Stars unite to tackle ‘past wrongs’
St-Pierre, four others backing group that wants to advocate for fighters’ rights
Five Ultimate Fighting Championship stars admit to being scared on a certain level over launching a historic fighters’ association, but in the same breath say the battle they are leading is more important than any one athlete.
“Without the fighters, (UFC) is only three letters of the alphabet. I think it’s time for us to make our voice heard and make change happen,” said Canadian icon and former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, joined by four current top-10 UFC fighters who on Wednesday in a highly-anticipated media conference call announced the formation of the MMA Athletes Association.
Donald Cerrone, the hugely popular UFC welterweight title contender, said he’s heard chatter for years about starting a fighters’ organization. He admitted to being worried in the past that if he entertained the idea, “UFC would maybe bench me or fire me. I think that’s a big fear in a lot of fighters.”
He said there “absolutely” is still that fear, “but this needs to be done.”
In addition to St-Pierre and Cerrone, the MMAAA’s five-member board includes former UFC heavyweight titleholder Cain Velasquez, ex-UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and UFC middleweight contender Tim Kennedy. Ex-Bellator MMA chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney is serving as an adviser to the group.
Each of the fighters has been vocal in the past about the need for a fighters’ association. Calls have grown since the market value of UFC became clear this summer and WME-IMG paid about US$4 billion to purchase a large majority stake in the promotion from Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta.
While athletes in leagues such as the NFL and NBA receive nearly half of league revenues, St-Pierre and Rebney estimated the fighters’ share of UFC revenue at only eight per cent (Lorenzo Fertitta previously claimed the revenue share was comparable to those other major leagues).
The MMAAA’s mandate, according to Rebney, includes a “substantial settlement” that would “address past wrongs” and compensate former and current fighters who he claimed have long been underpaid, increasing fighters’ revenue share to around 50 per cent and to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement similar to the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB.
“This truth here is simple and straightforward,” said Rebney, calling the numbers “evidence of the wrongs.”
“These athletes are risking more for less than any other professional athletes on Earth,” he said, adding they are paid “pennies on the dollar” and a “tiny fraction” of what they deserve.
Rebney insisted the organization was an association rather than a union, saying a union would only delay by years and with court action the changes the group hopes to make. Kennedy said the MMAAA isn’t about a cash grab, either. Rather, it’s about “changing the sport for the better.” He said UFC has had a one-sided system in place for years that must and will be changed soon.
“This is what we know. This is what we want to do. This is our dream,” Kennedy said.
“The power we have is the power of the voices in this room and the megaphone that most of the athletes in this room speak from and the athletes that will be speaking up in the coming months.”
A request through a UFC spokesperson for company comment was not returned.
Rebney explicitly denied rumours that Creative Artists Agency, a powerhouse in the talent agency business and notable rival of WMEIMG, was behind the association. While CAA represents St-Pierre, Dillashaw, Kennedy and Velasquez, Rebney said the desire to do what’s best for its clients is the only connection between CAA and the MMAAA.
“The biggest and most important piece,” Kennedy said, is that the “fighters are running this association.”
Two other groups have spoken out in recent months about the importance of fighters uniting.
The MMA Fighters Association is attempting to get boxing’s Ali Act modified to include mixed martial arts.
The Professional Fighters Association, recently founded by prominent baseball agent Jeff Borris, is seeking full union certification and the ability to collectively bargain on the fighters’ behalf with UFC.
Kennedy and Velasquez both said they hope job action — a fighters’ strike — would never come into play. Instead, they want simply to work with UFC to ensure fair treatment for fighters past and present. Dillashaw said in a sport of the highest highs, the lowest low isn’t losing, but “seeing former fighters with nothing to show for it.”
St-Pierre said he knows some fighters and agents may receive threats over the MMAAA, but he called this his “personal fight” and said the group is not “going to be bought or shut up.
“We’re not going to let any fighters down. We’re here to stay. This same thing that is happening now has happened before in every other sport,” St-Pierre added. “It’s time to stand all together ... Like everywhere in life, we wanted to make the situation better for everybody.
“Every time we go fight, we are afraid. This is a different kind of fight.”
“These athletes are risking more for less than any other professional athletes on Earth.” — Bjorn Rebney