Bob Reilly questions motives behind Zuffa’s accident insurance
“I certainly wouldn’t disparage that,” Reilly said. “I think that’s a good thing.” The praise ended there, though, as Reilly…
“I certainly wouldn’t disparage that,” Reilly said. “I think that’s a good thing.”
The praise ended there, though, as Reilly quickly questioned the motives behind the decision.
“What immediately came to my mind was, What’s the need for insurance? Because advocates for MMA have been touting how safe this sport is and that no one is ever injured, and in fact, the testimony here is that the worst that ever happened was a broken arm. But I don’t think that insurance is going to do anything for the very prevalent brain damage that fighters will suffer.
“I think what MMA should be doing is, instead of providing insurance for injuries, is to do away with injuries.”
When I explained to Reilly that the UFC fighters were already covered for injuries suffered in fights and the new insurance would cover injuries, suffered in or outside of the gym, while training or not for an upcoming fight, Reilly added:
“It’s certainly not a bad thing that they provide this insurance, but it really does little or nothing to solve the problem of what will happen to fighters financially, of the physical damage done to fighters or the fact that this violent sport begets violence in our society. So it does nothing to address the systemic problems of MMA.