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If nobody minds, I would like to talk about the Ortiz/UFC contract situation from my viewpoint as a business owner. In his post fight press conference, Ortiz passionately made his case against the UFC in why he most likely will not ever sign with them again. He points out that he has been with them over 10 years and that he has put his life on the line as a fighter and deserves a bigger piece of the revenue that the UFC generates.
First of all, while I have a great amount of respect for professional fighters I think they put themselves over too much when they act like they are taking a chance of dying everytime they fight. That part is true. The part that he doesn't mention is that there is a way higher mortality rate in dozens and dozens of other jobs/professions. Each year hundreds of construction workers die in workplace related deaths. Bank tellers, security guards, police officers, miltary personal and even retail workers face death at the hand of someone or something everyday. As a professional fighter you are paid to train 6 hours a day 4-6 days a week and perform 2-3 timne a year tops. Maybe you are fooling some people but I would trade your life for mine any day of the week. You have a life that men dream of having. From my life of hard work and constant aggravation your life seems like a vacation for me.
Now as far as his pay goes.... If you are unhappy with your pay then maybe you should start your own MMA organization and pay yourself and other fighters better. Seriously, put your money where your mouth is-- make a difference. Where were you when it was time for any promoter to put up millions of dollars of their own money? It is easy for you to say "I want more money" when you didn't have to put up a cent of you own money. The Fertittas deserve to make a profit off of the tens of millions they invested.
I had a cook who worked for me who thinks he knows everything about everything. He wanted to do things his way and wanted more pay. I told him that since I put up 300k of my own money and another 50k in post transaction improvements that if he wants to do things his way he should do the same thing I did. The sad fact is he couldn't draw a dime if I spotted him 9 cents. He doesn't have the money, drive or guts to do what I did.
A lot of MMA critics point to boxing's pay structure to mock the UFC's payscale. That is flat out absurd. The facts are that since huge entertainment giants such as HBO and Showtime foot the bill for almost everything involded it is easy for a promoter to give out the huge payouts that boxers get for marquee matchups. I defy any sport to start up now using boxings formula that evolved over hundreds of years and stay in business for more than 2 years. Boxing is a differsnt sport and entirely different case. Adding to the argument is the fact that mid carders and low carders actually get paid more in MMA than in boxing. Using boxing as a revelant measuring stick is useless.
To put things in perspective, how many here think that McDonalds could start up today and not fifty years ago and be anywhere near the success it became? If anyone says yes, then I strongly urge you not to go into business for yourself as you will fail and fail miserably.
The UFC foots the bill for every aspect of the promotion and lost tens of millions in the early days of the Fertitta's ownership of the promotion. The owners desrve to make a nice profit from their investmant and vision. To deny them is un- American in some ways.
Pay has actually gone up at an impressive rate since the Fertitta's take over in 2001. Other promotions have come and gone who say they will pay their fighters more and end up stiffing their fighters by going out of business. Matt Lindland could sign a contract for hundreds of thousands of dollars with Bodog, but it is worthless if they go out of business before he gets paid.
Now Tito is right about the respect issue with UFC and, of course, Dana White in particular. If the issue is that he doesn't want to be called stupid and made to look like a cowardly fool on national television then I am behind him whole heartedly. If he wants more money and the realities of the economics make perfect sense that he should get more, then once again I am behind him.
If he wants more because he is putting his life on the line and because he thinks he should get more for no good reason then I will tell him to take the millions he has made because of MMA and start his own company where he can pay his fighters what he thinks they are worth. If he stays in business for ten years then I will congratulate him on his success and admit I was wrong. Good luck, Tito, in all your future endeavors.
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The three biggest stars of the very early days of television in America:
Milton Berle
Gorgeous George
Ed Wynn
Last edited by flowwiththego; 05-26-2008 at 04:32 PM.
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