Yeah I Said It! #4: Why sign contracts?

Posted on | January 24, 2011 | No Comments

I deal with all kinds of people in this business – some good, some bad – but the strange thing is no matter how much I despise or dislike someone or something, the one common thread that ties us all together is our love for the greatest sport in the world – mixed martial arts.

I find it interesting that fighters today have 10 trainers, four different managers, three agents, a pair of lawyers, and still out of this collective bunch of geniuses, not one of them takes the time to read the fighter’s contract.

I have said it over and over and over again every single time to this alleged group of masterminds “READ THE CONTRACT” before signing it. It’s not just with fighters but even corporate sponsors that want to get involved in the most exciting sport on the planet. You’ll notice I didn’t say “the fastest growing sport in the world.”

I can’t stand hearing that anymore due to the fact there is no other sport that even enters into the competition that we’re competing against. Until the time that elephant soccer, underwater rugby, or the National Rock-Paper-Scissors League picks up a television contract, there is nothing else to consider as “the fastest growing sport.”

I can’t express the gratitude and the appreciation I have for the MFC’s current sponsors. They are what make the well-oiled machine called the Maximum Fighting Championship run. At the same time, we have a large sum of money still owed to us by a handful of companies that signed contracts, promised big things, and have now gone to collections.

Just DON’T SIGN THE CONTRACT. Say it’s too much, say it’s not enough, but DON’T SIGN THE CONTRACT if you really don’t want to. Say you don’t like the terms, tell me you want to stretch it out, but DON’T SIGN THE CONTRACT.

Tell me you only want to a two-fight deal and then after that we can decide if we still want to continue and we can sign a new contract. Tell me you want three bottles of tequila in your contract, and if we agree on everything then SIGN THE CONTRACT.

See the difference is the MFC is a long-term company that has been in business 11 years which in the mixed martial arts world translates to 109 years. The majority of people who front an MMA promotion come into the business, pose and strut so they can look cool to their friends, and then in they disappear. They are short-term thinkers and their MMA business has a short-term lifespan.

This is the complete opposite of everyone on board with the MFC. We are here building, striving, grinding, and competing – putting our guts into everything we do every day.

So stop wasting our time and we won’t waste yours. This is where the big boys play and where corporate sponsors can get exposure through the only show based in Canada and one of about five in all of North America that is on live TV. We do what we say we’re going to do so you should do what you say but DON’T SIGN THE CONTRACT.

I asked a notable ringside physician for his medical opinion on this serious matter. He gave me a very simple diagnosis.

If your hand is sweating as you hold a pen over the dotted line, then it’s clear you have contracted “Contractus Scaredsillius” and you should be quarantied immediately.

If you, as a fighter or a sponsor, have the contract on the desk in front of you and you are smiling uncontronably as dollar signs flash in your eyes, then you are part of the MFC team. Welcome to the coolest club you’ll ever have exclusive membership to.

www.MFC.tv