Tallica1981
07-17-2007, 01:23 PM
http://cbs.sportsline.com/mmaboxing/story/10258762/1
CBS SportsLine.com: If you could, can you update your current status right now?
Josh Barnett: As of right now? I'm a free agent, plain and simple. And I'm looking to get back into the fight.
Q: The fact that you got your release from Dream Stage Entertainment and not Zuffa (the current parent company of the UFC) is interesting. In fact, I even think it caught Dana White off guard during a post-UFC 73 press conference. How come your contract was not transferred over once the buyout was completed?
JB: Because I never signed away the rights for the contract to be transferred.
Q: I interviewed Denis Kang recently and he said the contracts were transferable but that a fighter had to sign a consent form in order for the contract to be transferred over to Zuffa. Did anyone ask you to sign a document that would have transferred your contract over?
JB: I might have, but at the time my lawyers were already speaking with DSE over a contractual dispute at the time so they probably would have been the ones to deal with that and report the information to me. Really, that's the reason why nothing was signed over because I wasn't going to help DSE make money when they hadn't paid me in full.
Q: So even before the sale of Pride was completed you were having problems with Dream Stage?
JB: Yes. It would be since September of last year.
Q: It was an issue of payment?
JB: Yes.
Q: Was there anything beside payment that you had issues with?
JB: Certainly some things came to light with some of the ways they dealt with me and some of the ways they negotiated. They did some pretty underhanded things and I certainly wasn't going to let it slide.
Q: Can you talk about some of DSE's underhanded tactics on the record?
JB: I don't know what I'm at liberty to say so I don't necessarily want to go against any law against speaking of some of these things but I'm sure in time I will be able to tell my whole side of the story.
Q: Since securing your release I'm sure your phone has been ringing. Can you comment on what fight promotions have contacted you?
JB: I don't necessarily want to name any specific names yet. I don't like to be the kind of guy to throw a lot of stuff out there because usually that's the stuff that always fails. I'm not trying to jinx myself. But I've received at least four calls or e-mails so far, not to mention three or four other companies that are putting together packages to try and woo me to fight for their company.
Q: I'm assuming that you're hearing from all the major promotions out there but do you ever get any wacky offers from small promotions nobody has ever heard of?
JB: Well, some of those offers I mentioned are smaller promotions that might not be aware of just how expensive the top level guys are. Especially if it is that you read a CSAC or NSAC report following a bout and they say "Joe Schmo made $100 to fight." Well, often he didn't make -- well, he did make $100 to fight but somewhere in the back he's getting paid an extra $100 maybe $200 on top of that in addition to whatever it may be for pay-per-view. I even had to explain to a guy "You know I think you know what the top guys are getting but that's not what they're getting. They're getting a lot more than you think they're getting."
Q: So when people complain about fighter pay scale in MMA do you think that most of the people that make those observations don't know the full story?
JB: There's that and also they're thinking about it from a completely emotional and sort of an uneducated standpoint. I've worked behind the scenes, I've worked in promotion and booking, and as a fighter. The thing is, it's easy for someone to say "Oh, they're making money they can easily give that money to that fighter." But it's not as if they didn't pay all the money out to put the event together; pay all the money to get people to shoot it for pay-per-view; pay all the money to have all the staff to work the event for them; and then pay the money for this guy to go out and fight as well.
The thing is, most of those guys that are getting paid $3,000 didn't sell $3,000 worth of tickets or pay-per-views. And in most cases those guys are probably making more money than the UFC makes off of them -- certainly in the immediate future.
Q: Is there a timetable as to when you'd like to fight next?
JB: It just really depends on who the opponents are and where I've got to go. I think it would be nice if I could say at least two months out, maybe? But I understand that in this game sometimes you've just got to be ready to go, especially when you're dealing with Japanese organizations. Or, if you just don't want to let a good opportunity to pass you by. The biggest thing right now isn't just getting a good contract but going somewhere where I feel appreciated and a place that really wants to work with me as a fighter and an entertainer and everything that I bring to the table. I'm not just here to suck money out of a place and I'm also not just here to have someone use me until I'm done and throw me away.
Q: You mentioned the business practices of some of the Japanese promotions and there was a report in the Wrestling Observer several months back that your name turned up on a list of bouts for the June 2 "Dynamite USA!!" show in L.A. I believe your proposed opponent might have been Sergei Kharitonov. Was there any truth to that report?
JB: No. No, I was still under contract with DSE so I couldn't negotiate about taking any fights and I certainly couldn't have signed to take any fights at the time. I spoke with K-1 just in a friendly matter (but there was) nothing to do with me making a contract where I was fighting anybody, let alone Kharitonov.
Q: There's been a lot of confusion as to why the UFC has had to sign a lot of Pride fighters to new UFC contracts in light of the fact that the Fertittas bought Pride. Can you shed any light on the situation?
JB: There were so many different contracts and different types of contracts that I heard of. I had heard that there are some handshake deal contracts and also a lot of us from the United States and some in Europe had to go through the DSE USA office, and they did all their contracts in California, so those are more to the standard side of things. But in Japan, who knows!? There could be some really wild ones. I'm not privy to everyone's contracts. Maybe I knew how much they made, but that's as certainly as far as it ever goes.
To Be Continued
CBS SportsLine.com: If you could, can you update your current status right now?
Josh Barnett: As of right now? I'm a free agent, plain and simple. And I'm looking to get back into the fight.
Q: The fact that you got your release from Dream Stage Entertainment and not Zuffa (the current parent company of the UFC) is interesting. In fact, I even think it caught Dana White off guard during a post-UFC 73 press conference. How come your contract was not transferred over once the buyout was completed?
JB: Because I never signed away the rights for the contract to be transferred.
Q: I interviewed Denis Kang recently and he said the contracts were transferable but that a fighter had to sign a consent form in order for the contract to be transferred over to Zuffa. Did anyone ask you to sign a document that would have transferred your contract over?
JB: I might have, but at the time my lawyers were already speaking with DSE over a contractual dispute at the time so they probably would have been the ones to deal with that and report the information to me. Really, that's the reason why nothing was signed over because I wasn't going to help DSE make money when they hadn't paid me in full.
Q: So even before the sale of Pride was completed you were having problems with Dream Stage?
JB: Yes. It would be since September of last year.
Q: It was an issue of payment?
JB: Yes.
Q: Was there anything beside payment that you had issues with?
JB: Certainly some things came to light with some of the ways they dealt with me and some of the ways they negotiated. They did some pretty underhanded things and I certainly wasn't going to let it slide.
Q: Can you talk about some of DSE's underhanded tactics on the record?
JB: I don't know what I'm at liberty to say so I don't necessarily want to go against any law against speaking of some of these things but I'm sure in time I will be able to tell my whole side of the story.
Q: Since securing your release I'm sure your phone has been ringing. Can you comment on what fight promotions have contacted you?
JB: I don't necessarily want to name any specific names yet. I don't like to be the kind of guy to throw a lot of stuff out there because usually that's the stuff that always fails. I'm not trying to jinx myself. But I've received at least four calls or e-mails so far, not to mention three or four other companies that are putting together packages to try and woo me to fight for their company.
Q: I'm assuming that you're hearing from all the major promotions out there but do you ever get any wacky offers from small promotions nobody has ever heard of?
JB: Well, some of those offers I mentioned are smaller promotions that might not be aware of just how expensive the top level guys are. Especially if it is that you read a CSAC or NSAC report following a bout and they say "Joe Schmo made $100 to fight." Well, often he didn't make -- well, he did make $100 to fight but somewhere in the back he's getting paid an extra $100 maybe $200 on top of that in addition to whatever it may be for pay-per-view. I even had to explain to a guy "You know I think you know what the top guys are getting but that's not what they're getting. They're getting a lot more than you think they're getting."
Q: So when people complain about fighter pay scale in MMA do you think that most of the people that make those observations don't know the full story?
JB: There's that and also they're thinking about it from a completely emotional and sort of an uneducated standpoint. I've worked behind the scenes, I've worked in promotion and booking, and as a fighter. The thing is, it's easy for someone to say "Oh, they're making money they can easily give that money to that fighter." But it's not as if they didn't pay all the money out to put the event together; pay all the money to get people to shoot it for pay-per-view; pay all the money to have all the staff to work the event for them; and then pay the money for this guy to go out and fight as well.
The thing is, most of those guys that are getting paid $3,000 didn't sell $3,000 worth of tickets or pay-per-views. And in most cases those guys are probably making more money than the UFC makes off of them -- certainly in the immediate future.
Q: Is there a timetable as to when you'd like to fight next?
JB: It just really depends on who the opponents are and where I've got to go. I think it would be nice if I could say at least two months out, maybe? But I understand that in this game sometimes you've just got to be ready to go, especially when you're dealing with Japanese organizations. Or, if you just don't want to let a good opportunity to pass you by. The biggest thing right now isn't just getting a good contract but going somewhere where I feel appreciated and a place that really wants to work with me as a fighter and an entertainer and everything that I bring to the table. I'm not just here to suck money out of a place and I'm also not just here to have someone use me until I'm done and throw me away.
Q: You mentioned the business practices of some of the Japanese promotions and there was a report in the Wrestling Observer several months back that your name turned up on a list of bouts for the June 2 "Dynamite USA!!" show in L.A. I believe your proposed opponent might have been Sergei Kharitonov. Was there any truth to that report?
JB: No. No, I was still under contract with DSE so I couldn't negotiate about taking any fights and I certainly couldn't have signed to take any fights at the time. I spoke with K-1 just in a friendly matter (but there was) nothing to do with me making a contract where I was fighting anybody, let alone Kharitonov.
Q: There's been a lot of confusion as to why the UFC has had to sign a lot of Pride fighters to new UFC contracts in light of the fact that the Fertittas bought Pride. Can you shed any light on the situation?
JB: There were so many different contracts and different types of contracts that I heard of. I had heard that there are some handshake deal contracts and also a lot of us from the United States and some in Europe had to go through the DSE USA office, and they did all their contracts in California, so those are more to the standard side of things. But in Japan, who knows!? There could be some really wild ones. I'm not privy to everyone's contracts. Maybe I knew how much they made, but that's as certainly as far as it ever goes.
To Be Continued