Roger Huerta Is Not Happy With the UFC
(Oh boo-fucking-hoo.)
Add “El Matador” to the list of UFC stars who’ve become publicly displeased with the organization’s low wages and lack of respect. MMA Payout passes along an excerpt from a new article in Fight! Magazine — written by occasional CagePotato commenter Neal Taflinger — in which Roger Huerta does some serious venting:
Huerta is one of a growing number of Zuffa-contracted fighter who feel that there is a disconnection between the company’s success and the way fighters are compensated. Huerta’s disillusionment with the UFC began when he did press tours for his employer in Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, and London and received a $50 per diem for his troubles. It sounds like a a good deal until you factor in time away from training, friends, and family, days often stretch twelve hours or more, and an exchange rate of one UK pound for two American dollars. “Why do you think I don’t do PR for the UFC any more?” he asks.
He’s also unhappy with the terms of his current contract, but to Huerta, the press tours underscore a larger point: by and the large, Zuffa does not treat its contracted fighters with sufficient loyalty or respect. He argues that many UFC fighters barely make enough to cover their training expenses. He brings up teammate Keith Jardine repeatedly, incensed that a main event fighter is working for ten and ten- $10k to show and 10k to win — while his opponent regularly makes ten times as much.
…
“The truth is, I don’t really care if I fight in the UFC or somewhere else,” Huerta says. The fighter says he understands that Zuffa has to keep an eye on the bottom line, but he wants to work, “For a company that is as loyal to me as I am to them.”
For the record, Huerta made $38,000 for his last fight, against Clay Guida at the TUF 6 finale in December ($19,000 to show and $19,000 to win). That’s definitely a bit low, considering Huerta’s popularity — though if you believe those rumors that he’s sleeping with Arianny Celeste, and you factor in the dollar value of something like that, that number becomes much, much higher.
With leagues like EliteXC and Affliction eager to build their rosters (and pay UFC refugees what they’re worth, if not more), we can understand the lure of wanting bigger money elsewhere — and unpaid promotional work that requires travel is total fucking horseshit. But Huerta needs to watch his tongue in public. Though he may hope that Dana White sees the article and reacts by catering to all of Roger’s demands, that’s usually not the way it goes in the UFC, which is infamous for its “if you don’t like it, lump it” attitude towards fighters and their contracts. Huerta could find himself on the business end of a freeze-out like Andrei Arlovski, who was punished for his contract complaints by being benched for almost a year then given an undercard match against Jake O’Brien for his last UFC fight. I personally don’t think that would be the UFC’s wisest move with Huerta when the competition is offering as much money and respect as fighters can handle, but Dana White is a stubborn man, and he isn’t here to make friends.
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July 31st, 2008 at 7:39 am
It’s a shame to see a talented and exciting fighter get treated so poorly. Hope Affliction causes the zuffa to pull their heads out of their asses and treat their fighters right or I hope that Affliction builds a decent 155 for Huerta to fight in…………. but Arianny? mother fucker now I hate him out of envy but I also respect him that much more!
July 31st, 2008 at 7:47 am
What is $50 PER DIEM???
PER DIEM meaning what?????
July 31st, 2008 at 7:50 am
I still say if you want to get paid more be a better fighter…
Granted his pay is lower than most but to bring up Keith Jardine????
Dude he gets KO’d easy and untill he can win a fight than his pay is right were it should be. Become a champ or a great draw and you $$$ will get better….
July 31st, 2008 at 7:51 am
PER DIEM = EACH DAY
July 31st, 2008 at 7:52 am
From Wikipedia: “Per diem is Latin for “per day” or “for each day”. It usually refers to the daily rate of any kind of payment. It may also refer to a specific amount of money that an organization allows an individual to spend per day, to cover living and traveling expenses in connection with work.”
Do I get cash per click now that I’m a source for a CP post or is the payment in street cred?
July 31st, 2008 at 7:54 am
Neal Taflinger is a real name!? huh??? wait Neal Taflinger actually does something productive for the mma community! awesome
July 31st, 2008 at 8:01 am
You’d easily spend $50 a day in London just eating. That sucks.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:01 am
@ Neal Taflinger:
Street cred, which can be redeemed for Zimbabwean currency.
I should have mentioned that everyone should pick up the new issue of Fight! to read the rest of Neal’s work.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:04 am
Yeah. I use my real name because I don’t say anything online that I wouldn’t say in person. And it helps in situations like this.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:10 am
Thanks ben.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:16 am
Neal Taflinger said:
“Yeah. I use my real name because I don’t say anything online that I wouldn’t say in person. And it helps in situations like this.”
Same here. If I issue a physical challenge to Ben Fowlkes (”Double Dare” style), it’s going to be Kevin Marshall calling out Ben Fowlkes rather than “FedorFan26.”
In regards to the article, fifty bucks for making a PR appearance is total crap. There’s no argument Dee Dubs himself can come up with that can justify such lousy compensation.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:22 am
Fantastic webcite–it doesn’t take itself overly seriously, but it also loaded with information useful to the casual and hardcore fan.
One of the things some of would love to know more about is how the figures actually break down. Of course, with every fighter, there are going to be differences, but it would be nice if we a ballpark idea of what their expenses are, so that when we see a fighter payout of, say, $38,000, we can estimate what the fighter actually banks (after gym fees and trainer fees and insurance and so on and so forth).
Anybody willing to do that?
July 31st, 2008 at 8:28 am
I duno why just wudn’t have guessed it was a real name. neways props to you Neal.
Kevin ur totally rite but instead of trying to justify it DW can now hunt you down to explain it personally. However, my guess is that there are more Kevin Marshall’s, than Neal Taflingers. But u still props for being rite and not using a pseudonym
July 31st, 2008 at 8:35 am
dictionary: an allowance or payment made for each day —- per day
If you’re away for work, you eat that day and it costs you $20 for the meal. That leaves you 30 more dollars to spend on hookers or blow until the next day. Basically, you don’t need to provide receipts to prove you spent the money. You usually get it as a lump sum for the trip but broken out per day, it’s not as great. That’s a weak per diem though. Shit, I was away for work in Chile and I had $150 to spend or bank each day I was there. And no one knows who the hell I am as opposed to El Matador.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:36 am
wow, I step away to do work and now my comment is late. sorry dudes.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:02 am
$50 to go to London to do promo work is ridiculous, Ive always wondered how that sort of stuff was worked out. You always see the likes of Chuck doing promo stuff for UFC, theres no way hes getting $50 per day or anything like it.
Having said all that to say:
“The truth is, I don’t really care if I fight in the UFC or somewhere else,”
And then with your next breath to come out with:
he wants to work, “For a company that is as loyal to me as I am to them.”
Is the most ridiculous thing in the whole article.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:20 am
is there something that agents can put in contracts that would protect fighters from teh freeze-out scenario as you mentioned ( he wins the 2nd to last fight and then jerk them around for the last fight on the contract)?
or are they usually signing that first contract from such a position of weakness that its a take it or leave it proposition?
Something like a maximum time that a figher should wait (with no injury) between fights. If its not respected, the contract becomes void.
THis is not like a regular sports contract where you are getting paid whether you play, are benched or sitting in the stands. Holding the rights to your fights while not allowing you to fight is one reason why I think the boxing setup is better, individual promoters and ranking by organizations like WBC, etc..
July 31st, 2008 at 9:27 am
Apparently Subway doesn’t send their employees on enough out-of-town training conferences. Maybe fightfan should drop off an app. @ Quiznos?
Huerta’s the UFCs latino golden boy. He pairs up nicely with the UKs Bisbing for marketing purposes. Now all the UFC needs is Manny Gamburyan to start kicking ass to tap into that elusive Armenian MMA market.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:39 am
Low pay sucks for the fighters, but it’s worth remembering that MMA’s popularity is a pretty new thing. The UFC lost a lot of money in it’s early years and has had to borrow a lot more money to get where it is now. There was an article on some blog about Zuffa’s credit rating from S&P and it was below investment grade - meaning the Company isn’t quite as flush with cash as I think is generally assumed. The UFC may make a lot of money off of fighters, but I think a lot of that goes to debt payments and gets reinvested into the UFC’s aggressive expansion efforts (buying the WEC, Pride, etc.).
I’m not arguing that Dana White is poor or that fighters shouldn’t get paid more. But just remember that all of the MMA organizations that pay higher salaries are just hemoraging cash. Unless the popularity of the sport increases a lot (i.e. enough to cover those salaries), they’re all going to go under.
Part of the UFC’s strategy is also to create a brand that’s bigger than its fighters. People don’t watch TUF because they’ve heard of the contestants, they watch because the UFC puts out a quality product. Without TUF, how much would anyone pay Amir, CB or JT Money to fight for their organization? Maybe $6k? Now that they’ve been on the show, I guarantee they can get more. Now they probably get that much to wear an ad on their ass when they fight and go to an afterparty.
With all that said, the UFC is going to raise salaries, especially for prominent fighters like Jardine that make them money. If Jardine makes the UFC $500 grand in profit each time he fights, but the UFC only pays him $10K a fight, then he’s got a lot of leverage to renegotiate. If Jardine has three fights left on his contract and says I’m not risking my life and health for $10K a fight and sits out, the UFC is out $1,500,000 and Jardine is out $30K. Sure the UFC can sue him, blow through some legal bills and reposess jardine’s flat screen and $40K car. But that still leaves the UFC $1,460,000 in the hole. Meanwhile, Jardine declares bankruptcy and then enters into a big money contract with Eite XC, Dream, Affliction etc. Alternatively, he finishes out his remaining fights and renegotiates for more as an established fighter.
The problem is that there are only a handful of fighters that have the ability to make a $500K or more impact on the UFC’s bottom line. If BJ Penn and George St. Pierre fight eachother in a main event, no one is going say - I would have bought it if Huerta were fighting.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:42 am
I’m all about fighters making more money but it must be remembered that no one forces the fighters to sign these contracts. If the fighters think the compensation is too low or that the terms of their agreements are unfair then don’t sign the contract in the first place. I have no sympathy for fighters who willingly sign their deals then bitch about them later.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:45 am
@Paddy:
It’s not really ridiculous, he’s just saying that he wants to have a better relationship with his employer whether that’s Zuffa or another company.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:13 am
If I beat Chuck Liddell I would expect more than 10,000. But thats just me. Also, I wouldn’t step in ring with Wanderlie for less than a million. But thats just me.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:28 am
roger huerta was overpayed. $50 a day is way to much for any mexican and hes the most overrated fighter in the ufc… nuff said
July 31st, 2008 at 10:34 am
True, you said nuff to make your self sound like an idiot
July 31st, 2008 at 10:38 am
^ dude lighten up, hes not picking chilies in San Juaquin
July 31st, 2008 at 10:39 am
that was @ overpayed and overrated
July 31st, 2008 at 11:04 am
$50 per day in london? talk about screwed.
$11.80 just for a day pass on the underground.
$10-20 for a single meal fast food-healthy food.
$3 for a litre of water.
How much money do the UFC generate through copyrights and trademarks when a fighter does a press day? I bet its not $50
July 31st, 2008 at 11:09 am
WOW! This is just an amazingly well-thought out set of commetns from Huerta:
“The truth is, I don’t really care if I fight in the UFC or somewhere else”
…then…
“[I want to work] for a company that is as loyal to me as I am to them.”
So you start off by saying you have no loyalty to your company. Then follow it by saying you want them to be as loyal to you as you are to them?
Best juxtaposition of lines since Randy’s bit about how it isn’t about money, but about respect, and then saying respect comes from money.
You really have to wonder if these guys even bother to think before things come out of their mouths. I hope the UFC now gives Huerta a tougher road since he has shown he is totally ungrateful for them making him their new poster boy. After Florian beats him, feed him to Sherk, and then maybe to Stevenson or Maynard. Have a few wrestlers lay on him and embarrass him for 15 minutes at a time as he loses unanimous decision after unanimous decision. Then send him packing and see if he really no longer cares where he fights.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:20 am
As much as I hate Huerta and hope he gets stomped by Florian, I’d be kinda happy to see him win just so I can see B.J. murder him and then lick his blood up savage style.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:40 am
$50 buys you a dinner (for one) in midtown London. That’s kinda retarded.
July 31st, 2008 at 12:34 pm
hob - I see your earlier point, but I think the argument you present works on the false assumption that Jardine’s going to draw that kind of money every time he goes out there, or that he does now.
When a pay-per-view headlined by Jardine made the kind of money you’re talking about, he was fighting Liddell. Regardless of the outcome of the fight itself, Liddell was the sole reason the buys were at the level they were.
Now, if Jardine were a consistent fighter with a personality who could have built a money-drawing reputation off that win, that’d be one thing. However, him demanding more money based on what his main-event fights drew would HAVE to work with the argument that he himself drew the money or helped to draw it - which is not the case.
Jardine and many others deserve more money. However, there’s no way he’s making the UFC $500,000 a show, as people aren’t buying the show to see Keith Jardine specifically. I’m not trying to personally knock the guy, it’s just the way it is.
July 31st, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Don’t forget about the sponsers these guys have. They aren’t hurting for cash. The other thing they have to remember is this is what they do for a living. This is their job just like everybody else you have to work for your pay. There’s almost always somebody somewhere else who does the same job as you who makes better cash to do it. Such is life. Look at the picture you posted up there. Does that look like a man who is unhappy to you?
July 31st, 2008 at 1:26 pm
You can put those three girls around a homeless bum and he will have a smile like that.
July 31st, 2008 at 2:13 pm
well said, STEVE, lol. And Huerta is a legend and deserves to be treated like one. Mark my words, he will be champion in 2009!!!!!!!
July 31st, 2008 at 6:36 pm
just imagine the connections hes getting and the endorsement money. these fighters live the life. where do i sign? dana white should kick his lazy mexican ass outta the ufc. bring in some nigggga from the wec and see if he’ll complain for 50 bucks a day. the ufc can make anyone a star and with that comes the money, classy ladies and the life. again where do i sign? roger shoud say sorry to dana and ask him how he likes his ballllz sucked! stockton what!
July 31st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Can someone pull Mr. Huerta over, and inform him that he shouldn’t bite the hand that’s feeding him? If he want better pay, he needs to win more fight in an exciting fashion and get a better agent. I hate to see a good fighter get screwed in more ways than one.
July 31st, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Well Huerta, if you don’t like it, go fight in the IFL……
July 31st, 2008 at 9:57 pm
I hate to see a fighter start to do good, then feel that just cause some bitch is sucking his cock, that the ZUFFA’s should suck it as well.
I think El Matador needs to change his name to El stupido.
Go the hell away punk, people who bitch publicly about their problems with fame and glory, need to go fight elsewhere.
You wouldn’t be missed shitheel.
August 4th, 2008 at 4:30 am
I think Roger got a piont. Nothing to do if he´s a crybaby or not. DF.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
The forced promo tours are shit, but like Rob said, don’t these guys have sponsors? If they don’t, then they need to promote themselves and get some! It’s obvious the UFC lets them get away with some stuff you’d NEVER see in one of the big 4 [okay, 3] sports.[condoms, guns, even cigs, I think] Why do they try to make it seem like the UFC is damaging their livelihood? If anything their sponsors get seen alot more places on the UFC dime than they would if they bought that advertising. On top of all that, most of these guys would be fighting for nothing anyway because they like it. I’ve never once heard a guy say “I joined the UFC because I want to get rich and this is an easy way to do it.”
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:56 am
Roger Huerta is a really good fighter. i have not seen one fight that made me want to leave the couch or change the channel. he deserves to be treated a whole lot better. Dana White just needs to get off his high horse and listen to the fighters, they make all the money for UFC. people pay good money to get the fight cards to see him and the other UFC fighters fight.