There are currently at least three efforts underway to organize mixed martial arts fighters.
The first is the Robert Maysey-founded MMAFA, which seeks to extend the Muhammad Ali act to MMA, so that fighters can be independent contractors, and promoters have to bid against each other for the right to put on title fights. Federal legislation towards this end is currently pending in the House. The MMAFA is also committed to the Federal anti-trust suit against the UFC.
Jeff Borris’s PFA wants to unionize the UFC, which will require them to be classified as employees. It launched in August, but has been little heard from since November when a number of fighter names appeared on a PFA document that went public, after they had been promised confidentiality. UFC bantamweight Leslie Smith, who had advocated for the group, very forcefully withdrew her support.
The third is the Bjorn Rebney-founded MMAAA, which seeks to form a players association to demand a 600% salary increase from the UFC. Player representatives, most notably Tim Kennedy, said they need a fox in the henhouse to know how a fox thinks, and said Rebney has no overt control over the group. However, profound doubts remain about Rebney’s goals, about the role CAA plays in the group, and about the focus solely on the UFC and not Bellator, among other issues.
UFC welterweight Tim Means told Tim Bissell for BE that he believes there are merits to collective bargaining and that fighters working together could secure benefits including increased health care coverage and pensions. However, he was not sold on the MMAAA, and spoke frankly about the group, and the fighter board that Kennedy says runs the effort. It includes Georges St-Pierre, Donald Cerrone, Cain Velasquez, and T.J. Dillashaw.
Means said he reached out to Kennedy for more information but didn’t hear back, something he attributed to Kennedy preparing for his fight with Kelvin Gastelum. So has Kennedy reached out now that he has retired?
Of course not,” sneered means. Those dudes are all in that s*** for themselves. Look at Donald Cerrone, he jumped off that ship in a matter of days. I never heard from Kennedy because it’s trash. It’s garbage. It’s just a garbage plan that they have.
Since the last time I talked about this, they jumped off that Rebney dude’s jock strap. … Rebney was the wrong dude, and it just shows that they’re inconsistent with the choices they are making right now, so it’s not something that interests me.”
“St-Pierre was so upset – telling fighters that they should not be scared to climb on board. Look how quickly he turned his little cheek and looked the other way; as soon as title fights started getting offered. You haven’t heard him bring up a union this time around. Now, all of a sudden, he’s excited and happy to be back.
I just renegotiated another new contract for another four-fight deal with numbers that I’m very happy with. … I didn’t like the first offer [UFC president Dana White] gave me. I turned it down, we negotiated a little bit more, and the numbers went to where I wanted them. It just came with communication, and not with bagging on my damn job or bagging on my company.
Before the Reebok deal, I had eight sponsors on my gear, and I’d get paid by only one sponsor sometimes, or none at all sometimes, or they pay me six or seven months after the fact. People are saying the Reebok deal is garbage…I get free gear and $10,000. That’s more money than I’ve ever made from sponsorship.
Tim Means fights Alex Oliveira on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 106: Belfort vs. Gastelum. Their first fight ended in a No Contest after Means accidentally landed knees to a grounded Oliveira’s head.
