From my friendly neighbourhood Sportsnet.ca with a piece written by Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald on Couture's departure from the UFC.
November 03, 2007
No argument
Jason MacDonald is a Canadian mixed martial artist who fights in the UFC and has fought in the MFC in Edmonton. He and his wife Kelly live in Red Deer, Alberta, with their two boys Tristin and Keel and their 18-month-old daughter Jett. They are expecting another in December. He blogs on a weekly basis for Sportsnet.ca.
The big thing in the MMA world right now is the Randy Couture situation, and I wanted to share my thoughts. It’s no secret Randy has been a hero of mine and someone I looked up to ever since I’ve been involved in the fight world. He felt he was being disrespected and a bit insulted as someone who has put his heart and soul into the UFC. The UFC went public with the financial records and said in effect, "Look, Randy entered into a contract with us and we’ve fulfilled our end. We’ve given him cheques." And they showed them. It’s pretty hard to argue that.
I think what happened was Randy outgrew his contract. He negotiated a contract that was very good at that time. But as the sport grew and he grew in stature, he became worth more. You see that in all sports.
If Randy were stepping out and saying these lower level fighters should be making more that would be one thing. But he’s not and from where I’m sitting, and I see he’s making $1 million with a half a million signing bonus, I think he’s doing pretty well for himself. He’s a great fighter but I don’t see what he’s complaining about.
He wants more money but he negotiated that contract and it seems the UFC fulfilled their end of the bargain. I don’t know on what grounds he can make an argument.
From where I’m sitting, it looks like Randy is doing pretty well financially. He made $1.723 million with his portion of the pay-per-view, that’s pretty substantial. He also touches on bonuses on what they have given off the books. That’s just the example of the UFC thinking of its fighters and taking care of them. It’s something they like to do off the books. It makes sense that some of the exciting fighters should get bonuses; it’s an incentive to go out there and fight that much harder.
As for me, I got back into the gym this week and I felt like a million bucks. I felt better training this week than I did prior to my fight. But that’s usually what happens when you get a bit of rest.
I was also back in the gym with Ryan McGillivray and Ryan Ford, two of my teammates. They have fights in three weeks in the MFC. They came to Red Deer, and then I went to Edmonton to help them train.
(By the way, in response to Bezer, who asked if I’m a Flames fan since I’m from Red Deer, the answer is I’m so busy either training to fight or spending time with my family that I don’t have time to follow hockey. I’m actually exactly halfway between Calgary and Edmonton. Three days a week I go to one city to train and three days a week I go to the other. I have a hard time picking a team or a city that I like better.)
One more thing. My trainer Mark Pavelich, owner/president of Pro Camp and Maximum Fighting Championship, and I are looking at putting together some mixed martial arts seminars in late November, early December. If you’re interested, give Mark’s office a call at 780-995-9095.
November 03, 2007
No argument
Jason MacDonald is a Canadian mixed martial artist who fights in the UFC and has fought in the MFC in Edmonton. He and his wife Kelly live in Red Deer, Alberta, with their two boys Tristin and Keel and their 18-month-old daughter Jett. They are expecting another in December. He blogs on a weekly basis for Sportsnet.ca.
The big thing in the MMA world right now is the Randy Couture situation, and I wanted to share my thoughts. It’s no secret Randy has been a hero of mine and someone I looked up to ever since I’ve been involved in the fight world. He felt he was being disrespected and a bit insulted as someone who has put his heart and soul into the UFC. The UFC went public with the financial records and said in effect, "Look, Randy entered into a contract with us and we’ve fulfilled our end. We’ve given him cheques." And they showed them. It’s pretty hard to argue that.
I think what happened was Randy outgrew his contract. He negotiated a contract that was very good at that time. But as the sport grew and he grew in stature, he became worth more. You see that in all sports.
If Randy were stepping out and saying these lower level fighters should be making more that would be one thing. But he’s not and from where I’m sitting, and I see he’s making $1 million with a half a million signing bonus, I think he’s doing pretty well for himself. He’s a great fighter but I don’t see what he’s complaining about.
He wants more money but he negotiated that contract and it seems the UFC fulfilled their end of the bargain. I don’t know on what grounds he can make an argument.
From where I’m sitting, it looks like Randy is doing pretty well financially. He made $1.723 million with his portion of the pay-per-view, that’s pretty substantial. He also touches on bonuses on what they have given off the books. That’s just the example of the UFC thinking of its fighters and taking care of them. It’s something they like to do off the books. It makes sense that some of the exciting fighters should get bonuses; it’s an incentive to go out there and fight that much harder.
As for me, I got back into the gym this week and I felt like a million bucks. I felt better training this week than I did prior to my fight. But that’s usually what happens when you get a bit of rest.
I was also back in the gym with Ryan McGillivray and Ryan Ford, two of my teammates. They have fights in three weeks in the MFC. They came to Red Deer, and then I went to Edmonton to help them train.
(By the way, in response to Bezer, who asked if I’m a Flames fan since I’m from Red Deer, the answer is I’m so busy either training to fight or spending time with my family that I don’t have time to follow hockey. I’m actually exactly halfway between Calgary and Edmonton. Three days a week I go to one city to train and three days a week I go to the other. I have a hard time picking a team or a city that I like better.)
One more thing. My trainer Mark Pavelich, owner/president of Pro Camp and Maximum Fighting Championship, and I are looking at putting together some mixed martial arts seminars in late November, early December. If you’re interested, give Mark’s office a call at 780-995-9095.
no one gives a shit what u think McDonald... go loose another fight faget
ReplyDeleteHow eloquent.
ReplyDelete