Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: James Toney's Ridiculous Payday at UFC 118 Is A Slap In The Face To MMA Fighters
Sep 8, 2010 - 9:48:51 AM HYDEN BLOG: James Toney's Ridiculous Payday at UFC 118 Is A Slap In The Face To MMA Fighters

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

I received an e-mail the other day that sums up exactly what most of us were thinking when we learned how much James Toney made for his 3 minute "fight" with Randy Couture at UFC 118. Here's the e-mail:

MARK GRAY - "I was at UFC 118. I drove from NYC with my wife and child to attend. I am a professional (elementary principal) who practices BJJ (blue belt with Matt Serra)-- and I feel as if I represent a significant demographic of fight fans. Most of us aren't fighters. Most of us make enough money to buy pay-for-the-views. Most of us are smart individuals who enjoy the stripped down aspects of MMA and the alternative it offers to sports fans who feel imprisoned to the rooting of a team whose personality changes from year to year just because their father did. I mean, in MMA, you can root for personalities, you can choose fight by fight who you want to win.

Most importantly, we don't want to be screwed with. We appreciate Dana White and his blunt rhetoric. We get that MMA has to sell and we don't feel as if we are "breaking a silent code of tradition" if we actually want to see Toney get beat up. What the heck? What's all this worry about a circus? Is the fear that we are going to attract even more fans that we will never meet? That the "circus-enjoyers" will put enough money into the pot that these athletes who put themselves into a career where there is little pay off might make a decent buck?

Dana White has such a fear that his sport won't be taken seriously, that he goes to extremes to avoid the "circus" finger pointing. He went to great lengths to defend his decision to put Toney in the cage. He said Toney followed him and stalked him all over the country. He said that his boxing record demanded respect and the courtesy of an opportunity. He made it seem as if he was the reactor to Toney's aggression and finally gave in to a somewhat shady idea to begin with...

AND THEN HE WENT AND PAID HIM 500K TO BE THERE. My impression is... that's bulls**t. Randy Couture, who has given his life to this sport, makes 250K? That is such a smack in the face and it is a testament to the fact that the UFC is about $$$ first and foremost. And of course they are... but don't be $ first without taking care of your own. Don't be $ first without having the integrity to admit what your product is. Don't play the "stalked" and then turnaround and pay your stalker more than your loyal fighters. If I were Brock Lesnar, I would be up at his door in two seconds wondering how James Toney is out earning me. If I were Brock Lesnar I would be doing a lot of other things as well, but that's not what we are discussing.

The bottom line is this: be honest with your fans. Don't be ashamed to make the sport more appealing. And please, for crying out loud, pay these guys what they are worth. Payroll is a joke for fighters."


I totally agree with Mark here. How in the hell does James Toney make $500,000 for a fight in which he had very little chance? James Toney made more than Frankie Edgar, B.J. Penn, and Randy Couture COMBINED. In what universe is this even fathomable? There were 16 other fighters on the UFC 118 card, including names like Gray Maynard, Kenny Florian, Nate Diaz, Marcus Davis, Dan Miller and Joe Lauzon. The reported payout for those 16 fighters comes out to $432,000. It's only after you include the $60,000 Fight Night bonuses that Nate Diaz, Marcus Davis, and Joe Lauzon got that the number surpasses the payday that Toney received.

I would like to know how many people bought UFC 118 to see James Toney fight. My guess would be that the number would be very low. So why in the hell did he get paid $500,000 then? Dana White said that Toney kept bugging him for a fight. Dana says he wanted to give him an opportunity. Ok, that's fine, but why give that fat-headed bum more upfront money than guys who are actually worth a damn? I know the UFC gives out more money to fighters that they don't disclose, but how come Brock Lesnar made less upfront money ($400,000) for his win over Shane Carwin at UFC 116 than Toney did ($500,000) in his loss to Randy Couture at UFC 118? Brock is the Heavyweight champion, Toney's an over-the-hill boxer in his first MMA bout. Brock has a proven track record for setting buyrate records.

It's such a slap in the face for James Toney to have made so much money, especially when he made it off the backs of loyal UFC fighters who got shafted by UFC officials who thought this was a good idea. Ridiculous is the best word I can come up with.

If you have a better word for this, or a suggestion for a future blog, e-mail me at hydenfrank@gmail.com


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