDT up reply actions
I think Cyborg and Akano should have to switch salaries.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
Akano got paid much more than what was reported here.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Apr 14, 2009 9:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Of course, one can now imagine the offers friday night.
“We’ll give you triple your pay!”
“Thanks a lot, this could cover 2 months rent.”
Strikeforce is operating a business in a very tough environment, salaries are low because they have to be. The amount Frank made adds another dimension to the Carano debate on what she’s worth. Gina is far more valuable than Frank, but she’s a woman. They need her to get a CBS show, and she is the crucial ingredient to their most lucrative fight. She should be making this much per fight at least. Will she? My guess is no.
by Michael Rome on Apr 14, 2009 9:20 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
On the other hand
Frank could fight for anyone. Strikeforce is the only major MMA company that employs female fighters.
by Phantom Of Krankor on Apr 14, 2009 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions
I would pretty much guarantee Carano won’t make that much. If you guys think Diaz was underpaid here think about how Gina was making only $25,000 per with EXC. I agree she’s worth more than Frank but there’s no way she get a raise of over $300,000 a fight. My guess is she gets somewhere between $150 and $200K.
Intuitively, that still seems way too high to me. Where else is she going to fight? She can always sit out, but she misses out on the exposure, endorsements, etc. I would guess she makes a base between $50k-80k and shaded towards the low end.
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
She could fight in Japan, take a myriad of acting offers on the table, or fight her contract and go to the UFC where they’ve made it clearly obvious they want her. The thing is, Gina has a ton of money and wants to fight Cyborg. I suspect that will be the main factor in finishing this deal.
I’d say the only reason it sounds intuitively too high is because she has been so underpaid in the past. To put it clearly, Strikeforce’s only hope of getting a CBS show in 2009 is signing Gina Carano. What is that worth to them? It should be a lot. I think she’ll probably end up signing for something like 100,000 per fight + other benefits, such as freedom to do a number of projects without giving up a cut like elite demanded, and a number of other non-fight issues that have very high value of their own.
by Michael Rome on Apr 15, 2009 4:03 AM EDT up reply actions
I’m pretty sure that female fighters in Japan make diddly-squat. Hence the reason why experienced fighters like Takahashi & Akano have been willing to fight Cyborg for a hill of beans. I know Roxi Modafferi has to work a full time job to pay her bills despite being one of the top five 135 pounders in the world.
Disproportionate Payouts
Someone should do a Fanpost on Disproportionate Payouts for dudes who lose bad to guys that get paid a lot less money. Exhibit A:
Nick Diaz: $39,950 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Frank Shamrock: $369,790
Has there been a more Disproportionate Payout in MMA? Maybe Kimbo vs. Seth Petruzelli?
"It's like a flying knuckle sandwich." --Rogan
"And many men have eaten it." -- Goldy
but to be fair that seth was a late replacement..
i think the biggest difference in payouts was chuck liddell vs keith jardine..
by Anton Tabuena on Apr 15, 2009 1:01 AM EDT up reply actions
I’m lazy, but I’m sure the reported numbers on Liddell/Jardine are more one-sided.
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
Mir-Lesnar is also up there.
IIRC Frank was making around 40/40 and Lesnar was in the 250-300 range.
Chuck got 500k, jardine got 7k to show 7k to win.
by Anton Tabuena on Apr 15, 2009 8:11 AM EDT up reply actions
uhh both guys get paid big bucks.. i dont think you can categorize that with chuck/jardine, shamrock/diaz, etc..
by Anton Tabuena on Apr 15, 2009 8:22 AM EDT up reply actions
you could probably even consider that as one of the highest salaries on a fight..
probably next to chuck vs tito and close to chuck vs randy..
by Anton Tabuena on Apr 15, 2009 8:24 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm sure they did both get paid well.
But Randy was getting in on the back end, ie. PVP money…so comparatively whatever Lensar was getting was probably dwarfed by Couture’s take.
Karma is a B. Seth ruined EliteXC and Nick destroyed the home town hero.
by Dropkick434 on Apr 15, 2009 10:03 AM EDT up reply actions
For starters, I sure do hope Akano was paid a heckuva lot more than reported here. Then again, I don’t see her getting ten times the reported amount – and even if she did, she’d still have earned less than Santos.
The real problem is that Santos came in GROSSLY overweight and still made the win bonus. Yeah, she did win, but I wouldn’t exactly call it fair and square. If you can’t make weight, you should be forced to kiss your bonuses goodbye.
by Monday Morning Martial Artist on Apr 15, 2009 1:18 AM EDT reply actions
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