After UFC 210 Gegard Mousasi is officially a free agent…
Heading in to last weekend’s UFC pay-per-view offering, Gegard Mousasi had a big opportunity. Unfortunately, as is quite often the case recently, the co-main event was with Chris Weidman didn’t live up to the hype.
Having won titles in Strikeforce and Dream, Mousasi is certainly a top level athlete. For some time now, fighters have been complaining about pay, and ‘The Dreamcatcher’ has recently piped up too.
Mousasi’s Pay Beef
Recently pointing out Mark Hunt’s pay being higher even though his record is 12-11, Mousasi went in to free agency with clear intentions. Although his TKO win over Chris Weidman was somewhat controversial, its a win no less.
With Bellator likely interested in acquiring Mousasi, and probably willing to offer better conditions, will the UFC bend to his demands?According to UFC president Dana White, probably not:
Dana Says No
During the UFC 210 press conference, White revealed his reasons why he isn’t too keen on offering Mousasi a pay bump. As quoted by BloodyElbow.com:
“Dan Henderson has been in the game forever. Mark Hunt has an entire country behind him. When we do fights in Australia, he sells out arenas. Gegard Mousasi isn’t selling out arenas.”
“That’s why you see guys like Bisping, different fighters from Brazil, Conor McGregor. When you have guys who have countries behind them, it’s a game-changer for them. Not everybody has that luxury.”
Sorry Gegard…
Unless you are Conor McGregor, or lucky enough to come from a country that is heavily in to MMA, basically you are not getting paid. That’s essentially what Dana White is saying, and is he right in doing so?
Albeit thinly disguised as a sport, MMA is a big business right now, and the UFC are the ivory towers organisation. Where they fall below the market standard is with sponsorship, and the Reebok deal is the main sticking point.
If Mousasi can get better pay with Bellator’s sponsor scheme, will he stay fighting for the UFC?
Well everyone knows Dana is a stingy bastard when it comes to paying his fighters. So this isn’t news. It is however sad that fighters don’t get pay bumps based on their performances , but on how many fans they draw. A lot of new talent is moving to other promotions like Bellator , because they have better compensation for their fighters. (ex: Dillon Danis).
What’s about Overeem’s salary? Because he’s from the same country.
Number one question !
I paid for this event. I won’t pay again as long as I know a top contender in the UFC is not getting paid fairly by the billion dollar industry we know as the UFC.
UFC makes hundreds of millions and they pay like shit! So just like everywhere the employees get screwed.
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