Women’s bantamweight Leslie Smith recently highlighted one of the shortcomings of being a contracted UFC fighter. She declared on AXS TV’s Inside MMA that she had a benign tumor on her stomach that she wanted removed, but couldn’t afford it, as she lacks health insurance.
The UFC provides fighters on the roster for fight related medical issues, but it is not health insurance. However, the UFC reacted swiftly, flying Smith to Las Vegas on Thursday to see an MD and have the tumor removed.
“It’s gone,” said Smith to Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. “I’m thrilled about it. I’m debating whether or not to show the video. There’s a good chance I’m gonna show the video.”
Smith made the declaration is support of an effort to form a players union or group in MMA or in the UFC. There are currently at least two efforts at present. The first was the Mixed Martial arts Fighters Association (MMAFA), led by attorney Robert Maysey, which has broad goals across the sport at its professional level. The MMAFA is involved in anti-trust legislation against the UFC, and hopes to expand the Federal Law covering professional boxing, The Muhammad Ali Act, to MMA, among other efforts.
The latest effort at fighter organization is the Professional Fighters Association, run by baseball agent Jeff Borris, who works for an agency that represents the Diaz brothers. Boris entered the space without so much as speaking with the MMAFA, which is, frankly, an overt FU. However, Boris has been vocal that he supports their efforts, hope to work with them, and sees their goals as different but compatible.
The MMAFA were not impressed. In fact, they urge fighters to “politely decline” union solicitation requests from the PFA (or any other agency), , via Facebook.
My brothers and sisters, fellow professional mixed martial artists, you’ve probably noticed great changes coming to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) over the past few months. The question we all have is whether these changes will serve to benefit fighters or not. The MMAFA is actively engaged in ensuring these changes benefit fighters and the time has come to ask you to join us to make sure that happens.
Over the years, the MMAFA has been involved in lawsuits against promotions including KOTC, Pride, and the effort to free fighters from EliteXC. Each of these efforts were resolved successfully in favor of the fighters. Currently, our members are the Plaintiffs spearheading the antitrust lawsuit against the UFC in an effort to restore competition to the market and to provide damages to all proposed class members.
The MMAFA is also leading the charge to change federal law by enacting the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act, which will extend protections already enjoyed by boxers to all combat sports. We have appeared numerous times on behalf of our fellow athletes in front of the Association of Boxing Commissions and individual state commissions to support improved conditions for fighters. We have also supported various state efforts seeking changes in laws favorable to fighters. We aggressively utilize the tools and resources at our disposal, and have been laying the groundwork for improvements for all fighters for more than 10 years.
We do not seek to destroy, nor are we anti-promotion. We are vigorously pro-fighter in our actions and campaigns. We are learning, complaining to press or on social media will not lead to effective change. We are organizing to effectively respond to our current condition as professional MMA fighters in the most effective way possible and in business like fashion. Our successes will enable all aspects of the MMA industry to thrive, leading to better equipped, healthier athletes competing in a more competitive marketplace.
Our record speaks for itself—we have been paving the road for improvements for all our fellow athletes for years. We have an experienced and dedicated executive team that has provided incredible support to our efforts for years. We cannot thank them enough, and we thoroughly trust their advice and counsel. The MMAFA, however, is a democracy, comprised of member fighters and trainers who can change the direction of MMAFA and/or replace executive committee members. We, as professional MMA fighters and trainers who are members in the MMAFA determine our own fate.
With our success and news of the UFC’s sale we are likely to see others offer to assist in organizing a fighter’s union. Of course they will not have similar knowledge of the industry, nor will they have much of a track record looking out for MMA fighters. But they will still be offering their assistance . . . for a price. Further efforts to organize fighters only lead to delays. In the coming days and weeks, you will likely receive lawyer solicitations, union solicitations, and solicitations from your own agents to get involved in organizing efforts. We urge you to politely decline all such requests. Together, in one unified movement, we will succeed.
To all agents wishing to get involved in organizing the MMAFA, we urge you to encourage your fighters to contact the fighters involved in our effort, or any member of our executive team. We have learned from the examples of other sports who have successfully organized, and who prohibit agents from involvement in the operations of the players associations. Agent efforts to organize and agent involvement in association operations suffer from two fatal conflicts. First, agents vigorously compete with each other, creating divisions preventing successful formation and operation of the association. Second, agents appropriately view all issues through the lens of my clients. Association efforts, on the other hand, must be viewed through the lens of all member fighters.
Agents can greatly assist in our efforts moving forward by supporting our efforts to enact the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act, H.R. 5365, by signing our petitions and voicing your support for needed changes in the sport we are all involved with together. When we succeed, the agents will benefit greatly as purse levels and endorsement opportunities will dramatically increase leading to increased earnings for our agents. As professional fighters, our careers are short, in contrast to an agent’s career that can last decades enabling our agents to reap the benefits of our successes long into the future.
Please join all of us and the MMAFA. Together, we will succeed in securing desperately needed protections for our fellow athletes, and also enable our sport to reach its natural potential.
MMAFA Organizing Committee
Smith, who appeared at a PFA press conference, said she would sign an an authorization card in support of a fighter union led by the PFA, and hoped the two sides could not fight.
“At the end of the day, I am gonna be for whatever is going to help the most fighters get the most benefits,” said Smith. “I hope that everybody can be involved in that and we don’t have the competition between the groups, because I think they can work together.”
“I would hope that my experience, my very physical experience right now serve as an inspiration to the other fighters to be true to their hearts and stand up and say what they know needs to be said in front of the people who need to hear it.”
Fighters work ferociously hard to reach the UFC, and many are reticent to bite the hand that feeds them. Smith gets that.
“Fighters are afraid, because it’s a very scary thing,” she said. “It’s your employer. It almost sounds funny talking about fighters being afraid, because we have this image of fighters not being afraid. We’re employees and workers and providers. We have to report to somebody else, too, and we have people we have to support as well. We don’t exist in a world where we don’t have bills and families and responsibilities, obligations. So it makes a lot of sense. They’re probably smarter than I am is why they’re not here talking.”
Smith wants fighters to get the income, retirement, health and other benefits that athletes get in say the NBA or NFL.
“[The PFA has] a clear path to getting all of us fighters that, to getting the medical and to getting the dental and that’s something I want all fighters to have,” Smith said.
