Opposing views on UFC class-action suit

While the UFC has been nearly silent about the announcement of a class-action suit, supporters and detractors of it have not.

The suit, reportedly over two years and $1,000,000 in the making, accuses the UFC of “illegally maintaining monopoly and monopsony power by systematically eliminating competition from rival promoters, artificially suppressing fighters’ earnings from bouts and merchandising and marketing activities through restrictive contracting and other exclusionary practices.”

Steven Marrocco for MMAJunkie spoke with John Fosco, who through his VFD Marketing manages UFC heavyweights Travis Browne and acts as a marketing rep for several UFC-approved sponsors like Venum and Dynamic Fastener. Fosco was dismissive, even disdainful of the suit.

According to Fosco, the proof that the UFC was not in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1809 can be summed up in one word – Bellator.

The manager said that when UFC heavyweight Browne was in a position where he could test the open market and court competitors, he did so.

When we did Travis Browne’s deal, (the UFC) knew Bellator was involved, Fosco said. They didn’t say, ‘Take a s—-y amount of money and come with us, and we don’t care what Bellator is doing and we’re going to kill you.’ No, they came with (a good offer), because they knew Bellator was pushing up the price.

Browne wound up signing a very handsome UFC deal, said Fosco, that also netted a title eliminator fight in April against now-interim champion Fabricio Werdum.

Although Browne’s negotiation period largely took place out of the public sphere, the process played out much like it did with UFC lightweight Gilbert Melendez, who accepted a contract offer from Bellator when his contract expired and when he entered a time period that allowed the UFC to match offers from competitors.

While the presence of Bellator might have been an unwelcome addition in talks, Fosco said, it ultimately served the interests of the fighter.

Did (the UFC) like it? No, he said. But they’re personal feelings and opinions; if you get intimidated by it, that’s your problem. Every business in the world, including the best personas, they use their leverage, but they use it in different ways.

Offering an opposing view, UFC light heavyweight Ryan Jimmo spoke with Jeremy Brand for MMASucka on MMASucka Radio and expressed great frustration with the organization, with poor tickets he received for UFC on FOX 13 being the “straw the broke the camel’s back.”

Ryan Jimmo @RyanJimmo

Thanks @ufc @danawhite for the fantastic seats. You sure know how to make your fighters feel appreciated……….

And last week in Vegas @ufc @danawhite great seats for 2x knockout of the night winner……….

I’m sure everyone is aware that the lawsuit is happening with the UFC,” he said. “I wouldn’t call what I have animosity, I was a little bit upset about the seats the UFC gave me, but that was kind of the straw that broke the camels back.

“As far as not getting treated so well, on a financial front, on a personal front, for some time, so some of these things have to change in the sport before it implodes on itself. It’s already starting to do that with lawsuits. With what’s happening with Nate Quarry, and Cung Le, as well as Jon Fitch. So I’m looking at this as a long-term thing not just for myself, but for younger fighters coming up. You don’t want the younger generation to get taken advantage of, like a good portion of my generation get taken advantage of. Or get severely underpaid for years and years and years and of blood, sweat and tears. This is a dangerous job and I just want to see an improved situation for all fighters, all around the world. Sometimes you’ve just got to bang a few pots together, to get some attention, so you can be heard and some of those Tweets were for that.

“I want to see the situation for fighters improve. I want the UFC to go on, I don’t want this lawsuit to cripple them. But I do want some of the business practices in regards to the fighters and some of the pay structure to change. I’m a company man, in the fact that I want to see change for the better so everyone will improve. So everyone is in a better situation. It’s hard to do that, I’ll tell you what, I was getting a little bit of flack, ‘why would you come on social media and say this?’ Well, we don’t have a Fighters’ Union, we don’t have a Players’ Association, there’s no one to go and talk to, to talk about these issues. Our only course of recourse, is social media. I don’t have Dana White’s phone number, I don’t have a union head I could go talk to – ‘Is this legit, like what’s going on here?’ I have Dana White’s Twitter handle, I can contact him there and we don’t really have any other real recourse for communication for how to go about a change if something’s unfair.

“IIn any other job, if there was something that was completely, like this is just not kosher, you could go talk to someone. You have some course to take, that could be corrected somehow and the company would be improved overall and there wouldn’t be any damage. You hope not, unless something absolutely crazy went down. We don’t have that, so here’s hoping to improve that situation. Improve the social infrastructure and improve the lives for all the fighters. Realistically, I think, you improve the lives for all the fighters, you improve how happy they are, then all of a sudden the UFC and the brass don’t get lawsuits for millions of dollars.

“I’ve gotten broken bones before, guys are tearing their knees out, guys are getting broken bones in their face. It’s very dangerous work. If you look at the amount of money that it takes to train for a fight, the amount of money they’re paying to managers, agents, plus pay taxes, most guys are barely making it by. Unless something substantial has happened in their career. I’ve been lucky enough to do a couple of ‘Knockout of the Nights,’ but even still, I calculated my pay as $40-grand a year over the three years off what I did. But imagine if someone didn’t get a couple of knockouts of the night, that’s very bad pay. Especially for exceptionally hard work, dangerous work.

The case is expected to last for years, so these are not the final words on the case. They are just the beginning.