Has there been the usual bitching? Coker (whom I like) saying there is no fighter they can't afford to sign.... Yet stinky purses for fighters.
Has there been bitching? Or is that reserved for the UFC?
Discuss.... 
Crickets.......
It's a joke. They brag they can afford anyone and yet they don't have the decency to pay a reasonable purse. Companies like these should be compensating them far more. 
You are confusing hatred of the UFC with concern over fighter pay. It just so happens that this particular Venn diagram overlaps in the UG. Most of the people bitching about the pay only do so because it gives them the opportunity to hate on Zuffa.
I imagine he is speaking hypothetically. I believe they are trying to build and develop their brand of mma. Coker has a little bit of a hole to dig out of due to Bellator having the stigma of being 2nd rate and part pro wrestling. Many people don't take their brand serious.
Coker has a tough job. It sounds like Viacom is in for the long haul. They have to develop their own fresh fighters and sign the up and coming guys before the UFC. They will never be very successful using fighters that failed out of the UFC or just aren't at that level. They did sign Pico, and have a few good fighters. If they get away from relying on the Tito's, Bonner's a d Rampages, and give the fans fresh product and something different yet is still 100% true mma, it will succeed
Coker should consider switching to diffdrent fight structures. Maybe try Pride rules or change the judging criteria or length and number of rounds. There are things they can do to make it work. The UFC brand is growing stale. Fans wanting something new. The challenge is finding what it is and what they will pay for.
Gotta get that Julia Budd money!
Did you really expect those idiots to come complain? The guys who do are the ones who are against anything UFC related and are basically the hipsters of MMA fans. If the promotion is unheralded it is better than the UFC to them.
Uhm... Viacom doesn't have to pay anyone shit. They own the channel the organization has a contract with. Bellator pays out the purses. Viacom can pay the money forward to Bellator to sign big, expensive names like Brock to benefit their channel and build up the org. But whatever prelim fighters and midcard guys are making is not their concern and no one ever said it was.
BW92 - Uhm... Viacom doesn't have to pay anyone shit. They own the channel the organization has a contract with. Bellator pays out the purses. Viacom can pay the money forward to Bellator to sign big, expensive names like Brock to benefit their channel and build up the org. But whatever prelim fighters and midcard guys are making is not their concern and no one ever said it was.So you're cool with fighter pay in the UFC? Awesome.
boxing wiz - I imagine he is speaking hypothetically. I believe they are trying to build and develop their brand of mma. Coker has a little bit of a hole to dig out of due to Bellator having the stigma of being 2nd rate and part pro wrestling. Many people don't take their brand serious.Hey man, that's not the point I was making. I was just wondering if the people that complain about UFC fighter pay also complain about the far worse bellator fighter pay. And given bellator have the money to sign any fighter it would seem reasonable that they pay their existing fighters at least a half way decent purse.
Coker has a tough job. It sounds like Viacom is in for the long haul. They have to develop their own fresh fighters and sign the up and coming guys before the UFC. They will never be very successful using fighters that failed out of the UFC or just aren't at that level. They did sign Pico, and have a few good fighters. If they get away from relying on the Tito's, Bonner's a d Rampages, and give the fans fresh product and something different yet is still 100% true mma, it will succeed
Coker should consider switching to diffdrent fight structures. Maybe try Pride rules or change the judging criteria or length and number of rounds. There are things they can do to make it work. The UFC brand is growing stale. Fans wanting something new. The challenge is finding what it is and what they will pay for.
BW92 - Uhm... Viacom doesn't have to pay anyone shit. They own the channel the organization has a contract with. Bellator pays out the purses. Viacom can pay the money forward to Bellator to sign big, expensive names like Brock to benefit their channel and build up the org. But whatever prelim fighters and midcard guys are making is not their concern and no one ever said it was.Also you somehow managed to misspell 'um'... How did you do that? Or were you making a different sound? Like a longer ummm... Or is it like a yoga breath you were doing to clear your chakras?
It's ridiculous ! These promotions are paying so little , if it's truly the highest level of mma they should be compensated accordingly
Why the fuck does Julia Budd make more then the main eventers?
diggity -BW92 - Uhm... Viacom doesn't have to pay anyone shit. They own the channel the organization has a contract with. Bellator pays out the purses. Viacom can pay the money forward to Bellator to sign big, expensive names like Brock to benefit their channel and build up the org. But whatever prelim fighters and midcard guys are making is not their concern and no one ever said it was.So you're cool with fighter pay in the UFC? Awesome.
The UFC has a legal monopoly on close to 90% of the top talent. Top talent deserves top pay, lower level guys do not.
diggity -BW92 - Uhm... Viacom doesn't have to pay anyone shit. They own the channel the organization has a contract with. Bellator pays out the purses. Viacom can pay the money forward to Bellator to sign big, expensive names like Brock to benefit their channel and build up the org. But whatever prelim fighters and midcard guys are making is not their concern and no one ever said it was.So you're cool with fighter pay in the UFC? Awesome.
Where did I say that? I think everyone pays awful. I'm just shutting down another silly thread before you and the other inbreds argue about something you clearly don't have a grip on. You can't change anything when you give away your lack of comprehension of the situation immediately. You think Scott Coker or Kevin Kay or anyone else is going to go up the chain and say "Bellator needs bigger purses for our guys. We're going to make the sport better for the fighters!" That's wishful thinking if you're an wide eyed young liberal but it's also a great way to get shown the door. If it was that simple you wouldn't have to worry your little brain about it! I didn't want to make fun of your thread but apparently you're a dick as well as a fool
Manhoef getting paid less than Daniel Kelly did for that horrid performance last night...That's downright fucked. Guys like Melvin deserve better for sure. And anyone who is on television getting punched in the face, definitely needs to be making more than a grand.
BW92 -Why wouldn't they pay at least on par with Ufc. The point of the thread was to highlight a double standard- we're not even having the same argument.... You do understand that right? That I understand the broad economics of the situation- and that fighters can generally negotiate market value depending on success and audience interest... I'm simply highlighting the double standard.. I really hope you understand that.diggity -BW92 - Uhm... Viacom doesn't have to pay anyone shit. They own the channel the organization has a contract with. Bellator pays out the purses. Viacom can pay the money forward to Bellator to sign big, expensive names like Brock to benefit their channel and build up the org. But whatever prelim fighters and midcard guys are making is not their concern and no one ever said it was.So you're cool with fighter pay in the UFC? Awesome.
Where did I say that? I think everyone pays awful. I'm just shutting down another silly thread before you and the other inbreds argue about something you clearly don't have a grip on. You can't change anything when you give away your lack of comprehension of the situation immediately. You think Scott Coker or Kevin Kay or anyone else is going to go up the chain and say "Bellator needs bigger purses for our guys. We're going to make the sport better for the fighters!" That's wishful thinking if you're an wide eyed young liberal but it's also a great way to get shown the door. If it was that simple you wouldn't have to worry your little brain about it! I didn't want to make fun of your thread but apparently you're a dick as well as a fool
mmamathwiz -So you agree the lower tier fighters in the UFC are being paid what the market dictates? Same as bellator? I'm just highlighting the hypocrisy of people who criticize the UFC pay structure constantly.diggity -BW92 - Uhm... Viacom doesn't have to pay anyone shit. They own the channel the organization has a contract with. Bellator pays out the purses. Viacom can pay the money forward to Bellator to sign big, expensive names like Brock to benefit their channel and build up the org. But whatever prelim fighters and midcard guys are making is not their concern and no one ever said it was.So you're cool with fighter pay in the UFC? Awesome.
The UFC has a legal monopoly on close to 90% of the top talent. Top talent deserves top pay, lower level guys do not.
BW92 - Uhm... Viacom doesn't have to pay anyone shit. They own the channel the organization has a contract with. Bellator pays out the purses. Viacom can pay the money forward to Bellator to sign big, expensive names like Brock to benefit their channel and build up the org. But whatever prelim fighters and midcard guys are making is not their concern and no one ever said it was.
Viacom kinda said it was their concern when they became majority owner of Bellator in 2011, no?
(from their wiki)
"In December 2011, media giant Viacom acquired a majority stake of Bellator and in January 2013, all Bellator events began airing on Spike TV to Spike's 100 million home universe weekly. Bellator produces nearly 25 live events annually, as well as shoulder programming including fighter features, highlight shows and reality based programming.
Viacom buys Bellator, plans 2013 start on Spike
Oct 26, 2011 (USA Today)
MTV Networks' Spike TV channel is getting out of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's business, but the broadcaster has increased its ties to mixed martial arts.
Viacom, parent of MTV Networks, bought a majority stake in Bellator Fighting Championships and will start airing the promotion's bouts on Spike in 2013, the companies told USA TODAY this week. They've had ongoing talks for about a year as they finished up various deals, and over the past month finally reached the point where they could announce the news, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said." ...
Advantages of ownership
Owning its own promotion allows Spike to take a longer view and commits it more firmly to the sport, he said.
"As we realized that our relationship with UFC was likely to come to an end, our Viacom mergers and acquisitions folks, and us, started to have conversations with MTV2 about getting invested in a mixed martial arts promotion and become owners as opposed to renters," Kay said. "You're building value in something that you own, and you own it for the long term. You're not in a constant state of negotiation." ...
And according to Rebney, Viacom is involved with all pay levels in Bellator, not just in big signings:
http://fcfighter.com/post/bellator-ceo-bjorn-rebney-the-best-fighters-are-not-in-the-ufc
"With the backing of Viacom, Bellator certainly benefits financially. At a time when fighters have become increasingly outspoken about low UFC pay, Bellator is trying to position itself as the better employer of the two, with better perks and benefits.
“UFC is a private company,” Rebney said. “They are not a public company and the information we get in terms of what they don’t pay and what they do pay is a bit cloudy. The reality is that our dynamic is a much different one than the UFC. Our focus is to build the athlete’s brand. Our focus is to make the athlete the star.”
Rebney said the fighters come first in Bellator.
“The bigger I can make the King Mo, Rampage, and Michael Chandler brands the more people will want to watch them at Bellator shows and the more they will want to watch them on Pay-Per-View. The fighters are what make it all happen, so they should be compensated well. There’s an equilibrium and fairess that need to be out there.
Viacom, he said, has allowed Bellator to offer better compensation packages than the UFC can offer.
“The differences are almost all across the board, positive,” Rebney said. “Marketing. production, public relations. It is an enormous powerful machine with incredible reach. What we do through a social media perspective is through the roof. If you race NASCAR, the better machine you have, the faster you are going to go, and Viacom gives us that faster machine.”
Rebney said there weren’t any negatives stemming from the Viacom ownership and that the deal allows him to “focus on my core duties.”
Cindy
^^^ And just wanted to LOL@ this line from above by Rebney:
"Viacom, he said, has allowed Bellator to offer better compensation packages than the UFC can offer."
Cindy