Matt Brown knows that a fighter has little to no power to make demands about his/her contract with the UFC.
Recently, Dustin Poirier shared that his fight against Benoit Saint-Denis was no longer happening. However, moments after that, “The Diamond” retracted his statement and said that it was just a matter of “misunderstanding.” No ample details were shared at that time, but the fighter later noted that “there was no contractual agreement before the fight was announced, and we couldn’t come to terms.”
After hearing about this, Brown commented on the matter, sharing his own experience about how things actually work under the UFC.
“Dustin was saying, ‘We didn’t come to terms.’ What does that mean?” Brown said on The Fighter vs. The Writer episode. “They just set the terms, and you just sign the contract and go.
“They ask me if I want to fight this guy, and I say OK. I’ve never really negotiated or asked for a different guy; it’s not really been my style. For me, it’s been pretty simple. I’ve always been happy with the way they treated me and the pay they give me and everything. I don’t really know what they mean when they say they didn’t come to terms. The terms are, you’re going to fight a guy on this date, go do it.”
It is common in the UFC to announce a fight before giving the fighters contracts to sign. With this, some fights sometimes end up being canceled when the sides don’t reach an agreement. However, for Brown, it is obvious that the company has the power over the arrangements.
“When we talk about negotiating terms with the UFC, you don’t really negotiate,” Brown said. “They have the power. It’s like, ‘You don’t like our terms? Well then, go to f****** Bellator.’ But I want to fight the best guys. ‘Well, OK, fight in the UFC.’ But I want more money. ‘Well, this is what we’re going to pay you, buddy.’ It’s a little bit of a catch-22 there.
“I just don’t really ask questions. They send me the contract, I sign it. If they want to switch the guy up, OK. If that guy doesn’t sign, whatever. Give me a date, give me a place, and let’s f****** put somebody in there.”
