Chuck Liddell var på plats för UFC Fan Expo förra veckan och ett av hans åtaganden var att bli intervjuad på Fight Club Radio. Liddell talade om en rad olika ämnen så som hans nuvarande poistion hos UFC och att Stephen Bonnar fått plats i UFC Hall of Fame. Ett av de hetaste ämnena på senare tid har varit lönerna i UFC och Liddell gav sig även in i den diskussionen och hade följande att säga.
– Okay, look. I just had this conversation with a top-10 fighter, and he’s saying the same thing. These guys have got to understand, this is a performance based sport, like all sports. You fight good, you win, you get paid. Alright? You’re starting out, no one knows who you are, no one cares, you don’t get paid. Period. It’s simple. I mean, my first contract I was offered by the UFC, or my second contract, it was 1-and-1, 2-and-2, 3-and-3. That’s $12,000 for the year. Don’t complain to me about fighter pay. It was $12,000 for a year and it was exclusive. What are you guys kidding me what am I going to do with this.
– Everybody doesn’t want to hurt to lower guys from getting paid, but it comes down to, it’s a performance based business. You get good, you win, then you get paid. Guys are getting paid plenty, trust me. I got paid plenty, trust me.
– You’re an entertaining, you’re fighting… basically it’s a performance based sport. People have to want to see you fight. So if they want to see you fight you’ll get paid. If you’re a fighter that makes money, you’ll get paid. Everybody points to, ‘Oh, boxing these guys are getting…’ There’s a couple guys that make these big huge paydays. That’s it. The undercards don’t make anything. There’s bottom guys on some of those cards that are making $100 a round. $100 a round. That’s $400 for a four-round fight.
– People got to understand, the fighters at the top are the fighters that are supposed to get paid because they’re the guys that are bringing people in, bringing eyes to the TV, getting pay-per-views buys, and putting people in the seats. I mean, that’s what it comes down to. You want to get that? Beat everybody. Be good enough. If you’re not good enough to get there — sorry. It’s not a welfare state.
– You picked the wrong profession. I saw a guy in California, he said ”I won 8 fights in a row and I can’t make a living,” cause he wasn’t I guess. I looked at your record. you won 8 fights in a row on these small shows. You fought in the UFC twice, you came up twice after winning long streak wins and lost twice. Hey, you made a good run at it. You tried. Eh, try another sport because this one doesn’t work for you. You can’t even beat an entry level guy into the UFC.
Liddell ger sin ståndpunkt i frågan om lönerna som skiljer sig en del från flera fighters som fortfarande är aktiva. Delar ni legendarens uppfattning, är ni mer inne på Tim Kennedys spår, tycker ni att Travis Browne har den bästa poängen eller ska vi godta vad UFC:s vd Dana White säger?
