The Nevada State Athletic Commission has released the fighter salaries for this past Saturday’s Pride 33: The Second Coming event.
- Wanderlei Silva: $150,000
- Dan Henderson: $50,000
- Mauricio Rua: $50,000
- Takanori Gomi: $20,000
- Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: $20,000
- Nick Diaz: $15,000
- Joachim Hansen: $15,000
- Hayato Sakurai: $10,000
- Frank Trigg: $10,000
- Kazuo Misaki: $10,000
- Sergei Kharitonov: $10,000
- Alistair Overeem: $10,000
- Travis Wiuff: $10,000
- Rameau Sokoudjou: $10,000
- Mac Danzig: $10,000
- Jason Ireland: $10,000
- Mike Russow: $10,000
- James Lee: $10,000
Total Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $430,000
What does this tell us?? If your an up-n-comer, it might be best to try and get with Pride. Pride 33 didn’t pay any less than 10 grand. If your a star, go to the UFC. They pay people like, Liddell, Ortiz, Silva, Silvia, and other greats very well compaired to other organizations.
Although if you fight for Pride your fighting overseas. And I imagine that Japan’s costs of living is not cheap.
This does kinda suck for Henderson. A hundred grand LESS is a large gap. Look at Liddell vs Oritz 2. Ortiz was holding out on that fight for quit some time. He didn’t wanna get screwed. Who can blame him. When it was all said and done, they gave the winner of the fight 10 grand more.
In turn, Henderson should have gotten like 140,000. You can argue that it’s all about the contracts. Who would’ve put a guranteed 100 grand per fight for Henderson 2 yrs ago. But would you have for Silva? Of course. He was money in the bank 2yrs ago and still is.
Anyone know how many (Approx.) PPV buys Pride 33 got?????
Every one thought the UFC didn’t pay their fighters. Looks like the UFC pays it’s stars much more than Pride. Henderson and Rua only getting 50k doesn’t seem right. They are established stars and deserve more. Nogueira only getting 20k is a shame. I know he lost but a fighter of his magnitude should be payed more. Nick had to have been offered more than 15 a fight by the UFC. Gomi their coveted lightweight champ only getting 20k is a slap in the face. The UFC will take all their top level talent if these are the kind of contracts Pride fells their fighters are worth. Dana needs to get busy and offer Rua and Henderson real contracts and get them in the UFC. Even Fedor may be able to be swayed if the money is right. If Pride plans on taking on the UFC they better start paying better or they will lose all their stars.
I really hope the pay structures stay as they are. Pride will pay more to develop new talent, then Dana will steal them once they become stars.
PRIDE IS JUST AS CHEEP IF NOT WORSE THAN DANA LOL
Trigg moved up to #7….
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185-pound limit)
#1 Middleweight Fighter in the World: Matt Lindland
2. Anderson Silva
3. Paulo Filho
4. Rich Franklin
5. Dan Henderson
6. Denis Kang
7. Frank Trigg
8. Nathan Marquardt
9. Kazuo Misaki
10. Jeremy Horn
MMAWeekly Rankings last updated on February 27, 2007
MAN NICK DIAZ IMPRESSED THE SHI TT OUT OF ME … HE SHOULD BE THE CHAMP…. WHAT WAS A KILLER *** SUBMISSION…. LIL WRONG OF HIM THOUGH TO HOLD IT AFTER THE FIGHT WAS STOPPED…. BUT THAT JUST NICK DIAZ FOR YA
i read a few posts saying the pay outs suck. i have said befor more money means better cards. on the flip side of that coin you can put together a great card full of good fighters and pay them **** money. pride’s pay out for this p.p.v. was just over half of the last ufc p.p.v. and there whole pay out was only 80,000 more then cro cop got payed for his last fight. i guess for a company like pride that is “going under” the pay out isnt that bad (and i dont really believe pride is going under) i think pride’s pay out is much more fair. while i dont think that nogueira and gomi should have gotten payed so little (they are some of the top fighters in the world) i do think ALL these fighter take the same risks so they should reap pretty much the same reward.
Some interesting comments from Dana White regarding his thoughts on Pride and the Silva vs Chuck matchup.
UFC president Dana White’s dream bout of Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell against Pride Fighting Championships star Wanderlei Silva took another beating Saturday night.
As did Silva. Dan Henderson knocked out the Brazilian mixed martial arts star known as The Axe Murderer at Pride 33: The Second Coming in Las Vegas.
Silva and Liddell had been seen as the rock stars of their respective MMA organizations, although the Pride man now has been beaten twice in a row.
“I’m pissed off he didn’t lose to Chuck,” White said in a conference call Monday. “They (Pride) threw away the biggest fight in MMA history. Not only are they No. 2, they’re not the brightest bulbs on the porch either.”
White has long tried to make a Liddell-Silva fight. The matchup was even announced during UFC 61: Bitter Rivals last July.
“I wanted that Wanderlei Silva fight so bad,” White said Monday. “I knew Chuck Liddell would knock him out. I knew it and it’s gone. I don’t know, we’re trying to figure out what we’re going to do with Chuck next.”
In October, during Pride’s first card in Las Vegas, Silva entered the ring to call Liddell out.
“Many times I’m talking, I want to fight with him but he don’t want to fight with me, I don’t know who is the problem,” Silva said in English. “Chuck, I stay here now (in Las Vegas). No possible running.”
The planned November bout never did not come off, with White saying it was hard to pin down Pride officials for a deal. Pride, predictably, saw it differently.
Silva’s lustre was tarnished when Croatian heavyweight Mirko (Cro Cop) Filipovic destroyed him at Pride’s open-weight tournament in September. And the dream Liddell matchup evaporated Saturday as a dazed Silva was led out of the ring following the KO at the hands of Henderson.
White says Liddell will probably move up in weight to take on marquee heavyweights.
“Chuck doesn’t have too many more options now at light-heavy and Chuck’s already talking about going after a couple of the bigger guys.”
Quinton (Rampage) Jackson remains a light-heavyweight (205-pound) option for Liddell.
Asked if Pride’s Mauricio (Shogun) Rua would make a good substitute for Silva against Liddell, White said: “Nobody knows who the hell Shogun is.”
Pride took aim at Liddell on Saturday night as the Japanese-based circuit fired a few shots at its American rival organization during its pay-per-view show.
Pride showed footage of Liddell lying face down in the ring (The Iceman was beaten by Jackson in a 2003 Pride bout). It also suggested its roster of world fighters was superior to the UFC’s.
“When you’re No. 2, that’s the kind of (stuff) you need to do,” said White, who was in England on the weekend and did not see the Pride card.
“You don’t see me doing that at my events because I don’t have to. I’m No. 1.”
UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture was at the Pride card and didn’t like the sniping.
“I think if you have tell everybody you have the best fighters in the world then you probably don’t,” he said Monday.
White also noted UFC castoff Nick Diaz had demolished Pride star Takanori Gomi on Saturday.
“Nick Diaz was cut by us because he lost so many times,” said White.
“I’ve always been willing to prove that we’ve got the best fighters in the world,” he added. “Now it’s all just unfolding anyway. It’s happening.
Monday’s conference call was intended to set up Saturday’s UFC 68: The Uprising in Columbus, Ohio, where Tim Sylvia is set to defend his heavyweight title against Couture, who is coming out of retirement after a year away from the game.
In other major bouts on the card, former welterweight champion Matt Hughes takes on Chris Lytle in his first fight since losing the 170-pound title to Montreal’s Georges St. Pierre. And former middleweight champion Rich Franklin takes on Jason (The Athlete) MacDonald of Red Deer, Alta., in his first bout since losing the 185-pound crown to Brazilian Anderson Silva.
In other comments from White:
— The winner of the MacDonald-Franklin fight is in line for a title shot.
— The winner of Sylvia-Couture will meet the winner of the UFC 70 bout between Filipovic and Gabriel Gonzaga.
— If Hughes defeats Lytle on Saturday and St. Pierre disposes of Matt Serra in UFC 69 in April in Houston, the two will meet for a third time — hopefully in Canada. “I’d really love to do Hughes-St. Pierre up there,” according to White.
— White expects Hughes to come out Saturday “like an absolute beast” against Lytle.
— Sylvia has not got his due as heavyweight champion. “I think it’s the way Tim represents himself sometimes,” White said. “Obviously when you’re flipping fans off, you’re not going to have many of them.” Sylvia says he has a problem with being “very outspoken,” adding he will have to learn to count to three before he answers questions.
— Lightweight champion Sean Sherk will take on Hermes Franca this summer when the 155-pound title-holder recovers from shoulder surgery.
— The UFC is returning to Southern California in September, probably to Anaheim.
— The UFC will have Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko on its books “some day.” “I’m getting everybody,” White added. “They’re all going to be with us.”
— The UFC is in 160 countries on some form of television, be it pay-per-view or free TV. White also said he expected a deal with one of the major Mexican TV networks this year.
— White was almost speechless when told of New Era Fighting, a newcomer to the MMA scene, and its plan for a US$1-million winner-take-all tournament finale against veteran fighter Kimo. “I’m in New York (and) there’s about 50,000 people downstairs right now that can beat Kimo.”
— Asked if he can foresee a time when women will fight in the UFC, White was blunt, replying: “No. I can’t.”
In other news from Monday’s conference call:
— Franklin said a video clip on the UFC 68 official website in which he said he would knock MacDonald out in the first round was taken out of context. Franklin says it was a partial answer to a question about his best-case scenario outcome. “What you’re seeing there is a splice to video. You’ve never in the past seen me make a prediction like a first-round knockout for a fight and I’ve never been one of the type of people to ever do that. So that’s the story on the video.”
— Sylvia says while he and Couture are friends, he’s not happy at Couture’s criticism of his recent fights. “So I’m kind of taking it a little personal and I’m going out there to prove a point. And the point is I’m going to knock Randy’s *** out.” The champion also said his ground game is underestimated.
……here here…
Sorry about the book.
Wow…these guys are getting “chump change” compared to the UFC…especially considering many of them could be champions there.
I CANT WAIT FOR SYLVIA TO LOSE HIS BELT… HE IS THE BIGGEST PIECE OF DOG SHI TT … WORST CHAMP EVER.
Sounds like after Rampage Chuck may try to take on Crocop. I don’t agree that no one knows Rua maybe the new MMA fans. Hopefully Dana is as agressive persuing Fedor as he was Mirko. Just though I would share this with everyone I wasn’t sure if others had seen this.
SO ARE THEY SAYING CHUCK IS GONNA TAKE ON SOME HEAVYWEIGHTS???
Everybody but Dana knows Shogun is the future of LHW.
Great article…thanks MAD. I’m wondering why Dana is overlooking Dan Henderson as a match-up for Chuck. Although none of us will ever really know just what happened between the UFC Pride Chuck/Silva negotiations, I don’t think that the matchup should be overlooked so quickly. And, even if Dana considers that over, why not pursue something else..Chuck/Shogun or Chuck/Henderson. For him to say that nobody knows who Shogun is, is absolutely ridiculous. Did anyone know who Anderson Silva was before he obliterated Dana’s other stud champion?no, of course not. And, even if the masses don’t know Shogun, Dana CERTAINLY does and should work at bringing him in ASAP, is that not what he always prides himself on? aggressively pursuing top talent.
YEA I HAD NO IDEA WHO ANDERSON SILVA WAS ??? LOL
I don’t think it matters who knows Shogun now. Give him a few fights in the UFC and everyone will know who he is. He’s only 25 and not even at his peak yet. Let Chuck get his revenge on Rampage and bring in Shogun to prove Liddell is the best. It’s obvious Silva needs some time to regroup and refocus after that loss. Mirko came in as an unknown now he is headlining in his second appearance. With the winner of the Randy vs Silvia fight set to take on Crocop, unless Gonzaga is able to somehow win, Mirko will be HW champ by the summer. Why not try for Henderson vs Anderson Silva for the MW and Shogun to face Chuck for the LHW titles? Seems to make sense to everyone at this point. Sherk could probably take Gomi the way Nick beat him. He really needs to work on his cardio I’ve never seen a LW gass that easy especially a champion. If Fedor was able to be swayed to the UFC they would basically become the major league of MMA and be unstopable. If Pride can’t compete with the money the UFC is offering they will lose more stars and fans. Their next show will be interesting considering how many of their stars are under medical suspension. Fedor will be fighting for Bodog and won’t be available. Looks like we may see Barnett vs Nogueira 3 sooner than we thought. Not many other Pride fighters that can headline a PPV and be marketable. Pride better figure something out or else they are in trouble.
Pride FC is losing stability with its fighter now thanks to Dana White and the UFC. If Dana White wants something, he gets it. Cro Cop and Werdum are now UFC fighters and pretty soon Fedor will walk out. It may sound crazy but Dana White is not trying to upgrade the UFC’s heavyweight division, he’s planning on destroying Pride. You may not know, but Dana believes that Cro Cop is just a stepping stone for Arlovski and Sylvia.
GO ANDREIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!
UFC does have some of the best fighters. It is funny that Diaz was cut by the UFC then he goes on to stomp one of there stars.
Pride gets points for showmanship and for giving us 8 or 9 great fights. But UFC is clearly the BIG DOG….
Oh, and Liddell doesn’t have to PROVE anything. He’s the best without a doubt. He’ll go down in history. Pound for pound the BEST fighter
The only reason that dana said that nobody knows who shogun is, is because it would be embarrassing for chuck to lose to someone who people don’t really know in the U.S. I’m a big fan of Chuck but personally I dont think that he has been Challenged by good commpetition in the UFC. I would love to see Cro Cop cut down about 15 pounds and fight Chuck for his title or for Chuck to bump up to heavyweight and fight Cro Cop there. The UFC has improved their heavyweight division and now its time for them to improve their lightheavyweight division. And its also time for them to start scheduling more superstars against each other and they need to show more fights than they have been. If Dana really thinks that Cro Cop is a stepping stone for Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia then he has another thing coming to him. Everyone will realize that Cro Cop is the best heavyweight in the UFC when he demolishes Gonzaga and then chops down Sylvia like a tree with kicks to his funny *** looking legs. As for the UFC being better than Pride. I think that Pride is better in the lightheavyweight catagorie because of depth but as for all the other weight classes I think that the UFC is starting to take over. Once the UFC gets more depth in their divisions we’ll be able to see superstars go at it in almost every bout, I can’t wait cause right now they are basically scheduling one superstar against someone who is not very good in every match.
@Brian
I think that you’re forgeting about a guy called Fedor Emilienko. He has beat most of the top dogs in the heavyweight divison around the world. The one knock on Chuck that I have is that he has not beaten all the top dogs. I still want to see him beat Rampage, Shogun, Silva, Henderson, Arona. And a guy who I personally feel would give him trouble because of his length and stand up Alister Overeem. As for Fedor he has beat so many great fighters while Chuck has been fighting the same ones for so long and the only people he has to blame is the UFC for not bringing in better talent in the lightheavyweight division.
As for people thinking that Wanderlei Silva is not good anymore just look at the two fighters he fought Cro Cop and Henderson. Chuck could have easily lost to both of them just like Silva so lets not get carried away and all of a sudden say that the UFC is so much better than pride. The UFC is on their way to being number one but if all the Brazilian and Japanese talent keeps going to Pride than they will never be that much behind the UFC.
@alen
liddell knocked out overeem in 3:00min of the first round in the same GP that he lost to jackson. the two fight were not in the same day though.
i think dana white said nobody know rua because he doesn’t want anyone to know who rua is. just think about it liddell will be ready for retirement in a couple years and rua will be ready to rule the light heavy in a couple years. why not let pride prep him for you. they look like a sinking ship right now and if they go under rua will be looking for work and white can pick him up cheaper.
right now i think liddell vs. rua would be an awesome fight but rua stands to good of a chance to beat liddell and dana sounds like he’s trying to prove ufc is better then pride so he doesn’t want a pride fighter the beat the face of the ufc.
liddell moving up in weight is kinda cool. i think liddell has a style that could work against bigger fighters . he is very good at throwing while moving backwards and i’m sure these bigger guys will probably chase him a bit because he would be a smaller heavy weight and they would most likely want to smother him.
fedor comming to the ufc would be too wicked!! does fedor want money? i dont think pride or bodog can hang with the ufc as far as payday goes. fedor is probably the best fighter in the world right now so if the ufc is going to be the big show they need him. you cant truly say you have the worlds best fighters if THE worlds best fighter is fighting somewhere else.
and as for diaz beating gomi it still looks good for dana because he’s saying even the fighters i discard can beat your champs
You tell ‘em RJ.
I just can’t wait until Dana finally wipes out this concept of two organizations politicking for top dog.
Then we can concentrate on the fighters, which is what really matters.
Overeem? Bah humbug. That don’t even make sense.
ICEMAN vs. SHOGUN
IF…….Fedor moves to UFC, Pride can shut the doors for good. He is their last anchor.
Man, gotta say it……What a thing of beauty. Just watched Ryo Chonan beat Anderson Silva by submission with a flying scissor.
I need a cigarette.
@ALLEN
I’m not forgetting about Fedor. Fedor can beat ANYONE in the circuit. But Chuck is my Pound Pound best fighter.
The only one who legitametly stands a chance is Cro Cop and he’s in a different weight division. He must cut 15+ pounds. He’s the only one I see that can beat him.
ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IN THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF MMA
@Alen
Gotta agree with Brian here.
The key to this argument is……….
POUND 4 POUND!
ICEMAN vs. SHOGUN
DAN vs. ANDERSON
RANDY vs. RAMPAGE
TITO vs. WENDY
WENDY?
@Patrick
You know…….Silly Wandalier
HOW MANY FIGHTS DOES FEDOR HAVE ON HIS CONTRACT
MAN HE IS ONE UGLY DUDE
@Patrick,
The way I understand it is that, Fedor’s contract is specifies that he can fight under other organizations in his home country, anytime he wants.
However, I also heard that he recently signed a 3 fight extension to the 1 remaining fight on his current contract, so he will have at least 4 more fights in Pride.
DENNIS HOW R U ON HERE SO MUCH R U AT WORK LIKE ME BORED OUT OF UR MIND AND HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO LIKE ME LOL?
Can’t help it. I also visit all the other sites when I can.
I just LOVE this stuff !
I get the emails on my mobile, and can type from my phone.
In construction circles, I’m known as……..
the “High-Tech Redneck”
COOL COOL
YO DENNIS…. IN MMA EVENTS U KNOW ABOUT THOSE UPSETS….. IM SORRY BUT I THINK ONE IS GONNA HAPPEN SAT…. I JUST DOTN KNOW WHO I KNOW MATT WILL WIN FOR SURE….. BUT RICH AND TIM MIGHT BE IN FOR A SURPRISE WHAT DO U THINK???
@Patrick
nah, once again my money will be on the fantastic four…..
Tim, Matt, Ace, Babalu
I really think Tim will knock Randy out.
……and of course Ace will knock out Jason with a vengence.
TIM SUCKS BUT I THINK UR RIGHT
Has anyone been paying attention to Robbie Lawler?
He’s won most of his last six fights…
I’d like to see him square up with Twinkle Toes.
THAT WOULD BE VERY INTERESTING…. I THOUGHT LAWLER WAS A WELTERWEIGHT THOUGH?
This is what Chuck has supposed to have said for Sports Illustrated…
“I’d go up in weight to fight him [Cro Cop].
I’ve got no problem doing that. There’s certain guys I’d do that to fight.
I think it’s a fight that everyone would want to see. And he’s not terribly big. He could move down and make my weight if he wanted to.â€
According to Sherdog, Lawlers’ at 185#.
Sherdog has Trigg at 169#, but he weighed in at 183# at Pride33.
@Patrick
He could lose to Cro Cop, but there are allot of heavy’s he could easily knock out.
They must have signed Fedor to an extention before he saw what the UFC is paying Crocop. Fedor will be in the UFC within a couple of years. Pride is struggling to keep afloat and their stars know it. Once that the established fighter see they can make more money here more will jump the sinking ship
@MAD
you’re right, but we also have one thing in our favor….
Dana wants world domination, so he could schedule a fight in Moscow, and theoretically, Fedor could fight, even while he’s on contract with Pride.
OH DENNIS THAT WOULD BE AN AWESOME IDEA
I dont think chuck can move up to heavyweight, it would be a bad move in my opinion. Chucks real strength is in striking, and most Heavyweight fighters are huge man, Put chuck against crocop and he has a chance to win, put him against Sylvia and HE WILL LOSE.
People hate on Tim, but the fact is, hes a MONSTER, your talking about a guy who has to cut weight to make the 265 limit, combine that with his huge reach advantage, i dont see how chuck would be able to connect with Tims jaw… unless he had a step ladder…
Im against guys moving up in weight, if anything they should move down in weight, look at terry martin, dam! that guy looks like a best now that he dropped down! I think chuck should stay where he is because he probably couldnt make 185 anyways.
Randy at heavyweight? no man… NO
Look what happened to Wandy, crocop might have ruined him for life man, stupid openweight GP, it doesnt make any sense to me. I would still like to see Chuck vs Silva, i dont care if Silva lost twice in a row, look who he lost to…
Im still and always be a Wanderlei Silva fan, since the Vale Tudo days hes been a warrior but i dont want to see him get brain damage from heavyweights man.. thats just wrong..
@Jayme,
…more like…….. only an IDIOT would ever discount the ICEMAN. Why couldn’t he beat Cro Cop?
I wouldn’t personally bet against Cro Cop…….EVER, but Chuck could very easily knock him out. Randleman did.
Cro Cop has awesome left handed strikes and kicks. However Chuck has demonstrated over and over again that he can knock you out from any angle with his left or right.
Bottom line….this fight would be by the guy who’s on that day, who’s hungrier at the time, and whoever gets the big licks in first.
Wandaliar lost to a guy in a lower weight class, 25#’s lighter.
That would be like Chuck getting KO’d by Chris Leben…..
LEBEN SUCKS
HEY DR J. DID U CREATE THIS SITE
One more thing. When Cro Cop fights, he just keeps coming at you, which is ideal for Chuck.
Has Chuck EVER been knocked out? Don’t think so! Cro Cop has.
With two guys at this skill level of striking, there is absolutely NO WAY to predict the outcome.
PREDICTION FOR THAT FIGHT
======== LIDDELL 1ST ROUND ….. KO STRIKES TO HEAD
YO DENNIS WHAT WEIGHT DO U THINK GSP WALKS AROUND AT NORMAL?
Here’s a controversial topic for ya Dr. J.
PRIDE USA President Ed Fishman Challenges UFC to $40 Million Tournament
Posted by UFC Junkie on February 23, 2007 at 7:28 pm ET
@Patrick
really can’t say about GSP, though Sherdog’s got him at 169#…
Most fighters walk around at about 15-20lbs over their fighting weight.
HEY DENNIS HEAVYWIEGHTS DONT CUT WEIGHT RIGHT?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…in the last 2 years, which fighter has legitimately tested Chuck’s chin? if you look at every one of his UFC fights, there are maybe only 1 or 2 fighters who have actual KO power. I do see how Mirko could get caught by one of Chuck’s punches after chasing after him, but Mirko is also one of the smartest guys out there and would probably chage his gameplan.