Bibano Fernandes paid by Dream, won't fight in WEC due to low purses.

Nearly six months after his fight with Joachim Hansen at DREAM.13, Bibiano Fernandes tells Tatame he's finally been paid by the Japanese promoter.

The featherweight champion also says that DREAM once again contacted him to fight on their September 25 show after payment was received - possibly in a rematch with Hiroyuki Takaya - but Fernandes declined, citing inadequate time to prepare for the bout.

Asked for his opinion on DREAM's ongoing problems with paying fighters, Fernandes told Guilherme Cruz the following:

"Damn, man... I'm gonna be honest with you: if I ever stop fighting in Japan, I won't fight for another event because I have no interest. My plan is jiu-jitsu, I love jiu-jitsu. Whatever I can do to help jiu-jitsu, I'm gonna do. DREAM is a great event, but they're going through a difficult situation there, I don't know what's happening... I don't know if I would fight in the United States, because at my weight... they don't pay decently."


Basically "Dream takes a while to pay but it beats the WEC, I'll stick with them".


This can be counted as confirmation of the argument that lower pay in lower weight classes hurts the talent pool.

merger pls

sucks for WEV Bibiano is a great fighter

Merger might help the lighter divisions get stronger. I was reading up that a lot of UFC LW's that are kind of middle of the pack but can easily be an even better Mike Brown-esque transition won't move to FW because they get paid peanuts in WEC...but i doubt WEC has ever had trouble paying up on fight night like DREAM.

still ratehr late than never when the late is way more than the WEC

I really just wish the UFC would absorb the WEC. Does Zuffa keep the divide so they can pay these guys less?

In the TUF Int'l Tourney story, White mentions a UFC expansion to lower weight classes.

Obviously it is needed.

If stories like this get more publicity I think it will drive the UFC to act sooner.

Well it depends on how you look at it Wolf. From everything I have read it seems the fighters get paid after 4-6 weeks, so it is not a horrific wait time like 6+ months. Plus the WEC is makng a profit, which attracts investors, which expands the amount of payout. WEC will get theirs when the time is right.

The WEC will only pay fighters when they make significant profit. They have small gates and shows no one cares about on VS.