Benson Henderson signs with Bellator

[REDDzone]

What? Dana told me the ufc will not made a dime.

Anyway, the shocking part is how little research the ufc cared to do before selling their soul to reebok for, as sdm put it, 7th man in the nba money. After the deal was already signed, they called around to fighters and asked how much sponsorship money they made in their last fight, etc. I think it was Mitrione who said that, and that he got the impression they were writing down the numbers as he told them. lol.

[Bernman]

They wanted/needed the money to offset their losses from their attempted world takeover, putting on regular low-quality international events w/ just the UFC name attached, diluting talent in general, and over-saturating the market with too much product.

Also, they wanted to take away fighter's individuality to suppress their earning potential. It would be more about drawing fans to watch the UFC and their meagerly paid fighters. This was around when a number of fighters negotiated substantial salaries relative to what had previously been paid out.

They were deluded about how much they could control perception in the public and fighters, as they'd done so for so many years. But, at the end of the day, we don't watch for Dana's yapping, you can only hide the truth for so long, and fighters have their pride and needs. You don't appease your employees at least a little bit in a non-communist state and it's going to come back to bite you. I think many people said when the Reebok deal went down that it might be the breaking point, and fighters who acted satisfied were just toeing the line or could have only speculated on how bad it would work out for them.

[Jasen777]

And they signed Leben.

[SDM]

Rumour is $2M signing bonus and $100K a fight. They're not getting quite Affliction stupid paying Buentello $400K to lose, but it's something to watch if they pluck more guys. Assuming the number is true.

[ShowtimeFan]

Would you rather be a Big Fish in a Small Pond or a Small Fish in a Big Pond?

[lilfishi22]

Would you rather be a Big Fish in a Small Pond or a Small Fish in a Big Pond?

Whoever pays more. Bendo has had his time in the big leagues, tore it up, won a belt or two and now he's looking to get paid. Good for him to get back his sponsors, the fight purse he thinks he deserves and still get to fight.