Hey, it’s been a while since we checked in on our old pal Ryback, the only living, breathing, romping, stomping Ryback in captivity. But for a change, today’s tidbit didn’t come from the hungry mouth of the man itself, but rather from Bellator president Scott Coker, who explains why The Big Guy (patent pending) didn’t end up signing with his MMA company after initial talks opened up.
In an interview with Submission Radio, Coker, in the most diplomatic way possible, explained that Ryback was asking for more money than Bellator was thinking of giving him, and diplomatically suggested that The Big Guy should stick to his day job. That’s me paraphrasing, of course. Here are the very kind and measured words that Coker actually said:
“Yeah, we talked to him and we just couldn’t put the deal together. So if he wanted to come back and change his mind… I think it’s easier for him to stay in some type of wrestling and be an entertainer.
” … They were talking to Rich [Chou], our matchmaker, but I think it was just basically on what the economics were. Sometimes the fighter or an athlete feels they’re valued a certain price, and sometimes we don’t feel that way.”
That’s what it takes to be a CEO, everyone: being able to take the basic facts of “an unqualified guy was asking for too much money” and rephrasing it so that no one looks like a jerk and/or dingus. Please blame me for re-dingusing this story. All is not lost, however, as I’m sure there is some MMA company out there that will give Ryback plenty of money to fight. And maybe someday he’ll end up in Bellator after all.
You can listen to the Coker interview below.
