They’re still trying to call me the heavyweight champion. I resigned and relinquished the title. Nogueira’s in my opinion the champion now in the UFC…I need to be free and clear of that before I can pursue this fight somewhere else with Fedor (Emelianenko). I’d love for the UFC to step up and make the fight happen. It has the potential to be the biggest mixed martial arts fight to date…It has the potential to do 700,000+ pay-per-view buys which is a helluva lotta money. I think 6-10 [million should be the salary] for each of us and they’re still gonna make a boatload of money on top of that.
– Former (or current, depending on who you ask) UFC heavyweight champion Randy “The Natural” Couture tries to crunch the PPV numbers during a recent guest appearance on The Adam Corolla Radio Show. Couture is currently in exile after walking out midway through his UFC contract and does not wish to return to action unless a bout with WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko can be arranged.
196 Comments »
WOW!! randy’s demanding. 6-10 Million for 1 minute with Fedor? I don’t think so.
Ha! 1 minute if everything goes Randy’s way! Otherwise his geriatric a$$ is grass! You know, what the he11 does Randy think he’s doing? Who does he think he is? I’d bet money Brock Lesnar would put Randy into a Hoveround for the remainder of his life. To think I used to think Randy was a good guy! His true colors are glowing now! He’s a greedy S0B. I hope the UFC keeps his dumba$$ in the courts till he’s 50. He’s made himself completely irrelevant in MMA.
Brock vs. Randy would probably sell more PPV’s than Randy Fedor. Let’s face it. There was a time when Randy Fedor would have been huge. But it would have been huge for hardcore fans and not the masses most of whom never even heard of Fedor. This fight will never happen and if it were, it would generate no real buzz because people would be like” Who cares? or Who’s Fedor?” 700000 ppv’s, whose he’s kidding. Maybe, if he were fighting Mayweather. Randy is done. He’ll be a supporting actor in some movies or maybe star in some low budget bull, but his MMA career is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If Randy were to fight Fedor in say Affliction, they would not get 700,000 PPV buys.
I found some of the recent UFC PPV buys. Here they are:
UFC 67 - Silva v. Lutter - 400,000
UFC 68 - Slyvia v. Couture - 540,000
UFC 69 - St. Pierre v. Serra - 400,000
UFC 71 - Liddell v. Jackson II - 675,000
UFC 72 - Franklin v. Okami - 200,000
UFC 73 - Ortiz v. Evans - 425,000
UFC 74 - Couture v. Gonzaga - 520,000
UFC 76 - Liddell v. Jardine - 475,000
UFC 77 - Franklin v. Silva II - 325,000
UFC 78 - Evans v. Bisbing - 325,000
UFC 79 - Liddell v. Silva - 600,000
Liddell vs Rampage was the biggest one, and as you can clearly see, Chuck Liddell is still the UFC’s biggest draw. IF Randy were to fight Fedor in the UFC, then perhaps they would get 700,000 buys, but if the event does not take place in the UFC, you can count on them coming no where close to that figure.
Randy has been straight up losing his mind ever since he started to film Scorpion King 2 and faxed in his resignation. $6 - $10 million????
The funny thing is that there are several other HW’s out there that would be willing to destroy Randy for a much cheaper price, including Fedor himself.
im a little late in my response, but i agree with all of you and VM, good info on the ppv buys. im not sure that randy/fedor could do 700k buys in the ufc, unless brock or lidell where on the card . brock vs randy might do 700. guys like gsp,bj and brock are starting to challenge lidell for that”biggest seller” too, so chuck knows his place. randy is talking about a 12 to 20 million$ payout, just for those 2. then all the other guys fighting on that card would want a miliion or 2 and we could be talking about a 30 million$ payout! i think ol’ randy has finaly got a touch of the alzhiemers.
VM any idea how much the Randy Liddell fight made? Just interested because if that didn’t sell more that Jackson Liddell or more than 700k buys there is no way in hell that Randy could think he could break 700k buys.
Randy seems like he’s trying to make sure this fight doesn’t happen. There is not one promotion that would pay him this much not to mention Fedor wouldn’t accept less money than Randy so were talking a 12mil-20mil fight going on here. Lol if the promotion wanted to make any money they’d have to gamble 20mil that Fedor wins so they can make a profit. I know its already been said but the only promotion that could generate 700k buys is the UFC and they aren’t going to take this fight without either fighter signing a multi fight contract.
i dont see how anyone on this planet should make over 200k for 25 minutes even lead alone 6 million wtf does he think that he’s above everyone else in the world? the only fight i think would absolutely sell 700k ppv buys is brock lesnar vs kimbo just because everyone on the plante knows both men whether or not a real mma fan knows the outcome already a casual fan which is about 90% of the fans would buy it
WTF?6-10 Million?!?What on Earth has come to his mind to demand that much?!? Fedor is only good for a million I think, and he effin’ wants 6?!? I’m losing respect for Mr. Couture by the minute!
dana wants all that money for himself and for the company! dana should be paid like any other company president, 6 figures. i sure hope the Fertitta brothers aren’t making dana white a millionaire because he doesn’t deserve to make anymore money than wal-mart’s company president!!!
Wal mart’s president made 15.91 million, but it wasn’t clear if that was last year or since he came to the company in 2000. It just said total compensation.
Walmart’s president makes way more than six figures. And Dana also owns 10% of the UFC plus he’s the one who built it into what it is now. I doubt the walmart president did that for walmart. Know your facts before you start spewing from your mouth.
whats your facts dude! i’ll bet CHEFDADDY is right! wal-mart is notorious for underpaying everyone in thie company, even the big-wigs. the corporate office (their main one) in arkansas is only 1 story and looks like a barn. i seen it on discovery.
Dana’s not just the president, he owns a good chunk of the UFC.
i think i’m off the huerta hate train…he asked for too much money and hasn’t really earned it yet but this shit is crazy
Actually, according to Forbes.com. H. Lee Scott (President and CEO of Walmart)made 10.47 million last year, with a base salary of 1.4 million. That only ranked him at #136. The median base salary for retail Presidents/CEOs is 1.02 million. Mr Scott has a 5-year compensation package totaling just over 40.4 million.
By the way, that is with a -4% return during his tenur. In effect Mr. Scott is being paid 10 million a year to lose money for his company. Thus, one could argue that the UFC and Zuffa with a positive return, Dana should make more than the president of Walmart.
I simply googled wal-mart president’s salary, but I imagine they’ll start making the big bucks again as their expansion into China comes to fruition.
Chef,
They are the largest retailer in the world, without stores in China. However, the highest paid President/CEO is the gentleman from Oracle at just over $192 million. Most of his money was made via stocks. Of course, Oracle has a +10% return over the last 6 years. If the UFC was public, I wonder what their return would be over the last five years?
Your completely right Couture is dreaming and if they start paying the fighters this amount of money I think that MMA will start to lose its appeal like boxing did. When fighters start getting paid 10-20million a fight they’ll only want to fight 1 or 2 times a year.
More organizations will appear and instead of having all the best fighters in 1 company(UFC) they’ll spread out and you won’t get to see the best fighters actually fight each other. I hope I’m thinking too much about this but I can see MMA just losing its quality because fighters are just in it for the money. They’re not there to be the best fighter all about the pay check.
Your exactly right! All these UFC, Dana haters need to open their eyes.
People complain about fighter being under payed, but would they rather see over payed fighters giving crap fights because, win or lose their walking out with at least over 1 million.
Dana is trying to keep this sport under one roof. Otherwise it’ll become a mess like boxing is right now.
Couture is clearly growing senile in his old age! WTF is he talking about? 6-10 million. Is this a joke? Greedy piece of crap!
30 opponents have been pumbled by Fedor for much less money than 10 million? What makes him so special? Nothing, he wont make it out of the 1st round like the rest of them. What make him any different? Not a damn thing! wouldnt even last a round!
This is just a joke! Randy needs to piss off! Now I really hope that he never gets to fight Fedor! Not like he deserves the shot anyway! He is the most over rated Heavyweight fighter out there!
On the real, Randy was a better LHW than he was HW!
6-10 million??? Randy is burning that FUNK up in Vegas.. Yeah Sure. 10 million.. has he been chilling with Bobby and whitney?? Cuz he is must be smoking some other shit..to say that. He is making it hard as his fan to keep reping the dude.. = (
Who is feeding him these ideas?? Look at state of MMA today.. With Fedor just making some noise with the more casual MMA fan.. Randy being in his mid to twilighting in his late forties.. it’s an absurd amount to ask for a MMA fight.. which I like many others feel he may last a few ticks more than Sylvia. He is sip sip sip sipping on that Syruuppp!!
Jake Sheilds will defend his title n 5 weeks against EliteXC’s newest addition, John Allessio.
Also, Amir Sadollah sid he will stay at middleweight and fight in SEptember, more likely October
Randy is on Crack! ASking for 10 million, sound like Yoko Couture (wife)( has been in his ear! Its really a shame that he has turned into such a scumbag!
It was supposed to be about his legacy, but NOw he is overpricing his way out of a fight! I HOPE HE NEVER GETS A FIGHT AGAIN!!!
John it’s the first time I agree with you.
Sheilds vs ALLESSIO??? Looks like I’m puttin my entire BetUs account on Jake in that fight. There is NO way that he loses to The Natural, and its almost instulting that he is Jake’s opponent. But then again, he is signed with EliteXC so…
Amir staying at MW? The MW division is thinner than the WW division, but the MW division has some of the best BJJ guys in all of MMA - Palhares, Maia, Almeida, Lister. I think that Amir is much better suited for WW, unless he can add some muscle to that frame of his. They really need to match Amir up with a UFC newcomer. I don’t want Amir getting mismatched in his first few fights. He needs a few wins before fighting anyone of substance.
John, Randy miiiiiight have been better at LHW, but as of like 4 years ago, he was no longer able to take a punch from Chuck Liddell. But at HW, he was often dominated by the much larger opponents. However, the Randy of new has beaten Sylvia and Gonzaga who are both large HW’s.
Sylvia isnt half the fighter today that he was back before he ever won the title and was agressive and always knocking dudes out. Like I said when Gonzaga/couture was booked, Gonzaga was super Over rated and No where near ready for a fight of that magnitude.
Basically, “I am not impressed wit your Performance” (in my french canadian accent)!
Randy as a Heavyweight = OVER RATED!!!!!!!
Maybe his chin couldnt hold up against Chuck, but not manmy fighters can. I still think what he did at LHW was way more impressive then his over rated HW career has been.
Am I supposed to be impressed with Heavyweight wins over:
Rizzo
Randleman
Maurice Smith
Gonzaga
Sylvia?
Nog’s HW resume DWARFS Randy’s! So who the F is Randy to think he is top 2? I put him #4 at best behind Fedor/Nog/Barnett!
I am much more impressed with his wins at LHW over:
Chuck
Vitor
Tito
Yeah I would agree that Barnett should be higher, especially after he beat AA, and Couture’s been inactive for so long. He’s become a money hungry cry baby.
I think Randy’s still delusional from two ko’s from chuck.
It’s almost like he has snapped psychologically. He needs to join the “reality based community”.
Hey Guys.. it’s offical Rothwell vs AA for Affliction2.
my bad.. may bad.. Rothwell vs Rizzo is what I meant to say.
thanks for the heart attack dude!
Unless Fedor has improved one hell of a lot, Randy will surely make it out of the first round. A washed up Syvia is the only top 10 fighter he has disposed of quickly and it wasn’t the first time,AA and Mir took Sylvia out in a matter of seconds also. Lets not forget that the truth is, top fighters like CC, Arona, Nog, Sobral and Schilt all tend to go the distance. Randy has WAY more tools to fight Fedor than a one dimentional CC EVER will. He is being greedy though and Dana will do everything in his power to stop this fight from happening, so we will probably never find out.
Since when did Randy start smoking weed?
Dude.. not even weed would have him talking non sense like that.
I think 1 million a piece would be to much. I don’t know, but I think he has lost his mind!
HA! this is ridiculous. with those kind of demands the fight will NEVER happen. no organization will dish out 6-10 mil per fighter. i’m a big Captain America fan but it seems he’s grown delirious.
yeah, and some ppl were saying it was not about the money… ha!
Couture is off his rocker, why did he sign the fight deal he had in the first place. The guys word is worthless, and personaly I think he’s a weasle.
Nickname time again guys! Who’s for Randy “The Weasle” Couture”? If so, props to Ro-J.
I Like!
Works for me.
Wow! 700,000 x 45 = $31,500,000
He’s asking for over 30% of the total pay per view buy. That’s huge. I don’t really know what goes on behind the scenes with contracts and salaries, but that just doesn’t seem to be the going rate…
Mind you you are also not considering the fact that the ufc only keeps 50% of the PPV revenue. This whole thing is just getting ridiculous. The more time passes the more i side with dana, i would tell them all of go f### themselves.
So i take it he doesn’t expect any other fighter on that card to even get paid that night. I guess he feels they should be “honored” just to be on that card and fight for free. After all “It has the potential to be the biggest mixed martial arts fight to date…”
make that 60% the cable companies get half.
If someone gets half, how does anyone get 60%?
I always understood it as the cable providers get about half of the PPV revenue, the other half to the UFC.
hes stating randy would be taking half of UFC entitlement from the buys.
Why’s Couture talking about this now? Has this guy based his payday on what boxers make?
Couture shouldn’t start negotiations in public when he can’t do anything about it!
and that assuming it does make 700,000 buys, to me thats extremely optimistuc
of that $31,500,000 the cable company recieves half of that slicing down the promotions revenue to 15,750,000 which wouldnt even cover the asking price of 10,000,000 to each and just think they will have about 18 other fighter that they have to pay along with paying for the venue and the advertising and everybody else they have to pay their is no way a company can afford this and i doubt that this event would even come close to 700,000 buys unless it was put together by the ufc. i think 1 to 2 million is a fair asking price
Randy is Dumb as hell, the sport still isn’t really big enuff yet to pay fighters that mush money, he thinks he can make the salary of a Bro boxer now lol. I love randy, he’s done alot of crazy stuff for his age, But I don’t see him as the first person to beat Fedor. I think the only person to do it is arloski,if he gets agressive, becuase he has the athletic abillity to do it. Randy, Retire.
I really don’t think it would even be a good fight. Fedor would crush old-man Randy. I’m not saying I wouldn’t love to see it, but really, if you’re an organization seeking to disappoint fans, put a gajillion dollars into the marketing of a lopsided fight then scam them of their money.
Take a big beatdown and leave with a heap of cash against fedor or get subbed and leave with less cash against Big Nog. Though choices there.
fat chance he gets either, really. he’ll be 50 by the time this is settled and no matter where it happens, he’ll be getting payed too much.
if he’d shut his big mouth when it mattered and done what fighters do - fight - he could have done both by now.
Wow. I want some of what he’s smoking!
i got some! it’ll be 6-10 million a gram…
LMFAO!!!!
Randy’s apparently not as good at match as he is at MMA. What happened to this guy? Seriously used to think this guy was the classiest guy in all of mma and know he wins two fights in a row after losing 2 of 3 and his head is the size of Tito’s. In my opinion Arlovski or Barnett are far better matchups with Fedor than Randy. Randy is amazing that he can me this good at his age and sure he deserves a shot at Fedor, but come on people are far more excited about BJ GSP II than that fight.
Mike Tyson used to get 15 to 20 million a fight. 6 million sounds about right.
This isn’t boxing. MMA is a completely different ballgame.
tyson back then could get at least a million sells or more and that would be the only fight on the card worth watching. you have to take into consideration that the ufc has at least 3 main-event type fights (usually) on every show. there are still only a handful of boxers that get millions to fight and that is dwindiling. boxing is a 100 year old sport and there is still alot of money,old money, that is left over in boxing. just wait in the next 5-7 years, boxing will start to have alot more shows like the ufc with a lot more quality fights on the ppvs and a much similiar payout scale to the ufc’s. and there will not be superstar boxers making 10 million or more, none.once oscar and maywether left, there probably wont be anyone making over 5 mil. either that or they will die out completely in america.
I feel the boxing stars of today will be the last big batch.. from now on.. these athletes will be mma fighters,not boxing fighters.
agreed!
6 mill per fighter sounds about right. Iron Mike used to get 15-20 per fight in the late 80’s, early 90’s. 6 mill apiece gives them less than 40% of the ppv stash. ticket sales and corporate sponsorship will pay for alot of the rest. I don’t guess your guys tv’s show all the posters and stuff that mine does. there is three ads in every shot of the camera’s view at these events. There is alot more money there than Dana lets on. There is a reason Dana will not divulge his economic worth in any interview no matter how many times he is asked. If these guys knew how much money was really changing hands, there would probably be mutiny.
your name is really Cletis???? makes sense you would say some crazy shit like this then…go tend your still, watch some nascar and leave the thinkin to the big boys
He must be the slack jaw yokel off the Simpsons.
lol you beat me to it.
good points cletis! Every company (harley,bud light, xience, tap out) that is on camera, gives the UFC money for being put on camera. Great point!
Randy doesn’t deserve 10 million.
As far as ppv’s go, cable/sattalite companies get 60% of ppv money. A fighter may get 50 cents or a dollar from every buy though. so if there were 600,000 buys, chuck got between 300-600k “bonus.”
the ufc doesnt not get 100% of the money made off the ppv buys, normally it is 50/50
Sounds about right, huh? I guess the UFC doesn’t have to pay anybody else besides the fighters. Joe Rogan, Mike Goldberg, the entire camera and production crew… they’re all unpaid interns that just do it for the heck of it. Cletis is your name? Sounds about right.
This fight will not make the same amount of money as a Tyson fight or a De La Hoya/Mayweather, Fedor simply isnt a big ppv draw. Plus boxing PPV have the backing of HBO and Showtime who put money towards fighters purses the UFC is run by the UFC so nobody else puts any serious money in to it. Just look at the wages Affliction paid out and the amount of money it lost. If you think the UFC or any other company is stupid enough to pay both fighters 6 million each your on a different planet.
and AFFLICTION is kicking itself for paying tim 800k. they are having an impossible time with tito’s contract demands and rothwell has admitted to taking a paycut( at 200k and a loss, he probably didnt have much choice).
I could understand Fedor getting 3-6 Million right now and once mma gets even bigger then alot more….But as for Randy making that kinda money he seriously is on some shit!
Fedor won’t be making that kind of money for long. Affliction can only afford to put on a few more fights w/Fedor on the card. No promotion will be able to carry him and he’ll be off the scene in no time.
I used to like Randy untill he claimed the UFC disrespected him and treated him like a slave!
I dont know any slaves that earn a basic 250k a fight
hell, there’s nba,mlb and nfl players that make millions that have said they are being paid slave money. someone just recent said that too and i cant think of his name. all atheletes are the same give them a 2 million, in a year or 2 they will want 5 mil. another year or 2 they will want 10 mil and so on. they all should be thankful to make a living as an athelete. being a pro athelete is a priveledge not a right.
Senility has struck, Couture is now a retard. Retire now and save yourself the embarrassment. They once had a song “who the f*ck are Man United” and now the same can be said of the pale shade of a man who has nothing worth watching against an abominable Russian snow man.
Too slow, too old and not very funny.
this is insane….randy….run away from whomever you’ve been talking to for that last year and a half….and fast. This makes no sense whatsoever. MMA is not close to that level yet. I don’t know where to start here… 700k buys, 8 digit salaries…each!??, biggest MMA fight to date??…. not even to the ppl on this site at this point, nevermind the general public, maybe a few yrs ago. OK let’s try to do this logically.
700K buys: Fedor is not known by casual fans let alone a household name. If Randy fought Rampage it wouldn’t do that many buys. Maybe if Chuck fought Kimbo the ppv would do that well…honestly my friends aren’t mma fans yet(i’m workin on it) but they know who those guys are.
8 digit salaries…each: So if the ppv buys aren’t there then where’s the money… and fighters should fight 3-4 times a year at least… so now we’re talkin about potentially payin these two guys 18-40 million per year???? i hate when mania posts fighter salaries cuz it spawns ridiculous arguments but we should all be able to agree that mma is not on MLB/NBA/NFL level yet and no one should even consider asking for that kind of money…i don’t wanna hear the Tyson made 20 so 6 sounds right logic, that is totally fucking whacked out. everyone in the world knew who mike tyson was and wanted to watch him ktfo somebody even if it cost them 50 bucks for a 30 second drubbing. this is not the case.
biggest fight ever: In what way? best fight??…not likely… will be a onesided beatdown. Most lucrative fight??…doubt it…chuck vs. tito or even tito vs shamrock are way more appealing to the average person. Kimbo vs Lesnar could be HUUUUUGE. That would be an insanely marketable fight that would end like a tyson fight and satisfy all of us on this site b/c kimbo would get seriously injured.
gotta be honest, i’m really confused here still, just don’t get what randy was talkin about there
Mybee Randy was drunk when he said this, or maybee he was drinking the nyquil with Lydel.
But it is about the respect and cementing his legacy? Are you kidding me? If he really wanted this fight to happen then he would not make outrageous demands for it to happen. If he truly in his heart just wanted this fight to occur, he would do it for a fairly minimal price. Maybe he wants the money to retire. i don’t know? But he is still an idiot if he thinks that the UFC will give 12-20 million for one fight.. that doesn’t even include the rest of the fighters that would be getting paid. Even Affliction ain’t stupid enough to make THAT demand.
He is nothing but a greedy individual who is doing what any of us would be fired for already, the UFC have looked after him all his life, bringing him back after losses and granting him leave to work on his film projects.
What came first Randy the chicken or the egg?
I hope he never fights again.
he is a money grabbing whore. thats way to much.
Man… this guy is a straight up retard. I wouldn’t mind paying to see the expression on his face after Fedor or Nog put a whooping on his ass.
I agree with ‘braveheart’ above, its all coming out now, Randy wants one last big payday to retire. I am sorry but that sort of money will destroy MMA not just the UFC, it cannot survive paying that sort of cash, it is a business after all.
I read somewhere this morning that Tito’s contract with Affliction may not happen because the money he wants, and what they can afford, is way out.
Why is it the fighters that are passed their prime (including Tim Sylvia) feel they can demand big money for a fight. I much prefer to see the newer up and coming fighters go at it then these hasbeens!!
I am going to be controversial here and upset a few people but Randy, I am afraid, wasn’t THAT great, he lossed plenty of fights as well. I think Brock would steam roller him. As for Fedor - Randy won’t last one round.
Randy keeps talking himself deeper and deeper into his hole.
I think the guy has a serious echo chamber around him, where he really doesn’t realize how badly he is coming off through this whole thing and how deluded he sounds.
Agree. His expectations are ridiculous. What the heck is going on in his head? He needs a “reality check”. He has become a “prima-dona”.
i actually think that top fighters making 250k or so a fight is one of the things that makes this sport as great as it is. in order for a fighter to make some serious cash they have to prove they’re one of the best and then win the fight, that way they walk with 300 - 500k in one night. put it this way, if tim sylvia had only been paid 200k do you think he would have had his ass handed to his as badly as he did? i think at 800k he was like oh i got hit but i’m still making bank so i’ll drop the fight no biggie.
This fight will never happen at this price!
screw it….if you already accomplished as much as randy…and are in your mid 40`s….go big!! Good Luck Randy..if anybody is worth it….Fedor and Randy are.