Matt Mitrione är den senaste fightern i raden att lämna UFC för Bellator MMA och berättade att han skrivit på under måndagen. Bellator blir nu allt större med mer kända ansikten och har blivit ett attraktivt alternativ för fighters att tjäna pengar och livnära sig.
Mitrione kommer nu tjäna en sexsiffrig summa och önskar att fler fighters insåg att UFC inte är slutstationen inom MMA.
Det här berättar Mitrione om bland annat kontraktskrivningen och vad han tycker om UFC, via ”MMAMania”.
There is no way without feeling a threat that you are ever going to be in a position of power. You’re not. That is the reason why a man with options is the most dangerous thing because I can say, ’you know what? To hell with it. I’m not going to do that anymore. I don’t like the options and I’m going to split and that’s what is going to be.’ That is where the change comes into play and that is where the danger is. The powers that be can lose whatever they have or whatever they hold dear or whatever they are trying to manipulate and everything can be totally different. That is the beauty of a free market: options.
Bellator aggressively pursued me. I would say that comfortably. I had some talks with ONE FC a little bit, but I think Bellator knew I could put a stamp on their division and come in and shake it up immediately. I also have a very dedicated, very loyal fan base. Even if people don’t follow me on Instagram or Twitter, or whatever, people pay attention to my fights.
The further you are away from your college degree or even your high school diploma, the further you are away from that the less valuable you are to the work force. So you need to make sure you are being compensated appropriately for being less valuable to the work force, or that you are developing skills that can carry you as long as it ends up the way you hope it does. So it’s crucial to have an option and a second job. It’s crucial. If everything goes bad and I lose some fights and I don’t get paid a certain amount of money I’m not hoping I can make it to my next job and wait till my next paycheck. I’ve been there and I don’t ever want to be there ever again. That is what I am trying to fix now.
Yeah it is, but when I first started, your sponsorship dollars it would triple your fight purse and so sponsor dollars are no slouch. And on top of that you have to remember something, it’s not just what is inside the cage — it’s what comes afterward. It’s the seminars that come, the flights, the business hands that you shake when you are at the appearances from your sponsors that are inside the cage. It’s a number of things that are relevant when it comes down to sponsorships, not just the money at hand with the fight purse.
I think it makes it very difficult to monetize the name and representation you built for yourself, so because of that you are probably right. Most companies that are sponsoring MMA don’t have 75-80 thousand dollars, 100 thousand dollars to get a print add and it’s not even going to run a TV commercial or do whatever else. And post-media only works so far with the reach and if you are reaching you are only reaching a specific demographic versus all the demographics. I think you are right, but I think there is a different perspective on it as well.
I’m just going to be me brother and I’ve been a lighting rod my entire life just being me. I don’t know any other way. The first thing I did was send an aggressive tweet out to one of their guys that wanted to fight me. So I only know how to be me. If that helps sell them tickets then awesome I’m happy about it. That’s just who I am brother.
I’m not going to say shit to them except them being uneducated and ignorant. Look man, if you believe the UFC is the end all be all then you obviously never understood what Strikeforce was about, what the heavyweight grand prix was about, that Ronda came for there, that Rockhold came from Strikeforce. So if you are going to be a UFC homer than that is your fault for being ignorant. I don’t have to say anything to make you feel one way or the other.
If you are a fan of the sport, a fan of athletes and a fan of competitors than you are probably going to be a fan of Scott Coker because the man that has a track record of improving the condition of things and he built Strikeforce from the ground up and it was an incredible success. I don’t feel I need to say anything to them.
It sucks that the UFC is bigger than the sport. It sucks. It’s great for them financially, but that is the running joke with anyone that fights: ’you train UFC?’ It is what it is. If it wasn’t for them the sport wouldn’t be where it is. It’s a love hate relationship sometimes.
