Lyoto Machida offers no apologies for asking for Anderson Silva Money
Posted on August 19, 2011, 11:40 PM by Trent Reinsmith
When Phil Davis was forced to withdraw from UFC 133, UFC President Dana White thought he had a replacement lined up in former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida. However, when he called the Machida camp to confirm the fight, they turned around and asked for “Anderson Silva money,” according to White.
White refused that request and Tito Ortiz, who had originally turned down the fight against Rashad Evans, agreed to step in after some reconsideration.
Machida recently spoke about the money request, "I ask forgiveness for the misunderstanding, but not for what I've done, because I was not wrong. I never accepted the fight. I was coming back from injury and I had only been training for two weeks. In fact this training routine was only to keep in shape, and not for fighting.” - interview via Terra Esportes , translation courtesy Bloody Elbow.
In something of an ironic twist, Machda's camp have said that they are currently negotitating a deal for a Machida versus Davis bout.
The question I have for you, LowKick’ers is, was Machida in the wrong to ask for Anderson Silva money?
Comments
It's not like he said "From now on I better get paid A. Silva money or I'm not going to fight again". It was only to take that fight on that short of notice (which of course looks good to management, but fighters arent required to do anyway).
So I dont think it really matters in the long run.
Yeah I agree. I think the situation got a little out of hand. I do not blame Machida for asking for more money. The UFC was in a tough spot, put Machida in a tough spot, and he made a business negotiation that didn't work out. However, I would criticize Machida if his management used the term "Anderson Silva money," because that implies that his camp is un-happy at his normal pay. And, like Dana says, he doesn't deserve Anderson money.
Well, if Tito is earning half a million for each fight, why isn't a much more skilled Machida entitled for a higher pay? Honestly, I believe that the UFC isn't paying most of their fighters the money they deserve; only a few are getting big salaries...Machida has the right (like any employee in any field) to ask for an increase in pay...Nothing wrong with that...
I don't think anything is wrong with Machida asking for more money(whether in be Silva money or not). He was taking on a lot of risk fighting Evans at such short notice coming off injury. His legacy and opportunities for his title run are at stake. This is his livelihood and he has a family to take care of. If anything it is much easier for Tito to step up since he makes waaaay more money per fight(win or lose) and has less risk(and everything to gain). We're obviously hearing 2 different stories though. Dana's side and Lyoto's side. Who knows how it went..I just don't think there's anything wrong with negotiating this.
No, cause I think all MMA fighters should be paid more anyways.
I think it was wrong,He said he was only training for 2 weeks to keep in shape?
So would more money to fight change the fact he was absolutely not ready.
He also would have been smashed by the rashad we saw in the tito fight.
Tito didn't talk about more money,he just stepped up.That is what Machida should have done if he wants to get paid better in the future
kida
Tito was already being paid the money that Machida was asking for
How do you know what Tito asked for in the "reconsideration"?
mma fihters are underpaid.
asking for more money for a short notice fight is no shame at all.
dictator Dana accepts no one going against his will and makes a big deal about it....
I disagree MMA fighters are paid well. There are loads of payments that fighter get that are not released publicly. The UFC spread the money around well unlike the promoter's in boxing, the difference between GSP's salary and a a guy like Rick Story won't exceed a million dollars, when Mayweather fought Mosley the difference was over 50 million.
but both were making millions, UFC has enough money to pay fighters what´s fair but they rather keep it in their deep pockets, I can´t believe how many people complain about how much money a fighter does, you need to realize that they only fight about 3 or 4 times a year if they are healthy, then their carrers is really short and they need to save money, everytime they get in a fight they are risking their lives but you guys still consider they are making good money...
Some MMA fighters don't earn more than 6 or 7 thousand per fight (In Striekeforce, salaries are as low as 2 thousand). If these fighters fight twice a year, what they get is below the poverty line...How will they pay their bills, their trainers, their gyms? It's Dana and the Fertitta brothers are the ones who are making millions at the expense of this as yet non-unionized employee group...Unlike boxers, MMA fighters (even the stars) aren't in the place to earn 50 million...That may happen one day...
Risking their lives ? hmm to a certain extent yes but nowhere near to the extent of solders or firemen for example. There should be no price on a life anyway. The boxing business model is totally different to MMA, to MMA you have loads of relevant fights on the main card and on the undercard at times, so the money gets spread around. By the way UFC deal with their PPV company only gives them 40 % of the revenue for each PPV, if they go it alone and start taking 100 % and don't bump up the pay I'll side with you then.
Mma fighters income per fight is spare change compared to boxers. Considering how far the sport has come and the fact that mma fighters train at least as much as boxers, the one asking for forgiveness should be the UFC.
You want the highest paying organization in MMA to apologize?
You got it wrong, I would like to see the fastest growing sport, the sport that is killing boxing to apologize...
I get your point.But be honest.I am in trainingcamp for two weeks,(just to keep fit)I get an offer to fight the no1 contender ,but have little time to train.Will i take this fight?Maybe,but how much money i get for it,don't make the difference.They asked Machida to step up and he let the UFC down.I understand that if u have no preparation u chose not to fight.
What i don't understand is that money was the main factor not to fight!
Machida didn't want to take the fight but if he got A.S. money, he felt that would compensate for it. Sounds fair enough to me.
The point is that all the fighters are in the 'business' of fighting. People forget that once you go pro its a different world and that's true of sports and other 'entertainment'. The UFC has given the audience great value for our money and puts on good shows, however from the fighters perspective they are 'stuck with' only one company basically to negotiate with, this is called a monopoly. A monopoly is illegal in many segments of business and there are anti-trust laws in place. 'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_antitrust_law'
Machida is just trying to get the best deal he can but if the UFC allows even one fighter to leverage their availability then all of them will start doing it and from the UFC's perspective fighters (except for a very few) are cash cows and should just shut up and take the peanuts they are given, everybody say it with me now the UFC is a monopoly, whether we like it or not!
So he wasn't fighting fit for the fight, due to only training for two weeks after coming off an injury and he was only training to stay in shape, not to fight. So does that justify asking for that much extra money? A lot of fighters have taken fights stepping in as replacements on short notice, very short notice in some cases, none of those fighters demanded extra money to compensate for the fact that they were not ready, why should Machida be treated differently? If a fighter thinks they are not ready to fight then it's simple, you turn the fight down and wait untill you are ready, not say yes i will fight but i want a bundle of extra cash because i'm not ready. Not only that, Machida does not deserve to be paid what AS gets paid. Silva has gone unbeaten since joining the UFC, breaking many records along the way and is widely considered to be the best p4p fighter on the planet. He deserves the paycheck he gets. Don't get me wrong, i like Machida a lot, he is an awesome fighter but the UFC can't afford to let ANY fighter set trends like these, if he would have got it, every fighter would start asking any time they were asked to step up on short notice. If a fighter isn't ready to fight, they should just turn the fight down, end of story........