MacDonald calls Slice's salary 'almost insulting' |
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MMAcca
Heavyweight Champ
Career record: 176-94
Season: 46-24 (#607)
Location: North East of England
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UFC middleweight Jason MacDonald is among the fighters disgusted with Kimbo Slice's half a million dollar payday at EliteXC: Heat.
"I think the fact that EliteXC is paying a guy like Kimbo $500,000 is almost insulting to other 'real' mixed martial artists," MacDonald wrote on his blog on Sportsnet.ca. "If I were Jake Shields, who is a legitimate top 170-pound fighter. I would be very upset and angry. He's supposed to be a cornerstone of the organization and he's getting paid $50,000. That's a slap in the face for Shields, and pretty much every other top fighter there."
Former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski was the other fighter on the card making $500,000. In this case, MacDonald feels Arlovski was well-deserving of the purse.
"From his standpoint, leaving the UFC was probably the best thing for him," MacDonald continued. "He got $750,000 for his Affliction fight, now $500,000 for EliteXC fight. And for fighting two guys that aren't exactly at his caliber."
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Post #1 10/12/08 6:41:10AM
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nickcuc547
MMA Sensei
Career record: 219-128
Season: 45-25 (#813)
Location:
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so i guess jmac wouldn't take that much money if it was offered to him then.
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Post #2 10/12/08 10:20:36AM
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Aether
MMA Sensei
Career record: 120-82
Season: 38-23 (#2266)
Location: Canada
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well as with brock getting paid a lot of money this is simple economics. You don't get paid to be a good fighter, you get paid to sell tickets. In most cases being a good fighter is your main tool for selling tickets, but certain people sell tickets based on persona or fame achieved prior to entering the sport. No one knows who Jake Shields or Gina Carano are except for serious fans of the sport. Kimbo is the main reason anyone even realizes EliteXC exists. 500K is a little bit high, but there's no question that he is a FAR bigger draw than anyone else in the organization and as a result he should be making far more than them.
The simple fact of working in the entertainment industry is that you get paid based on ticket sales, not on skill. The same way that many terrible actors and movie makers get paid far more than a lot of significantly more talented ones because explosions and car chases sell tickets. People who are constantly talking about how certain fighters don't deserve what they are making need to understand this. I get that it's frustrating for a fighter to see someone he knows he would most likely beat getting paid ten times what he is, but the simple reality of economics is that you get paid to _earn money_ for whoever is paying you, not to be good at what you do. In most cases being good at what you do results in you earning more money, but this is rarely the case in the entertainment industry.
If great fighters who don't sell tickets//PPV get paid more than mediocre fighters who sell tons, the fighters who are actually making the company money are going to say "obviously I'm the one making these people money and if someone else is going to get paid with the money I'm earning for them I'll take my popular ass somewhere else." Another company would quickly capitalize on the situation and they would lose all of the fighters who make them money rendering them unable to pay their roster or turn a profit because they are now paying the talented fighters with money they are not earning from popular fighters.
I hear these arguments on these forums all of the time. Welcome to North America. Try opening a business without following the laws of basic economics and see how long it lasts. This is how business works. You want more money? Create a gimmick to make yourself more popular. You want the situation to change? Come up with a more viable economic structure, otherwise you can complain until you're blue in the face and nothing is going to happen.
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Post #3 10/12/08 10:35:55AM
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Twenty20Dollars
MMA Sensei
Career record: 168-91
Season: 47-23 (#640)
Location: KC,MO
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Yeah i would be spreading kimbo's pay out, give him like 100,000 and then give more money to gina and jake because they have proven themselves against contender fighters unlike kimbo who has been spoon fed.
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Post #4 10/12/08 11:16:27AM
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emfleek
Heavyweight Champ
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Career record: 127-62
Season: 53-17 (#30)
Location: Fort Wayne, IN
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Posted by nickcuc547
so i guess jmac wouldn't take that much money if it was offered to him then.
That has absolutely nothing to do with what he said. He wasn't bitching about Kimbo accepting the paycheck. He was bitching about EliteXC paying a guy who hasn't paid his dues that much money.
Let's put it this way...
You're making $10/hour at your job and you've been there for 5 years. Management hires some guy with absolutely no experience and pays him $25/hour *and* gives him his own office, better benefits, etc.
It'd get under my skin, too.
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Post #5 10/12/08 11:24:54AM
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Aether
MMA Sensei
Career record: 120-82
Season: 38-23 (#2266)
Location: Canada
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Posted by emfleek
Posted by nickcuc547
so i guess jmac wouldn't take that much money if it was offered to him then.
That has absolutely nothing to do with what he said. He wasn't bitching about Kimbo accepting the paycheck. He was bitching about EliteXC paying a guy who hasn't paid his dues that much money.
Let's put it this way...
You're making $10/hour at your job and you've been there for 5 years. Management hires some guy with absolutely no experience and pays him $25/hour *and* gives him his own office, better benefits, etc.
It'd get under my skin, too.
And if that guy is bringing in ten times more money for the company than you are? That's kind of the most important thing to consider.
How does anyone even try to argue this point?
Posted by Twenty20Dollars
Yeah i would be spreading kimbo's pay out, give him like 100,000 and then give more money to gina and jake because they have proven themselves against contender fighters unlike kimbo who has been spoon fed.
That's why you don't run a business.
Last edited 10/12/08 11:44AM by aether
Edit note/reason: n/a
2 total post edits
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Post #6 10/12/08 11:40:34AM
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GSP's Blitzkrieg in progress
Career record: 181-78
Season: 47-23 (#347)
Location: st-felicien, quebec
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Posted by Aether
Posted by emfleek
Posted by nickcuc547
so i guess jmac wouldn't take that much money if it was offered to him then.
That has absolutely nothing to do with what he said. He wasn't bitching about Kimbo accepting the paycheck. He was bitching about EliteXC paying a guy who hasn't paid his dues that much money.
Let's put it this way...
You're making $10/hour at your job and you've been there for 5 years. Management hires some guy with absolutely no experience and pays him $25/hour *and* gives him his own office, better benefits, etc.
It'd get under my skin, too.
And if that guy is bringing in ten times more money for the company than you are? That's kind of the most important thing to consider.
How does anyone even try to argue this point?
Posted by Twenty20Dollars
Yeah i would be spreading kimbo's pay out, give him like 100,000 and then give more money to gina and jake because they have proven themselves against contender fighters unlike kimbo who has been spoon fed.
That's why you don't run a business.
Elite/XC are 30 millions $ in the red since last years, so i guess they don't know how to run a business either !!!
Last edited 10/12/08 11:59AM by tuvok500
Edit note/reason: n/a
_______________________________________
" La illaha ill Allah, Muhammadur Rasul Allah "
“There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” ??
Ok here mine " There is no god but GSP and tuvok500 is the messenger of GSP " !!!
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Post #7 10/12/08 11:55:23AM
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JackHammerXXX
MMA Regular
Career record: 54-23
Season: 47-21 (#868)
Location: Omaha
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Question- If Elite hadn't signed the 'internet sensation' that was/is Kimbo, would CBS....correction will CBS continue in extending Elite XC's t.v. contract into next year?
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Post #8 10/12/08 12:03:55PM
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MMeh?
Career record: 120-71
Season: 29-17 (#3866)
Location: vancouver
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if i remember correctly, kimbo's salary is 250k per fight, and they doubled it for him so that he would take the last minute fight against seth petruzelli. I think that 500k per fight simply isnt what kimbo is worth.
from kimbo's point of view, he probably wouldnt've taken the fight for less than double his purse... why? because he hadnt trained for this guy and was by no means ready for him. This greatly increases the risk of losing which in turn increases the risk of his popularity dropping, and his popularity is direclty correlated to his income for the reasons noted above.
from eliteXCs standpoint, they're now faced with a show which either lacks a main event or their main attraction. Having kimbo not fight on this card would've cost them far more than 500,000 through lost revenues on this and following shows.
Both parties were happy with the price of 500,000k until kimbo got tkoed in 14 seconds or whatever it was... why? because kimbo just got embarassed cause he was faceplanted by a jab from a lhw who couldnt cut it in the ufc and just came off a year of not fighting. Kimbo's popularity has now plummitted, along with his income. EliteXC is now unhappy because their cashcow is no longer the powerful draw he was before that fight. This is the high risk of betting your organization on a guy who's been fighting for one year against a guy who's been fighting for 8 years
and as for the whole running a business thing... EliteXC was 60 million in the hole before that fight. Now with their cashcow embarassed, rumours of fight fixing etc circulating, and cbs second guessing whether or not the should be partnered with proelite... Gary shaw has proven he does not know how to run this business.
Wanna see a business being run well? check out the ufc... they have popularity draws that they pay ridiculous amounts... but these ridicuous amounts are nowhere near kimbo's 500k pay day and the ufc's fighters, despite being a huge popularity draw, are serious contenders. And if you look at the most popular fighters in the ufc... penn, gsp, silva, forrest, couture..... they're all champs. There are fighters who are still super popular like liddel or lesnar.. but these fighters are serious threats to any top5 in their class in the world. At the moment, kimbo is a threat to a tomato can and its on him to prove otherwise.
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Post #9 10/12/08 12:04:16PM
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GSP's Blitzkrieg in progress
Career record: 181-78
Season: 47-23 (#347)
Location: st-felicien, quebec
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Posted by wapttn
if i remember correctly, kimbo's salary is 250k per fight, and they doubled it for him so that he would take the last minute fight against seth petruzelli. I think that 500k per fight simply isnt what kimbo is worth.
from kimbo's point of view, he probably wouldnt've taken the fight for less than double his purse... why? because he hadnt trained for this guy and was by no means ready for him. This greatly increases the risk of losing which in turn increases the risk of his popularity dropping, and his popularity is direclty correlated to his income for the reasons noted above.
from eliteXCs standpoint, they're now faced with a show which either lacks a main event or their main attraction. Having kimbo not fight on this card would've cost them far more than 500,000 through lost revenues on this and following shows.
Both parties were happy with the price of 500,000k until kimbo got tkoed in 14 seconds or whatever it was... why? because kimbo just got embarassed cause he was faceplanted by a jab from a lhw who couldnt cut it in the ufc and just came off a year of not fighting. Kimbo's popularity has now plummitted, along with his income. EliteXC is now unhappy because their cashcow is no longer the powerful draw he was before that fight. This is the high risk of betting your organization on a guy who's been fighting for one year against a guy who's been fighting for 8 years
and as for the whole running a business thing... EliteXC was 60 million in the hole before that fight. Now with their cashcow embarassed, rumours of fight fixing etc circulating, and cbs second guessing whether or not the should be partnered with proelite... Gary shaw has proven he does not know how to run this business.
Wanna see a business being run well? check out the ufc... they have popularity draws that they pay ridiculous amounts... but these ridicuous amounts are nowhere near kimbo's 500k pay day and the ufc's fighters, despite being a huge popularity draw, are serious contenders. And if you look at the most popular fighters in the ufc... penn, gsp, silva, forrest, couture..... they're all champs. There are fighters who are still super popular like liddel or lesnar.. but these fighters are serious threats to any top5 in their class in the world. At the moment, kimbo is a threat to a tomato can and its on him to prove otherwise.
lol !!  But i thought it was 30 millions in the red !! well, maybe i'm wrong, you know i am new to this forum !!
_______________________________________
" La illaha ill Allah, Muhammadur Rasul Allah "
“There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” ??
Ok here mine " There is no god but GSP and tuvok500 is the messenger of GSP " !!!
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Post #10 10/12/08 12:16:40PM
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The People's Mod
Career record: 152-91
Season: 47-23 (#137)
Location: Getting choked out or arm barred
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Regardless of the amount of tickets he can sell why pay him 250k or 500k a fight???
It's not like other organizations are clamoring to get him in their door. They won't do that because they know his skills are a joke compared to legit mixed martial artists. Kudos to Kimbo's management for getting him paid like they obviously did- but it's not like he was leaving a several hundred thousand dollar salary and it's not like EliteXC was in a bidding war with the UFC for Kimbo. It just doesn't make sense to me how they leveraged a deal like they did.
IMO Jason MacDonald would beat Kimbo in a fight so I completely understand where he's coming from. At the same time I don't hate on Kimbo because like others have said- would you deny the money??
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"It is a shame that in this society we've been taught to judge a man's worth by what he owns instead of who he is." - Evan Tanner
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Post #11 10/12/08 12:34:37PM
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nickcuc547
MMA Sensei
Career record: 219-128
Season: 45-25 (#813)
Location:
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Posted by emfleek
Posted by nickcuc547
so i guess jmac wouldn't take that much money if it was offered to him then.
That has absolutely nothing to do with what he said. He wasn't bitching about Kimbo accepting the paycheck. He was bitching about EliteXC paying a guy who hasn't paid his dues that much money.
Let's put it this way...
You're making $10/hour at your job and you've been there for 5 years. Management hires some guy with absolutely no experience and pays him $25/hour *and* gives him his own office, better benefits, etc.
It'd get under my skin, too.
look at the ratings difference when kimbo fights, fraud or not he brings more cash into the org, even if they are in debt he was their ticket out of it until last saturday.
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Post #12 10/12/08 12:43:42PM
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MMA Regular
Career record: 236-111
Season: 52-18 (#39)
Location: Lakewood Colorado
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Ufc is a successful organization that the have pretty much stayed true to having good fighters fight meaningful fights. Pride, which was also successful also followed this model. Now i realize that there are fights that are much more spectacle that substance, but meaningful fighters and fights has been a cornerstone to success for these organizations.
Paying a paper tiger like Kimbo slice that much money is pretty much a joke. It was bound to backfire eventually. And it was much sooner than they expected. If they were going to spend that much money on a fighter, they should have went after a real mma fighter. Tito might have been a good choice.
Eliete XC could however build a real fighter off Kimbo. This is what i would love to see happen.
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Keep a Cool Tool and a Tight Ass!
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Post #13 10/12/08 1:33:06PM
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metaray
Learning to Sprawl
Career record: 12-5
Season: 0-0 (#-)
Location:
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Kimbo is a huge draw, obviously he's not getting the $500k because of his "ability to fight".
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Post #14 10/12/08 2:12:01PM
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GSP's Blitzkrieg in progress
Career record: 181-78
Season: 47-23 (#347)
Location: st-felicien, quebec
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Posted by metaray
Kimbo is a huge draw, obviously he's not getting the $500k because of his "ability to fight".
If Kimbo is a huge draw, can you explain to me why they got only a 9000 crowd and 20% of those persons got a free ticket at the door to fill the place ??
_______________________________________
" La illaha ill Allah, Muhammadur Rasul Allah "
“There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” ??
Ok here mine " There is no god but GSP and tuvok500 is the messenger of GSP " !!!
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Post #15 10/12/08 2:19:19PM
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