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[hoser68]

Hey guys, great board. I just found this board after ufc 60, and I'm very pleased, well done. I'm a huge fan and haven't missed a UFC in 2 years, but I still have a ton of questions about the sport. One of them is how much money do these guys get paid. I honestly have no clue, but have always been curious. Thanks for the help.

[Alvin]

It varies a LOT!!

If you look on page 3 of this forum you'll see a thread titled "Are these guys getting paid fairly?" it shows the UFC59 pay.

Sean Sherk got $8,000 whereas Tito Ortiz got $200,000. This does not include win bonuses which are usually double fight fees (not sure if that goes for Ortiz though!)

[kdude87]

Royce Gracie was believed to be paid 1.3 million vs. hughes, whereas Hughes usually makes in the low 6 digits.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by kdude87

Royce Gracie was believed to be paid 1.3 million vs. hughes, whereas Hughes usually makes in the low 6 digits.

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?

$1.3m!!!!!!!

What the fuck is Dana playing at. With that kind of money he could have brought in Wanderlei for a one fight special with Liddle. That is obscene if it's true.

Maybe Dana White & Joe Silva should read forums like these to get ideas for their next shows, because they're wasting their money putting match-ups like this together. I'd rather have seen Hughes Vs GSP than this mickey mouse fight & they would have saved a million bux.

[Matt Boone]

You and a small group of die-hard fans would prefer Liddell-Silva or Hughes-GSP. They wouldn't sell nearly what Hughes-Gracie did on PPV or at the gate. Business is business, I know people hate considering that side of things when talking about stuff like this, but that's first and foremost on their minds when these type decisions come about. Spend a million on Royce, do tremendous business and clear a ton of profit or spend a million on Vanderlei, have him destroy your champion, the PPV not sell half what Gracie-Hughes probably did, and then he goes off on his merry way to the next big offer.

[LA Suxs]

actually the gate sells werent great and not too many ppl of the target audience cared for Royce and many of TUF ppl might not really know him prior to the hype. so they wasted 1.2 mill. Silva could have been more hyped and paid off better.

[jimmyterrell]

I have to agree that Wandy would have been a better buy, simply because that would have drawn the attention of any respectable MMA fan in the world. Royce was figured to be outclassed, which is why few people were that excited for the fight.

I also agree tht Royce was a good buy. They have the money to pay, they might as well start doing it. If big time fighters from Pride start hearing about that, they might consider letting the UFC bid on them when they become free agents, or try to work out clauses in their next Pride contract so that they can be eligible for these huge superfights. Spending that kind of money could end up working negativley or positivley. Time will tell.

[Rhino_Man]

Maybe its worth it to spend that much for Royce if it draws a large crowd. I rather see Silva fight also but I dont want to go back to the days when there was a PPV every 3 months and no fights on TV. Also, I love Silva, he is a great explosive fighter, but I dont see him beating Liddell right now. Liddell seems to have brought it all together.

[Matt Boone]

Let's not get hollier than thou now, Silva would not out-draw a Royce return. We're a small percentage of UFC's audience now like it or hate it, and Royce Gracie is a more known name. Vanderlei can't speak english, hasn't fought in USA in a long time, and when he did he was getting demolished by Vitor Belfort and decisioned by Tito Ortiz two fights that maybe 10% of today's UFC audience would remember enough to know who Vanderlei is. In a perfect world they'd spend whatever it takes to book Chuck-Vanderlei, but Royce-Hughes is a more guaranteed thing, and a lot less risky for UFC.

[killerinstinct]

Originally Posted by Matt Boone

Let's not get hollier than thou now, Silva would not out-draw a Royce return. We're a small percentage of UFC's audience now like it or hate it, and Royce Gracie is a more known name. Vanderlei can't speak english, hasn't fought in USA in a long time, and when he did he was getting demolished by Vitor Belfort and decisioned by Tito Ortiz two fights that maybe 10% of today's UFC audience would remember enough to know who Vanderlei is. In a perfect world they'd spend whatever it takes to book Chuck-Vanderlei, but Royce-Hughes is a more guaranteed thing, and a lot less risky for UFC.

i have to agree with matt the casual ufc fan is more likely to know royce than wanderlei.silva has been fighting over in japan for awile and the casual ufc fans and old fans would have recognized royce's name b4 they recognized silvas name.