With the Launch of the MMA Athlete Association, Fighters Have Woken Up
On July 4th, 1776, King George of England wrote in his diary “Nothing important happened today.” It just happened to be the exact date that America declared its independence. Here in 2016, nothing so world-changing happened today, but in the world of MMA, something important did happen: a handful of fighters, most importantly top-level UFC fighters, got together and announced the formation of the Mixed Martial Artists Athlete Association.
It was pretty much the worst kept secret in the MMA world over the past few days. A press release from communications firm O’Malley Hansen had announced that a game-changing conference call would take place later in the week, featuring Georges St. Pierre, Cain Velasquez, Tim Kennedy, Donald Cerrone, T.J. Dillashaw, and Bellator founder and former CEO Bjorn Rebney. Immediately, the launch of a union was the speculation.
The rumors were true. Sort of (we’ll get to that). Fair play to Deadspin, who early on uncovered that Rebney was listed on several domain names including mmaathletesassociation.org and others. Wednesday’s call, which included over 100 members of the media, confirmed it. Early in the call, Tim Kennedy made it official, saying that he was “proud to announce the official launch of the Mixed Martial Arts Athlete Association.”
All of the aforementioned fighters took turns chiming in early on in the call. Kennedy broke out a military analogy. “‘No man left behind resonates’ with me. We’re here to make sure that no fighter in the UFC gets left behind.” Then came the legendary GSP, who pointed out that UFC fighters only see about eight-percent of the revenue, while most sports are 50/50. “Even Conor McGregor isn’t getting his fair share,” he suggested.
Cowboy Cerrone wished he had prepared a speech. Said he was there for the 500 (or so) UFC fighters. Cain Velasquez talked about his surgeries, and let slip that he has another one scheduled for after his UFC 207 appearance. “For us in the future, there is no post-retirement health plan,” he lamented.
The man who frankly spoke the most, however, came last: Bjorn Rebney. Bellator’s founder and former CEO until 2014, when Bellator’s parent company Viacom opted to oust Rebney and bring on former Strikeforce head honcho Scott Coker.
Rebney, for his part, went on the offensive against the UFC and particularly parent company WME-IMG immediately. He suggested it was outrageous that WME-IMG was compelling athletes to fight with so little in return, with no long term protection of any kind. He added that “MMA is an incredibly dangerous sport. The short and long term consequences of being a pro mixed martial artist are frightening.” Yet he professed his love for it, and made the obvious comparison to the NFL — that athletes should be allowed to compete, but need fair compensation and protections.
More of what exactly the MMA Athlete Association will look like became clear once the call was opened up to questions.
The keys: Per Rebney, it’s not a union. In fact, a union, he said, was “the worst possible option today for UFC fighters.” That, according to Rebney, is due to the time it would take to establish a union — potentially years. And if it didn’t come together, they’d be back at square one.
Instead, it’s an association, for UFC fighters under contract. The focus would be on the UFC, not other promotions. That said, they would fight for an immediate settlement to cover fighters from the past.
The fighters present would make up the association’s board. Rebney was not on the board, but instead would handle strategy. CAA (Creative Artists Agency), who represent several of the fighters involved, were not backing the venture, but supportive of it. Taking a shot at WME-IMG, Rebney added “that’s what real agencies are supposed to do.”
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When asked why this particular group was the solution to UFC fighter’s myriad of problems, Tim Kennedy kept it simple:
We have been looking for the best horse to get behind in the race. This is the best horse we’ve had. There’s no one from CAA in the room right now. The people that are here are the fighters… … something has to f**king change!
The most honest statement came from GSP, who later added that he wanted to be known as a guy who changed things:
Every time we go fight, we are afraid. This is a different kind of fight. Even though I know a lot of fighters are afraid, because of my situation now, I’m in a much better place than I was a few years ago, but I know a lot of fighters are afraid. Even though they’re afraid, it’s time to step up and do the right thing. It’s like a fight in the Octagon, but it’s a fight against what is right and right is wrong.
He’d later add that they would not be bought, and that it was “time to stand, all together.”
Per Rebney, this association has been two years in the making, but it’s clear that the recent sale of the UFC to WME-IMG for upwards of four billion dollars was a wake-up call for fighters. Since that sale, agent Jeff Borris announced his Professional Fighters Association, which promised big things. However, one of the only fighters to publicly back the PFA, Leslie Smith, dropped out earlier this week, upset that private info was leaked to the media by someone she believed to be in the PFA. A second association, MMAFA (MMA Fighter’s Association), has been kicking around for years, but has never really taken off.
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With the star power behind the Mixed Martial Artist Athlete Association, this endeavor has more of a chance. Four of the five fighters sitting on the MMA Athlete Association board have fights in the UFC in December. Two of those are former champions, and Cerrone a former title challenger. The only person without a fight, St. Pierre, is one of the greatest of all time. Those names may draw others, as evidenced by UFC flyweight Ian McCall asking questions on the call.
The group also answered questions about one of the many elephants in the room, Conor McGregor. Stating that “every name counts” from the biggest to the smallest, St. Pierre stated that he had met McGregor, and knew that, “Conor McGregor the human being knows what’s right. He’s not a coward.” Whether McGregor comes on board with the association remains to be seen, but he could represent the tipping point as the biggest star in the company.
It took four billion dollars to motivate them, but at long last, fighters are talking about a revolution. Cowboy Cerrone used that exact word. Revolution. Time will tell whether the revolution really started today, but either way, this undertaking is a step in the right direction. At the very least, warning shots have been fired.
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