After Bellator offered
Gegard Mousasi a lucrative deal to defect from the UFC, the industry-leader tried to keep the top-ranked middleweight in the fold.
The UFC offered a bigger paycheck and a fight with ex-champ
Luke Rockhold (15-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at UFC 215 if Mousasi (42-6-2 MMA, 9-3 UFC) re-signed with the promotion.
Although the UFC’s number was “in the zone,” Mousasi’s manager Nima Safapour today told MMAjunkie, Bellator’s contract offered Mousasi more money, perks and greater leeway to shape his career.
“Throughout the entire experience, Gegard asked me, what’s the better deal? And I told him, it’s never about what deal is better,” Safapour said. “It’s just different. What made it better was what Gegard wanted and what was best for his family. When he looked at that deal from that perspective, the Bellator deal was better.
“With that said, the UFC deal was competitive. And they fought for the deal up to the very end. They deserve a tremendous amount of credit for trying to make this deal, even if they came up short. The Bellator deal was the more competitive deal.”
Although the exact terms of Mousasi’s contract with Bellator are not public, Mousasi and Safapour provided some details on the new deal, which include:
- A six-fight deal with guaranteed up-front pay and higher per-fight pay
- A potential cut of profits if Mousasi competed on pay-per-view
- The ability to fight in overseas promotions and participate in boxing
- The ability to compete in multiple weight classes
- Additional drug testing considerations to replace the USADA program used by the UFC
Mousasi said by the time the UFC came back with its second offer, he’d already made up his mind on where he was going.
“Because I know what other fighters were making,” he said. “If I compare myself to Vitor Belfort, I know Vitor has been fighting for a long time. But I’m a better fighter than Vitor. I have a better record than him. I have more championships, I’m younger, and I can fight another five years, while he’s on his way out.
“I didn’t even want the same number as Vitor. That’s the problem. I just wanted to be a little bit closer. Maybe half of what Belfort would make. I didn’t think I was asking for too much.”
Belfort (26-13 MMA, 15-10 UFC), of course, was one of five consecutive opponents Mousasi beat on his current run. Yet he struggled to get a raise when he ended his contract with a controversial second-round stoppage of ex-champ Chris Weidman. He publicly shot down the UFC’s first offer.
“The new owners (at WME-IMG), they don’t understand fighting as well,” Mousasi said. “The Fertitta brothers, they made the company. Even (UFC President) Dana White, he doesn’t work with the same people. All the other guys got fired.
“One fight before my contract expired, I believe they would have pushed bigger negotiations, and it would have been different. But this company, they have a lot of debt. That’s not the fighters’ fault that they’re cutting staff and cutting fighters’ money. That’s not our problem.”
The No. 6 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie
MMA middleweight rankings, Mousasi was on the cusp of a UFC title shot when he signed with the Viacom-owned promotion. He joins Ryan Bader, Rory MacDonald and Lorenz Larkin in a group of ranked fighters who’ve defected to Bellator.
continued,
Gegard Mousasi says he was offered Luke Rockhold at UFC 215 before accepting Bellator offer
