Ronda Rousey’s contract negotiations revealed: UFC star wanted better pay, separate deal for Cris Cyborg

The trial for the class action antitrust lawsuit against the has yet to start, but it’s already brought to light pertinent and previously unseen information on the top promotion’s and . Another trove of documents has recently been unredacted and obtained by Bloody Elbow, which includes fighter contracts.

One of the recently unsealed documents that Bloody Elbow and John S. Nash has obtained, was a copy of ’s previous contract with Forza (the Zuffa owned Strikeforce). It was unsigned and sent back with several handwritten notes and requests for revisions from her representative. A proposed start date of October 1, 2012 was scribbled in, which is a few months after her final Strikeforce fight and soon before she officially joined the UFC.

These were likely all requests for revisions to the contract that Rousey’s representation wanted, just before several top Strikeforce stars like her were going to be absorbed into the UFC. While this specific document ended up unsigned, the notes do give an interesting glimpse at some of the negotiations that took place from the point of view of one of MMA’s biggest stars ever.

While Rousey’s management pretty much wanted alterations on almost every clause in the UFC’s standard contract language, the most notable asks were on the monetary specifics. According to the notes, Rousey’s team wanted significantly better pay. While the original Forza/Strikeforce contract had her starting purse at $35,000 with a $35,000 win bonus, Rousey’s representation asked to start at $100,000/$100,000.

Instead of the purse and win bonus both increasing by just $5,000, they asked for escalations from each win to go up to $150,000/$150,000, $250,000/$250,000, $350,000/$350,000 up to $500,000. Her management also asked for a bonus for “non PPV fights with extraordinary viewership,” and seemingly wanted a much shorter deal.

If Rousey wins every bout, the original deal can potentially go up to $70K/$70K on the eight fight. They asked it to top at $500K/$500K instead on just the fifth bout, crossing out the last three bouts on the deal. Interestingly enough, the contract also included a note that Rousey and her team wanted a clause specifically discussing any possible bout with Cris Cyborg.

While Rousey asked for escalating pay that capped at $500,000 to show and $500,000 to win if she won all five fights, she wanted a separate deal for any PPV bouts and a fight with Cyborg, specifically. “Does not apply to any PPV bout for which shall be separately negotiated,” they wrote down on the contract.

“Fee + share of PPV revenue to fighter + any fight w/ Cyborg shall be separately negotiated.” Rousey vs. Cyborg was a super fight that many people wanted for years, but it never materialized. One of the reasons repeatedly cited, was in weight. As for the other incidentals, Ronda Rousey’s representation asked for “first class” hotels and flights.

If she’s involved in a title fight, they wanted two hotel “suites,” and four first class flights for her team. They also asked for the promotion to pay the hotel room tax, internet and parking. Instead of a $50 per diem, which can be switched to 3 meal vouchers a day, they wanted it in “non accountable” cash that “increase by $25 for each new bout.” They also asked for four free “VIP” tickets “within 10 rows of the cage” for each fight, and if she’s in the main event, they wanted eight tickets within five rows of the Octagon.

Her reps also wanted to discuss the possibility of having “medical insurance & dental for RR through Forza / Strikeforce / UFC.” While Ronda Rousey’s representative had dozens of notes and requests on her contract that they wanted to start by October 1, 2012, Bloody Elbow has also obtained a copy of a UFC contract signed by Ronda Rousey and , and dated November 19, 2012.

How much of their earlier demands were met after negotiations? Let’s compare those requests from the details on Rousey’s first UFC contract. As noted above, Rousey’s Forza deal had several fights and escalations that started from $35,000/$35,000 that potentially went up to $70,000/$70,000 on the 8th fight.

They requested for a shorter deal of just five fights, with significantly more pay from $100,000/$100,000 up to potentially $500,000/$500,000. What did Rousey actually end up with for her first UFC contract? She did get a slightly shorter contract from the original eight bouts, but… In , we go over all the differences between what Rousey’s team asked for and what was granted, compromised, or declined.

We also reveal details on the following UFC contract that Rousey signed years later, and how it differed from this deal once she was already at the very peak of her career and mainstream superstardom. Anton Tabuena is the Managing Editor for Bloody Elbow. He’s been covering MMA and combat sports since 2009, and has also fought in MMA, Muay Thai and kickboxing.

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