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Ariel Helwani isn’t buying some of the reported payouts from Bellator 290 and believes that there’s no point in disclosing any numbers if they aren’t accurate.
Bellator’s first event of the year went up against a lackluster UFC Fight Night card that took place in the middle of the night for U.S. viewers, and there’s a strong argument to be made that Bellator 290 came out on top after the weekend’s action concluded.
One notable aspect of the event is that it took place in California, which has one of the few athletic commissions in the country that releases fighter purses after each event. It’s always interesting to see reported earnings considering the discussions around fighter pay in recent years, and during a Bellator 290 recap on The MMA Hour the show’s host outlined a possible reason why many MMA promotions try to keep their fighter payouts under wraps.
“The main reason why this is – in case anyone is wondering – is because promoters don’t want fighters knowing what other fighters make,” Helwani said. “They will tell you it’s because – you know, Dana loves to say it’s because they don’t want their purses to be public so that hangers-on know and hit them up for money. But that’s a ridiculous thing when you have football players who are making $400 million.
“Everyone knows what everyone’s making in sports. The reason is ’cause they don’t want someone else who’s like second ranked but not as popular being like ‘Hey, why is Sean O’Malley making this much and I’m not making this much?'”
“Are These Numbers Real?”
Even though Bellator is based out of California and releases fighter purses more often than the UFC, Helwani isn’t convinced that the numbers being reported for the Bellator 290 main card fighters are accurate.
“They’re inaccurate, they’re not real numbers, so you might as well say $5… You might as well do 10 bucks…They’re totally made-up numbers. By the way, not giving away too much, those dudes made a helluva lot more closer to seven figures than they did that [reported] number.”
Bellator 290 was headlined by Fedor Emelianenko’s final fight. (Lucas Noonan/Bellator MMA)
The three-fight main card for Bellator 290 kicked off with welterweights Brennan Ward and Sabah Homasi going to war for just over a round before Middleweight Champion Johnny Eblen defended his title against Anatoly Tokov in the co-main event. The card’s headliner featured MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko challenging Ryan Bader for the heavyweight title in his retirement fight, but “The Last Emperor” suffered the same fate as their 2019 meeting when he was stopped in the first round.
The disclosed payouts from the event indicated that all the main card fighters aside from Tokov had six-figure paydays, but Helwani argues that if those purses aren’t accurate then the California State Athletic Commission shouldn’t even bother asking for them.
“So what’s the point? Why even do it? Honestly, if I’m California, I’m like ‘Are these numbers real? Are these legit? If not, don’t give it to us.’ Who cares?”
What do you think of Helwani’s comments on the accuracy of the fighter purses from Bellator 290?
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Ariel Helwani isn’t buying some of the reported payouts from Bellator 290 and believes that there’s no point in disclosing any numbers if they aren’t accurate.
Bellator’s first event of the year went up against a lackluster UFC Fight Night card that took place in the middle of the night for U.S. viewers, and there’s a strong argument to be made that Bellator 290 came out on top after the weekend’s action concluded.
One notable aspect of the event is that it took place in California, which has one of the few athletic commissions in the country that releases fighter purses after each event. It’s always interesting to see reported earnings considering the discussions around fighter pay in recent years, and during a Bellator 290 recap on The MMA Hour the show’s host outlined a possible reason why many MMA promotions try to keep their fighter payouts under wraps.
“The main reason why this is – in case anyone is wondering – is because promoters don’t want fighters knowing what other fighters make,” Helwani said. “They will tell you it’s because – you know, Dana loves to say it’s because they don’t want their purses to be public so that hangers-on know and hit them up for money. But that’s a ridiculous thing when you have football players who are making $400 million.
“Everyone knows what everyone’s making in sports. The reason is ’cause they don’t want someone else who’s like second ranked but not as popular being like ‘Hey, why is Sean O’Malley making this much and I’m not making this much?'”
“Are These Numbers Real?”
Even though Bellator is based out of California and releases fighter purses more often than the UFC, Helwani isn’t convinced that the numbers being reported for the Bellator 290 main card fighters are accurate.
“They’re inaccurate, they’re not real numbers, so you might as well say $5… You might as well do 10 bucks…They’re totally made-up numbers. By the way, not giving away too much, those dudes made a helluva lot more closer to seven figures than they did that [reported] number.”
[/quote]
Bellator 290 was headlined by Fedor Emelianenko’s final fight. (Lucas Noonan/Bellator MMA)
The three-fight main card for Bellator 290 kicked off with welterweights Brennan Ward and Sabah Homasi going to war for just over a round before Middleweight Champion Johnny Eblen defended his title against Anatoly Tokov in the co-main event. The card’s headliner featured MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko challenging Ryan Bader for the heavyweight title in his retirement fight, but “The Last Emperor” suffered the same fate as their 2019 meeting when he was stopped in the first round.
The disclosed payouts from the event indicated that all the main card fighters aside from Tokov had six-figure paydays, but Helwani argues that if those purses aren’t accurate then the California State Athletic Commission shouldn’t even bother asking for them.
“So what’s the point? Why even do it? Honestly, if I’m California, I’m like ‘Are these numbers real? Are these legit? If not, don’t give it to us.’ Who cares?”
What do you think of Helwani’s comments on the accuracy of the fighter purses from Bellator 290?
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Click here to view the article.
Bellator’s first event of the year went up against a lackluster UFC Fight Night card that took place in the middle of the night for U.S. viewers, and there’s a strong argument to be made that Bellator 290 came out on top after the weekend’s action concluded.
One notable aspect of the event is that it took place in California, which has one of the few athletic commissions in the country that releases fighter purses after each event. It’s always interesting to see reported earnings considering the discussions around fighter pay in recent years, and during a Bellator 290 recap on The MMA Hour the show’s host outlined a possible reason why many MMA promotions try to keep their fighter payouts under wraps.
“The main reason why this is – in case anyone is wondering – is because promoters don’t want fighters knowing what other fighters make,” Helwani said. “They will tell you it’s because – you know, Dana loves to say it’s because they don’t want their purses to be public so that hangers-on know and hit them up for money. But that’s a ridiculous thing when you have football players who are making $400 million.
“Everyone knows what everyone’s making in sports. The reason is ’cause they don’t want someone else who’s like second ranked but not as popular being like ‘Hey, why is Sean O’Malley making this much and I’m not making this much?'”
“Are These Numbers Real?”
Even though Bellator is based out of California and releases fighter purses more often than the UFC, Helwani isn’t convinced that the numbers being reported for the Bellator 290 main card fighters are accurate.
“They’re inaccurate, they’re not real numbers, so you might as well say $5… You might as well do 10 bucks…They’re totally made-up numbers. By the way, not giving away too much, those dudes made a helluva lot more closer to seven figures than they did that [reported] number.”
Bellator 290 was headlined by Fedor Emelianenko’s final fight. (Lucas Noonan/Bellator MMA)
The three-fight main card for Bellator 290 kicked off with welterweights Brennan Ward and Sabah Homasi going to war for just over a round before Middleweight Champion Johnny Eblen defended his title against Anatoly Tokov in the co-main event. The card’s headliner featured MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko challenging Ryan Bader for the heavyweight title in his retirement fight, but “The Last Emperor” suffered the same fate as their 2019 meeting when he was stopped in the first round.
The disclosed payouts from the event indicated that all the main card fighters aside from Tokov had six-figure paydays, but Helwani argues that if those purses aren’t accurate then the California State Athletic Commission shouldn’t even bother asking for them.
“So what’s the point? Why even do it? Honestly, if I’m California, I’m like ‘Are these numbers real? Are these legit? If not, don’t give it to us.’ Who cares?”
What do you think of Helwani’s comments on the accuracy of the fighter purses from Bellator 290?
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Ariel Helwani isn’t buying some of the reported payouts from Bellator 290 and believes that there’s no point in disclosing any numbers if they aren’t accurate.
Bellator’s first event of the year went up against a lackluster UFC Fight Night card that took place in the middle of the night for U.S. viewers, and there’s a strong argument to be made that Bellator 290 came out on top after the weekend’s action concluded.
One notable aspect of the event is that it took place in California, which has one of the few athletic commissions in the country that releases fighter purses after each event. It’s always interesting to see reported earnings considering the discussions around fighter pay in recent years, and during a Bellator 290 recap on The MMA Hour the show’s host outlined a possible reason why many MMA promotions try to keep their fighter payouts under wraps.
“The main reason why this is – in case anyone is wondering – is because promoters don’t want fighters knowing what other fighters make,” Helwani said. “They will tell you it’s because – you know, Dana loves to say it’s because they don’t want their purses to be public so that hangers-on know and hit them up for money. But that’s a ridiculous thing when you have football players who are making $400 million.
“Everyone knows what everyone’s making in sports. The reason is ’cause they don’t want someone else who’s like second ranked but not as popular being like ‘Hey, why is Sean O’Malley making this much and I’m not making this much?'”
“Are These Numbers Real?”
Even though Bellator is based out of California and releases fighter purses more often than the UFC, Helwani isn’t convinced that the numbers being reported for the Bellator 290 main card fighters are accurate.
“They’re inaccurate, they’re not real numbers, so you might as well say $5… You might as well do 10 bucks…They’re totally made-up numbers. By the way, not giving away too much, those dudes made a helluva lot more closer to seven figures than they did that [reported] number.”
[/quote]
The three-fight main card for Bellator 290 kicked off with welterweights Brennan Ward and Sabah Homasi going to war for just over a round before Middleweight Champion Johnny Eblen defended his title against Anatoly Tokov in the co-main event. The card’s headliner featured MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko challenging Ryan Bader for the heavyweight title in his retirement fight, but “The Last Emperor” suffered the same fate as their 2019 meeting when he was stopped in the first round.
The disclosed payouts from the event indicated that all the main card fighters aside from Tokov had six-figure paydays, but Helwani argues that if those purses aren’t accurate then the California State Athletic Commission shouldn’t even bother asking for them.
“So what’s the point? Why even do it? Honestly, if I’m California, I’m like ‘Are these numbers real? Are these legit? If not, don’t give it to us.’ Who cares?”
What do you think of Helwani’s comments on the accuracy of the fighter purses from Bellator 290?
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Click here to view the article.
