GSP on fighter pay issues: “Some guys will fight for peanuts”

Former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre recently broke the news that he is currently involved in negotiations to return to the UFC.

“Rush”, who is almost three years removed from his last fight at UFC 167, spoke to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour about fighter pay and the importance of contract negotiations.

“That’s how it should be done,” St-Pierre said on The MMA Hour. “That’s the problem with a lot of guys who complain they don’t get paid enough. It’s because they’re ready to sign anything. They got caught with their emotion and they sign anything. They’re going to fight for peanuts. You don’t want to do that. If you do that, you’ve penalized the other guys who want to get paid more.”

He continued:

“Why would they (the UFC) pay some guys more money if they can get another guy almost for free, you know what I mean? As partners, I think they should be more aware of this. It’s important.”

Georges is hopeful that a deal can be reached with the UFC, but that will depend on his agents who are in ongoing negotiations with the promotion:

“I am involved in negotiations, but it’s not my expertise,” St-Pierre said. “My agents, these two guys, they had a great job before they stepped onboard with me. They were making big money and they had a family to feed, and they told me, they made me promise something, and I’m a man of my word. They said to me, ‘Georges, I never want you to sign anything without our blessing if we jump onboard with you, because we’re putting our lives on the line.’

“‘We want to make sure everything is controlled, and every time you sign something, the three of us, we agree on it.’ And I told them yes, so I’m never going to make a decision (without them), even though I’m emotional sometimes and I want to do something. I’m not going to make a decision without their blessing. So these guys are the brains in terms of business, and I’m the fighter. That’s their area of expertise and I trust them very much. [Negotiations are] a very difficult thing, but I’m sure if they want, they put their egos aside on both parties and make an agreement for the best of both sides.”

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