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Eddie Alvarez' UFC deal includes immediate title shot.

4K views 56 replies 33 participants last post by  Toxic 
#1 ·
If Eddie Alvarez frees himself from Bellator, he stands not only to become an immediate UFC lightweight title challenger but also to profit handsomely from pay-per-view sales.

But if he stays with Bellator, the 28-year-old fighter won't be in the poorhouse, either.

A UFC contract outlines the company's intent to book Alvarez an immediate title shot in March and offers a cut of the promotion's pay-per-view profits, according to an exhibit in a lawsuit Bellator MMA filed against the 28-year-old fighter, a copy of which today was obtained by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

An eight-fight deal starts Alvarez at $70,000 to show and $70,000 to win and raises in $5,000 increments with each win until it tops out at a guaranteed $210,000 for a win, the exhibit states. Alvarez is also guaranteed a $250,000 signing bonus, payable in two installments of $85,000 and one of $80,000.

When Alvarez fights on a UFC pay-per-view broadcast, the offer entitles him to $1 for each "buy" between 200,000 and 400,000 buys, $2 per buy between 400,000 and 600,000 buys, and $2.50 per buy over 600,000 buys.

Additionally, Alvarez is guaranteed a fight on a UFC on FOX card and three appearances as a commentator at UFC-branded events.

The exhibit confirms a previous claim from Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney that his promotion merely changed window dressings on the UFC's offer. Mentions of UFC parent company Zuffa are simply crossed out and replaced with Bellator.

It also shows Bellator offered three additional bonuses to Alvarez when Bellator decided to match the UFC's offer. Included was a $25,000 payout for participating in a behind-the-scenes show filmed by Bellator broadcast partner Spike TV, a $100,000 payout for a head coach position on the second season of Bellator's reality show, and a guest host spot on Spike TV's "Road to the Championship" program.

And Alvarez stood to receive a $250,000 signing bonus upon re-upping with Bellator.

The deals are the same – on paper. But Bellator and Alvarez disagree on their value, and they've taken their cases to the court of public opinion.

Before they did that, though, they sued each other.

Check back with MMAjunkie.com tomorrow for a detailed breakdown of the lawsuits and a timeline of the dispute.

For more on the UFC and Bellator's upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.
http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/...ncludes-immediate-title-shot-pay-per-view-cut
 
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#2 ·
UFC offers Alvarez instant title shot and PPV cut

Didn't see this posted. I'm never a fan of instant title shots, but I'm a huge Alvarez fan so I wouldn't complain. Considering everything listed below, no wonder why he wants out.

MMAJunkie:

If Eddie Alvarez frees himself from Bellator, he stands not only to become an immediate UFC lightweight title challenger but also to profit handsomely from pay-per-view sales.

But if he stays with Bellator, the 28-year-old fighter won't be in the poorhouse, either.

A UFC contract outlines the company's intent to book Alvarez an immediate title shot in March and offers a cut of the promotion's pay-per-view profits, according to an exhibit in a lawsuit Bellator MMA filed against the 28-year-old fighter, a copy of which today was obtained by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

An eight-fight deal starts Alvarez at $70,000 to show and $70,000 to win and raises in $5,000 increments with each win until it tops out at a guaranteed $210,000 for a win, the exhibit states. Alvarez is also guaranteed a $250,000 signing bonus, payable in two installments of $85,000 and one of $80,000.

When Alvarez fights on a UFC pay-per-view broadcast, the offer entitles him to $1 for each "buy" between 200,000 and 400,000 buys, $2 per buy between 400,000 and 600,000 buys, and $2.50 per buy over 600,000 buys.

Additionally, Alvarez is guaranteed a fight on a UFC on FOX card and three appearances as a commentator at UFC-branded events.

The exhibit confirms a previous claim from Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney that his promotion merely changed window dressings on the UFC's offer. Mentions of UFC parent company Zuffa are simply crossed out and replaced with Bellator.

It also shows Bellator offered three additional bonuses to Alvarez when Bellator decided to match the UFC's offer. Included was a $25,000 payout for participating in a behind-the-scenes show filmed by Bellator broadcast partner Spike TV, a $100,000 payout for a head coach position on the second season of Bellator's reality show, and a guest host spot on Spike TV's "Road to the Championship" program.

And Alvarez stood to receive a $250,000 signing bonus upon re-upping with Bellator.

The deals are the same – on paper. But Bellator and Alvarez disagree on their value, and they've taken their cases to the court of public opinion.

Before they did that, though, they sued each other.

Check back with MMAjunkie.com tomorrow for a detailed breakdown of the lawsuits and a timeline of the dispute.

For more on the UFC and Bellator's upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.
 
#5 ·
From listening to both sides of this I think it comes down to Bellator willing to "Match" the terms of the agreement but them having vastly different pay outs. Bellator can say we will give you a % of our TV revenue per show you fight on but that would be chump change compared to the same % of a UFC on Fox show. They can say we will have a PPV but everyone knows even if they did it would do way less than the UFC considering Affliction with stacked cards could only do about a third of what a shite UFC card does.

Bellator can "match" some terms without having nearly the monetary pay off.
 
#6 ·
Always interesting to see contract info. Too bad it always happens due to lawsuits. I hope this gets resolved expeditiously so everyone can move on and make a living.

The PPV scale in the contract is nice, but considerably less than Randy's scale in 2007. Makes me wonder what Anderson and GSP are at.
 
#7 ·
Anderson reportedly made 7 million for fighting Chael in Vegas. GSP is making 15 million every year, ten million from endorsements and 5 million from fighting.

There's no telling how much Anderson made last year in total because he also fought Bonnar.
 
#9 ·
Yeah no doubt he made a lot of money but how much is the key, the fight with Chael was the biggest fight of the year.
 
#10 ·
I would guess around $4-5 mil. He did a big favour to Dana in stepping up on short notice to headline in Rio. I think he would have been well compensated. Also 153 went pretty well in terms of PPV buys as far as i'm aware, and we all know Andy's cut is more than $2.50!
 
#17 ·
How do you figure that? Yes he lost to Shinya Aoki, but he avenged that loss. Michael Chandler did get the better of him. His only other professional loss is to a natural 170'er. The hype come from his destructive ways in the octagon. Anytime a fighter can boast a 10 fight win streak, they're doing something right. Even when Nick Thompson snapped that streak, he came right back. The man is an unstoppable force, one to be reckoned with, and certainly one that will stay in the UFC lightweight top ten for a respectable time once he finally gets there.
 
#23 ·
The hype revolves around Alvarez being an absolute demon inside the cage. He has the striking and aggression to KO the top notch strikers of the division (Patricky Freire for example) and the grappling and scrambling ability to neutralise any wrestler that wants to look and take the lay and pray route.

He has huge knock out power, probably the most current devastating KO artist in any LW division and is an over all excellent grappler.

I for one can't wait to see Eddie prove his worth in the UFC and start KO'ing fools left and right.
 
#24 ·
Except for the fact that he gets dropped in almost every fight. Therefore showing at least not great defense. I agree that he's a great and exciting fighter but I really don't agree with him getting a title shot off the rip. I'd still love to see him fight in the UFC though, because he'd further stack an already stacked division.
 
#19 ·
If it wasn't for the recent Chandler loss I'd agree with this. But now ? Don't get ot at all. I could see an argument for a fight for the number 1 contender spot but a straight title shot? Hmm.

Henderson is going to busy for a while at least!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3
 
#21 ·
this makes 0 sense, he's essentially getting a title shot after losing to chandler and what winning 1 or 2 moe wmatches after that over okay competition over guys like pettis/cerrone winner, melendez, maynard and other contenders in the 155 shark tank
 
#26 ·
Although I don't completely agree with everything you said, Grapple, I don't discount a lot of it either. He is a very aggressive in your face fighter. He never has a boring fight. I can see him getting dropped and finished by all but Diaz. And even though he wouldn't fight him, I could see Frankie stomping the crap out of him. Most of that is why I want to see him in the UFC though, so he can prove my assumptions wrong!
 
#28 ·
Instant title shots don't really mean much. It means his 1st fight is going to be a title shot...well yeah that title shot might come after winner of Pettis-Cerrone and Melendez get theirs. Alvarez would either have to sit out to get his "instant" title shot or fight in the mean time to earn some money. Noway Alvarez is going to sit out anyway.

Thats what I understand by the term "instant title shot" anyway.
 
#32 ·
I believe that the immediate title shot serves the purpose of making harder for Bellator to come up with a matching propose due to the large but still unknown income that Eddie would receive due to it.
It's pretty obvious Eddie doesn't qualify for a title shot and the UFC knows it!
 
#34 ·
I believe that the immediate title shot serves the purpose of making harder for Bellator to come up with a matching propose due to the large but still unknown income that Eddie would receive due to it.
It's pretty obvious Eddie doesn't qualify for a title shot and the UFC knows it!
Between Eddie, Gilbert, and Pettis

Eddie Pitbull/Aoki/Curren
Melendez Thomson/Masvidal/Kawajiri
Pettis Cerrone(if it happens)/Lauzon/Stephens

While Alvarez may not be the best choice I do think his victories qualify him. Especially as both Pettis and Melendez are coming off injuries.
 
#35 ·
Well Dana said this thing with bellator is going to be a mess. Maybe they expect it to take a while to finish and Eddie gets a title shot while a #1 contenders match takes place.

But more then likely it is just a bargaining tool that Bellator cannot match.
I guess a judge is going to have to decide if a cut of the PPV is legally something Bellator has to match.

Can anyone shed some light on applicable precedents?

It would be nice to have some idea of how this will play out based on previous rulings.

.
 
#39 ·
I'm not as sold on Eddie as GrappleRetarded seems to be, but I could definitely see him being top 5. I love to watch him fight, so I hope he does well.
 
#41 ·
Alvarez is easily top ten in the UFC and a serious threat to Ben, if people knew how good Chandler is they'd see this, don't let the fact he's not the Bellator Champ fool you.
 
#42 ·
The only people that should get title consideration at this point over Gil and Eddie is Pettis. That's assuming he beats Cowboy. But after that both men are more deserving then Cowboy, even with a win over Pettis and Maynard, who has fought for the title in 2 of his last 3 fights.
So unless people are biased against the non UFCers, I don't see any issue with this. Plus with the new info that came out today the wording of the contract does not guarantee an immediate title shot. It's a "quick shot" with possibility of immediate.
 
#43 ·
Alvarez is a beast, win or lose, and I'm sure Dana wants to market that as much as he can. I don't think there's any fighter at LW that puts on more exciting fights than he does.

That being said, he doesn't deserve the title shot. But, then again, the UFC doesn't really seem to care about who deserves title shots anymore.
 
#46 ·
The LW top ten is pretty soft, it's not the WW or even the LHW where hitting the top ten means something.

I mean look at who you've got

Benson Henderson
Gray Maynard
Nate Diaz
Anthony Pettis
and then....
Jim Miller?
Joe Lauzon?
Donald Cerrone?
Melvin Guillard?
Jamie Varner?
Gleison Tibau?
Khabib Nurmagomedov?

I think it's going to get a little bit better with Gilbert Melendez, Josh Thompson and Diego Sanchez.
 
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