Midnight Mania! Fighters Should follow Justin Gaethje, End ‘Win Bonuses’ (Opinion)

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Justin Gaethje was very clear about his desire to renegotiate his contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship following his win …

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Justin Gaethje was very clear about his desire to renegotiate his contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship following his win over James Vick. Specifically, he wants to get rid of his win bonus and get all his money up front.

”It should get me a business meeting with the UFC, that’s what it should give me,” he said. “I want to fight the best. I’m happy with the UFC, I’m not unhappy with them. But the way I put it on the line, I need all my money up front. And that’s how it should work for people like me. They should use me as an example. If you want all your money, you fight like Justin Gaethje.”

Not every fighter is going to fight like Justin Gaethje, but he has a very legitimate point. He puts it all on the line every fight; he should be getting paid up front. But then again, so should all the fighters. Win bonuses have long been seen as a tool for promoters to seem to offer more, knowing they will only pay half the fighters their win bonus on any given card. As fighters are impossible optimists- you have to be in this sport- they are easy marks for this tactic. But, like Gaethje… okay, maybe not QUITE like Gaethje… they each put their health, mental and physical, on the line every fight. Fighters should begin negotiating for higher flat wages and not let the dangled promise of a win bonus end up netting them less.

Joe Rogan also made the point that judges frequently make mistakes or suspect calls; when they do, they end up costing fighters half their paycheck (and awarding a win bonus to another).

Update: Justin Gaethje himself chimed in; he doesn’t want anyone thinking this is HIS idea. The thought that all (or at any rate, more) fighters should negotiate for a flat rate, is my idea. Gaethje said what he said, above.

Insomnia

Tito Ortiz explained how many days a week he’s training for Chuck Liddell, and I can’t make massive bald heads or tails of anything he’s saying.

I’ve torn my scrotum before too and no one knows what that word means. Nutsack is fine.

Leslie Smith lays it out

I watched the Angela Hill- Cortney Casey fight and while it was close, it certainly seems like that decision went the wrong way, and the stats shown in the fight were far from accurate.

Darren Till likes guns

A post shared by Till (@darrentill2) on

Bruce Buffer tried to do some damage control on his recommendation that Nate Diaz ‘bow’ to Dana White.

I’m mad because I was cheap, didn’t get the FS2 package, and thus missed the Cory Sandhagen fight with Iuiri Alcantara. I was a big fan of Sandhagen’s boxing styling before this, but he definitely seems like a prospect to watch going forward.

Who is Conor McGregor kneeing in the head?? That’s some concussion-inducing sparring

Dustin Poirier congratulates former opponent Justin Gaethje

Tenshin Nasukawa and Kyoji Horiguchi are fighting in RIZIN and that is going to be awesome.

Darren Till re-imagined as a mythical gorilla.

A post shared by Till (@darrentill2) on

Schadenfreude is real, and it feels good sometimes.

Paige VanZant denied these rumors.

This cat has a right hook on it.

I’m happy for Joanne Calderwood, who showed off an improved guard game to get a triangle/armbar submission.

“I have a green belt. Read it and weep”

A post shared by Joanne Calderwood (@badmofo_jojo) on

McGregor is serious about this whiskey brand.

Justin Gaethje’s philosophy is perfectly tuned for fighting.

Elias Theodorou turning his back on his sparring partner seems like a bad habit he hasn’t quite gotten rid of.

Now I miss soccer. Thanks, Glory kickboxer Tiffany Van Soest.

Joe Schilling was mad he did all that kickboxing with Mickey Gall only for Gall to use his grappling for a quick submission.

James Krause came up big with the win

Max Holloway is getting his preferred year-end slot; hopefully this means his brain issues have been all sorted out.

Nice

This must be a very cool and surreal feeling for Darren Till

John Lineker vs. Petr Yan would be a ridiculous fight

The best way to get money by fighting is to be famous beforehand.

The Logan Paul-KSI fight card included some of this:

Muhammad Ali doing what he did

Slips, Rips, and KO Clips

Body work

These must REALLY have hurt

I’ve seen a lot of these spinning back kicks lately

That’s how you make an impression

This head kick was smooth

A warmup for Gaethje-Vick.

Saenchai has still got it

Every so often Muay Thai has these sweep-to-knee knockouts- Cosmo Alexandre also has one- and they make me cringe a little every time. This is how to fight if you don’t want to get your hands dirty:

When swarming goes wrong

Random Land

This is how life has been lately, except I’m not balanced like this guy

There goes another childhood fantasy

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