Let's do a little role-playing. You are a twenty something Olympic athlete. You just won a gold medal in a sport that is prevalent within your nation. For Americans let's say baseball or basketball. For Canadians let's say hockey. After your victory you become an instant celebrity and are celebrated as a hometown hero; but a foreign businessman comes to your door and offers you a decent size contract but you will play with the best athletes in the world. Now a few weeks pass and a fledgling organization in your home country decides to offer you a contract ranging from 4-6 million dollars. Plus you get to stay at home and expand your celebrity. Which contract are you going accept?

That is the case for Japanese Judo Olympic gold medalist, Satoshi Ishii. Satoshi Ishii recently signed a contract with the UFC, but is now trying to get out of that deal in favor of more lucrative contracts with Dream and Sengoku.

The most surprising aspect of the current contract issue is that Dana White appears to be understanding. I know, a shocker.

I feel that in any athletic contract negotiation a person should take the best available deal because nothing is assured in the long run. Right now the best deal for Ishii is with Dream. He is guaranteed a shit load of money and a prominent place within Dream and Sengoku while continuing to establish his celebrity within Japan. The UFC can't really offer either of those things. A contract with the UFC isn't guaranteed in the long-term, he wouldn't be making anywhere near the same amount of money, probably the 100,000-250,000 range, and there is no guarantee he will develop into a top heavyweight. He may easily end up like Cro Cop. Now as a fan I would love to see this fighter develop and reach his full potential and the UFC is the most likely place for that to occur. However that ignores the monetary and fame issues that this twenty year old is currently dealing with. So my advice for Satoshi Ishii, is take the money and run.