The UFC would plan to give Eddie Alvarez an immediate title shot and a cut of the proceeds whenever he fights on pay-per-view, according to court documents.
MMAJunkie obtained the documents, which were submitted as part of Bellator’s lawsuit against Alvarez, their former lightweight champion and now a coveted free agent.
The UFC’s contract offer is plenty lucrative from a pure financial standpoint, but it also contains several non-monetary provisions presumably designed to sweeten the deal.
Under the terms of the eight-fight deal detailed in the court document, Alvarez (24-3) would earn $70,000 in “show” money for each fight, plus a $70,000 bonus for each win with an additional $5,000 escalation for each additional win, to a maximum of $210,000. The UFC also offered a $250,000 signing bonus.
Along with the immediate title shot, the UFC proposal offers Alvarez, 28, a fight on a Fox card and three commentary opportunities.
In the dispute between Bellator and Alvarez, Bellator officials claim they matched the UFC’s offer, a claim Alvarez denies. That disagreement is at the heart of the current lawsuit, which Alvarez announced Monday on The MMA Hour broadcast.
Although Bellator may have matched the details of the UFC’s deal, a primary difference between the proposals necessarily lies in the PPV portion of the UFC offer. According to the court documents, the UFC is prepared to pay Alvarez $1 for every buy the UFC receives for each PPV event in which Alvarez appears. That number goes up to $2 per buy when total buys reach 400,000-600,000, and $2.50 when it exceeds 600,000.
Bellator is literally unable to match this provision, as Bellator currently does not air fights on PPV.
Bellator also offered Alvarez a $25,000 payout for appearing in a Spike TV show and a $100,000 payment for coaching in Bellator’s reality TV competition. He was also offered various appearances on other Bellator and Spike programming.
Adding still more intrigue to the proceedings is one small but important word in the UFC’s offer. According to a tweet from MMAJunkie reporter Steven Marrocco, the UFC offer does include wiggle room in what it proposes:
Update forthcoming to story on Eddie Alvarez’s contract: UFC contract reads that it INTENDS to give him title shot and offers PPV points.
— Steven Marrocco (@MMAjunkieSteven) January 10, 2013
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