I'm not against guys getting paid, but these are the payouts from the first Affliction show, not counting win bonuses.
* Tim Sylvia - $800,000
* Andrei Arlovski - $750,000
* Josh Barnett - $300,000
* Fedor Emelianenko - $300,000
* Matt Lindland - $300,000
* Ben Rothwell - $250,000
* Vitor Belfort - $140,000
* Renato Sobral - $90,000
* Paul Buentello - $80,000
* Pedro Rizzo - $70,000
* Antonio Nogueira - $50,000
* Mike Whitehead - $50,000
* Terry Martin - $30,000
* Gary Goodridge - $25,000
* Mike Pyle - $20,000
* Fabio Negao - $20,000
* Edwin Dewees - $15,000
* Mark Hominick - $10,000
* Savant Young - $7,000
* Justin Levens - $6,000
* JJ Ambrose - $5,000
* Ray Lizama - $3,000
That's over $3 million in salary. The UFC has never even come close to that number.
I dunno if they can make it running shows like this. Again, I'm not against guys getting paid all they can, but they're throwing money around like WCW. Ben Rothwell is a good fighter, but no way does his name get him $250k. Beuntello getting $80 is nuts, guy is barely a known name and is best known for getting clipped by Arlovski and losing in 15 seconds. I understand that the stars like Fedor, Arlovski, and Big Tim getting monster paydays, but the demand isn't there for most of the other guys, at least not to the point of paying them that much
I really hope this company can survive, but I'm not too hopeful. Looking forward to tomorrow's show