Bloody Wraps is a nightly recap of the day’s biggest or most interesting stories in the world of MMA.
Ronda Rousey is making a comfortable living.
That the UFC’s top female star is living well isn’t surprising by any means. Lorenzo Fertitta has claimed that Rousey makes “millions” every time she fights and Dana White took it to a laughable extreme by suggesting that Rousey is the world’s highest paid female athlete. Setting aside the fact that Rousey isn’t making that Sharapova money, we all know she’s made a nice bunch of cash for herself in the Octagon.
Rousey spoke to Bruce Buffer on his “It’s Time” podcast and drilled home just how happy she is, though she’s thrilled to have matters stay private. That’s fair enough, but she also thinks everyone else is well taken care of by the UFC. MMA Junkie had the transcription:
“I can just say I’m very comfortable and very well taken care of,” Rousey said. “So are all these other women, from what I know they’re extremely well taken care of. The UFC is special in that they’re willing to make themselves look bad so the fighters have to deal with less.”
It’s hard to consider what seems to be the base women’s salary of $8,000 to show with an additional $8,000 to win “extremely well taken care of” even with the UFC’s locker room bonuses (which many fighters will tell you are not always as common as fans think). Even number one contender Cat Zingano only made a disclosed total of $18,000 to win at UFC 178.
But, hey, at least some fighters are making a bunch of money off social media efforts at Sqor.
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The Mike Goldberg / NFL Saga has hit its logical conclusion as he’s been pulled from his scheduled assignment calling the Bills vs. Vikings this coming Sunday following his Twitter blow-up at fans who criticized his awful performance in his NFL debut.
I’d written last night that his behavior could cost him his spot working games for the biggest sports league going and that does seem to be the case.
The official story is that Goldberg himself asked out of this week’s game to avoid being a distraction, but that reads like PR spin to me. Rather than having to “suspend” him from broadcasts, frame it as his idea to make amends and then the NFL can decide if they want to let Goldberg quietly slip away or to give him a second chance.
Either way, this wasn’t one-off behavior from Goldberg. He has lashed out similarly at critics of his UFC work. If the NFL is aware of that now, they may want to continue to distance themselves as it simply seems to be his personality and the criticism is only going to grow on a larger stage.
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It’s such a slow week in MMA that it’s hard to even find an interesting third story for tonight.
But hey, did you guys see Will Brooks freak out about his perceived disrespect at the hands of Bellator and their marketing team?
Bellator and WSOF have a really lengthy track record of leaving guys feeling disrespected, so it’s not shocking to see that continue, even under new management. Ultimately though, Brooks is playing second fiddle to Michael Chandler. Chandler is the guy who Bellator has already spent a considerable amount of time promoting, so he’s the one they’re counting on to sell the show in that match-up.
It sucks, but that’s just the reality of fight promotion. It’s not about the champ, it’s about the draw.