UFC fighters jumping ship to rival company Bellator seems to be a common trend, nowadays. This week, top-ranked middleweight Gegard Mousasi became the latest addition to Scott Coker’s growing roster of talents when he signed a six-fight deal with the company.
It can only be assumed that Bellator evidently offered Mousasi a better deal, but the terms have not been disclosed. But in a recent interview with MMAjunkie, Mousasi and his manager Nima Sapafour, revealed some of the contract details:
– A six-fight deal with guaranteed up-front pay and higher per-fight pay
– A potential cut of profits if Mousasi fights on a pay-per-view card
– The opportunity to fight overseas, as well as in boxing matches
– The ability to fight in multiple weight classes
– Additional drug test considerations to replace USADA’s program that the UFC implements
Mousasi and Sapafour also credited the UFC for pushing for a deal that would work, including a potential fight with Luke Rockhold at UFC 215. But according to them, Bellator just had a better one in place.
“Throughout the entire experience, Gegard asked me, what’s the better deal? And I told him, it’s never about what deal is better. It’s just different,” Safapour said. “What made it better was what Gegard wanted and what was best for his family. When he looked at that deal from that perspective, the Bellator deal was better.”
“With that said, the UFC deal was competitive. And they fought for the deal up to the very end. They deserve a tremendous amount of credit for trying to make this deal, even if they came up short. The Bellator deal was the more competitive deal.”
The salary complaints have been at its peak after WME-IMG took over as the new owners a year ago. Mousasi believes Ari Emanuel and company need to cover a lot of financial holes, which in turn, leaves the fighters in a comprising position.
“The new owners, they don’t understand fighting as well. The Fertitta brothers, they made the company,” Mousasi said. “Even Dana White, he doesn’t work with the same people. All the other guys got fired.”
“One fight before my contract expired, I believe they would have pushed bigger negotiations, and it would have been different,” he continued. “But this company, they have a lot of debt. That’s not the fighters’ fault that they’re cutting staff and cutting fighters’ money. That’s not our problem.”