Entry 7

“Life is one long negotiation.”

The more I participate in real-life negotiations, the more parallels I draw between one of the books we read for Negotiation class (Getting to Yes).  In fact, I found myself glancing back frequently at class notes and the book itself over the course of my internship.  Delving into the interests of each party re-emerges as the most critical aspect of the process.  A lot of these contracts (for the UFC/Bellator) are longer term (up to 1 year, sometimes more) and often involve a lot of money.  The promotions want to make sure they are getting an athlete that is not only talented but also marketable.  For the athlete, choosing a promotion is similar to choosing a job for their fighter "resume."  They need to make sure that the contract is not too long that it might prevent them from pursuing better opportunities.  Time is of the essence because a fighter's career is notoriously short compared to some sports (injuries, age, etc).  Some promotions sign good fighters for a certain amount of fights but do not put them on shows in a timely manner.  Then the fighter is inactive until the promotion chooses to fight him or her.  To protect the fighter it is important to get a clause in the contract regarding how long of a gap they can expect between fights.  Although sponsorship provides a large amount of a fighter's income, professional fighters need to fight often to maintain an income and satisfy the sponsorships that pay them a monthly fee to continue training and competing.