Comments on: Dana White not happy with Georges St. Pierre’s choice of agents

By: patrickgamil

patrickgamil — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 05:00:49 +0000

keep in mind that fighters have a short time at the top level after which they mostly have damaged there bodies for life. and they can become commentator, coaches if they are lucky – so at least they should do their damdest to cash in during the 2nd half a decade of their 1 decade career where they actually make money

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By: patrickgamil

patrickgamil — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:57:23 +0000

although he’s an excellent biz man, he is filthy rich cause of GSP and others.
he’s got enough money that he is in no position of suffering from this.
so the reason i should fell dana’s pain again is…..
WHAT?

gimme afarlik break

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By: babalu

babalu — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:02:13 +0000

yah i read it man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!thats the samething. if youre good enough you can ask for more money bobo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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By: ViciousUppercut

ViciousUppercut — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:20:28 +0000

@ babalu, man read the post man, read. I said do THEY ask my employer to pay me more. NO they don’t

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By: Mike Wolfe

Mike Wolfe — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:51:42 +0000

Dana didn’t complain about Hollywood agents because they demand lots of money. He said they make promises they can’t keep. I think the point is that an agent who knows nothing about MMA doesn’t understand what is and is not reasonable or feasible. Everybody can think of situations in which their perfomance on the job was critiqued by somebody else who had no clue about your business, profession or occupation. It’s a pain in the neck to deal with people who are mouthy and also ignorant.

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By: babalu

babalu — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:26:16 +0000

vicious, its different thing man!and yes you can tell your employer to give you more money .cause they need you more than you need them ok(only if you are very good electrician)like good mma figthers.if you deserve it,you can get it.

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By: ViciousUppercut

ViciousUppercut — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:20:44 +0000

@ babalu no i’m not in their boots, i work a real job for a living. I’m not complaining, i’m a well paid union electrician who puts his life on the line every day. I could be injured or killed at work at anytime also. That’s why i save my money. As far as getting what they deserve, they are, they live a fantasy life as heroes living the high life who get paid well I’m sure i have given many MMA fighters power and light to train at the gyms where they train, and i’m sure they have houses with electricity and power to eat cook and sleep comfortably. Do they tell my employer to pay me more? Uh NO! @ blah as far as agents they all have them. Dana won’t let them fight without one, but now GSP has a “Hollywood agent”. When GSP’s new contract kicks in, and he starts to believe the crap they feed him look for him to get K.T.F.O. while your PPV bill skyrockets

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By: blah

blah — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:15:57 +0000

If Dana White wasn’t a worthless sack of ****, the fighters wouldn’t need agents, because they’d be able to trust him not to dick them over. It seems to me that he’s all about playing hardball when he has to deal with people who generally have little knowledge of how business works. Yet, when he has to deal with people who know how to play that game in return, he cries and whines like a little bitch. WHAA HA HAA! It’s not fair! Poor Dana…

It’s not that I’m a fan of agents, but most fighters need them in order to protect themselves from the Dana.

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By: babalu

babalu — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:31:56 +0000

vicious listen yeah,,,they have done enough for us and to the whole fans of mma,they put in the line their ass and life(sometimes)so maybe its time for them to get what they really deserve ok,dont be selfish just about you are in their boots?????

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By: ViciousUppercut

ViciousUppercut — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:36:09 +0000

When GSP makes 2.5 MIL per fight the UFC might reduce the # of fights per card to 8 fights. I can’t believe have often i have to respond about $$$. Look i like the fighters too, but i don’t love them to where i feel they need to make BIG $$$$$. When has athletes making BIG $$$$ ever been good for the FANS in ANY SPORT. NEVER

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By: ViciousUppercut

ViciousUppercut — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:30:32 +0000

I will never understand these fans who want fighters to make BIG $$$. Money takes the hunger and will to win away. The more money they make the less you see them. With BIG $$$ they no longer need to win or perform at a high level. Brandon Vera comes to mind. With BIG $$$ comes higher ticket prices, higher PPV prices, fewer free events on SPIKE and most likely FEWER events overall. Look at Affliction. This is not good for the fans. WAKE UP fanboys. They aren’t going to spend on you. Why do you want them to make big $$$. So they can sleepwalk through the fight knowing they no longer need to win. Oh yeah, that’ll be great for the sport

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By: babalu

babalu — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:51:58 +0000

shut the fuck up dana!!!!!you just only think of your self not the fighters future,let it be.

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By: PoMoPunchDrunk

PoMoPunchDrunk — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:46:02 +0000

If any sport could benefit from weasel agents, it’s MMA. Other than US college athletes (who are getting the biggest screw job of them all), MMA fighters need someone to take care of the business side of their sport. A fighter’s head needs to be solely focused on his/her opponent , not contract talks with Dana White. Now with the demise of ProElite/EliteXC, fighters have next to no leverage when negotiating. Hiring an experienced agent helps fighters garner the most money available and although MMA fighters are in it for the love of fighting, money makes the world go round. Nobody trains for free, flights to venues, rent, food etc. all needs the green. The next step is a union of fighters to ensure that not only are they getting paid for today, but when a fighter’s career could end with one punch, they are set up for the future too. Bring on the agents, bring on more competition for the UFC and get the fighter’s the money they deserve.

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By: Sergio Hernandez

Sergio Hernandez — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:09:31 +0000

There are both pros and cons to this kind of situation.

Obviously, White feels the cons greatly outweigh the pros. How that makes him the MMA anti-Christ that he’s being made out to be in this thread, I have no idea.

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By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:42:11 +0000

Good for GSP if they are getting commercials and sponsorships and what not. Lets just hope they dont start screwing with his fights. Hopefully he’ll still be able to Fight after BJ gets done with him.

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By: Shatner

Shatner — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:40:51 +0000

Apparently Dana does not like the idea of dealing with an agency that is not going to be intimidated by he empty threats.These guys play hardball with big time Hollywood corporations.Do you think there going to cave in to the demands of a wanna be tough guy who has a complex because he could’nt cut it as a fighter and wants people to think he’s some kind of a bad ass.I don’t think so.

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By: neijia

neijia — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:33:12 +0000

“Dana has become the vile boxing promoter that he so often tells us we should despise.”

So true. So true.

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By: Imbecile

Imbecile — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:16:07 +0000

All of you who are so quick to squeeze money out of the UFC should also realize you should be careful what you wish for. Right now the UFC has a viable business model that has been successful, and they are spending a lot of their profits on continued expansion of the sport. Right now, they are the ONLY successful MMA organization out there. But that can all change very quickly, and everyone getting too greedy on their contracts is a quick way to make that happen.

Don’t think these “Hollywood” agents have been good for Hollywood, either. You have plenty of actors who literally kill studios with their salary demands, and their strong unions make them able to force through a lot of very poor business practices. There are plenty of stars who continually make $20 million a film, and the film bombs because it is undercapitalized due to the actors salary, so it bombs.

I’m not a huge DW defender, but this is not a great development for the sport.

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By: glock

glock — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:12:32 +0000

That’s great news for GSP. But you gotta take it for what it is. He’s a very special case he’s one of the best in the world at what he does, AND he’s very MARKETABLE. He looks good, great body,an athlete among athletes,no scandals,or drug allegations,(that I know of),decent role model, and he’s for real…no smoke and mirrors, (he will have to wok on that accent for stuff outside of Canada though).

It’s a very small pool of talent that bring as much to the table ( in contact sports De la Hoya, probably Cung Le, Rich Franklin (before Anderson Silva – BAS. What would that be in Latin?? ) , and Randy after Sylvia.
The big question is, with the right raw materials, can they build something, like say, a Chuck Norris. In the mean time there will be plenty of money to rake in from endorsements with the continued growth of MMA in mainstream media.

Dana’s little Napoleonic world will have to adapt to the way REAL money interests do things. I’m sure they’ll offer him some mayo and mustard to put on his sh!t sandwich.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving megalomaniac……, well yeah I guess it could,
but it’s still entertaining.

It IS good for for our sport, though.

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By: mattio

mattio — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:00:17 +0000

How much money are these athletes going to force out of the UFC when all of them have Jerry Maguire’s?

Will the UFC play hardball forever? They should probably try. I have noticed that fighters will accept contracts so inflated that it almost ends up driving the promotion they work for right out of business.

A fighter who reaches the upper ranks of the UFC and stays their for an appropriate amount of time deserves to be paid enough money that they never have to worry about earning another dollar when they hang up the gloves. But they should never be given contracts so large that a solid gold bathtub seems like a reasonable purchase.

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