UFC

UFC 119 PPV in the US was only 275,000 this was almost half of previous events which isn't surprising considering the card. anyway this led me to search the viewing figures for ESPN & i found this which i thought was pretty interesting.

http://www.mmabay.co.uk/2010/09/08/the-f...ky-sports/

Gotta say i agree with Delinho, Nesbitt & FedorBumsBrock i've said the same as Brad before, Cripplerfan1988 has a fair point.
Scouse mma has a good point but the UFC has a pay structure in place up untill a fighter has proved his worth to the UFC then they get payed well with big money & bonuses.
The winner of TUF six-figure contract is: Each year consists of three fights, the first year's purse per fight consists of $12,000 guaranteed with a $12,000 win bonus (a maximum of $24,000 per fight). The second year's purse per fight is $16,000 with a $16,000 win bonus (a maximum of $32,000 per fight) and the third year's purse per fight is at $22,000 with a $22,000 win bonus (a maximum of $44,000 per fight).
A TUF winner who goes 9–0 can earn $300,000 total on the contract, but only $150,000 is guaranteed for all three years if 9 fights are fought.
Those that have not won the competition can still fight in the UFC. Their contracts however are not the same as the six-figure deal above.

For a normal fighter entering into the UFC the contract normally 2/3 fights is generally half the pay of TUF contract. But if they are already a known name at either end of the scale then the pay is different i.e. Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson $170,000 v Marvin Eastman & Martin Kampmann ($10,000) V Crafton Wallace.

Fighters earn as much as their ability and desire allows them to & i don't see why i should put myself out of pocket just so a one-dimensional wrestler can earn $25,000 rather than $12,000 to bore me to sleep at 03:15am on a Sunday morning, footballers get payed in line with the success of their sport but fans want ticket prices to come down the same as the UFC already earns multi millions a year, so i'm pretty sure it doesn't need 75,000 people tops paying £14,99 to earn them $1,776,315 just so they can pay fighters a bit extra.

I agree Mitchell.I tune in for every UFC show and so many of late have been rotten!Events i definately wouldn't pay for!Subscribing to ESPN for £9 a month should be enough.That's why i got ESPN in the 1st place all the different sport plus the UFC for a good price.
I think it's a certainty that were heading in the ppv direction..By them movin to Sky their tryin to gently introduce fans to the sport and i can see us having to pay for the biggest shows sometime soon??
I'll buy the big shows no doubt even though i'd prefer them to stay on ESPN but it's all about cash with everyone these days..
Do you really think they won't bring the ppv across the water....

I thought they'd get paid quite a bit more than that, but I'm guessing that sponsors doubles that figure.

Should go on ability and standing i think?The top guys should earn the most as they have proven themselves and deserve it.Like boxers.
Also the size of the fight.I don't agree with these guys who earn a shot at a world champion and get paid a shity packet for the fight!I might be wrong but i'm sure this happened to Shane Carwin when he fought Lesnar??Shocking!
Here it is
The official salaries for UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin:

* Brock Lesnar: $400,000 (no win bonus) def. Shane Carwin: $40,000
This is a disgrace if u ask me.

I also think its crazy in some circumstances where contenders for titles are taking home more than the champion...win or lose...something isnt right there!!!! (notably BJ Penn picked up more than Frankie Edgar in there 2nd title fight)

I understand that BJ has much more MMA and UFC experience but i always think the champion should be paid the most!

Think BJ's legendary status made him the top earner in the fight AV.Can't see any other reason why he would get more than the champ?Don't think he'll get it again tho m8.Think most of the world felt he would take care of Edgar 2nd time around..I agree with u that the champion should always earn more money (although not in the style of Lesnar/Carwin) lol I've got no idea where they get the system from AV...No idea.

The good thing about the UFC is it will give people a chance, like Chael Sonnen, W4 L3 in the UFC when he got his chance at Silva, but the down side to it as i've said before, Marcus Davis 8-2 (11-0 in all organizations) goin into the Mike Swick fight 7/6/08 but was never looked at for a title shot, Davis who like Carwin is a stand up fighter but 6 of those 11 wins were by submission this showing a decent allround game yet he was used as a show pony over here.

Brock Lesner came into mma not the UFC but MMA with 3 fights 2-1 then fought Randy for the title, the opposite end of this is Rampage fought Chuck for the title after 1 fight in the UFC but he already had an extensive record in Pride which before Zuffa bought it was the main mma organization.

On the subject of title fight pay. Joe Silva picks fights on style & the fighting attitude of the fighter where as Dana is all about publicity, Brock Lesner is the most lucrative fighter in UFC history so matching him up with a fighter relatively new to the UFC who just happens to have an mma record 12-0 last 5 by KO is a big draw but the fact is Carwin had only 4 fights in the UFC 2 of which were against decent names but not enough to earn him big money, the money he was payed was the right amount with regards to the way the UFC hands out contracts, he got a title shot 2/3 maybe 4 fights before he should've this also applies to Frankie Edgar.

As far as PPV goes, when UFC events are show overseas they are free to air on Spike in the US on a time delay i think 7pm as usual, so why we would have to pay for every event when the Americans don't pay for the overseas shows is just fuckin wrong but the way Sky do things doesn't surprise me that they would charge us £14.99 every 2/3 months, if the overseas events (Outside the US) or better still only UK events where Sky Box Office then this i would understand, as long as they had top names & fighters on the card, albeit this would mean they would probably take the piss & put 3/4 Fight Nights on a year as well & charge for them.
But i would gladly pay... Well ok maybe not gladly but reluctantly £14.99 for 3 UK events per year.
ESPN subscription £9 p/m is £108 per year for the UFC to match this they would need you to pay PPV prices for around 7 events =£104.93 but i still wouldn't do this as i buy ESPN for the premier league as well & they also have plenty of football from other European leagues, so to me £9 per month for ESPN is a good deal & if the Zuffa money men don't think so then they will lose 1 viewer.... Oh the loss on one viewer

The Lesnar v Carwin fight pay out still gets me though lol Everyone wanted to see that fight and i think the main reason for that was Shane Carwin and his ability to knock people out!Everyone wanted to see Brock get brutally KO'd.So for me,Carwin deserved a much better chunk of money for the fight not 10% of what Lesnar made.

Lesnar's pay is just silly considering he's been on top money since he joined $250,00 v Mir (Dana publicity) but Carwin was payed in line with the UFC contracts but he will have been payed some extra in sponsorship since then. Although you need to remember Frank Mir with all the talent he has he's never been at the top for long even though he had time out due to the crash he isn't looking Lesnar class & it's possible Carwin maybe the same as he will be doin the same as Mir at the moment & Reevaluating his skills.

pay is based on the amount that Dana/Zuffa thinks a fighter brings in, doesn't matter if you were the best actual fighter in the world if you aren't bringing in the $$$$ your pay will be shitty. It is frustrating someone like brock gets way more than guys that have been in the industry way longer but he brings over a load of wrestling fans with him and this is what is important to Dana. Also carwin got more than $40,000 he said before the fight he was offered six figures to give up his job as the UFC didn't like it, they think it makes them look unprofessional if a top contender also has a full time job, he turned it down he likes his job. i am pretty sure he got more than his base contract rate for a title fight, when its time to re-negotiate his next contract will most likely be worth much more but with his quick rise to the top he was probabaly on an old, not great contract.