New text messages from a Brazilian lawsuit are shedding some light on how UFC matchmakers and fighter management work out fighter pay and book match-ups, and how displeasing matchmakers can earn a fighter a tougher opponent than before.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit was between former UFC women\u2019s flyweight Taila Santos and her former manager Marcelo Brigadeiro, with Santos claiming Brigadeiro made her sign \u2018abusive deals\u2019<\/a> without properly explaining them. Included in the discovery for the case was 40 pages of WhatsApp messages<\/a> between Brigadeiro and UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard, which captures some of the \u2018carrot and stick\u2019 methods Maynard used to manage his roster.<\/p>\n The following text exchange from 2020 has Maynard offering Brigadeiro a new deal for his fighter Su Mudaerji, who was 2-1 in the UFC at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cNew four fight deal: 23\/23 up by 3s?\u201d Maynard wrote, meaning $23,000 to show and $23,000 to win with an extra $3000 on each with every win.<\/p>\n \u201cIs there room for any improvement on those numbers?\u201d Brigadeiro asked after speaking to Mudaerji. \u201cSu is friends with Song Yadong and he found out he renewed his contract after his 3rd fight for 45k +45k and is pushing me for something better than 23\/23.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe can fight it out, it\u2019s fine,\u201d Maynard said, meaning Mudaerji could fight his existing contract out and renegotiate then. \u201cSong is also ranked 14, look at who Song has fought. He is also 1-2 and didn\u2019t fight near the same caliber. They are not nearly the same level.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am not crazy [enough] to ask for the same in terms of Song Yadong,\u201d Brigadeiro replied. \u201cJust checking if it would be possible [for] any increase. I would not ask 45\/45 for Su at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c[Su\u2019s] two wins are over one person that is no longer in the UFC and one that has yet to win a fight in the UFC,\u201d Maynard responded. \u201cHis loss was against someone I cut. One win against a flyweight who is 0-2. It should be 20\/20 but I was trying to be nice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou are nice,\u201d Brigadeiro replied.<\/p>\n At the time Mudaerji was set to face Zarrukh Adashev at a UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s forget this match-up and make a different match-up,\u201d Maynard suggested. \u201cHe can fight [his contract] out and let\u2019s see how it plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dNow you are not being so nice, \u201cBrigadeiro wrote. \u201cNo \u2026 we want this fight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe is about to fight a guy that is 3-2,\u201d Maynard replied. \u201cLet\u2019s see how he does against someone tougher and then revisit.\u201d<\/p>\n Brigadeiro saved the original match-up by saying he\u2019d convince Mudaerji to accept the $23k \/ $23k deal with the expectation that they\u2019d face a ranked opponent in their next fight.<\/p>\n