("Tell ’em you want a $125,000 base salary to start, increasing $25,000 with every win."
"And a custom Hummer, like the ones they give to Ultimate Fighter coaches."
"And an immediate shot at Anderson Silva."
"And a percentage of the…wait, what?")
After a difficult bidding period in which Jake Shields was asking for more money than Scott Coker thought he was worth, Strikeforce released their middleweight champion yesterday, putting Shields on the open market. Shields’s Strikeforce contract ended after his April title defense against Dan Henderson, which allowed other organizations to make bids on his services. Strikeforce was in the matching stage of the process, and had the option to meet any competing offers, but ultimately decided that letting Shields walk was their best option.
As Scott Coker said on MMA Weekly radio, "The numbers, there was a big gap between what we thought was real, and what we thought was going to work, and I call that the numbers dance. It is what it is, and we’re going to probably be moving forward with that tournament."
Tensions between Shields and Strikeforce have reportedly been strained since he appeared at WEC 48, sitting next to UFC president Dana White, who mouthed "he’s mine" at the camera. Strikeforce may have even tried to block Shields from attending Saturday’s Fedor vs. Werdum show.