MMA: Could Performance Clauses Be Best Answer to Better Fights?

Although I'm probably not the most knowledgeable about fighter's contracts, I happen to think performance clauses could lessen the talk about fighters' pay.

In many major professional sports contracts, players can get end-of-the-year bonuses for the amount of touchdowns, home runs, or points scored over the course of the season. So why not in MMA?

So here are a couple of things that can be added to a fighter's contract to ensure great performances from the fighters.

1. Rewarding fighters who make a main card by having a minimum base salary for every fighter. For PPV main cards, make the minimum around $30,000 base and a $30,000 bonus for a win. For a UFN or TUF Finale, the minimum should be $15,000 base with $15,000 bonus for the win.

Now, this is solely for the main card status. If a fighter only fights once on a main card, then he gets that the one time, and not as a permanent salary adjustment. Fighters who make the main card of any event should be compensated for it, so that someone like Joe Lauzon shouldn't get skewed with only $8,000 as his base pay for a main event fight.

2. Any fighter who is a title-holder should get $25,000 more than the highest-paid fighter in that divsion as a minimum base salary. Add to that a pay increase of $10,000 for every title defense on his base salary. However, if a fighter loses his title, the added $25,000 can be removed, but not any bonuses for title defenses. The reason for this clause is that I know for a fact Forrest Griffin isn't getting what about five fighters in his division are getting, and he should get paid for winning a title. 

3. For every consecutive win, a fighter should get a pay increase of $5,000 on his base salary; however, if he should incur consecutive losses he should get that same amount deducted from his base salary. 

4. For every non-decision win, a fighter should get $3,000 added to his base. Losing by a submission or TKO has no bearing on your base, only winning by this way. 

So far, this is all I can come up with. I honestly think that these types of contracts could come to fruition if MMA fighters had a union of sorts, but the UFC would never allow it. Maybe one day.