According to the San Diego Union-Tribune and Adam Swift at MMAPayout.com, KJ Noons reportedly turned down an offer that would have gave him a fight on one of the CBS/EliteXC shows, and also locked him in for an additional three fights with the promotion. Mark Dion, Brandon Vera’s infamous agent, was behind the news, and I think it’s safe to say that this could possibly be one of the worst moves I’ve seen in recent memory when it comes to the business side of a fighter’s potential selling abilities.

Mulling over the pros and cons of this situation led me to one story of a college band that I once saw frequently and became very good friends with while I was into the bar scene. They were young, in high demand, and very good at producing jam band type music early in their careers, but made a run at creating high quality radio friendly popular rock music as they matured through the years. In fact, they were offered record deals three different times and even as recently as last year as they near their mid-30’s.

Unfortunately for their band, the idea of getting the perfect deal was their crutch. As we’ve all heard through the years, record deals aren’t exactly the friendliest contracts in business. They usually lock bands into creating records that contain songs from their catalog of writers, or they lock bands into lengthy five to six album deals with crappy kickbacks to the band. Of course, this all depends on the success of the band as well. The more successful, the better the money is coming in for the band members to fund their lavish lifestyles.

There’s one thing that they forgot along the way. Getting your foot in the door could have led to much bigger successes down the road. Instead of waiting and waiting, they could have taken a deal early in their career and been exposed by the media machine behind a record company, but instead elected to hold out. Now, they are on the verge of being disbanded and moving on with their lives.

In my mind, KJ Noons is in a similar situation except he’s locking himself into a much shorter contract that say a lengthy five to six album record deal that could span a decade. He’s being offered a chance to have national exposure in the United States on a national network, being paid for it, and only having to take on an additional three fights? It doesn’t make sense, especially considering Noons could potentially fight three more times this year.

Another problem with the situation is that Noons is being offered this chance early in his career. He’s a converted boxer who does have some weaknesses in his game. Specifically, his ground game hasn’t been tested extensively, and his chin isn’t exactly the strongest in the promotion in his weight class. Beating Nick Diaz may have been a great victory, but being crushed by Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett couldn’t have felt great. Take the deal while you can, Noons… get your foot in the door and win those big fights on a national stage. It’ll give you more opportunities down the road.