Alex was in bed with his mother and two sisters when Dan Weiss arrived at his penthouse. Normally, the man would not personally see to these matters.
But this was a serious issue for his entire company. If he failed to win Alex over after all that had happened, and the man went elsewhere, it could seriously hurt the entire promotion.
Because of this, he had gone out of his way to find Alex and visit the man in his home. After all, Alex appeared to be ignoring his calls. And it was because of this, that the moment the man rang the bell to the penthouse, Alex was surprised that they had visitors.
He looked at the three women he was making love to and was quick to ask if they had invited anyone over.
“Did any of you order room service, or a pizza, or something?”
Diana, Madison, and Kristina all shook their heads. Causing Alex to sigh heavily as he dressed in nothing but a bathrobe, while assuring the three women that he would be right back.
“Alright, I’ll go get it. You three wait here for me. I’ll be back in just a moment.”
After saying this, Alex took off from the master bedroom and climbed down the stairs where after looking at the security feed and seeing his previous employer he sighed once more, before putting on an excitable façade.
Once he had mastered the act, he opened the door to reveal himself, calling out to his former employer as if he was happy to see him.
Dan was not exactly a guy known for suppressing his anger, and when he heard that last part, he was quick to tell Alex to drop the act.
“Cut the shit kid, I’m here to talk business, and unless you have something more important going on, I suggest we get to the point!”
Alex smirked when he saw how serious the man was and was quick to wave him inside. Where he proceeded to invite Dan over to his personal bar, breaking out the top shelf scotch before reminding him that he was indeed busy, and only had a few moments to spare.
“You’ve got five minutes to win me over, Dan, as I was in the middle of something when you suddenly rand my door. Now, what are you going to offer me, other than that belt, to convince me to stay with the Ultimate Fighting Challenge?
I mean, after you so cold-heartedly tore up my contract, I have been contacted by several of your competitors all of which have offered me an excellent deal.”
Dan knew Alex was a draw like no other, and after the shit between him and the former champion of the division, people would be lining up to buy his pay per views, and tickets to see him fight. Whether they wanted to see him get what he deserved, or wanted to watch him brutalize more opponents. Everyone would be tuning into his fights.
And because of this, he was prepared to cut the bullshit, and go straight to a figure that Zane would agree to.
“Normally, I wouldn’t do this for a guy who has no title defenses and won his title through disqualification. Not that you’re the first guy to do that. But… I’m prepared to offer you five million guaranteed per fight, on a three fight contract. And a 25% cut of the pay-per-view… What do you say, kid? That’s a better deal than anyone has ever got. Even your predecessor.”
Dan wasn’t lying about that. The most popular fighter in the history of the sport only got 6.7% of the pay-per-view money he brought in. But Alex had other complaints about the sport that he wanted to address. Mainly many of the rules which it followed. And this was something he knew Dan would never agree to.
“It sounds good, really it does. You see, the thing is… I don’t actually need your money. I do this because it’s fun, not because I want to make a fortune. As you can see, I’m already filthy rich. Richer than you will ever be. What I like is the violence.
And you have some rules that I don’t like. I know you will never be able to convince the American Athletic commissions to agree to these. But hear me out, let’s say you start holding more fights internationally, in countries that are more lax with what they are willing to permit in a fight. Right?
You put me on these cards at least once a year. And you include kicks, stomps, and knees to a grounded opponent, in addition to all elbows, whether standing or on the feet, including 12-6 elbows. And just for the heck of it, throw in headbutts as well.
People pay to watch me fight, because I’m the most violent mother fucker in the sport. And I can be a hell of a lot more violent if you let me. So in addition to what you already offered, change up the rule set from these bullshit unified rules when we are fighting outside the US and you got a deal.
Otherwise, I’m going to Asia, and I’m taking both my fans and haters with me…”
Dan was forced to remain silent for some time. He really did not know how to answer this. Were there countries where such rules could be implemented? Plenty of them. But what would it do to the optics of the sport?
He had fought tooth and nail for over 20 years to legitimize Mixed Martial Arts as mainstream sport. But if Alex had his way, he would quite literally be taking it back to its blood sport origins. This crazy bastard was trying to tank the brand one way or another.
After all, even if they held these events outside the united states, the backlash would be huge within the United States where the majority of their viewers were based. Because of this, he could not agree to this, instead he brought up a counterargument. One which intrigued Alex.
“I can’t do that, and you know I can’t do that. But… Listen to what I have to say before you reject my offer. In addition to everything I have already promised you, what if I bring back the tournament format, huh? A yearly tournament, one weight class per year. I start off with the Light Heavy Weight division. The Ultimate Fighting Challenge World Grand Prix, huh?”
Alex sat there in silence while sipping on his scotch. He had to seriously consider this offer, even if it wasn’t exactly what he wanted.