UFC has established itself as a premier promotion for mixed martial arts. This makes it a dream come true for every up-and-coming martial artist.
To illustrate how big the UFC is compared to other MMA organizations, Bellator MMA is widely considered the “second best” MMA promotion. In 2020, Bellator MMA generated about $100 million in revenue, while the UFC took in nearly $1 billion during the same period.
This makes it practically impossible for smaller promotions to negotiate and keep potential stars under their banner. Simply put, the UFC has a bigger reach and for those select few who are on top of their class it might even pay better.
Despite all that, Polish promotion Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (in English: “Martial Arts Confrontation”) is doing its best to keep one of its champions.
Roberto Soldić is a Croatian mixed martial artist and professional boxer. Soldić is one of the most promising MMA athletes. The Croatian has a record of 20-3 with 18 stoppages. He is on a 7-bout win streak and managed to capture not only the KSW welterweight title but their middleweight title as well.
According to MMA Journalist Ariel Helwani, Soldić met with UFC officials in London. The meeting was reported to have been positive for both sides and the fighter is expected to sign with the promotion in the coming days.
However, KSW made a unique counter-offer in an attempt to keep the Croatian on their roster. The Polish organization offered one million euros ($1.10 million dollars) for a four-fight contract. If these reports are accurate, it would mean that Soldić would earn around €250,000 euros ($ 276.000 dollars) per bout for KSW.
While the UFC made no attempt to match the KSW offer they did offer to fast track Soldić and give him a title bout if he manages to win 3 bouts in a row. The unique offer was first reported via lowking.pl
It would come as a big surprise if the UFC decided to up their offer considering they don’t usually pay that much for its debutant seven if they were champions in other promotions. In fact, even big-name fighters like Paddy Pimblett only earn about $24,000 per fight.
One former champion the UFC isn’t underpaying is Michael Chandler. Chandler is reportedly receiving in the neighborhood of $750,000.
Considering that Soldić is likely to cash in around 10 times the amount at KSW so it’s hard to predict which way he’ll go at this time.