The MMA media is abuzz with the latest in the Fedor Emelianenko-UFC negotiations. Carmichael Dave, one of the UFC’s favorite go-to guys in the media, announced the terms Zuffa is offering Fedor:
The UFC offered Fedor a 6 fight, 30 million dollar contract. That’s 5 mil a fight
- The UFC offered Fedor an immediate title shot
- Lesnar/Fedor would be the biggest PPV in MMA history (we assume), and the UFC offered M-1 Global a cut of the PPV on top of Fedor’s purse.
- Fedor was free to wear as many M-1 logoed items as he wished.
- The UFC also relented on allowing Fedor to compete in combat sambo.
Apparently, for good or bad, M-1 refuses to sign a deal unless the UFC agrees to co-promote
That’s the story. The question: why is everyone buying it? Our new special contributor Jonathan Snowden, the author of Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting has the real scoop on the UFC’s offer.
“The numbers being floated there are a little misleading. The UFC’s offer of $30 million over six fights isn’t a guarantee,” Snowden learned from a source. “The number is based on Zuffa’s projections of what Fedor’s take of the PPV money would be, and the numbers they are projecting are based on selling a ton of PPV’s. The actual guarantee for Fedor is much more modest. It’s true that if business stays at record levels Fedor could walk away with $30 million. But that is no guarantee.”
In reality, this is a deal no more generous than many others Zuffa has offered to most of their top fighters. It’s a deal that is risky for a fighter like Fedor who prefers getting his money up front, rather than take a risk on whether the UFC’s business will continue to grow.
As long as Fedor can get guaranteed money elsewhere, he isn’t likely to take a chance on a deal that only pays him huge money if the business model continues to grow at an astounding rate. He seems willing to wait for the next promotion to come along and throw money at him: guaranteed money.
July 30, 2009 at 2:24 pm |
[...] couple of radio outlets), we’re now lead to believe ‘rumored’ numbers like Fedor being offered $30 million dollars by UFC, and yet there’s no online ‘fingerprints’ from UFC’s behalf for it. [...]
July 30, 2009 at 4:15 pm |
[...] than 2 millions at any given time. Wheres the source for this? Jonathan snowden, quoted by Don’t Believe The UFC Spin: The Real Details on Fedor’s Offer Ring Psychology and The Case Against Fedor Emelianenko Signing With the*UFC – Bloody [...]
July 30, 2009 at 4:35 pm |
[...] contract the UFC offered. According to his sources which he says come from both sides of the table, the deal isn’t quite as insane as it looks. (Via Bloody Elbow) “The numbers being floated there are a little misleading. The UFC’s offer [...]
July 30, 2009 at 7:15 pm |
[...] the UFC gave to Fedor and what it means for the UFC to leak out their offer on the internetz: Don’t Believe The UFC Spin: The Real Details on Fedor’s Offer Ring Psychology [...]
July 31, 2009 at 5:04 am |
[...] MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting,’ who also spoke to someone with knowledge of the negotiations, pointed out, it is possible that Emelianenko could make up to or even more than $30 million during his UFC run, [...]
July 31, 2009 at 11:30 am |
[...] Enligt en wordpress-blogg, som jag aldrig hört talas om som möjligen kan vara helt utan substans och ägt av ett troll, så gör de i alla fall ett försök att förklara de här 30 miljonerna. ”Nummrena som flytit omkring har varit lite missledande. UFCs erbjudande på $30 miljoner över sex matcher är inte en garanti,” berättar Jonathan Snowden, författare av Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting, angående en källa de inte vill nämna. ”Nummret är baserat på Zuffas beräkningar av hur mycket Fedors inkomst från PPV-pengarna skulle vara, och det nummret är baserat på att de ska sälja sjuka mängder PPVs. Den verkligen garanterade inkomsten för Fedor är mycket mer blygsam. Det är sant att om affärerna stannar på rekordnivåer så skulle Fedor kunna gå iväg med $30 miljoner. Men det är ingen garanti.” [...]
August 31, 2009 at 4:35 pm |
cool article thanks
September 4, 2009 at 10:34 am |
Nice article, very much top info in this!