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« | Home | »

Takanori Gomi headed to WVR

By Zach Arnold | January 30, 2008

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World Victory Road announced today (at a press conference) that Takanori Gomi is booked for the promotion’s debut show on 3/5 in Tokyo at Yoyogi National Stadium Gym I.

Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 55 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

55 Responses to “Takanori Gomi headed to WVR”

  1. Dave2 says:

    With the amount of profits that Zuffa has (which I outlined above), they could easily institute a decent minimum purse that could ensure that fighters can train full-time AND offer more money to their mid level (Karo Parisyan) to top level (Arlovski/Tito/etc.) guys when another promotion is in a position to poach them for more money. With a minimum purse of say $16,000, that wouldn’t add much to the payroll. For example let’s look at UFC 77 (I’m not using 79 since that is pretty stacked so there probably aren’t a lot of people earning little on there anyway).

    official payscale
    * Anderson Silva ($120,000) def. Rich Franklin ($45,000)
    * Tim Sylvia ($200,000) def. Brandon Vera ($100,000)
    * Alvin Robinson ($6,000) def. Jorge Gurgel ($7,000)
    * Stephan Bonnar ($44,000) def. Eric Schafer ($6,000)
    * Alan Belcher ($22,000) def. Kalib Starnes ($7,000)
    * Yushin Okami ($24,000) def. Jason MacDonald ($17,000)
    * Demian Maia ($10,000) def. Ryan Jensen ($4,000)
    * Josh Burkman ($20,000) def. Forrest Petz ($6,000)
    * Matt Grice ($6,000) def. Jason Black ($8,000)

    Total Disclosed $652,000

    Change
    Alvin Robinson $6k -> $16k (+10k)
    Jorge Gurgel $7k -> $16k (+9k)
    Eric Schafer $6k -> $16k (+10k)
    Kalib Starnes $7k -> $16k (+9k)
    Demian Maia $10k -> $16k (+6k)
    Ryan Jensen $4k -> $16k (+12k)
    Forrest Petz $6k -> $16k (+10k)
    Matt Grice $6k -> $16k (+10k)
    Jason Black $8k -> $16k (+8k)

    Added Pay: $84,000

    Oh yes, 84 grand is going to bankrupt Zuffa alright. That’s an extra 84 grand that goes towards the pockets of 9 fighters combined (half of the card). That’s like not even adding another Brandon Vera onto the card. That’s nothing for Zuffa. With the meager increase it takes to ensure that all fighters can ply their trade full-time, they can easily afford to be beat competition on the open market for mid-level and top-level fighters.

  2. Oh yes, 84 grand is going to bankrupt Zuffa alright. That’s an extra 84 grand that goes towards the pockets of 9 fighters combined (half of the card). That’s like not even adding another Brandon Vera onto the card. That’s nothing for Zuffa. With the meager increase it takes to ensure that all fighters can ply their trade full-time, they can easily afford to be beat competition on the open market for mid-level and top-level fighters.

    I honestly don’t know what these guys should be getting paid because I don’t know the costs of running a MMA promotion and I’m not going to pretend that I do. What I do know is that 9 fighters that you cited above willingly signed the contract that they were offered despite your claims about how terrible they are. If they could have gotten a better offer from someone else, why didn’t they take it? But to me, this is a classic case of too much supply (fighters) and not enough demand (sport of MMA). Until the demand exceeds the supply, fighters on average will get salaries on the lower end regardless of whether there is a union or not.

  3. D. Capitated says:

    Most UFC haters think that UFC vastly underpays its fighters based on its profits without knowing its expenses while I tend to believe that the open market will ultimately prevail. Meaning that if someone else thinks they can pay the fighter more and still run a profitable show, it will ultimately happen.

    Right, and that seems to be the case right this second. It was the case 5-6 years ago when Pulver and Penn jumped ship and it still is now in 2008 as Tito, Couture, Arlovski, and potentially others are preparing to leave.

  4. cyphron says:

    If you raise the minimum wage to 10 dollars an hour then no one can work for less than $10. The people who are just starting out, wanting to make a name for themselves will not get a job because they are not worth $10 an hour, but only 5-8. Most people who can do a perfectly capable job as someone being paid $15 an hour will never get the chance to prove themselves. Furthermore, in order to pay for the salary, the stores must raise all their prices which will cause massive inflation.

    Now, compare that with the UFC. Most fighters chomp at the bits to take the minimum contract just so they can prove themselves. They know that at the current time, nobody gives a damn about the under card fighters. People don’t buy tickets and watch PPV for the under card fighters. The main card is what sells therefore that is why they demand the higher pay money.

    Now, if the minimum contract is 20k, then Zuffa will take a very close look at who they sign. No more Frank Edgar, no more Houston Alexander, and no more Tim Boetsch who comes out of nowhere. The up and comers will never get a chance to prove themselves. Furthermore, they don’t even get the 3 fight contracts. They just get the 1 fight contract and if they lose, goodbye forever! They never get a second chance!

    Why pay 20k for a nobody when you can pay 20k for a fighter who’s been around and the fans know about them. You will end up with a promotion that keeps pitting the same fighters over and over again. You may never see a Houston Alexander come out of no where.

  5. cyphron says:

    Right, and that seems to be the case right this second. It was the case 5-6 years ago when Pulver and Penn jumped ship and it still is now in 2008 as Tito, Couture, Arlovski, and potentially others are preparing to leave.

    If Tito, Couture, Arlovski are worth what they demand, then the market will pay them. Zuffa will capitulate if that is what the market bears. And guess what? If they end up not getting what they want, then the market has spoken. They ain’t worth what they think they’re worth.

    The last 8 years has seen lots of promotions come and go, but the only thing constant is that the UFC is still around and profitable. Perhaps the UFC knows what they’re doing?

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