The past few days brought UFC fans another very exciting tale from the always growing world of The Octagon drama.
Forget about how we all witnessed a top GOAT contender slaughter yet another opponent in the ring, but the attention was focused on fighters once again complaining about pay discrepancies and unfair treatment by the UFC.
Fighter’s pay has always been a hot topic in the UFC world, and top tier fighters such as Jon Jones and Jorge Masvidal recently took to social media to voice their complaints which have successfully reignited the fire. As expected, Dana White used a good portion of his post-UFC 250 press conference to respond with harsh criticism and more stroking of his already massive ego.
Is it time for a fighter’s union? This long time fight fan thinks so.
Most top-level sport’s leagues have players unions that protect their players while they are associated with the league and continue to provide support once the athletes retire. Should a sport where the athletes are always one punch away from being prematurely retired be doing the same? Absolutely!!!
Each UFC event rakes in millions of dollars, and the fighters on the card are lucky to see a little bit more than 1% given back to them. Many fighters report earning barely enough money to pay for their camps and support themselves between each of their fights. Fighters are always looking for their Red Panty Night, but the sad truth is most of them will never see it. I can write a whole other article expressing my frustrations of the chase for money leading to the UFC becoming WWE, but we will save that for another day.
A fighter’s union is not meant to help top-level earners such as Connor McGregor. It is meant to help the up and coming fighters be able to fully commit financially and make sure the tomato cans survive their post fighting days. I am sure former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia would be very happy right now if he was part of a union that provided health benefits after his retirement.
Dana White’s final comments on the subject after UFC 250 could be considered contradictory. He insisted he would deal with the problem, but then shortly after stated, “Nothing is going to change.”
Would MMA fighters be making anywhere near what they are making today without Dana White? No, but it is time for him to take some better care of the fighters making him millions.
