One thing to keep in mind, most fighters are signing deals in the 3 year range, but choose to renegotiate before hitting free agency. A guy signs a 3 year, 8 fight deal, then wins 4 in a row and signs a new deal with a pay increase. I don’t think it’s super common for guys to even sign deals longer than 3 years.
The reason we see guys like Jon, GSP, Nick Diaz etc sitting on the sidelines and never getting out of their deal isn’t because their deals are long…it’s because there’s language in there saying that their deals pause when guys don’t fight, whether it be because of injury, suspension, or choosing to turn down fights over opponents or pay.
I do think the contracts give too much leverage to the UFC though. If at any point in the contract they feel as though it’s no longer the right deal for them, they can cut you and get out of the contract. If a fighter wants out of the deal, there’s no mechanism to make that happen. They can refuse to fight, but when that happens they just sit on the sidelines…they never get out of the deal.
There should be some type of language in the contracts that give the an option after a certain number of fights…like, if it’s an 8 fight deal, after 4 fights they should be able to opt out of the deal if they no longer feel it’s a good deal for them…and there should be language in there about guaranteed money like in other sports. I get we’re not talking about the same thing, the UFC and combat sports are a different animal entirely, but the contracts are completely lopsided right now.
If there was language in the deal that allowed fighters to opt out at a certain point in the deal, as well as language that forces the UFC to pay you some portion of guaranteed money if they cut you, that would go a long way in my opinion. Lastly, there should be a period of time that can elapse that ends the contract for retired fighters. So if someone like GSP, Nick Diaz…any of the guys that spent several years out of the cage…they should be able to get out of their contract if they truly retire then decide they want to do something else.
Nick Diaz hasn’t fought in 6 years. He should be able to do something else if he wants to. It would obviously have to be a really long time to avoid situations where a guy fakes a retirement just to get out of a contract…like if Jones fake retired and sat for 2 years, he should still be under contract…something in the 4-5 range feels appropriate. If Nick Diaz decides to box another aging former fighter a decade from now…like what Roy Jones and Mike Tyson did, his UFC contract from 2016 shouldn’t prevent that.