MMA/UFC Discussion Thread MMA • Page 37

and he's gonna continue to be a pain to watch. apparently he's not retiring anymore lol

 

Ugh.

 

I basically never pay attention to anything that guy says. He's insane.

 

GSP announces his contract with UFC is terminated and he's a free agent.

 

GSP to Bellator in 3...2....

 

For some reason the UFC has never had a card in Missouri (unless it was back in the dark ages), but Bellator, Strikeforce, and everything else have always come to St. Louis and Kansas City. If GSP goes to Bellator, that would make my day. All of these people signing with other organizations means that I actually get to see them fight in person without having to travel all over the country.

Only thing I think would be weird is if he goes to Bellator and we are right back in that weird GSP-Rory-not-fighting-each-other thing.

 

Really interesting how everything is currently shifting in this sport. You have some of the high-ranked people like Bendo, Rory and Phil Davis going over to Bellator. Same with a guy like Chael who has been a large draw in the UFC. Then you have some of the all-time greats like GSP, Anderson and Jose Aldo coming out saying the fighters aren't getting paid what they should and are being treated unfairly. Not to mention the countless other cases of people speaking out like Al Iaquinta, Luke Rockhold, Cris Cyborg, etc.

Not that I'm supporting all of these conflicts and stuff, but I think it's good like GSP said: a lot of these fighters are going to leave the sport physically, mentally, and financially broken so they all need to step up and see what they're really worth. It's just a weird place for the sport considering how back in the day, Randy Couture was one of the only ones to have a public dispute with the UFC. All of the rest that complained about what the UFC did to them were considered "wash outs" so no one really cared. Not the case anymore.

 

BJ had his issues with the UFC back in the day too, but I agree, it's a weird time, especially since the sport has a higher profile. I don't think Bellator is the answer per se, but we'll see.

Fertitta's are, again, the smartest people in the room.

 

I meant that there used to be some sort of stigma around fighters having an issue with the UFC. Earlier in the sport, it looked more like some of the fighters who were outspoken were just bitter and past their prime (with Randy and BJ being the exceptions). It didn't look as much like the UFC was money-hungry back then.

Nowadays, so many fighters are pretty adamant that they're being short-changed that it's kind of impossible to ignore that the UFC/Zuffa/WME/Whoever aren't really as interested in the fighter's well-being as they have lead people to believe.

 

Last time I checked, anyone making under 100,000 a year is underpaid. I love and respect the craft, but acting like every single person who gets paid to professionally beat people up deserves to be a millionaire is a joke.

 

I don't think anyone said they all deserve to be millionaires. That's making a gigantic leap there. The issue is that all these guys, even at the top of the mountain, are making a far smaller percentage of what the organization makes than any other team/player with any other sport. Add in the fact that they all got completely stripped of their possible sponsorship money but aren't being compensated the difference by Reebok...I think there's a valid reason why so many of them have been outspoken.

 

Definitely a valid point when it comes to the ownership/athlete pay ratio difference. I'm with you on that one and my original statement was exaggerating actual amounts. But I do get annoyed by some fighters who really aren't top notch talking about how much they're worth and what they deserve.

 

For sure. Some of the guys who hardly anyone's ever heard of are wondering why Conor gets so much better treatment than they do. Haha.

 

If UFC fighters want pay that gets them closer to other sports leagues, they need to unionize. It is the only way.

Trying to leverage an individual fighter's bargaining power against that of the UFC will mean the fighter loses that battle every time. There are probably only 5 fighters total who can stand toe-to-toe with the UFC leverage-wise.

 

Yeah, union is definitely the way to go. Which is why it almost sounded like the UFC was "bribing" Aldo to stay away from the talk about the fighter's union. haha.

Like GSP said though, they have to all be ready to say "no" and walk away when negotiating. He is fortunate enough to not NEED to fight to make money or be wealthy, so it's admittedly easier for him, but like he explained, they are all so eager to say "yes" to whatever the company wants and it doesn't end up paying off. They aren't there yet, but the more people that leave and the more big names that speak out, the closer they ALL get to getting a bigger piece of the pie.

 

Max Holloway vs. Anthony Pettis added to 206. Gonna be a hell of a fight

 

Oh yes.

 

Guess that's the bare minimum to make that a respectable card. 206 is going to get smoked being in between Conor and Ronda.

 

i don't get why they wouldn't put cain/werdum 2 on the 206 card as the co main event, ronda alone will sell 207. cruz/garbrandt is the co for 207 anyways

 

I feel you on that, that'd be a great addition. Everything I'm reading has pointed to the new owners cutting back on events, which, as a long time fan, is going to be awesome.

 

I loved it when they started doing cards all the time, but then it became very apparent that they were spread so thin that if one crucial fight fell through, the cards looked "weak" which was a huge problem. On the other hand, when there aren't cards all of the time and guys get injured, they have to sit out a lot longer. Hopefully they find a good balance here.

 

Agreed, I was stoked on more MMA all the time, but they really need to scale it back some. Fox really put them in a weird spot with FS1 needing content.

I don't know how to fantasy book it. Big ppv's once a month. One Fox (flagship Fox) event every quarter. Split FightPass/FS1 cards as a way to showcase upcoming talent, with a recognizable fighters in the main event (somewhat like Strikeforce Challengers). Obviously, this is all simplistic and there's a million variables in their deal, but that'd make me happy and more likely to spring for Fight Pass.

 

Think I'm going to side with Ferguson this weekend for no real reason.

Sneaky good Bellator card too, McGeary is my pick in that one.

 

I'm Dos Anjos only cause I wasn't a fan of Fergo in the TUF house but mainly I still have a burning desire to see McGregor RDS. I get ansty when schedualed fights never happen. Still irks me not seeing chael v wandi

 

Can't remember the last time I stayed in and watched a Bellator card. Going with Phil Davis via Decision.