UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has a new contract he’s happy with, and he has Paradigm Sports manager Tim Simpson largely to thank for that.
Simpson, the head of Paradigm’s MMA division, took the lead in getting Adesanya “one of the most lucrative multifight deals in company history,” according to a press release. It was signed during UFC 271 fight week before the champ’s successful title defense against Robert Whittaker. According to Adesanya, the deal makes him the second-highest paid fighter on the UFC roster behind only Conor McGregor, who also is represented by Paradigm.
Although no specific terms were disclosed, securing such a lucrative contract from the UFC has proven to be, time and time again, difficult to achieve. But on Wednesday’s edition of “The MMA Hour,” Simpson said that while tense moments occurred, the overall process wasn’t so bad.
“It was cordial,” Simpson said. “There’s always hate behind the scenes, but it never got personal. It’s always business. I have a good relationship with Hunter (Campbell) and the UFC and Mick (Maynard), and we were able to figure it all out. There was definitely some moments where you have to just let it simmer down a bit, come back to the table. But we got it done, and Israel’s happy.”
Simpson said he primarily dealt with Hunter Campbell, the UFC’s chief legal officer, adding that UFC president Dana White stayed out of negotiations. All went well.
“I’m fine with Hunter,” Simpson said. “When I see him in person it’s always cordial. I’m not necessarily the manager that goes out getting drinks and partying with these guys, but I’ve got a lot of respect for Hunter. I believe he has respect for me. We got the deal done. Sometimes on the phone, things have to get heated, but that’s just the nature of the job, and I don’t think anything ever gets personal. I don’t think it’s ever like a personal thing and the relationship hurts the deal. It’s really just focused on the deal. I’ve always done really well with Hunter.”
The Ngannou effect?
Adesanya’s new deal comes at a time when the UFC is embroiled in a bitter dispute with heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who Adesanya considers a friend. Ngannou and the UFC were unable to come to terms prior to his UFC 270 win over Ciryl Gane, which served as the final fight on Ngannou’s deal. The only reason he remains under contract with the promotion is because of a champion’s clause set to expire at the end the year.
With the situation between Ngannou and the UFC far from ideal, Simpson believes it’s possible that dispute incentivized the UFC to get a deal done with Adesanya, who would’ve had one fight left after UFC 271 had he not signed.
“I don’t think they showed that card. They would never say that to me. But I think that’s a reasonable conclusion to come to,” Simpson said. “I would hate to feel like we profited off Francis’ situation, but – because everyone’s so different, and I don’t know the inner-workings of that. But I think that would be a logical conclusion.”
An idea for fighters to consider
UFC fighter pay continues to be hot topic, what with Jake Paul specifically (and constantly) calling out White as an increased number of UFC fighters openly discuss their financial troubles and need for other jobs to get by.
Simpson has his thoughts on the matter.
“I think there’s a huge amount of work to go on fair allocation of pay to profits,” Simpson said. “… I think across the board there’s a lot of room to improve on what these fighters are getting paid.”
One way Simpson believes the situation could improve is if the salaries of every fighter were disclosed. The terms of Adesanya’s contract were not disclosed, but Simpson said it’s because “that’s Israel’s call.” The UFC has made a concerted effort to keep its fighters’ purses from being disclosed publicly by athletic commissions, and they’re no longer available in states such as Nevada, Arizona, Texas, and Florida.
Athletes’ pay isn’t concealed in other sports leagues such as the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball, which also have player unions, something that doesn’t exist in MMA. Although those sports can’t be viewed exactly the same, Simpson explained how certain principles that benefit fighters would still apply if purses were widely known.
“I think if sports-wide every UFC salary was disclosed, it’s gonna create more unity, more leverage for the fighter. And that’s all I care about is leverage for the fighter,” Simpson said. “I would love to know, for someone I’m negotiating who’s not Israel, here’s a relative (compensation). I think it would make things so much faster. It’s not the same as in NBA and NFL because the comps are more accurate. In those team sports, you don’t need to sell tickets necessarily. Combat sports is so different. It’s like 50 percent your athletic side, 50 percent you’re putting asses in seats – being the brand, being a prize fighter, if you will. I think in the stick-and-ball sports it’s not so much that. The comps, you can look at how many rebounds, how many points, how many assists, compare that to another guy who plays this minutes, that, and you can always get it comped that way. Fighting is not that linear.
“You can take a guy who’s won this many fights in the UFC or this many fights in the UFC, but there could be completely different pay scales because one guy is a Bobby Green, who’s got a brand and (everything), and the other guy is whoever it may be. In that sense, the comps aren’t going to be perfect, but I think there would be no harm in giving those numbers to everybody, even if it’s not public.
“Even if there was a manager association or registration where managers can see it and have that be bound by confidentiality, even that makes more sense. I’ve heard arguments like, ‘Well, nobody wants the pay disclosed because nobody wants (people) to know how much everyone’s making.’ And I hear that, but I don’t think that hurts LeBron James … athletes can deal with that. I think, yes, that’s relevant and if any fighter feels that way, I completely respect that. But I think for the good of the whole sport, if purses were disclosed – not publicly even, just like an internal database – it would benefit all fighters.”