It will be interesting to see who taps out first in the battle of bucks between UFC president Dana White and fighter Wanderlei Silva.
It would appear White would be in a better position to submit Silva, who is seeking a share of the pay-per-view money to fight Chael Sonnen on the UFC 167 card in November. As the employer, White could simply refuse to give in to the demands of Silva, who is under contract based on terms to which he agreed. On the other hand, Silva could force White to compensate him for his part in what could be one of the most significant cards in UFC history because it’s the 20th anniversary show of the company.
White has long talked about a super fight, which may never happen between current welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and former middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who lost his belt in July to Chris Weidman after a reign of almost seven years and a record 10 title defences and a record 16 consecutive wins.
But UFC 167 just might become a super card for more than just historical purposes. GSP, the No. 1 attraction in the company, is defending his title against No. 1 contender Johny Hendricks. In and of itself, that fight will be huge because there is a belief that if ever GSP was vulnerable, this could be it. Add in the possibility of the Silva-Sonnen bout as a co-main event and this will add to the excitement and create additional PPV buys.
UFC 100 holds the record with 1.6-million PPV buys, due in part to the quality of the card, which included GSP defending his belt against Thiago Alves in the co-main event, and Brock Lesnar beating Frank Mir in a unification bout for the heavyweight championship. The UFC has grown exponentially as a worldwide brand, which has made fighters more aware of their status as the stars of the shows and the right to be compensated. White could turn around and say the company is bigger than any one fighter and has not been afraid to cut stars or not re-sign them if he feels they are no longer of value.
Depending on how their contracts are written, a fighter may or may not be eligible for PPV money. GSP has it in his contract. According to a source familiar with UFC contracts, the PPV share works out to $1 for each of the buys ranging between 250,000-500,000, $1.50 for every buy between 500,000-750,000, $2 for between 750,000-1 million, and $2.5 for more than 1 million. GSP’s fights average between 800,000-900,000 PPVs in which he is in the main event, so that would add up to $1.6 million to $1.8 million. His last fight had 950,000 PPV buys, due largely to hype created by opponent Nick Diaz. GSP has been quoted as saying he collects between $4 million to $5 million per fight, but who really knows for sure. He doesn’t have to publicly disclose it. Suffice to say, he has endorsement deals that could also factor into main-event appearances.
Some fighters will only collect PPV money if they are in the main event, but there have been exceptions because of their profile and star power. It is not unusual for White to hand out discretionary bonuses beyond the fight of the night, submission of the night and knockout of the night to a fighter who puts on a good show. As a private company, the UFC is not required to disclose its financials.
Silva appears to be in a position to play hardball with White, who says the veteran fighter will most likely retire if he can’t get the financial terms he wants. Silva, the onetime Pride middleweight champion, is 37 and at the tail end of his career, which appeared to be grinding to a halt until he destroyed Brian Stann in March in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV card. Silva earned fight of the night and knockout of the night honours. The fight ranks among the best of 2013.
When Sonnen forced onetime UFC light heavyweight champion and Pride middleweight champion Shogun Rua to submit via guillotine choke last Saturday, he thrust himself back into the spotlight. Sonnen called out Silva in expressed derogatory terms, punctuating his thoughts by saying: “Until I met you, I didn’t know they could stack crap that high.”
Sonnen, who knows how to market himself better than any active fighter, stoked the embers for a fight that surely fans want to see, even if it has no immediate consequences for the light heavyweight belt. Sonnen is held in high regard by the UFC and its broadcast partner FOX, which employs him as a commentator. He can create hype unlike anyone else, but it will be lost if Silva declines to fight him.
There is already a dislike between the two because of the way Sonnen badgered and bullied Anderson Silva leading up to their much-ballyhooed rematch in July 2012. Wanderlei, who is no relation to Anderson, took exception to comments Sonnen made about the champion, his family and, in particular, his native Brazil. There is a YouTube video in which the two are travelling together in a van and Silva is telling Sonnen he needs to be more respectful of Brazil and its fighters. Sonnen did everything he could to mentally break down Anderson Silva, who clearly became agitated and exacted his revenge with a beatdown that ended in the second round of the five-round fight. It was a victory that Brazilian mixed martial arts fans and some of their fighters such as Wanderlei Silva relished.
While the loss humbled Sonnen, who subsequently lost to light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, he became relevant again beating Rua and reverted back to his villainous self. He re-opened the wounds of Wanderlei Silva, but he also gave his opponent some leverage if the two are to fight.
If Wanderlei Silva uses the PPV money as a sticking point and White decides not to compensate him, then the fight will not take place. UFC 167 is not dependent on a Silva-Sonnen fight, but it would certainly add to it.
Silva expressed his dislike for Sonnen for what he said after the Rua fight in a YouTube video published Friday.
“Sonnen, I will beat you up, you coward,” he says in a cheap-looking video that looks like it was shot in a darkened room with only the light of the camera. He also says Sonnen is a lower-level fighter and adds, “Don’t listen to what that fool says.”
In the video Silva says he wants to fight Sonnen for five rounds, which is only possible if it’s a main event, thus precluding him from fighting in the co-main event of the GSP/Hendricks card. Silva also suggests he wants to fight Sonnen for 30 minutes, which would technically be six rounds. Clearly, he is passionate about fighting Sonnen.
His rant is animated and entertaining. He can certainly trash talk as good as Sonnen. He is doing what Sonnen does so well in terms of self-marketing. We’ll see if it works.
Of course, the solution to all of this is to make a Silva-Sonnen fight part of a UFC on FOX 1 card as the main event. It wouldn’t be a pay-per-view, but it would sure draw huge ratings.
It’s kind of interesting when you think that Sonnen’s best feuds have come with someone named Silva from Brazil, two with Anderson and now one with Wanderlei. Sonnen once famously/infamously said: “Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck.” Substitute Wanderlei for Anderson and it’s the same idea.
If Silva lets his pride stand in the way of what would likely be the one final hurrah in his career, then he’s dumb. If White fails to at least broker a deal to ease Silva’s financial concerns and make this fight happen, he is dumber. It’s business, plain and simple. Give the fans and the fighters what they want. Everyone will win in the end.