McCrory: Bellator offerd ‘horrible’ money
Tamdan McCrory: “I mean, to this day, I still think it was a dream. I was shocked. I’m literally like, did this really happen? Like, did I sleep through the past six weeks?”
Earlier this week it was announced that the ‘Barncat’ Tamdan McCrory was returning to the UFC after two fights with Bellator MMA. McCrory spoke to MMAFighting about his decision to return to the UFC and ultimately what made up his mind to walk away from a Bellator middleweight title shot:
“What aggravated me is that it took five months before we even got down to the nitty-gritty and actually were like, okay, let’s make a deal come together,” McCrory said. “There was always just talk. There was a talk here and a talk there.
“Then they came at us and said, we’ll give you the title shot, but we’re only going to pay you just horrible money. And I was like, dudes, I’m not going to take that money. You guys know that’s not even close.”
McCrory declined to elaborate on specifics, but described the offer as an “all-or-nothing deal,” with escalators on the back-end that would take effect if he won the middleweight title, but would also reduce his purse to a much smaller sum if he failed in that effort. Such clauses are not uncommon in mixed martial arts, but after trading a few unsuccessful counteroffers and growing frustrated by the process, McCrory ultimately asked for and was given his release.
“Even if they were to come at me with a deal, by that point I was like, dude, I’ve been dicked around for so long for whatever,” McCrory said. “Are these really the people who have my best interests (at heart), in building me and my brand? I had to ask myself, what is going on, man?
“It boggled my mind. I mean, to this day, I still think it was a dream. I was shocked. I’m literally like, did this really happen? Like, did I sleep through the past six weeks? What happened?”