Paulo Costa has finally renewed his contract with the UFC after a lengthy period of negotiation.
The new agreement, still pending signature, includes a significant increase in the Brazilian’s purse, which was his main point of contention.
According to Paulo and his manager, Tamara Alves, the new salary is the highest for a Brazilian in the UFC at present.
The negotiations with the UFC were impacted by a significant change in Borrachinha’s career management. Borrachinha was previously managed by Wallid Ismail .Like many MMA managers, he too is a head of a promotion that has a UFC deal. This potentially played a part in him pressuring Borrachinha to accept a lowball offer during previous contract negotiations.
Tamara and Borrachinha revealed in an exclusive interview with AgFight that the new approach taken by the businesswoman played a fundamental role in the positive outcome of the negotiation with the UFC.
Borrachinha’s product is one that the UFC knows sells, as demonstrated by his pay-per-view with Adesanya, which was the biggest pay-per-view sale within the middleweight division.
The UFC has these numbers and knows what number Paulo reaches, which makes him the most valued athlete in the organization.
The relationship between Paulo and the organization seemed strained recently, and the star even considered venturing into boxing once he was free of his contract. However, everything can be explained by the strategy used by Tamara during the negotiations.
Tamara built a team of specialized professionals, including former UFC employees, who now work in large agencies in the United States.
This team quantified in numbers and metrics, such as audience, engagement, and pay-per-sales views, among others, the real value of Paulo Borrachinha Costa for the UFC. The company then signaled with the amount that Costa considered fair.
Last year, he rejected a contract renewal proposal for $500,000 total with another $150,000 in win bonus.
The decision to refuse the proposal was initially questioned by some fans, but the new agreement signals it was clearly the right call.
Borracinha
Borrachinha believes that the athlete has to sell and bring results to the company, and then the company needs to know how much this can translate into financial value. Tamara’s team was crucial in quantifying these numbers in real metrics, which proved to be the key change in the negotiation with the UFC.