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Marriage with more upside: Jenna/Tito or Roy Nelson/Dolce diet?
By Zach Arnold | May 31, 2011
We have a big fight between Clay Guida & Anthony Pettis coming up on Saturday (Spike TV) that UFC has basically forgotten to promote. And in addition to forgetting to promote the fight, even if Pettis wins he is still not guaranteed a #1 contendership slot to face the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard III (which will probably happen in early August in Philadelphia).
So, we are left with some soap opera-ish story lines. Like… Anderson Silva not amused by Yushin Okami training with Chael Sonnen or whether or not Rampage Jackson was ‘motorboating’ Karyn Bryant during a video interview. That, along with Tony Loiseleur of Sherdog catching Gary “Jerry” Millen at this weekend’s DREAM event and Millen reportedly running/hiding from the press so his presence at the event wouldn’t be leaked out on the Internet.
But those stories are largely appetizers compared to an old drama with a new twist and the drama surrounding Roy Nelson’s job security in the UFC.
First, the old drama with a new twist. The OC Weekly brings you a great wrap-up of the latest drama in the relationship between Tito Ortiz & Jenna Jameson, which includes dirt flying between the two media-craving lovebirds about cheating/not cheating and why Tito helped bail out someone in Las Vegas. Once you read the OC Weekly piece, then the following Twitter chatter from both Tito and Jenna makes some sense (as much as it can, anyways).
@FreakyFella no sick of being treated like
shitwith no support. U get to read half the shit I go though.Lol coming from a hooker from the HBO show cathouse! Thats funny. Shut up and sell your snatch. RT @ExpensiveBlonde: Seriously! @jennajameson Has been 100 percent faithful to @titoortiz ! Stop already
bitches!@pink_cashmere she done nothing but stolded and tried to break us up. She can have jenna now
Not nuts just done with the lies and deceit. The hand I was holding was bring me down now a will let go.
Not whem my friend call and tell me. RT @Anghays: @schaefdaddy @jennajameson @titoortiz @wardski21 tons of girls were wearing dresses w/high heels. why u tryin’ to make trub for this couple?
Ok im done talking about this
shit. I found some shit out that happen from a few friends. First time my bad ,second her bad ,third I should of believe the first time. Will find someone who respects and supports me. Life will go on! I will stay strong.
I am perfect, saying mean lies on twitter is wrong. I am a mother, and I love Tito and my children.
I love him, and he is angry. I stand behind him no matter how much he lashes out at me
I love @titoortiz and will fight for him forever. No matter what he sais
My children are my main priority, lies about fatherhood is yucky. Just be a dad and stop partying and train…your fight is soon.
I love @titoortiz and I would never disrespect him with another man. I’m a good girl, and mommy!
I was in Vegas for 2 days with my gay make assistant. Tito is my man, so all you losers trying to be dumb,
fuckyouOnce again, I love my kids and they are my main priority. Talking smack on twitter seems insane when life is more important
I want the real @titoortiz back. He used to be loving, I get how a lot of you think I’m garbage, but he’s me babies daddy, and I love him
Tito is a +365 underdog (at BetOnFighting) in his upcoming July fight against Ryan Bader, which translates to the book giving him about a 20% shot of winning.
A 20% success ratio sounds low, but is it higher or lower than the potential success rate of Roy Nelson should be take up Mike Dolce’s offer of getting on The Dolce Diet? This idea is surfacing after Dana White, the UFC Godfather, announced that he would have a meeting with Roy later this week to discuss his future with the company. Translation: Get your fat ass in shape or get cut. Mr. Dolce says that he met up with Roy at UFC 130 and offered his services should Roy want them. Mike thinks he can make Roy a healthier Heavyweight or even a Light Heavyweight.
As Jonathan Snowden discovered in the past, talking about Roy Nelson’s weight situation has always been a controversial subject that drew fire from both sides. After Nelson’s UFC 130 performance against Frank Mir, no one is debating what needs to be done in order for Roy to step up his game as a fighter. Except for Robert Joyner, who points out the following:
Roy Nelson gasses after one round, folks wanna cut him….. Shane Carwin gasses after one round… gets to fight #1 contender… whatever.
Dana gonna meet with Big Country Fri? Imagining some A&E Intervention shit: “Roy, I don’t like what Whoppers have done to our relationship…”
Even with a reported case of ‘walking pneumonia,’ Roy doesn’t have many excuses for getting beat as badly as he was by Frank Mir. Could The Dolce Diet help save Roy’s UFC career and improve his quality of life?
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 50 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Dear Punishment Athletics,
If you print up a line of “Shut Up & Sell Your Snatch” t-shirts, you can instantly revive your business in this overdone MMA t-shirt business. I’ll buy 2.
Best Regards,
Mark.
Jenna Jameson in punishment athletics jsut seems right on so many levels.
1) The season of TUF promotes the finale show by itself.
2) Roy Nelson is too short and small framed to really be competing at Heavyweight. He needs to get down to Light Heavyweight. It’s that simple.
3) Carwin gassed from going for the finish. And was so close to beating the champion. He has also already made the necessary changes and tried to slim down. Not even comparable to just coming into a fight fat.
4) For people who sometimes ask for a Cruiserweight Division….. All it would do is allow Light Heavyweights become lazy and come in fat. If you don’t like Roy Nelson lazy attitude towards fighting, you shouldn’t like a Cruiserweight Division.
Co-Signage…but Zuffa could have promoted the TUF Finale a TAD bit more though imo.
Hatsu Hioki relinquished the Shooto Title. UFC bound? It would appear that way.
He is really the last great fighter with something to prove that isn’t signed to Zuffa.
I think people the world over realize that if it is not the UFC (or for the moment Strikeforce, but not for long), then it simply does not matter.
I now look at fights under the UFC banner as THE legitimate sport, and everything is just exhibition fights, akin to a sitcom or some other form of entertainment, but not true sport as the outcomes, the rankings, and the fighters simply do not matter in the big scheme of things.
Kind of the same way I look at the NBA (UFC) and And1 streetball (independent MMA i.e. something like Shark Fights)
I’d like to see for sure: Lombard, Alvarez and Askren.
And I’d even throw in to a lesser extent Sandro, Warren and Konrad – though as of yet they don’t fit the “great fighter with something to prove” part.
Lombard would have a hard time with the level of competition in the UFC. Warren would get exposed badly. I think Sandro is overrated.
Alvarez would make some headway, but I think small holes in his game would keep him from getting to the top.
Askren is the guy who I think if he improves his striking has the best chance of being a future UFC champion. His grappling is unreal and would automatically make him a Top 10 guy just on that skill alone. Now that he is training at Rufus’s full time, it’s scarey to think how good he can become.
Konrad…. The verdict is still out on him. He just doesn’t have a high enough level of competition to really determine what he could become. The Buentello fight would have been nice, but Paul has such bad takedown defense it wouldn’t answer too many questions.
Well sir, you said “great fighter with something to prove that isn’t signed to Zuffa”. So while I agree these guys may not become champion or get exposed, that wasn’t “the criteria” you provided my friend. And you’ve merely provided your opinion on how they’d do, not actual fight tested results.
Outside of your positive comments on Askren, you’ve basically done nothing but say “these guys aren’t as good” as everyone thinks they are” without any elaboration or exposition to back up your points as to HOW they would struggle in the UFC.
I’m curious – what holes have you observed in Lombard’s game that would equate to less success in the UFC, other than the level of competition?
Keep in mind that the UFC still has Baroni under contract.
“Keep in mind that the UFC still has Baroni under contract.”
That says it all. It’s not comparable to team sports where there is an established “major league” quality of play. Matchmaking plays a huge role in how someone does “in the UFC.”
The biggest problem I see in Lombard’s game is that he is a sub-6′ Olympic judoka who prefers to stand & Wang. That approach will get him killed against more technical strikers with a longer reach. IMO, a guy like Okami would box him up, not to mention that Brazilian fella with the belt or the other Brazilian fella with a foot fetish.
Also, judo guys usually have a slick transition/takedown game, and are smothering from on top, but they are a step behind the elite BJJ guys when it comes to working on the mat (IMO). I think Lombard would get schooled if he took down guys like Maia, Jacare, or Palhares.
“Lombard would have a hard time with the level of competition in the UFC.”
When guys like Michael Bisping are up for MW title shots in 2011 and get taken out by Wanderlei Silva circa 2010, that doesn’t make me think Lombard would be in over his head in a notoriously weak division. Bisping has basically gotten kid glove treatment his entire career – so there’s certainly cases within Zuffa of a guy that can get a really overinflated rep. Hell, Chris Leben was momentarily “in the mix” and purely 1-D guys like Maia, Leites and Cote have had shots at the title. With Lombard’s crushing combinations and strong clinch/grappling base I think he’d be a real test for anyone in the division, save for Spider. Again, I’m only at this point able to go off what I see – but an Olympic judoka with crushing power like that is someone I’d love to see come over to the division. My main problems with Lombard are: (1) strength of schedule and (2) he’s short and has a small reach.
Eddie Alvarez has just as much a shot at beating the champion or any contenders than anyone else does, if Bendo and Pettis (and Guida) are up there why wouldn’t we think he could be, and he’s basically Exhibit 1A of a “great fighter with something to prove”.
Jury is out on Konrad – still really embryonic in development and he’s just so GD dull that I don’t really care about him too badly until he becomes more than a smothering decision machine.
I agree re. Sandro, lost a lot of lustre after Hioki handled him, so I’ll wait to see how Hioki matches up before I go further, but remember I said I’d throw him “in the mix”, if you will.
I think Warren would probably get handled at the upper levels in the BW division, but it’s still dominated wrestle-boxers for the most part, so I’d like to see how he can do when he’s able to make the fight a wrestling match. Dude’s got chin, heart and toughness – so while I said previously that I don’t look at him so much as an “elite prospect” anymore, I think he might provide a good litmus test to just how good some of these guys in an evolving division really are.
Alvarez can get taken down too easily to be a force at Lightweight in the UFC. All of the UFC champions fight a very methodical fighting style. Alvarez’s style would have issues.
As for Lombard…. I would pick guys like Boetsch, Belcher, & Munoz over him. He’s a classic front runner who once he gets challenged back would crumble. We saw it in Pride. That type of heart doesn’t change.
“Also, judo guys usually have a slick transition/takedown game, and are smothering from on top, but they are a step behind the elite BJJ guys when it comes to working on the mat (IMO). I think Lombard would get schooled if he took down guys like Maia, Jacare, or Palhares.”
I’m not really sure Maia has the physical strength or takedowns to get Lombard to the mat, and if he couldn’t he’d get chinned about as badly as he did against Nate.
Jacare and Palhares are interesting b/c for BJJ guys they actually have pretty decent wrestling/takedowns – and of course probably have the bjj chops to tie him in knots. Though, in Palhares’ case he doesn’t have the length advantage and probably gives up the brute strength to Lombard that he usually over 98% of the division – and I’m not sure I outright give him the advantage of even getting it down. I’d have Jacare as a favorite, but I could see him getting his head knocked off if he couldn’t get it to the mat in good order.
“As for Lombard…. I would pick guys like Boetsch, Belcher, & Munoz over him.”
Oh get out of here…I get you’re trying to prove a point, but c’mon man!
I’ll just have to agree to disagree with you on Alvarez – we’ve been down that road before. I see your point(s) on why you don’t think he would for sure, but I see his strengths over coming the smaller holes and making him a threat to the current top guys in the division. With the consolidation into Zuffa, I think we’re just going to see belts trading among a handful of “rock-paper-scissor” style match-ups/wins trading like we’ve seen in the LHW division until a true rockstar comes along.
Not making a point. Those are valid picks.
Lombard is a Welterweight who is fighting at Middleweight because Bellator has easier competition.
Boetsch would outmuscle him. Belcher would be too technical for him. And Munoz would take him down and pound him with his heavy fists.
Totally disagree. First of all Lombard is no less a MW than Palhares and how is he a front runner? He’s lost two fights by decision, both at the very front end of his career when he was fighting out of some two-bit camp in Australia.
Belcher doesn’t beat anyone of any semblance of top level talent at MW. He’s lost to Akiyama who is a brawling judoka that is (a) most certainly a real WW and (b) one of the most over-rated Japanese mma products in the modern era. I don’t see him having a sniff of success against Lombard.
I don’t know what to think of Boetsch – at this point he’s a guy that couldn’t hang at 205er looking to become relevant at 185. That doesn’t immediately make me think he’s a huge test for every MW.
Actually with Munoz I agree. I would think has the best shot of those three and I’d see as the favorite in that fight today as he’s a top end wrestler with g’n’p and I don’t see too many of those on Lombard’s resume. That’s usually a good warning sign.
Tito at +365 against Bader is an intriguing proposition. There’s a good chance Tito turns this into a snoozefest that he wins 29-28. I’d say the odds of that happening are better than 20%.
For all those people that say things (that I still think are idiotic) about value bets, I don’t see how they avoid this one.
Tito got routed by Matt Hammill who is like a version 1.0 of Ryan Bader’s v. 5.1. Tito is still a decent fighter, but he’s too long in the tooth and has too many accumulated injuries to win against current top guys, especially with top end wrestling.
Tito doesn’t have a 20% chance of beating Bader.
I think Bader will and should win. But I’d say there’s at least 20% chance it’s an ugly fight against the cage and Tito gets better positions in 2 rounds.
I’d like to see Bader finish Tito off and launch himself into some interesting fights. I’d like to see Bader vs Rampage.
But I’m not entirely sold on Bader. I think his strength and wrestling may be a bit oversold. I don’t think he has the hands or submission game to stop the top guys at 205 and is going to be stuck heading to the scorecards. Not that Tito is a top guy anymore, I’m just making that point in general.
I wouldn’t risk a Quarter betting on Tito Ortiz in 2011. Not even when he gets cut and has to work on tiny casino shows against n00bz.
Could he win the fight? Slim chance, like 1%. If Bader blows out his knee, or he randomly goes totally blind in round 2. But the days of young guys like Cote and Rashad being intimidated of Tito Ortiz and being mentally defeated going in are over. And so is Tito’s mythical Big Bear-honed unstoppable staminia. He only seems good for 2 rounds these days. And without that, what’s he got? Bad stand up and takedowns that worry no one?
And also, his mental state is a huge issue. Not only is he unsure of himself, but now his 70 pound wife has left him. So is he even thinking he has a chance? Is he mentally defeated going in?
Now, if there’s a bet on if he’d pull out of the fight because he calls Joe Silva before the fight claiming he took his kids to the zoo and a crazed monkey got out of the cage and ate his ACL, then maybe that’s worth taking.
And here’s a question:
Does Tito deserve to get the Stephan Bonnar “job for life no matter how mediocre you are” treatment? I think you can definitely argue he did way more for Zuffa than Bonnar did. Bonnar had one fight, Tito was the go-to guy for buyrates for 5 straight years. UFC 40, UFC 47, UFC 59, UFC 61, and UFC 66 were all blockbusters due to him. Granted Shamrock and Liddell also had starpower, but their fights against Kimo and Babalu didn’t set any PPV records.
I am not a fan of his, and never was, but I think if Bonnar and Griffin (and possibly Leben and Koscheck although White hasn’t said so) are never in any risk of being fired because they built the UFC, he deserves that respect as well. He doesn’t show anything anymore, but he’s not getting scary KO’ed like Liddell was when he was forced out either.
“Does Tito deserve to get the Stephan Bonnar “job for life no matter how mediocre you are” treatment?”
No.
Guys like Chuck, Hughes, Franklin, Forrest, and Bonnar all made it into the ‘job for life’ club because they made Zuffa a lot of money and they never crossed the boss. Tito made Zuffa a lot of money, but he was constantly at odds with the management of the company. That is why he and Randy are not going to get a ticket on the ‘job for life’ gravy train.
I really believe there’s a limit to what Dana will remember after you’ve been back a while. Dana loves to hold a grudge, but he does have an expiration date as long as things get smoothed out in the end. So he will always hate Fedor, but he certainly doesn’t hate Randy anymore.
Look at what Randy did for him: he came back, made Brock into a serious fighter which got a huge buyrate and set the stage for their biggest show ever with UFC 100. Granted Tito hasn’t set the PPV world on fire, but he has still made the company money.
Another example is BJ Penn. Penn did more to Dana than Randy did: he signed another deal as champion, which is the worst thing you can do to a company. And when was the last time that was even brought up? The Hughes fight in 2006?
As long as you smooth things over and make him a little dough, he’ll get over pretty much anything it seems.
“Granted Shamrock and Liddell also had starpower, but their fights against Kimo and Babalu didn’t set any PPV records.”
Neither did Tito’s fights against Belfort and Cote though. UFC was basically all in on Shamrock returning to his old stomping ground against the “next generation” Tito Ortiz. 59 he was going against the guy being pushed hard by the UFC in Forrest Griffin, and it was still only a co-main event to Big Timmy and Andrei. 61 was basically the same, and had the end fight to TUF 3 on it.
I think Tito deserves whatever Bonnar got, but I think that all those years spent fueding with Dana are gonna come back to haunt him once his career is over.
Hope they don’t though.
In fairness, Cote was a very late replacement who nobody had heard of outside of Canada. Plus nobody believe GSP had a chance against Hughes, since up to that point Hughes are a beast and GSP simply looked good against decent but not earth shattering opponents. So the card was screwed on every level
UFC 51 did over 100,000 buys, which is darn good for a UFC show back then (would probably be the version of a show that gets 800,000 in today’s landscape.) TUF wasn’t on the air very long at that point, so expecting a ton of new viewers to buy the show when it had nothing to do with Ultimate Fighter’s cast members isn’t reasonable.
I don’t mean to say Shamrock, Liddell and others didn’t have a lot to do with those shows, because obviously they were also big stars. But that Tito was selling fights like nobody else was doing back then is what made the buyrate from good to a blockbuster. Especially with Shamrock, nobody else would play pro wrestler with him and cut promos but Ortiz. Rich Franklin sure didn’t. And that Tito and Ken did a pro wrestling angle had way more to do with their numbers than just Ken fighting a newer fighter.
OMG, excuse my grammar. I should have proofread that and not have typed while distracted at the end of the day. 🙂
Meh, no need to apologize. I can barely read.
Hahaha Rich pretty much showed up, shook Ken’s hand, and beat the crap out of him.
And PPS, please don’t tell me you’re crediting Arlovski/Sylvia II and III for UFC 59 and 61 both being a huge-for-their-time success just because they went on last. The first two Arlovski/Sylvia fights were exciting and people liked them (especially the second one) but not enough to buy a show because of it. Neither guy was ever a big star and the heavyweight division meant absolutely nothing for most of the decade.
Sylvia was someone who people would just say “Yeah, he’s alright I guess” prior to becoming the hated “Jabbin’ Tim”, and Arlovski suffered from having the worst Heavyweight division ever to try to find opponents in. He looked like a killer, but then you’d remember it was just Justin Eilers he KTFO’ed. Especially having to be compared to PRIDE’s HW division in 2004-06 when he was the top contender or champion. And this was all before people realized he was the IRL Glass Joe.
“Sylvia was someone who people would just say “Yeah, he’s alright I guess” prior to becoming the hated “Jabbin’ Tim”, and Arlovski suffered from having the worst Heavyweight division ever to try to find opponents in. He looked like a killer, but then you’d remember it was just Justin Eilers he KTFO’ed. Especially having to be compared to PRIDE’s HW division in 2004-06 when he was the top contender or champion. And this was all before people realized he was the IRL Glass Joe.”
The thing is none of that mattered back in 2006 to the ppv community looking to buy UFC events after TUF and UFC 52. They were told these two guys were the best in the world, and a lot of fans who bought ppvs thought the same. As you know just because a fight means nothing in the rankings, doesn’t mean people won’t buy it. Sylvia was a 6’8 guy, with a glossed over steroids fail, that was on Letterman and Conan back in the day and only had losses to Mir and Arlovski, and was an exciting fighter. Arlovski was looked at as an unstoppable force, with very little mention of losses to Ricco and Rizzo, or what you mentioned above in his victories against Don Flamingo and Glass Joe. I think they (arlovski and Sylvia) deserve more credit for those ppv buys, especially 61, than your giving them credit for.
Yea that proofreading this first would’ve been a good idea.
I know the casuals didn’t know Fedor and Nogueira existed back then, and maybe thought Sylvia and Arlovski were #1 and #2 in the world. But people just didn’t buy shows for the heavyweight division period until Couture came back and they made some moves bringing in some PRIDE fighters and Lesnar. If anything, the Sylvia/Arlovski fights were the kind of fights where someone would say “I’ll buy this show because I want to see Ortiz vs Griffin/Shamrock, but seeing the HW fight will be alright, too.” But if they weren’t on, if they were replaced by anything else, it would not have made a single person not buy the shows since the Tito fights were the draw.
And when was Sylvia on the Late Show with David Letterman?
First time he was champ. He made the rounds and was on Letterman (or Leno) along with Conan back somewhere around 04-05.
Tito was the bigger draw, but was still rebuilding his rep from being destroyed by Couture and Liddell. While Arlovski came off destroying people in Championship fights. The numbers from Arlovski’s fights with Eilers and Buentello don’t differ that much from Ortiz’s fights with Belfort and Cote. And those were both against replacement fighters just like Cote.
It must have been Leno, because as an avid Letterman viewer I do not remember Tim Sylvia ever on his show.
We’re going to have to agree to disagree on this, because I see absolutely no proof that Arlovski or Sylvia were ever draws for UFC, although since they never had stars to work with beyond Randy’s fight with Couture I am not blaming them for that. I recall from talk from the casual and new fans on the hype leading up to the shows the HW fights were not even close to being as interested in their fights as the Ortiz fights, and Arlovski’s other two main events had Forrest Griffin fights as the draw. That they weren’t the last fight on the show doesn’t matter. They always put the title fight on last in the modern era.
Fans, especially the casuals who make or break a show, buy for star power, not just a title fight because it’s a title fight. And the casuals were interested in Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin, with possibly Arlovski as a side deal on why they bought the show no different than any other fighter who isn’t a star the fans like when they see their fight but don’t buy for like Chris Lytle or Clay Guida.
Nor do I think Ortiz ever suffered from “rebuilding” need to his fanbase because he lost back then (I think after UFC 73 when he looked bad after round 1 to a n00b who looked to be half of his size was when his fans gave up.) Much like the mediocre pro wrestler who could cut a promo he would have been in another life, the match itself wasn’t what a Tito Ortiz fight drew on: his hype and interviews sold tickets, the actual fight was always pretty mediocre and predictable. So if you’re going to excuse what he does to win, I don’t think that since he got outclassed by better fighters in his previous fights meant anything to Tito Ortiz fans back then. Plus MMA was new to most of them, so they really didn’t have anything judge it against. They just knew it had a great big fight atmosphere and that was enough to keep them from booing those fights or giving up on him because he only seemed able to beat washed up Shamrock like they probably would now.
*That should be Tim’s fight with Couture. Randy has had several fights with Couture, but in a divorce court and not the Octagon.
Who the hell is making a big deal out of the Rampage thing? He did not make any contact with Karyn’s boobs! Karyn doesn’t seem to have a problem with it and was being a good sport.
Just another “headline” being blown way out of proportion.
It’s called sexual harassment. The fact that she didn’t make a scene doesn’t mean she was cool with it. Even if she was theoretically OK with it, it’s still embarrassing behavior displayed by Jackson.
1. There was no contact.
2. The reporter had no problems at all.
3. This is Rampage we’re talking about. Him doing crazy stuff is expected, but this is the most tame thing he has ever done.
4. Quit blowing things out of proportion. If the reporter had a problem with it, then you can complain.
No matter how much the ‘real total’ is in the end, the fact that UFC reported Roy Nelson making $15,000 and Matt Hamill making $32,000 as co-main eventers for UFC 130 is so embarrassing on so many levels.
Remember when Dana was talking about how MMA guys are getting manipulated by ‘these bad boxing contracts’ (referring to Roy’s deal with Roy Jones)? Yeah. OK.
Which gives you a great idea, especially in Roy’s case, of why a vast majority of these talented fighters/top flight prospects never end up on TUF and we get the tired old retreads like Junie et al.
I’m confused what should their salaries be in your opinion Zach?. Because like it’s been stated 100 times reported salaries mean nothing and never have. Not to mention that in reality neither guy is a draw and after their horrible performances will be anywhere near the ME anytime soon.
My point is that worked figures, especially ones reportedly publicly, are what know-nothings look at for first glance. Imagine you’re somebody at ESPN and you see the pay sheet and the combined reported salaries for two co-main eventers is $47,000. Are you going to say, wow, what a great sport, or are you going to say, ‘these guys are scumbags just like boxing promoters, they rip the fighters off’? Image is everything.
I agree with Zach.
The mainstream sports media is used to salaries being out in the open. UFC runs their payoffs more like the WWE than boxing or ballsports, with “We don’t want other guys to know what we’re paying you” ambiguousness. We know why they do it, but the mainstream media would probably eyeroll at the excuse, and might even claim it was BS.
But it will never change so I see no reason to get up in arms about it. Back alley payoffs 4 life!
How much do you guys think (or know if possible) these guys make with the locker room bonuses. I’ve heard it talked about forever, but nobody has ever really said how much these guys make back there. Could it really be suitcases full of 10-50 grand?
BTW JMM is looking to fight David Diaz as a tune up for Pacquiao. The fight will probably be on Showtime, and Diaz is really just a professional main event “opponent” nowadays. The latest offer is $150,000.
Nobody knows. They run a very tightlipped operation hammering it into fighters’ heads “Do not talk about money to anybody but us and your manager.” So nobody has ever said, even off the record to a writer, “I got X amount of money in a bonus.”
Some people have claimed (without proof, so take it for what it is) that the bonuses are just whatever the 4 headliners get for PPV bonuses and the fight/KO/submission of the night stuff that gets announced. So who knows. If anything it probably depends on the show. They may feel generous up in Canada doing a 6 million dollar gate, but at UFC 130 I don’t think they were tossing rolls of hundreds around to everybody who had on a pair of gloves.
Hamill should never be fighting in a main event. His salary doesn’t bother me that much.
Roy’s salary should be tied to his body fat percentage.