Couture's issue is money, not respect |
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Kimbo Slice's Punchout!
Career record: 204-116
Season: 47-23 (#163)
Location:
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Circle Oct. 25, 2007 on your calendar, for it will go down in history as the date when the sport of mixed martial arts hit the mainstream.
It was the date that the sport's highest-profile star held a news conference in a ring at the gym he owns to speak about his problems with its most well-known promoter.
But though Randy Couture, the UFC's erstwhile heavyweight champion, insisted repeatedly that his resignation on Oct. 11 had nothing to do with money, he spent the better part of the news conference Thursday talking about that very topic.
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It's lose, not loose!
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Post #1 10/26/07 11:38:55AM
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Kimbo Slice's Punchout!
Career record: 204-116
Season: 47-23 (#163)
Location:
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Part of the reason that this article was interesting was, if I remember correctly anyway, because this is the same guy that was claiming Couture was making like 3.5 million a fight. He ended up looking like a fool, when he was proven to be far off base...which would cause some to believe that there may be some bitterness and animosity in this article.
I'm sure people will have different opinions on this whole situation, but I for one can see where Couture is coming from. I used to work for a company that did similar things. I worked for them for several years, but I would often see the new employees coming in with inflated salaries...this was often in times where help was needed the most, so they would pay what they needed to in order to make life easier. Even if I was content with the money that was coming my way, it is difficult to forget that your loyalty is taken for granted. Raises didn't come easy, as there was always some excuse to not award one, yet these new guys were getting what they wanted because they knew that they could easily walk away. If I'm a loyal employee, then I'm not much of a threat of jumping ship, so the powers that be often take advantage of that situation. Ironically they told me to name my price when I gave them my two weeks. It's not usually until it's too late that they want to reward those that do the most for them. I don't completely blame Dana and Zuffa, because they are only human and this type of thing happens in other companies all the time as I have pointed out...but if they don't learn from it moving forward, then they deserver everything that happens as a result. Randy was not only their most marketable fighter (since Chuck's losses) and commentator, but he was also an ambassador...which goes a long way in my book.
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It's lose, not loose!
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Post #2 10/26/07 11:57:53AM
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MMeh?
Career record: 120-71
Season: 29-17 (#3866)
Location: vancouver
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randy the movie star..
i watched the first half of the press conference live and man.. that was depressing. He's saying that his main issue is respect, and that respect is measured in $$$. What about your millions of fans? thousands of hardcore fans that rank you above fedor? thousands of fighters around the world who look up to you? What about the ufc who is constantly marketing you as one of the greatest champions to ever step into the octagon.. calling you a living legend. At the end of the day, he wasnt gettin paid enough.
I can relate to the example above.. i definately know what you're sayin, but lets add a few more details: You work there because you enjoy your job and its what you love to do. On the side you have other projects that make you a ton of money, so much so that your job isnt even your main source of income. According to the company books, you have the 2nd highest salary in the company, you have the utmost respect from every employee of that company, and are known to be one of the greatest employees of all time within that industry. I dont know about you guys.. but thats what i call a dream job. As long as my family was taken care of, i'd do it for free
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Post #3 10/26/07 1:13:50PM
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EliasG
MMA Regular
Career record: 83-54
Season: 18-12 (#6337)
Location: Colton
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NO. The issue is still respect. It was obvious to me that what Randy was hurt about was that he was extremely loyal for six years to the UFC organization. And even when other organizations came to him to offer deals he turned them down to be loyal to UFC. Now he realizes that the UFC as a corporation was just using his likeness, his name, and his ability to bring in millions while not taking care of the fighter who was loyal to them. When it was time for THEM to be loyal, he felt they failed and failed miserably.
Another problem I saw after watching the Couture press conference was that the UFC gives under the table bonuses to fighters that are purely disgressionary. They can give them or not give them. It's the corporation's choice. Meanwhile the fighter lives at the whim of the owner. THat's BS. How many people have ever worked at a company that offered "bonuses"? THEY DON'T HAVE TO GIVE IT TO YOU. That's why they offer them in the first place. Be a good little girl or boy and work hard and we'll give you a bonus...or not. If the UFC wants to be legit and be "loyal" to Randy then they need to p ay him a great deal more than 1million combined for 3 fights with PPV numbers and base pay, when we know for certain that they pulled in about 50-60 million during that same period for those same fights.
Stop ripping off the fighters and calling it good business Dana.
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Post #4 10/26/07 1:56:28PM
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EliasG
MMA Regular
Career record: 83-54
Season: 18-12 (#6337)
Location: Colton
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"""the side you have other projects that make you a ton of money, so much so that your job isnt even your main source of income. According to the company books, you have the 2nd highest salary in the company, you have the utmost respect from every employee of that company, and are known to be one of the greatest employees of all time within that industry. I dont know about you guys.. but thats what i call a dream job. As long as my family was taken care of, i'd do it for free """" quote
You would work for free cool. Maybe Dana should work for free too right? Maybe the Fertitit brothers should just say, "screw the profits we make off of fights we make money off of merch." Extend this argument to the company. Stop protecting the UFC when it's the fighters that bring in revenue, bring in fans, bring in respect, and bring in the MONEY. Yet, these are the guys that we feel obligated to tell===do it for free cuz you make more than me.
Look I like my job too. But if my boss came to me and told me to take one for the team I'd do it...once, maybe even twice. But if my boss told me that I shouldn't get paid more because I liked my job he'd get broke off. IF YOU DO A JOB YOU SHOULD BE EQUITABLY COMPENSATED FOR IT. IF you work and bring in millions to an organization then you should be paid an equal percentage of that.
Ask yourself this---why is the UFC making a 95% of the money that they pull in for fights and paying out less than 5%? In a normal business model you would probably say that they spend 10-15% on promotion. IN their case jack it up to 25% and you still have 75% profit for UFC and the Fertitis and 5% for ALL THE FIGHTERS COMBINED. That's garbage. You work for free, I'll work for green stuff.
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Post #5 10/26/07 2:03:47PM
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hook_tothe_body
Standup Guy
Career record: 188-123
Season: 35-27 (#3249)
Location: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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I think that the issue is respect. But in one of the ways he was disrespected it was through not getting paid what other fighters were getting paid. Not getting that bonus cheque after beating Gabriel Gonzaga.
You would be disrespected if you were working with a company for a very long time, and all of a sudden new guys were coming in getting offered more money then you.
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Post #6 10/26/07 2:05:20PM
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ohiostate1016
MMA Sensei
Career record: 126-89
Season: 43-27 (#1331)
Location: Columbus, OH
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I'm really tired of people bashing Randy. He gave people what THEY wanted for more than ten years as a MMA fighter. Can't he now have what HE wants? So what if what he wants is money. Give it to him.
I don't care what anyone says, Randy is the best guy in this business. He's gonna have to do a lot to change that fact. He pretty much helped make the UFC during the first season of TUF (a lot of people will say that that show made him, but that is total bull. Randy was a star way before that), and he is building one of the best MMA camps in his Extreme Couture camp. Stop bashing Randy!
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Post #7 10/26/07 2:05:33PM
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EliasG
MMA Regular
Career record: 83-54
Season: 18-12 (#6337)
Location: Colton
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Exactly. The first thing the organization is doing---which is mad dirty---is assinating Randy's character. They are making him out to be a money grubbing disloyal friend. In reality, the money grubbers are the ones HORDING THE MONEY----Dana and the Fertiti brothers. I know it you know it and the American people know it---Randy can be and should be paid more.
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Post #8 10/26/07 2:25:28PM
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How do you like me so far?
Career record: 128-68
Season: 50-19 (#243)
Location: Land O' Lakes
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business is business. Everyone knows that all professional athletes get paid way too much money. It needs to be kept simple.
A base salary for every fight
winner gets a bonus
This will never happen. The only color that matters is GREEN.
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It don't hurt 'til the bone shows!
You have your way, I have mine. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way. It does not exist.
The Few, The Proud, The MMA Army!!
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Post #9 10/26/07 3:54:21PM
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Hardcastle
Learning to Sprawl
Career record: 172-87
Season: 43-27 (#557)
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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iole knows his shit mainly. but his willie mays comparison is preposterous. i mean, mays isn't still playing with and dominating other players in the modern era. in fact, he is 76 goddamn years old!!! if i saw mays crush a game winning home run against the red sox i would give iole's comparison some credit, but yeah, you see what i'm getting at. ridiculous. either way, it is a shit show. couture makes a lot of money, yes. but he is right that he now deserves what the other top draws get. liddell was the main draw but has fallen out of the limelight since his back to back losses. anderson silva is a freak of nature and arguably the best pound for pounder in the world, but he speaks poor english and is somewhat of a mystery to many fans. so he is not as bankable. couture is loved and trusted by virtually all fans and fighters, he is a real-life rocky who has done his time in and out of the ring and shown tremendous class and business savvy in the meantime. he is their main draw, and should be rewarded accordingly. however, on the other hand, i get what iole is saying. randy is an old generation fighter with limited time left. his worth and drawing power changes drasticaly fight to fight. i mean, before sylvia he was a respected fighter who had been brutally ko'd twice in a row. afterward, he was a true hero, reborn in the sport, but still somewhat of a curiosity. now, after gonzaga he really cemented himself as a contender to challenge fedor for the title of best heavyweight on the planet. but this all happened in eight months, and fedor had been universally considered the best for years. the UFC needs to man up and take care of their most respected and loyal fighter, and randy needs to give them a little longer to do so before he pulls chute and bails.
the biggest boon for the UFC is also their biggest problem. its financial success. now that the money is there fighters are going to want more. especially fighters like randy who have been building the sport as if they were part of UFC management themselves. this is a significant period in the development of MMA, and neither couture or the UFC will be ruined by this. but hopefully when this bullshit clears there will be more uniform wages for fighters, the understanding that the UFC is not all powerful and therefore cannot bully fighters. and likewise, there should be a lesson learned by the fighters that, while they are on cable TV and people know them on the vegas strip, they are not yet in an organization like, say, the NBA, who can pay their athletes massive sums and still generate a healthy profit. the UFC is still a fledging company, and is reportedly still listed as a risk by analysts due to the fact that it is a new company and dedicates so much profit to marketing and reinvestment for the future. it is not nearly as stable as any other major sports org. i think the offer to fedor was exorbitant and that the UFC threw it out there carelessly, desperate to land the big fish. but they should have known this was a deal that could not be reached by throwing money around, if it could be reached at all. bad decisions have been made on both sides, by the UFC and by couture, in his reactions and manner of resignation. i just hope that both parties can come out of this with their dignity intact, and not for them or for their bank account balances, but for the fans of MMA, and for the future of the sport. and for ****'s sake, if there is any humanly possible way to do it, forget yoru bitching and petty bullshit and get couture and emelianenko in the cage and give everyone the fight they all want to see. the most important fight in modern UFC history.
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Post #10 10/26/07 4:12:54PM
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NatedawgThaM
MMA Sensei
Career record: 150-91
Season: 44-24 (#1353)
Location: New Providence, Pa
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Couture needs to get over his emotions and sit down with Dana already and settle this bull crap out already. It's really getting out of hand all these rumors that keep going around and you don't know who or what to believe.
It's ridiculous.
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Post #11 10/26/07 4:18:40PM
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EliasG
MMA Regular
Career record: 83-54
Season: 18-12 (#6337)
Location: Colton
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If professional sports is professional sports then that means athletes do this to get paid. And we pay to be entertained. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH UFC TRYING TO MAKE MONEY. IN the same way THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH RANDY TRYING TO MAKE MONEY. THe difference here is, there is only one guy who is doing the entertaining--it aint Dana it's Randy. I pay to watch Randy NOT a UFC symbol. I don't care if Randy was fighting in a kiddie pool with FEDOR I'm buying that on PPV.
Pay the fighters what the market can bear. THat's the law of business. If not, let's call it COllege football.
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Post #12 10/26/07 5:07:39PM
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Manak
MMA Regular
Career record: 133-86
Season: 28-21 (#4542)
Location: Texas
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the only ppl i can se bitchin bout pay r the less known fighters since the champs and big names make 6 figures or close to it and ur gonna bitch when the avg income of nation is no where near that. randy prb should get paid more but i say even out the payin before certian ppl get 7 figures, boxin got to the point where they can afford to pay guys like holyfield, mayweather, & oscar 30 mill caue they r established. the nfl,nba,mlb are fukcin huge and bringin so much money that they can pay ppl and everyone knows bout them (not every avg joe knows all the starts in mma) i really dont think ufc is makin that much right now to be near that, and yes randy is immortal in my books but the world runs on money, and the lack of respect is cause he didnt get an extra check aka money, with his ppy cuts long with the 250k along with his camp along with his clothin line and catin i think he finacial is set(not mention is by far the most liked and respected guy in mma), and yes dana is still a duche and needs so manners since he does run a big company (dont see guys like trump, bill gates,etc... usin his lang) but this is a 2 way fight between randy and the ufc office both r at fault. I hope Ufc can hold payin some fighters redicluos amounts tell they go real main cause i can see money beein the downfall of mma.
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Post #13 10/26/07 6:42:52PM
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xAcidburNx
MMA Regular
Career record: 151-88
Season: 44-26 (#1539)
Location: Winnipeg MB, CAN
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Both sides may seem a little sketchy especially with the back & forth he said she said bull dump but when it comes down to it. who do we respect more and trust to tell the truth. A man whos never really been questioned or a man whos motives are questioned on a daily basis?
Cptn. America all the way.
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Post #14 10/26/07 10:12:29PM
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Hey folks! My first post so here we go:
IMO, I'm kinda 50/50 on who to believe. Randy claims that he was denied a signing bonus prior to signing the 4-fight contract. But then Dana White says that Randy received one and cashed the check out. Dana also claims that he has a copy of that check. Here's the website where I read that info:
http://www.mmafightline.com/news/200...e_306579.shtml
VERY INTERESTING ...
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Post #15 10/26/07 11:01:19PM
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