“Can’t hear about 10 million.” Ismailov will be paid unrealistic money for a fight with a noname

Magomed Ismailov, for all his inconsistency, is now one of the most popular fighters in Russian mixed martial arts. Fame helps an athlete to receive huge, by Russian standards, fees for fights.

But the amount that the Bald Predator demanded for the last fight with the Serbian noname is a real surprise. Even some UFC champions do not earn as much in the main fights of the evening as Ismailov requested.

Short-sighted organizers, not Magomed, are to blame for such wild numbers!

“We shouldn’t be hungry all the time.”

The surname of the mixed martial arts fighter Magomed Ismailov today is heard by all fans of mixed martial arts in our country. Of those athletes who are now performing on the territory of Russia, few can compete with the Bald Predator, not only in the octagon, but also in popularity.

The big name allows him to earn huge fees, more than the vast majority of fighters from Russia, who compete exclusively in the domestic arena. At the same time, Magomed receives amounts for his fights that many fighters in the UFC cannot boast of.

The exact numbers are kept secret, but, for example, Magomed received about 10 million rubles for the fight with Alexander Emelianenko according to the rules of mixed martial arts, according to the words of his manager Azamat Bostanov.

A re-fight with Vladimir Mineev in October 2021 brought Magomed another 15 million.

– I earned 15 million rubles for the fight with Ismailov. It’s not a secret. Both received 15 million rubles each,” Mineev said in an interview with Svyatoslav Kovalenko.

Photo: © AMC FIGHT NIGHTS

In the interval between these fights, Ismailov met with Ivan Shtyrkov. Nobody published the exact figures here either, but the fee there probably did not differ much from the above, given Magomed’s statements.

At the beginning of this year, Ismailov held his debut fight according to the rules of boxing. For the fight against Olanrewaju Duradola, he, according to some reports, earned $ 300 thousand.

For the next fight, Ismailov openly began to demand 30 million rubles. From recent examples, we can recall the income of Petr Yan for the championship fight in the UFC against Aljamain Sterling. There, our fighter earned a smaller fee, according to published data.

But there were organizers who were ready to satisfy Magomed’s demands. At the same time, the fighter will not enter the octagon, but will hold a boxing match, and Serb Alexander Ilich, almost unknown to the Russian fan, will become his opponent.

– I call this amount to everyone, it’s just that not everyone appreciated it sensibly. 30 million I think is a normal amount for me, who is already on the way to the end of his career. We do not have to go hungry all the time so that we lack something. There was a time I earned 3 million, but I have to grow. 3 million also talked a lot, then five, then ten. But I got ten once and can no longer hear about ten million. I should definitely offer more. And today I have grown to 30, ”Ismailov said in an interview with the Sport24 YouTube channel “Culture of Bitiya”.

Photo: © RCC

They themselves created, now they are disentangling

The huge increase in Magomed’s fees lately, if you think about it, is provoked not only and not so much by the athlete. Everything depends on the law of supply and demand. Now in Russia there is a huge shortage of famous fighters, given the current trends in the development of the martial arts tournament market.

In recent years, promotions of various sizes have appeared in our country like mushrooms after rain. At the same time, there are no more high-class fighters who are ready to perform on the territory of Russia. When it comes to mixed martial arts, most are trying to get a contract in the UFC or at least in Bellator or PFL. Some go to Asia and fight in One FC. Boxers of the first magnitude are also not very many.

In this situation, it is very difficult for Russian promotions to organize tournaments with top players. Tough competition leads to the fact that for every more or less media athlete there is a real hunt. Hence the increase in the fees of the fighters.

In the market of fighting tournaments, not just overheating is now observed, a natural “soap bubble” is growing there, which will burst sooner or later. At the same time, many organizers are already admitting that the high-profile fights of recent months do not pay off. But due to the competition, they have no other choice but to invest heavily in order to spin their promotions and stay afloat.

Therefore, it is possible that many fighters will soon have to curb their appetites. Or to prove their worth at a really top level, where for solid fees you have to beat the best in the world, and not Serbian no-names.