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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC will commence negotiations with both Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre in the coming weeks to put their superfight together, but they may have to start from a considerable distance apart from GSP. In addition to the weight concerns St-Pierre's camp has expressed, there may also be a considerable monetary difference between what the UFC wants to offer and what GSP will be asking.
Veteran reporter Mike Straka commented on the matter in a recent episode of The MMA Beat with Ariel Helwani, Luke Thomas, and Chuck Mindenhall, and citing a source close to St-Pierre, he said the Welterweight Champion will be asking for a considerable pay increase to take the fight.
"I was told by somebody very close to Georges that Georges today makes close to eight million dollars a fight," Straka said (transcribed by VendettaFighter.com). So to fight Anderson Silva, he's going to ask for fifty million dollars. Five-zero, because he said that Georges has ten fights left in his career, at eight million a fight."
"But he believes that Anderson could actually hurt him, could physically hurt him and end his career. So to take that chance he wants fifty million dollars, and that's exactly the number he's going to go to Dana White with."
Penick's Analysis: That's a starting point, obviously, and if it's what he's legitimately asking for the fight it's a hell of a starting point. That's unrealistic, though, and I don't see the UFC coming near that considering they'll also have to pay Silva a considerable amount. And this is obviously hearsay at the moment, and not out of St-Pierre's mouth or directly from his camp. But from a business standpoint the math wouldn't add up with what they'd bring in from pay-per-view and the live gate. The UFC may operate at a loss for this one just to make it happen, but more than likely they'll be coming at St-Pierre with a ten to fifteen million dollar payday at best. We'll see if this is another setback or hindrance to the fight happening, but he's not wrong in trying to get as much money as possible for the fight.
[GSP art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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