Strikeforce: Miami salaries - Diaz and Lawler at the top:
Main Bouts:
- Nick Diaz $100,000 (no win bonus) def. Marius Zaromskis $30,000
- Cris "Cyborg" Santos $35,000 ($15,000 win bonus and $5,000 championship bonus) def. Marloes Coenen $2,000
- Herschel Walker $600 (no win bonus) def. Greg Nagy $5,000
- Robbie Lawler $100,000 (no win bonus) def. Melvin Manhoef $5,000
- Bobby Lashley $50,000 (no win bonus) def. Wes Sims $25,000
Preliminary Bouts:
- Jay Hieron $65,000 ($35,000 win bonus) def. Joe Riggs $30,000
- Pablo Alfonso $3,000 ($1,500 win bonus) def. Marcos DaMotta $2,500
- Hadar Hassan $2,000 ($1,000 win bonus) def. Ryan Keenan $2,000
- John Kelly $2,000 ($1,000 win bonus) def. Sabah Homasi $1,000
- Michael Byrnes $2,000 ($1,000 win bonus) def. David Zitnik $1,500
- David Gomez $2,000 ($1,000 win bonus) def. Craig Oxley $1,500
- Joe Ray $1,500 ($500 win bonus) def. John Clarke $1,000
STRIKEFORCE: MIAMI DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $469,600
over 2 years ago
Nick Thomas
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… so somebody explain to me what i missed… coenen recieved money in advance? or she is really only being paid $2k to fight for the title as a coheadliner?
I'm old school hating Lesnar, I've been hating Lesnar since '08
seriously
I hope she got some money under the table, otherwise she got robbed big time.
Pain is Temporary
Pride is Forever
I think they do that quite a bit with fighters from overseas to circumvent some of the taxes they would have to pay
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Feb 3, 2010 11:02 AM EST up reply actions
everyone gets money that isn’t reported here, how many times does shit like this have to happen before people stop treating these numbers like gospel.
by Phildo on Feb 3, 2010 11:04 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
well how do we know how much they get? It would be nice to know how much they get, otherwise this is all we have to go with
Pain is Temporary
Pride is Forever
do we know how much you get?
There is no way to know how much they get.
These numbers are the purses that are turned over to the commission by the promoter, and then from the commission to the fighters to ensure that they get paid. it’s none of our business how much people are getting paid, if they want everyone to know (like athletes and agents in the major sports do) they’ll tell us, if they don’t want us to know, why should we?
It would be nice to know how much they get
Pain is Temporary
Pride is Forever
by Orcus on Feb 3, 2010 11:09 AM EST up reply actions 3 recs
It would be nice if every organization sent me a personal copy of all their financial information after every event so I could argue on messageboards more effectively but I just don’t see it happening.
Now that I work with state government my income is on the internet. All you need to know is my full name and which department I work with and you can see exactly what I make, updated twice a month. I know that has nothing to do with MMA but for some of us the idea of income being personal information or in any way private just doesn’t exist.
It would be nice to know how much they get
You wouldn’t feel that way if you were the one earning the money or the one paying it.
It would be nice to know how much they get
Pain is Temporary
Pride is Forever
by Orcus on Feb 3, 2010 11:09 AM EST up reply actions 3 recs
It's not our right to know.
Illinois doesn’t release fighter payroll at all, actually.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
by pdl on Feb 3, 2010 11:08 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
It would be nice to know how much they get
Pain is Temporary
Pride is Forever
by Orcus on Feb 3, 2010 11:09 AM EST up reply actions 6 recs
It's not a thread
It’s a post.
This isn’t a messageboard. It’s a blog.
by Scott Haber on Feb 3, 2010 11:51 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Doubt it, Strikeforce has done that with a few guys (notably Mousasi).
Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.
by lowellthehammer on Feb 3, 2010 11:00 AM EST up reply actions
he probably got 600 and they donated the rest of his “salary” directly to the charity
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Feb 3, 2010 11:02 AM EST up reply actions
but he said he’d be donating his purse, not SF but himself. But if that was the case than that’s cool
Pain is Temporary
Pride is Forever
I am only speculating but I also heard him say he was getting 6 figures. I am pretty sure he wouldn’t fight if he was only getting $600 for his charity.
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Feb 3, 2010 11:05 AM EST up reply actions
“Strikeforce president Scott Coker said at the postmatch news conference that Walker had donated his entire six-figure fight purse to a Dallas-based charity.”
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Feb 3, 2010 11:06 AM EST up reply actions
forgot to post the link
http://www.nesn.com/2010/01/former-football-star-herschel-walker-wins-mma-debut.html
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Feb 3, 2010 11:07 AM EST up reply actions
Nah, they did it to Daisuke on their last show too. It has something to do with the full amount being undisclosed so they don’t have to pay taxes on it I think, but I could be wrong.
Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.
by lowellthehammer on Feb 3, 2010 11:03 AM EST up reply actions
That makes sense. While there’s a deduction for charitable contributions, it isn’t unlimited and there are some restrictions. If Strikeforce paid Walker and Walker contributed the money but couldn’t deduct the contribution, Walker would be taxed. On the other hand, if Strikeforce just paid the money directly to the charity Walker won’t be taxed.
Gegard could be trying to avoid paying high taxes internationally, but Walker only making $600 bucks is crazy for someone with his name (he probably brought a bunch of people to watch that card). No wonder his giving all his money to charity, I’m not saying if he got paid more than 30k he wouldn’t have done the same thing, but 600 is nothing to someone like him.
Pain is Temporary
Pride is Forever
he said he got “six figures”
I don’t think coker is clever enough to say six figures when in reality it was a figure with a six in it.
Walker probably did it because he was able to donate more to the charity that way. If he had made say 100k in pay for the fight, he would have been taxed on that 100k and would have only been able to donate say 70k.
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Feb 3, 2010 11:12 AM EST up reply actions
Or maybe Coker considers $0,600.00 to be six figures.
by ufc4 on Feb 3, 2010 11:15 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Maybe it was listed as $600.000
and he meant six SIGNIFICANT figures.
…I hate myself.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
Marloes Coenen $2,000
Melvin Manhoef $5,000
Wes Sims $25,000
wow!
by DamnSevern on Feb 3, 2010 11:00 AM EST reply actions 3 recs
Hieron/Riggs aren’t too bad off as far as pay is concerned, the UFC would probably be paying about the same to face much tougher competition. Hieron’s probably making less from sponsors though for being on the undercard all the time.
Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.
by lowellthehammer on Feb 3, 2010 11:02 AM EST reply actions
Man...
I’d never want to be a professional fighter looking at numbers like these. That’s straight up depressing for most of them.
Breen makes it clear on his radio shows that what you see in the disclosed pay is NOT what fighters are actually making. Obviously, for Coenen and Manhoef, they are overseas fighters and they’d get taxed a lot, so they may be getting locker room bonuses or something of that sort to avoid those international taxes.
Breen makes it clear on his radio shows that what you see in the disclosed pay is NOT what fighters are actually making.
Hence the reason I made a joke about emailing him. It would be kind of weird if I didn’t listen to his radio show, yet I emailed him when I had questions.
The only one that doesn’t make sense is the Walker payout, i understand not fully disclosing salary for over seas fighters not wanting to get hammered on their visas or taxes… but Walker was donating his money to charity and is an american citizen, it doesn’t make sense to do that under the table.
Yes, it does
If Walker makes $30,000 in reported salary the government is gonna take their share right off the top before he can donate it, doing it this way the charity gets a much larger portion of whatever they actually paid him.
by ufc4 on Feb 3, 2010 11:12 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
People need to stop with the taxes argument.
If the money isn’t reported to the irs as going from Strikeforce to the fighters, that means Strikeforce is paying taxes on money that they don’t have to (and they don’t have), which doesn’t make any sense.
I’m not going to write you a legal memo, but trust me, there’s a limit on the tax deduction for charitable contributions. That limit is based on a person’s adjusted gross income. Walker is retired. As a result, his limit is probably lower than the six figure contribution. So, if Walker receives the money before contributing it, he’ll be taxed on that sum. On the other hand, corporations (i.e. Strikeforce) either don’t have a limit or have a higher limit than individuals (I can’t remember which. Thus, Strikeforce will be able to deduct the entire contribution, whereas Walker will not, thus increasing the amount of the contribution by the tax avoided.
I was a little over the top in my response, and i understand there are SOME tax reasons for doing things differently, but people say TAXES as a reason acting like the money is going completely under the table and not being reported to the IRS.
There is a huge difference between not reporting the money to the commission and it being completely under the table.
I find it odd you chose to reply to my comment, I didn’t say anything about money going under the table or anything like that, obviously he won’t be paying taxes on his charitable contribution, however he will be taxed on his reported income from Strikeforce.
by ufc4 on Feb 3, 2010 12:11 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
so was his?
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
Actually, it does make sense from a tax perspective. If Walker get’s 100K from Strikeforce, first, he has to pay self employment taxes on it. Second, he can deduct the charitable contributions on Schedule A (itemized deductions), but as a high income earner (>166,800 in 2009) part of his schedule A deductions will be disallowed, meaning that he has to pay income taxes on a portion of it. Now, if Strikeforce is organized as a C Corp and gives 100K to his church, then as long as as Strikeforce has more than 1 million in income for the year, it can deduct the full 100K (charitable contributions for C Corps are limited to 10% of net income).
Jesus Christ people
Walker did not get only $600.
Manhoef did not get only $5,000.
Coenen did not get only $2,000.
This is why talking about fighters not getting paid fairly is pointless- we don’t know how much they’re getting. Over half of these guys probably have unreported bonuses that aren’t disclosed and there are various reasons why they do things that way.
by ufc4 on Feb 3, 2010 11:10 AM EST via mobile reply actions
The only thing with reporting $600 is that the IRS/Athletic Commission needs to have a red flag at that number. Especially with the rest of the payouts. They will want to get the taxes owed on the real amount not the bullshit paper amount. Something like $5000 they at least get some tax money. That’s the only reason I get annoyed with low reported numbers.
twitter.com/thisredengine
by Matthew Roth on Feb 3, 2010 11:15 AM EST up reply actions
the real amount is reported to the irs and anyone who cares.
The number that gets reported to the commission is what the promoter has to give to the commission before hand, and what the commission is guaranteeing the fighter will get.
If the fighter is going to be getting money from the gate, or from ppv sales, it’s not possible (in most cases) to give that money to the commission beforehand, and it’s also out of the commission’s hands. If Coenen is supposed to get more than 5k, but SF decides to stiff her on it, there’s nothing the commission can do, because as far as they are concerned, she was supposed to get 5k, and as long as SF doesn’t stiff the fighters on it, there’s no reason for the commission to care if these numbers are bogus.
The commission taxes on the reported number though.
twitter.com/thisredengine
by Matthew Roth on Feb 3, 2010 11:22 AM EST up reply actions
What does that even mean? Whoever takes the taxes out of Coker’s paycheck from SF can take the taxes out all the other payments they make.
The only way the payouts are going out completely under the table is if the money is coming in completely under the table, and if that’s the case then there’s other shadiness going on that needs to be worried about, but there is nothing pointing towards that in any of these cases.
It's not unreported bonuses
It’s subletter agreements. That’s almost universally where the money is stored. It’s crazy common in all fighter leagues for this to happen.
Follow me on Twitter: @MMANation.
Looks like Gross was off on the $30K
….$25K for Sims is still way too much though. I don’t know why people think he is legit.
$10,000 is for him to act like a nutjob and get people interested, $15,000 is for losing to the guy that the promotion wants to push.
Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.
by lowellthehammer on Feb 3, 2010 11:34 AM EST up reply actions
I understand that Strikeforce is likely handing out some backstage money, but it plain just looks bad that Greg “Nudge” Nagy’s official payout is 2.5 larger than Coenen’s.
by MMAEruption on Feb 3, 2010 11:54 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
lashley got 50 grand? he’s got a strong hustle
by kanodogg on Feb 3, 2010 11:54 AM EST via mobile reply actions
If Lashley only got 50 grand then he’s actually a sucker. He’s worth much more than that based on his name.
Walker’s name value is way more than that but really Bobby Lashley isn’t even that popular with pro wrestling audiences and has no mainstream fame at all. $50k is a very good payout for him, particularly considering his level as a fighter. Who knows what he actually made but I doubt it was that much more.
I might as well comment
Just a few observations:
- Strikeforce pays pretty good. Even without Herscel’s reported $100,000 they paid $100,000 more than the last UFC fight night. This is great for mid-tier (and lower guys) like Joe Riggs. Do you think he would get anywhere close to $30,000 is the UFC? If Strikeforce lasts, hopefully we’ll see the 2nd and 3rd tier fighter salaries going up. This is why I like competition.
- part of me says the undercard gets paid dick. The other part says these guys aren’t actually signed by StrikeForce and are really local fighters filling the card. Which means they’re actually getting a break (but that means those attending are getting dicked!). Either way, to be able to afford a good card for broadcast they really cut back on quality on the undercard and it’s obvious Strikeforce aren’t going to have deep cards for anytime soon.
- I can’t see Jay Hieron and Lawler going to the UFC. IS the UFC going to want to pay them more than $100,000 and $65,000? Or maybe Strikeforce wants to let eventually cut their salaries? Diaz in the UFC at $100,000? With the exposure he’s gotten in StrikeForce I can start to see that.
- If thought for sure Lashley was getting more than $50,000. If that’s the case, he has a right to resist being thrown in the depend.
- the number of flat payments is strange. Are these hold over contracts from Elite, or is this something they do so they can more easily budget payouts for fights in advance?
by John Nash on Feb 3, 2010 1:45 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
It’s interesting that people consider Strikeforce’s pay generally fine, whereas if this were a UFC card (fight night or not) people would be losing their shit about how much these guys are underpaid.
Considering Strikeforce is trying to position itself as a competitor to UFC and not a minor league show, you’d expect them to be paying at least somewhere in parity…but the payscale of these guys shows where they’re really at. Being Strikeforce WW champion doesn’t put you in league with GSP.
Funny to think that they’re probably going to pay Fedor more to show up on his next fight than they paid this entire card.
Cool straw men.
Unrelated: Watch for that head kick, Jason!
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
by pdl on Feb 3, 2010 2:06 PM EST up reply actions
so I guess that means you aren’t in Kansas City and won’t meet me for some BBQ?
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Feb 3, 2010 2:16 PM EST up reply actions
Jason H. a couple of points
1) Nick Diaz, the #15 WW in the world, makes more than UFC fighters #10 Carlos Condit ($24,00 show/ $24,000 win), #9 Paulo Thiago ($8,000 to show/$8,000 to win), #8 Mike Swick ($20,000), #6 Paul Daley ($14,200 show/$18,000 win) #5 Dan hard ($20,000/$20,000 I believe), #3 Thiago Alves ($60,000), #2 Jon Fitch ($45,000/$45,000) and actually better than #4 Koscheck who gets $53,000 to show and $53,000 to win. Now maybe you’re not impressed that the new StrikeForce titleholder makes more than all these fighters, but I think you have to be impressed that Jay Hieron makes more than everyone on that list but Koscheck, and Fitch. Or that Joe “friggin’” Riggs makes more than Thiago, Swick, or Daley.
2) Total payroll for the last FN was $357,000, while StrikeForce’s event was $469, 600. So StrikeForce paid over $100,000 more than the UFC did for their Fight Night. Or for the TUF 10 Finale for that matter. My biggest complaint is how much veteran journeymen are getting screwed so how about we compare the top 10 fighters from each card? Ignoring Herschel, who actually got $100,000, the top 10 fighters for StrikeForce made $440,000 or averaged $44,000 each. The median was $32,500. For the last Fight Night it was $254,000 for an average of $25,400. The median was $19,000 . So not only did StrikeForce fighters make more, but where five of them made over $32,500 only five fighters on the Fight Night card made over $19,000. And on the TUF 10 finale the median was $18,000. There is no debate as to which card paid better for their veteran fighters.
3) Fedor does make more than probably this whole payroll. But the same could about Brock or GSP when compared to the payroll of any StrikeForce or UFC card. Brock walks away with $4 mil every time he fights. That is more than the two or three UFC cards combined. The headliners make 80% of all the money.
4) I don’t know why you can’t look at this as a positive for fighters in both the UFC and Strikeforce. Strikeforce doesn’t pay better because they are nice guys, they do so because otherwise their fighters will go to the UFC. The UFC doesn’t pay less because they are dicks, they do so because no one is competing for their fighters. That looks like it may change. And for the fighters, that is a good thing.
by John Nash on Feb 3, 2010 2:54 PM EST up reply actions 4 recs
rec’s in effect
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Feb 3, 2010 3:01 PM EST up reply actions
what about sponsorship money?
The viewership on a UFC Fight Night or PPV has to earn them a lot more for sponsorship, not to mention their relative visibility in the MMA world. Also, you’re not accounting for Locker Room bonuses, nor “Of the Night” reported bonuses.
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
nor the fact that we really don't know what fighters are making for certain...
Nor the fact that SF hasn’t put on enough events to even pay most of these fighters u mention multiple times (how long did it take for Robbie to get a fight?). A guy like Koscheck has fought numerous times, and earned a lot of bonuses, and likely makes MUCH more than the fighters you mention…. So you obviously need to reserve judgement until SF is paying numerous fighters high salaries on numerous occassions.
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
In the 9 month since StrikeForce launched themselves as a national promotion, Nick Diaz has fought 3 times (would have been four if he showed up for a drug test), while Koscheck has only fought twice. The other fighter who have been on their roster since the beginning – Riggs, Hieron, Christine Cyborg, Lawler – have all fought twice in the last 9 months. Actually Riggs has fought four times – twice for StrikeForce and twice for Rage in the Cage – in the last 9 months.
But you are right about a lot of the other stuff. Endorsement deals, consistent fights, etc. all those things we’ll have to wait and see about. I just can’t help but see the positives in both promotions bidding up the prices on second tier fighters.
First-off great work!
Second: I’m loving SF cats making solid money!
Third: Why are you comparing SF feature shows with UFC small-time shows? This seems like comparing Challengers with UFC 112 – or am I missing something?
I’m not trying to be a snarky smart-ass (for once) but I’m wondering why you did that, especially considering the championship fights on the card?
by asa on Feb 3, 2010 6:57 PM EST up reply actions
First off, thanks.
Secondly, I am too.
Thirdly, the comparison was only because Jason H. brought it up:
It’s interesting that people consider Strikeforce’s pay generally fine, whereas if this were a UFC card (fight night or not)
I don’t think you can compare the Challenger cards to anything to the UFC does. Besides trying to be another major promotion, Strikeforce is trying to be a developmental one as well. The UFC doesn’t have to bother with that. Besides, the UFC is obviously the much, much deeper and talented promotion. I think it is much fairer to compare the 3 or 4 StrikeForce CBS cards to the 12 or 13 UFC ppv cards, and the Showtime cards to the Fight Nights and TUF finales.
You are comparing a show with two world title fights to UFC fight night events. You also have to take into account that Strikeforce is going to have to pay fighters more to start with to lure them in to signing with them because they are the smaller less known company. You also have to take into account that we just don’t have a clue what any fighter with any organization actually makes because all we ever see is athletic commission numbers and those are pretty worthless as a information source. It’s just a lot more complicated issue than it seems to be on the surface.
The two world titles is really a non-issue. Does anyone really think Nate Diaz is in the same ballpark as GSP, in skill or drawing power? Hell, Fedor isn’t even their champ yet he is their highest rated and highest paid fighter. And if we must compare title-holders, who in the UFC should I compare Cyborg’s payout to? What’s the equivalent of the Women’s LW champion? If I compare her to Miguel Torres or Brian Bowles, than she actually comes out ahead. Brian made $18,000 and Miguel made $26,000 in their last fight.
You also have to take into account that Strikeforce is going to have to pay fighters more to start with to lure them in to signing with them because they are the smaller less known company.
That is what I was getting at when I wrote:
“Strikeforce doesn’t pay better because they are nice guys, they do so because otherwise their fighters will go to the UFC”.
It is what they are going to have to do, and I am all for it.
Two titles on a event is what makes a event a first tier event or a second tier event. UFC fight nights are basically developmental shows with one or two mid-level fights headlining it. 2 TItle fights and a huge celebrity MMA fight on the card makes that show a lot more important than a fight night on spike tv. Yea the champions names aren’t as big in Strikeforce but the event is still a lot more important than a fight night card. Title fights on a card is something that is heavily promoted as making a card special.
WEC events are different in that everything the WEC does currently is second tier. They have a great product but they are stuck in cable tv’s armpit on Versus too.
UFC LIVE on Versus lineup:
Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones
Junior dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello
Anthony Johnson vs. John Howard
UFC Fight Night 22 lineup:
Takanori Gomi vs Kenny Florian
Roy Nelson vs Stefan Struve
Nate Quarry vs. Jorge Rivera
Ross Pearson vs. Dennis Siver
TUF 10 Finale lineup:
Frank Edgar vs. Matt Veach (#1 contenders match for Edgar)
Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander celebrity match)
Matt Hamill vs. Jon Jones
Roy Nelson vs. Brendan Schaub (TUF 10 championship)
I think the more apt comparisons are between the CBS cards and ppv and the Spike and Showtime cards. But maybe that is just me.
Yea I don’t agree with that at all, the Showtime cards are Strikeforce bread and butter, the CBS cards are going to be something they do two or three times a year when they really go for broke. CBS cards are closer in comparison to UFC 100 type event cards not just regular UFC PPVs, it’s pulling out all the stops. Showtime cards are their normal level of shows same as regular UFC ppvs. The free cards on Spike for the most part vary widely (sometimes the UFC puts a numbered event on Spike and sometimes it’s just a bunch of guys with a decent headliner) but it’s very rare that you get anything as important to the UFC as the Showtime cards are important to Strikeforce being shown on Spike. of course that’s just my opinion and opinions do vary.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for Robbie Lawler and Nick Diaz getting paid. But they’re basically a gauge of where pay tops out in Strikeforce. If you’re not Fedor, you’ll top out at $100k with no win bonus. For Strikeforce, these guys are their BIGGEST stars. There are plenty of guys who make a lot more than that in UFC, champion or not.
I’m not trying to disparage StrikeForce or the fighters, it’s just following the money illustrates that they’re still a minor league show trying to play in the bigs. The money isn’t better over there….sure, Diaz is making more than he would in the UFC, but look at Zaromskis. This is a headlining, title fight, and they’re paying the guy 30k? Not great. Hell, the combined pay of both of their Lightweight title fighters last month was $85k.
Rather than comparing to UFN, which is one of UFC’s small shows, let’s compare to 108. Lots of people on here complained there wasn’t anyone decent on 108 and that it wasn’t worth buying.
You’ve got Rashad making almost 400k on his own, but the rest of the guys made an average salary of ~32k. When you average in Rashad, it’s almost 50k. Compare that to the 23k avg salary in this last Strikeforce, with 2 title fights, a francise star, and a couple of high profile recent additions.
Now, I don’t believe that people in Strikeforce are being paid unfairly, I just think it’s important to look at how much people are making there compared to UFC when people are up in arms about UFC fighters getting the shaft.
Your point about veteran fighters is a bit odd too…typically, very few of the fighters on an UFN card are vets. Most of the time it’s stocked with a bunch of up and comers from the last few TUF seasons, with a few guys plucked from the small shows or PPV undercards thrown in. The last UFN is a perfect example of that. Who on that card would you say is a “veteran” fighter?
The one thing I won’t disagree with is SF is awesome for Heiron and Riggs. What the hell is the business mindset behind spending that much money on a fight you aren’t even going to air? Brilliant.
I’ll reply to each of your statements:
If you’re not Fedor, you’ll top out at $100k with no win bonus. For Strikeforce, these guys are their BIGGEST stars. There are plenty of guys who make a lot more than that in UFC, champion or not.
There is a couple of other fighters that top out over a $100k besides Fedor: Hendo(?), Frank Shamrock ($370,000), Cung Le ($150,000 in loss), Gina Carano ($125,000 in loss), and I am betting Gegard Mousasi’s new contract is up there as well. I know, not nearly as many as the UFC, but do you really expect them to. out of the 50 top 10 fighters in LW to HW the UFC has 36 of them, while StrikeForce has 9. Do you really think the two promotions would have parity in what they pay?
The money isn’t better over there….sure, Diaz is making more than he would in the UFC, but look at Zaromskis. This is a headlining, title fight, and they’re paying the guy 30k? Not great. Hell, the combined pay of both of their Lightweight title fighters last month was $85k.
It is if you are a mid-tier fighter with some drawing power. Sure Zaromskis, the #12 WW in the world, only made $30,000 in a title fight, but is that much worse than how much #2 Jon Fitch made (estimated $34,000) or how much #5 Dan Hardy is going to make (I’ll bet you it won’t be much more than $50,000 when he loses).
Rather than comparing to UFN, which is one of UFC’s small shows, let’s compare to 108. Lots of people on here complained there wasn’t anyone decent on 108 and that it wasn’t worth buying.
Sure, but only if we can remove Rashad Evans who is a bigger name than anyone on this StrikeForce card. The total payroll of 108 minus Rashad Evans was $476,000 for 19 fighters. This comes to an average of salary of $25, 052 and a median of $20,000. Now Strikeforce’s total payout was $469,000 (we’re going to throw out Herchel because he didn’t only get $600 and it was for charity) for 23 fighters. That is an average of $20,391. Pretty close. And actually even better when you look at the next point.
Your point about veteran fighters is a bit odd too…typically, very few of the fighters on an UFN card are vets. Most of the time it’s stocked with a bunch of up and comers from the last few TUF seasons, with a few guys plucked from the small shows or PPV undercards thrown in. The last UFN is a perfect example of that. Who on that card would you say is a "veteran" fighter?
This I could have been a little clearer on. What I meant are professional fighters signed to the promotion for more than one fight. Guys that really should paid so all they have to do is train and fight. It covers a lot of people, think Spencer Fisher, Gerald Harris, John Howard etc. This is where StrikeForce gets to have its cake and eat it to.
In Strikeforce they do pay more for mid-level fighters. There is no doubt of that. But they turn those fighters into main attraction, where in the UFC there could be a good chance that that same fighter could be fighting on the undercard. In addition, as soon as your signed in StrikeForce as a main card fighter, you’re not going to the undercard, unlike in the UFC where a lot of these type of fighters fill out the whole card. In StrikeForce’s case they load the prelims with local fighter. Now I give them a pass on what they pay these guys, because these are not actual StrikeForce fighters. These are really minor leaguers they are giving a shot on appearing on a big card. But what really sucks about this is these are a lot of spots that could be filled up with full time fighters who need the payday. For now, I’ll let it slide. But if StrikeForce starts bringing in revenue, I’ll expect full cards instead of filling only the tv slots.
In my opinion, the problem is everyone wants to compare StrikeForce across the board with the UFC. I think they hold up quit well with the TV portions they broadcast (again network to ppv and Showtime to Spike), If you have a different opinion I’d love to hear what it is and why. I appreciate that you are capable of holding a polite debate.
this has got to be a mistake
they pretty much screwed melvin over by paying him 5,000 and paying wes sims 25,000
and they screwed Marloes Coenen by payng her 2,000 and paying that rookie Greg Nagy 5,000 this almost as bad when they payed Gegard 2,000
Congrats to Strikeforce
For submitting a more confusing payroll than UFC has ever submitted.
Ya, these are never the actual numbers. IMO, UFC only submits the base payment of a fighters contract. There is bonus money but no idea how UFC dolls it out besides their nightly awards. Also, sponsorship money is so overrated. Only the top dogs make any kind of coin from sponsors.
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