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The trial for the class-action antitrust lawsuit against the UFC has yet to start, but it’s already brought to light pertinent and previously unseen information on the top MMA promotion’s controversial business practices and fighter pay.
Another trove of documents has recently been unredacted and obtained by Bloody Elbow, which includes fighter contracts.
Lawsuit reveals Ronda Rousey’s unsigned contract with multiple revisions
One of the recently unsealed documents that Bloody Elbow and John S. Nash has obtained, was a copy of Ronda Rousey’s previous contract with Forza (the Zuffa owned Strikeforce). It was unsigned and sent back with several handwritten notes and requests for revisions from her representative.
A proposed start date of October 1, 2012 was scribbled in, which is a few months after her final Strikeforce fight and soon before she officially joined the UFC.
These were likely all requests for revisions to the contract that Rousey’s representation wanted, just before several top Strikeforce stars like her were going to be absorbed into the UFC. While this specific document ended up unsigned, the notes do give an interesting glimpse at some of the negotiations that took place from the point of view of one of MMA’s biggest stars ever.
Ronda Rousey negotiated for better pay, shorter contract
While Rousey’s management pretty much wanted alterations on almost every clause in the UFC’s standard contract language, the most notable asks were on the monetary specifics.
According to the notes, Rousey’s team wanted significantly better pay. While the original Forza/Strikeforce contract had her starting purse at $35,000 with a $35,000 win bonus, Rousey’s representation asked to start at $100,000/$100,000.
Instead of the purse and win bonus both increasing by just $5,000, they asked for escalations from each win to go up to $150,000/$150,000, $250,000/$250,000, $350,000/$350,000 up to $500,000.
Her management also asked for a bonus for “non-PPV fights with extraordinary viewership,” and seemingly wanted a much shorter deal.
If Rousey wins every bout, the original deal can potentially go up to $70K/$70K on the eight fight. They asked it to top at $500K/$500K instead on just the fifth bout, crossing out the last three bouts on the deal.
Ronda Rousey wanted separate negotiations for Cris Cyborg fight
Interestingly enough, the contract also included a note that Rousey and her team wanted a clause specifically discussing any possible bout with Cris Cyborg.
While Rousey asked for escalating pay that capped at $500,000 to show and $500,000 to win if she won all five fights, she wanted a separate deal for any PPV bouts and a fight with Cyborg, specifically.
“Does not apply to any PPV bout for which shall be separately negotiated,” they wrote down on the contract. “Fee + share of PPV revenue to fighter + any fight w/ Cyborg shall be separately negotiated.”
Rousey vs. Cyborg was a super-fight that many people wanted for years, but it never materialized. One of the reasons repeatedly cited, was Cyborg not being able to make 135 lbs and Rousey not wanting to move up in weight.
Ronda Rousey wanted first class flights, hotel suites, medical insurance
As for the other incidentals, Ronda Rousey’s representation asked for “first class” hotels and flights. If she’s involved in a title fight, they wanted two hotel “suites,” and four first class flights for her team. They also asked for the promotion to pay the hotel room tax, internet and parking.
Instead of a $50 per diem, which can be switched to 3 meal vouchers a day, they wanted it in “non-accountable” cash that “increase by $25 for each new bout.”
They also asked for four free “VIP” tickets “within 10 rows of the cage” for each fight, and if she’s in the main event, they wanted eight tickets within five rows of the Octagon.
Her reps also wanted to discuss the possibility of having “medical insurance & dental for RR through Forza / Strikeforce / UFC.”
Did Ronda Rousey get what she wanted? Comparing her first UFC contract
While Ronda Rousey’s representative had dozens of notes and requests on her contract that they wanted to start by October 1, 2012, Bloody Elbow has also obtained a copy of a UFC contract signed by Ronda Rousey and Dana White, and dated November 19, 2012.
How much of their earlier demands were met after negotiations? Let’s compare those requests from the details on Rousey’s first UFC contract.
Ronda Rousey’s base UFC purses were far smaller than what she asked for
As noted above, Rousey’s Forza deal had several fights and escalations that started from $35,000/$35,000 that potentially went up to $70,000/$70,000 on the 8th fight. They requested for a shorter deal of just five fights, with significantly more pay from $100,000/$100,000 up to potentially $500,000/$500,000.
What did Rousey actually end up with for her first UFC contract?
She did get a slightly shorter contract from the original eight bouts. She asked for 5 fights, but ended up with 6.
As for the base purse, Rousey didn’t get anywhere close to $500,000. Her UFC deal still increased by $5,000 with each win and capped at $70,000/$70,000 like the Forza deal. She started at a slightly higher base purse of $45,000/45,000 with the two earlier fights being removed.
Rousey had a standard PPV cut added, no Cyborg clause
A difference from the Forza contract was the added clause for a PPV cut on her first UFC deal. Rousey got a standard UFC rate, where she gets $1 for each PPV buy between 200,000 and 400,000 buys, $2 for each PPV buy between 400,000 and 600,000, and $2.50 for each buy over 600,000 buys.
It’s common practice for UFC to have side deals for some of their biggest stars, but at least in this contract, no special clause for a Cyborg fight was included.
There was also no mention of getting a bonus for “extraordinary viewership” like they requested.
Rousey’s base purse for her first bout on this UFC contract indeed started at $45,000/$45,000, and as Bloody Elbow previously reported, she took home $574,720 against Liz Carmouche after her PPV cut.
Rousey’s base purses for her next bouts would seem to indicate that she stayed on this deal during her historic streak of defenses of the women’s bantamweight crown. She did get bonuses for some of her fights though, as indicated by this text message Bloody Elbow obtained with UFC officials confirming a $300,000 discretionary bonus for her bout with Sara McMann at UFC 170.
Incidentals: UFC grants Rousey free tickets, but not other requests
As for incidentals, UFC granted their specific request for tickets and added 1 business class airline ticket, but mostly stuck with the original language with minor tweaks.
For per diem, they added 1 cornerman’s meals, but declined every other request for guaranteeing cash and increases per fight. Requests for hotel suites, four first class tickets, and the others weren’t included.
Rousey also asked to discuss the possibility of medical insurance, but UFC kept the same contract language on the signed deal.
Ronda Rousey’s incidentals from first UFC contract:
- 2 hotel or motel rooms up to 8 days prior to the event, 1 business class airline ticket and 2 economy tickets for cornermen.
- $50 per diem for meals, three meals per day, for fighter and 2 cornermen.
- 4 free tickets to each fight, within 10 rows of the Octagon, or if main event, 8 free tickets within 5 rows from the Octagon.
Ronda Rousey doesn’t get changes on UFC’s controversial contract clauses
Rousey’s representative also asked for the contract “term” to be shorter, and the UFC compromised a little.
They weren’t so lucky on the rest of their requests.
Apart from this and the main points such as purses and incidentals, Ronda Rousey’s reps also wanted dozens of changes on many of the contract clauses. These include a lot of the same controversial details being contested in the current antitrust lawsuit, including exclusivity, contract extensions and tolling provisions, ancillary rights and royalty fees.
Despite all those requests for changes, Rousey ended up with pretty much the same contract language on most of these clauses, with just “Forza” and “Strikeforce” being switched to “Zuffa” and “UFC” for her transition to the new promotion.
Here are just a few of the revision requests that were not granted:
Only getting cut after three straight losses?
Ronda Rousey’s team wanted a clause changed on where she could only get released if she loses three straight bouts.
It’s also worth noting that while most MMA fans think that fighters can get cut off a loss, the wording on these contracts show that UFC can also release them if they end up in a draw or No Contest.
UFC matching rights and extension clauses
Rousey’s representative wanted UFC’s controversial extension and tolling provisions revised. They also asked for provisions pertaining to their right to match to be “deleted,” but…
Read the rest of the post over at our Substack page
In the full post, we go over the rest of the differences between what Rousey’s team asked for and what was granted, compromised, or declined. We also reveal details on the following UFC contract that Rousey signed years later, and how it differed from this deal once she was already at the very peak of her career and mainstream superstardom.
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