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.
YYEEEEEEEE HAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!
LOL, who in their right mind is going to pay couture 6 mil to loose under a minute? and I guess if they pay couture that much, imagine how much more they’d have to pay fedor… this is crazy talk, I thought couture wasn’t about the money lmao…
Once again, props to Couture strictly for the marketing of this fight. Never has a fight that would end in such a one sided @ss whipping gotten this much hype. That being said, I don’t see where Randy plans on taking this fight. Not in standup, and certainly not on the ground. I had completely stopped caring about this match some time ago, now I’d watch it just so I could see Fedor humiliate him. And we know he won’t fight Big Nog, cuz he would lose that one, thus diminishing the “worth” (read:hype=paycheck) of a fight with Fedor.
Couture’s an idiot. I don’t even think he deserves a fight with Fedor. He should come back down to earth, fight Big Nog and take his ass whoopin from him. I don’t see where Couture is getting all this credit that he deserves this big matchup with Fedor - he beat Tim Sylvia in FIVE rounds big f-ing deal. Fedor beat him in a matter of minutes. Couture’s overrated.
WOW, Randy is losing it at his old age 6-10 million that alot of money nobody is going to give them that i guess we never see this fight
I’ve always liked Randy, and I’m a huge fan but. RANDY IS SMOKING ROCKS JOE ROGAN!! Apparently it’s what he does these days.
He’ll never get that money, although he is in the straight-to-DVD blockbuster of the summer.
haha…Nice Chappelle’s show reference.
I posted a comment earlier but for some reason it never appeared. Whatever. Either way. If Randy thinks that the UFC is going to put out 12-20 mill out for one fight, he is wrong. If it’s about cementing your legacy then just fight the man for a reasonable price. What happened to fighting for the love of fighting? This is ridiculous. Randy is making outrageous demands and for this, he will not get his way. Randy will regret all of this eventually. It’s sad that he had to go out like this. Perhaps he is stalling so he can roid up? That is all speculation but who knows. I am all over the place with this comment but regardless, it is about a lack of respect from the UFC right? No wait it’s to fight Fedor. Or wait it’s about the money? Oh it’s disrespectful to not pay him millions of dollars for one fight after he has disrespected Dana after he gave him a chance to take the title after a 15 month layoff due to his knockouts from chuck liddell, get a spot on the ultimate fighter etc etc.
RyanHobbs - I think the key that most of have missed in this thread is that, despite the money amount, Randy said he’d love for the UFC to be able to put this fight together. (!!!) Since when has Randy ever mentioned being willing to have the UFC put this fight together? To me, that’s even bigger news than the dollar amount, which we know is a very fluid figure anyway.
he has actually mentioned this a few time in the last month or so. i dont that that he ever said that he would love to see it happen in the ufc then, but he did say that it was a defenite possibility, but never mentioned this kind of money until now.
definite! damn, the old d word got me again!
b.w. - I remember (wish I had link) Randy saying that he would never fight inside the UFC again, or at least the Fedor fight wouldn’t take place there. It was within the past two or three months, in fact. Maybe four. But not longer ago than that. It was likely at a “hotter” time temper-wise between Couture and the UFC. But he seemed clear at that time. Like there was too much mud in the water now, and he wasn’t willing to do it at any price.
oh-yeah. i can remember when he used to say things like that, but that was probably when he had mark cuban in his ear, thinking he would win his lawsuit easily. i think we can both agree that randy is a poser. it’s still hard for me to believe sometimes cuz randy was my boy after beating tim and gonzaga. not only was he my favorite mma fighter, he was my favorite athelete and i love all sports. i thoguht his “captain america” moniker fit him to a tee. it’s hard to see one of my heros fall like this.
b.w. - Yeah, Randy sure got some sour counsel, didn’t he? Willy-nilly breaks a contract, decides to call it “resigning”, and wants to dictate the outcome. If he ever talks, I’ll be very curious who got him started down this silly path. It would have been better for him to have simply retired, relinquished the title, and gone out like a hero. I can understand wanting respect — assuming that was the issue — but the way he went about it was so public and juvenile. And for the Dana White haters, I’m not implying that White is less juvenile, I’m just saying (like b.w.) I had much higher expectations of Captain America than this petty business.
OK befoer I thought randy was just out of his mind, now I just think he’s capitalistic pig and doesn’t even care about MMA.
If Randy want’s to get into a mainstream sport that Mum’s (and Dad’s) want to see their kids involved in, then 6-10 million is a possibility. MMA, UFC, Affliction??? Sorry Randy….You’re not a Fedor and you’re not worth it brutha. I can see a 3 fight contract with Affliction paying a max of 2.25 million (750k per fight). Am i about right??? I’d rather see Tito, who can go 3 rounds with Machida and just about triangle him in the last round. Perhaps a Randy/Tito rematch could be on the Affliction cards at some stage….. Anyways, Randy’s time is rapidly coming to a close, use it or lose it!! T
I wouldn’t want to sign a contract with him, he’ll just pull out anyway.
Randy needs to start talking about how he would win against Fedor instead of the money that he wants to make. I see Fedor finishing Randy many different ways. How is Randy going to beat Fedor? by decision? boring !!!
Aside from Southworth fighting Babalu, this is the funniest thing I’ve heard this week.
Couture does not want to fight Fedor.
Interesting take. The thought also crossed my mind - it’s almost like he is asking for a ridiculous amount of money in order to ensure that the fight doesn’t happen.
You guys make a very good point. Couture is completely out of his mind. He must not want to fight Fedor. No wonder Dana told him to kiss his ass. They want a promotion to pay them the entire take for the fight- the gate and ppv buys and walk away with nothing. Couture has plenty of retirement money already. How many Extreme Couture gyms are there all over North America? His wife is on his payroll, he has an apparel company, charges for everything on his website and he is getting Hollywood money. Then some poor newbie schmuck will make 3k on the undercard. Couture is Tito on crack and he can go to hell.
Good points DSmith…It’s not like the money train has stopped he’s got his hands into so much that he’s probably making as much money now as he did then.
Tim Sylvia’s 800,000 was blockbuster for his under 1 minute with Fedor. 6-10 million? He must be hanging out with Sherk lately because apparently someone is putting something in his supplements cause that is just crazy.
He knows it will be his last fight and he is trying to make a retirement off of it.
The most i would pay would be 1 mill a piece
If Sylvia got 800k from Affliction they may be able to get that. Just not with the UFC I highly doubt.
If this fight were to happen in a ring I gave Randy zero chance of winning. It took him 25 minutes of leaning on Sylvia to accomplish what Fedor did in 30 seconds. If it happend in a cage he has a better shot, but not much better.
And he trained with Sylvia for how long?
Despite MMA growing in popularity, I don’t see how a company even the UFC will be able to afford to pay a fighter such huge money.
I think with each passing day, the fight loses its lustre. I’m getting convinced it will be a mismatch with Fedor looking so dominant and Randy getting older and more ring-rusty. It might have had the potential to draw in 700,000+ pay per view buys years ago. But not now.
I just can’t see this fight happening as all parties involved are being stubborn and just thinking what’s in their best interests. I mean “6-10 million”? This is MMA not the NFL. The sport is still developing. Giving in to such financial demands will kill the sport.
Congrats Randy.
You can join ‘Tito’ in the “I Used to be a Fighter Club”.
ok i think i just lost if for randy. before, he was claiming he wanted this fight because its a fight “fans are dying to see” and now he wants this fight b/c he wants a paycheck. i am well aware that this is their job and they need to make a large enough paycheck to live on, but this is just too much. to even think that he cares about this fight happening for the sport is not an option. he wants it for selfish reasons.
i dont even want to see the fight anymore.
I’m all for paying the fighters more money than filling the pockets of the promoters like Dana and etc. But come on Randy I used to like him now I just think he is trying to stay relevant and has not fought in a long time and he is getting older and his window is getting smaller. IMO I don’t think he belongs in the top 10 of today’s HW.
Good luck Randy maybe it’s time for a career change just worry about your gym, and train fighters.
I love Randy, and I’m all about the fighters getting payed (especially the top guys making a few million), but when you consider that the average gate for the UFC is only a little over 2 million Randy’s number aren’t feasible for any organization. He’s definately getting some misinformation (or just outright bad) as far as his financial askings go.
Come on guys?? Randy doesnt care if he wins or not. That is why he wants so much money. HE wants this to be his last big payday, why not ask for as much as u can. even if he gets half of that…its a sh**load!!!
So I guess it was all about money after all. At this point I hope the fight never happens.
‘Captain America’
Keep in mind, this is the guy that really started the whole discussion (or whining depending on how you see it)about the UFC not paying fighters enough. At first, we thought he had a point and should at least be heard. Obviously, a lot of other fighters though the same thing and followed in thier public thrashing od Dana and the UFC. I wonder if any of those guys are questioning thier judgement, now that they may have fallen the new “movie star” into the abyss?
The discussion of fighter pay is a legitimate one, but this sets it back in a big way.
Sincerely,
Die hard (previously) Randy fan
I haven’t read all of the comments yet…But I have to AGREE with Randy. He relinquished the title and has nothing to do with being the heavyweight champ. They have to stop calling big Nog the “Interm” champ. I hated that the UFC brought this “Interm” crap in to begin with…I obviously disagree with the salary he wants…but I bet I threw some people for a loop after the first couple of sentences.
By the way, this fight will never happen unless he can get them both under contract for a multi fight deal. If they’re fighting for the UFC heavyweight title…Dana’s not going to let the champ walk away (AGAIN) and have a interm title (AGAIN). Now if I’m Dana, do I think that IF…IF Randy pulls the miracle upset he will stay? I wouldn’t trust Randy to fulfill a contract, he’d probably try to renegotiate for some ridiculous money.
What a greedy bitch! “It’s never been about the money…” he says, and now he’s expecting 6-10 million?! It’s amazing what alimony payments will do to someone. I’ve been steadily losing respect for this guy ever since he “resigned” from his contract. Now I’m hoping, as much as I’d love to see Fedor smash him, that the courts rule against him and he never fights again.
i don’t even think randy deserves shot at fedor. he got ktfo by chuck twice at light heavyweight
Randy is nuts if he wants to climb in the ring with Fedor. His ring rust is more than a year old, doesn’t have the explosive stand up that Fedor has, and at his age it will tough to return to fighting form. It also Randy five rounds to decision an injured Tim Sylvia - it took Fedor 40 seconds to destroy a healthy Tim Sylvia. What an implosion of a legend!! Talk about tarnishing your legacy….
Randy….please….pass whatever it is you’re smokin!
ya randy used to be one of my fav..fighters
BTW if you want that kind of money RANDY i hear
JUST FOR MEN hair gel and Viagra is looking to fill a spot
This fight is not going to happen. Who is going to pay that kind of money?
If Randy had finished out his UFC contract with dominant wins over Nog and another top fighter, he might actually get $6 mil to fight Fedor. But since he chose to go out like a whining b**ch, he’s never going to see that kind of money.
That would be funny if thats his asking price for a movie. Anyone watch him in scorpion king 2…lol. He’s full of it asking that much when no MMA in the world has reached a payday that big. I used to love watching him in the last 2-3 years and hes been a icon, but his name is starting to tarnish day after day. I think he’s been brainwashed by his agents. I hope the UFC buries him and teach him a lesson about talking about his contracts in public. Personally, I think if this fight were to happen it would not be the epic battle we all hope it would be. Im sure Fedor might let him off a little easy in the first 30 seconds then its all over. Im sure alot of fans want to the see this fight, but most people are sick of listening to this shit from randy.
So, so disappointing to see Captain America (not) imploud like this. What the f**k, dude? The math doesn’t even make sense…
Damn, Randy is holding out. I would fight Fedor for half that price and without taking a cut of the PPV money.
i would undercut both of you and kick Fedor a$$ for a meer 50 bucks and a steak dinner.
You win, I couldn’t fight straight after eating.
lol.that was good.lol
“Captain America” is now “Corporate America”. Greed, lack of Integrity, and has lost my respect forever. I was a HUGE Randy fan, but now I wouldn’t pi$$ on him if he was on fire . .
I feel similar to you about Randy…I loved watching the guy fight, but hes F’d up big time now. This is all Randy sees and cares about anymore $$$$$$$ paying for his fight picks? His gyms? B Movies? This guy is about the dollars, not fighting anymore.
Randy is losing his fucken mind. I totally lost respect for the guy. I wish it was 2006 again where we all respected him as a fighter. I think too many shots to the head adds zeros to your pay check. Come on randy you are hurting the sport not helping it!
Money is not a good motivation to fight.
You are all wrong, and repetitive
wow thanks for that in depth analysis to support your comment.
Wait a minute, he’s right lets all agree that Randy deserves this money and he’s a great guy. Whoever got this quote from Randy should have smacked him upside the head. What is wrong with you Randy? You are quickly losing every fan you ever had and most of us didn’t even like you till about 2 years ago. Your record is abysmal and you’re older than my grandpa. Get in the ring and fight for a lifetime supply of DEPENDS, you will need them sooner than you will need 6-12 MILLION.
guys… $6 million for a fights isnt all the much. Look at boxing, some of the fighters take home upto $20 million per fight.
If they can do 700,000 @ $55.99 each = $39,193,000… thats just in PPV, then you have marketing, sponsors, your gate, clothing, etc… If the UFC can co-promo with affliction on this one, they can possible bring in over $50million (before expenses).
I dont think paying 25% of your revenue to the fighters (WHO MAKE THE FUCKING FIGHT) is too much to ask.
Dana wont do it though. He doesnt want to give another promotion any air time and he sure as hell doesnt want Fedor to come in and destroy Randy and then have Fedor go back to affliction. The only change for this fight happening is Fedor signing with the UFC… and thats not happening..
Look at what some of the Boxers make per fight. $10-20M.
yeah and if you think that the fight would pull 700k in ppv buys you are smokin the same stuff as randy.
I like guys like LILMONSTER,he won’t read a single thing anyone else has said about boxing not being like MMA or that the cable companies take half of the PPV money, or anything but he comes on here and wastes his time posting something he would realize is retarded if he just read a couple of the other posts. LILMONSTER It’s MMA not boxing don’t get all your ideas about pay structures from a different sport. Or if you want to do it that way let’s say it like this. Lacrosse players playing in the MLL are payed 500 bucks a week for 2 games and 2 practices. That’s approximately 10 hours of playing time per week. Randy wants 10 mill. for 1 fight that will be over in less than 5 minutes. So according to this structure lacrosse players should be making 1,200,000,000 dollars a week? See how other sports have nothing to do with other sports?
“I think 6-10 million for each of us and they’re still gonna make a boat load of money on top of that.”
-Randy
How is this statement “demanding” 10 million dollars?! Besides, he’s right. The UFC will still make the money. Yeah Fedor and Randy fought tons of guys for nowhere near this amount. But that was before the sport was huge and these guys were household names.
I don’t see how you guys think the UFC can keep paying these guys crumbs. Oh, fighters can sign shoe deals so I guess that makes it okay. How much do you think UFC really makes with all the sponsors and everything? Could you imagine if the PGA only paid Tiger Woods $100,000 to show and $100,000 to win a PGA tournament. And their justification was, “Well, tiger you shouldn’t complain because you got a lot of money from Nike and Buick.” BS
it’s funny to actually read posts defending randy’s statement. I’m no UFC lover, just MMA lover, and if ppl start paying fighters this amount of money you can say bye bye to MMA (just look at how much affliction made…).
And if Randy Loved the sport he wouldn’t put this kind of strain on a promotion.
Affliction not making money on their debut show is your justification for UFC not paying their fighters!? That’s like saying, “Well our local news agency doesn’t make money, so CBS shouldn’t pay their news anchors big salary.” Get real. UFC is a huge promotion. The faces of that promotion should get paid. Not saying every chump that thinks he’s a fighter should get paid millions. But guys like Randy, Rampage, Chuck, Fedor, Tito. These guys have made the UFC millions and deserve to get paid. MMA is no longer a backyard/underground parking garage sport.
chuck made 9 million in 06, in one way,shape or form due to him being a UFC fighter.
Randy probably only has one fight left in him and one can’t blame him from trying to make the most of it. Anyone of us would do the same. Think about it, this would take care of your family for a long time. The only way to find out if he will get paid that kind of money is to obviously ASK for it. Will he get it is a different story.
If I recall correctly, didn’t Chuck & Tito make about $3m each for their last fight a few years ago? So if they made $3m each a couple of years ago and with the popularity of MMA having gone way up, is $5m too much to ask for? It is a fight that every MMA fan wants to see.
Randy is right! when Tito and Chuck fought they shoulda had these money too.. when he fought Ken they got huge numbers too and that means he should get a huge cut!..
What in the wide wide world of sports is wrong with you. What part of the ‘cut’ do you think he deserves, and for why? Six to ten mil? How much are the PPV’s going to cost, 100 bucks? Stop being A Randyboy.
6-10 mill is completely understandable and justified - the ufc would pull in around 30,000,000 for this show, 6-10 is not much to ask when considered the highest ranking fighter in the world. MMA needs to change its ways when it comes to paydays and i think this is where others will take note. You cant dedicate your life to a sport that you may suffer permanent damage and not be compensated for fully. each fight that a top ranking fighter is in , he should be paid a life times worth, because in most cases thats how much work they have put in. F1 drivers, boxers, footballers… they all get theirs.
even if your numbers are correct, randy said he’s doing this for the fighters (ie fighters getting more than they currently are). so if the UFC pays Fedor and randy somewhere between 12 to 20 mil, how much would the other fighters on the card get? Randy is about Randy, I figured that a long time ago…
fightlinker broke this down pretty good…
from fightlinker.com:
At $50 a pop, 700,000 PPV buys gives us $35 million in PPV revenue. Give the PPV broadcaster half and the promotion ends up with $17.5 million.
Now, UFC 87 (with an announced attendance in the neighborhood of 15,000) made a reported live gate of $2.2 million. Let’s be generous and say that Randy-Fedor garners a live gate of $3 million.
That gives the promotion a revenue of $20.5 million. Remember, this is revenue and not profit. In other words, we haven’t considered the cost of producing the event, marketing costs, the cost of renting the arena, and — as we’ve learned this week — taxes. We also haven’t considered the pay for undercard fighters. Or, the cut the promotion itself will take off the top.
Even without all of these costs factored in, Couture’s estimate of a $12-20 million total payout for both him and Fedor seems very unrealistic
LINX well said! very good info! alot of fans just see that the ufc made like 2-3 milon at the live gate and the 35 mil for the ppv, then see the payouts,and just think that goes straigh into the ufc’s bank account or in dana’s and the fertittas wallet. they dont take into consideration all the great points you made or performance bonuses, or the fact the zuffa is always pumping more money int the ufc and the wec, signing new fighters, doing more advertising and in general trying to improve the sport. dont get me wrong, we both know that dana and the boys get their cut, but its not as lopsided as some would think. in the ufc, fighters salaries have already gone up quite a bit since last year and the fight bonuses are getting better as well and i think they will continue to grow, but not to an insane amount.
for real, it’s growing at the right rate. Fighter (and fans) need to calm down and follow the market, as MMA grows so will their pay cuts. You can’t have the chicken breast all to yourself when your family is of 7
lol!
Nor have you figured the revenue that UFC gets from plastering HD and Bud on every square inch of visible canvas.
I think Randy might have a better idea of the money that is changing hands considering his line of work. Dana keeps saying that UFC is a brand. They have a lot of money coming in not just from individual promotions. Also on your end you are correct in that the UFC does a lot more than people realize. One thing you did not mention that probably costs the UFC a lot is insurance!
I think he deserves a big payoff.. I think 6 million is a little steep. Maybe 2 mil would be more like it.
Rob Dib
he could get that! he was making almost that much per fight when he was the ufc hw champ. alot of it was ppv%, under the table,performance and sponsership money though. 4 mil for both randy and fedor would be capable, not 12to 20 mil for both. he didnt ask for 2mil though. i think he is just rying to get other fighters to turn against the ufc, like huerta for example.
Before he does anything he should have to finish the fights on his contract. He doesn’t want to do that because he will lose and his dream of a mega payday will be gone forever. Retire Randy you lose more and more fans everytime you open your mouth.
Randy Couture has gone from wanting to create the biggest MMA event, securing his status as an MMA Legend, and getting paid properly to sounding like Don King. I understand in todays atmosphere it is not just about Love for the Game, all though that is what has kept MMA so pure and beautiful to this day.
Fact is MMA and the UFC are big business. I do not believe they are that big and do not believe it should ever get to that point either. MMA must and has to resist the Rockstar money. The more it becomes about the money the more the athletes become Jaded and businessmen first-athletes second. Look at baseball, basketball and football. The purity is gone. I can’t stress how much that means to me as a diehard fan. That 2 men enter the cage or the ring to truly prove who is the better fighter. The pay now keeps these guys honest. You can not get one big payday and call it a career. You have to work to make a living out of it, just like me and you have to work to pay the bills. I do agree some more money to the fighters, would and only is fair. 6 to 10 million dollars for a 15 minute fight-yes I know they train year round, but beyond that-is entirely way to much money, for any athlete. I would hate to see MMA ending up like boxing.
Final though, I actually really wanted to see Randy win this fight when the idea was tossed out there. Not anymore, if this fight goes down-I hope Fedor lays down his careers greatest ass whooping on Randy. Randy was a better then average fighter at best who was really at keeping to a good game plan. Worlds greatest or pound for pound best not even close! So what makes him think he deserves the worlds best money? This IS GROUND CONTROL TO RANDY COUTURE, I’m stepping through the door-And I’m floating in a most peculiar way-And the stars look very different today….
i read almost every thread or part of every thread and about 99% is against randy. nuff said! we are still waiting on cletis to get his brain out of the pawn shop. yee-haww!
GSP vs BJ 2 is bigger than randy vs fedor.
For that kind of money I would fight Fedor and Randy at the same time……………
wow i never thought id say this but *uck him .Fedor has him scared its official.Coutures is a raging P**sy…
Wow that kinda hurts to say thanks for letting us down couture.
dang, Randy Couture wants to retire from Fighting real bad… 6-10M?? dang.
randy is probably getting a lot of cash from his other ventures gyms movies etc
and to want big $$$ for getting in the ring with an animal like fedor isnt suprising
to expect the pay that boxers get for putting on a snoozefest isnt suprising either
problem is mma wont be there for 5 - 10 years
and once that kind of cash is flowing around the sport will be ruined like boxing and all the scum it attracts
if it gets to the point that any idiot can throw together 3 letters and make cash then the fans will rarely see the top fighters face each other as they will all be spread out
randy is done as a fighter
people shouldnt let his currentactions tarnish his legacy
he was a great guy before he went hollywood and probably still is
he used to be such an inspirational figure and a great competitor
inspiration for the underdogs and guys who thought they were over the hill
with randy you just need to remember the good times
beating sylvia the chuck trilogy beating tito
Randy is smoking crack.
Couture is worse then Tito now. He’s destroying all credibility. He beat GG and Silvia in a 5 round bout, years ago. Fedor will win easily, this is getting ridiculous.
MMA is a business just like any other sport. Greed? Hi. Business. Its all about money. Neither party would be in the game if the money wasn’t there. Love of the sport only takes you so far..
Spin Randy’s actions however you like. Do we have the actual numbers involved? Doubtful. Could it be Randy is attempting to see the fighters get better compensated when they put they’re bodies on the line and part of the money being made is off of they’re work?
Would you as a person sit idly by in your chosen line of work and be content with the same pay when the company you work for becomes more successful off the hard work of yourself and others and management starts driving around in Ferraris or are you there simply because you love the job?
I don’t see this as cut and dry on either side and at the end of the day want to see the fight. Hopefully something gets worked out but in the mean time I for one won’t be crucifying Couture out of my own ignorance about his motivations. Make no mistake good or bad its not just about Randy..
Couture is right and he desrves 6 to 10 mill and so does fedor,
notice how he said each of us hes including fedor the money needs to start going to the fighters
this fight is BAD for mma. if fedor wins people will say it dosn’t matter randy is now over the hill, if randy wins he wll probably retire leaving the best hw in the world a old man who walked away, leave the fight to peoples imaginations.
Come on Mayweather only made 10 mill for the fight with De La Hoya and that got 2.4 million PPV buys at $55 a piece and Randy thinks he should get that much for 700,000 PPV buys at $45 a piece and far less sponsership money than is in boxing. He is on crack.
Randy is crazy if he thinks he is worth 6-10 million. I hope he gets it if it makes the fight happen, but he really must be delusional.
Lol @ Randy’s blatantly obvious attempt at milking his “UFC heavyweight champion” status for 10x more than he’s really worth. Everyone knows he’s ducking his two remaining UFC fights because he would get totally raped and his true market value would be exposed.
About time Randy came out and said what it’s really all about, money. No more crap about “it’s about respect, it’s about the fight, blah blah blah.” Randy is so full of crap he floats.
Randy needs to take a queue from Brett Favre. Be in the game to play the game. Brett gets offered 20 mil not to play and he turns it down to play on what many would consider a junk team. Why? Because he wants to play. Randy doesn’t want to fight anymore, he just wants to get paid.
Thanks Randy for exposing your true self.
Come on guys, Randy’s doing this for the fighters. He wants them all to make 7 figures per fight and then all of the organizations can go bankrupt paying the fighters, but more will pop up. Plus, the fight should be really good. From the previews of Scorpion King II, it looks like Randy’s been training pretty hard and learning some new moves. I’ll have to watch the movie before I’m willing to predict who’ll win the fight. How about winner gets double and loser gets half? And does Fedor get to keep it all if he kills Randy? Maybe he should put that in the contract. Sounds about right.
More power to him if he can make it happen, but I really think it would be money just thrown away to see him get decimated by Fedor.
Probably just cheaper for them to do the Brock vs Fedor fight and to be honest I’d like to see that fight.
Yeh, One might say that Randy is off the wall in asking for this size of paycheck to fight fedor but, lets face it he is scared to death of fedor seeing how fedor demolished sylvia. He is almost justified in asking for that amount of money because he knows that if he wants an inflated payday like that, that the fight more than likely won’t happen and if somehow, someway it does he gets 6-10 million bucks for taking a 60 second crap kicking. ( I said 60 seconds on the outside chance that he can outrun fedor for a few seconds.