If you thought Wanderlei Silva would go quietly into that good night after finishing his career with the human equivalent of a dumpster fire, well, you’ve got another thing coming.
To recap: Silva, one of the most beloved fighters in the history of the sport, ran from a random drug test last summer. That was enough for the Nevada Athletic Commission to issue Silva the equivalent of a lifetime ban, effectively ending Silva’s career (at least when it comes to fighting for any reputable organization). Oh, and Silva retired a few days before the NAC tossed him out the door.
And then Silva suddenly became an anti-UFC crusader, because perhaps he was under the mistaken impression that the UFC was the evil organization pulling the strings, scheduling random drug tests and banning him from the sport. He began publishing black-and-white videos talking about all sorts of issues ranging from fighter pay to the ability of those who compete to control their own likeness.
Silva is back with another video, and this time he’s grown a mustache. He talks about being prevented from signing autographs at a recent Bellator fan event at Dave and Busters in San Diego. Silva claims that Bellator was going to pay him $10,000 for two hours of signing autographs. The UFC put the kibosh on that one since Silva is still under a UFC contract and can’t make appearances for a competing organization.
First thing’s first: The UFC had every right, contractually speaking, to bar Silva from participating in the Bellator event. If they allowed him to sign autographs for Bellator, they’d have a hard time preventing him from appearing on Bellator TV. Sure, he can’t fight, but he has name value. There is a reason Bellator has signed Randy Couture, Royce Gracie and others: They have recognizable names. Putting them on TV and having them associated with the Bellator brand still means something, even if they aren’t fighting.
The UFC must also protect its contracts. If it doesn’t, those contracts become worthless. So you can’t blame the UFC for enforcing its rights.
It is easy to dismiss Silva’s rantings. His shameful exit from the sport makes it difficult to take him seriously. He still hasn’t explained (logically, anyway) why he ran from the drug test in the first place, and his attempts to shift blame away from himself are easy to see through. And he is perhaps not the best person to discuss the pathetic state of fighter pay, given that the UFC made him a very rich man.
But underneath the mustache and the rambling, Silva is giving voice to concerns that have existed in mixed martial arts for years.
Are fighters paid enough? No, they are not. When compared to the UFC’s total intake, the fighters receive a fraction of the pie. Yes, the UFC takes on financial responsibility for promotion and production and all other costs. That is not cheap. But they also take the lion’s share of the profits. A bigger slice of the pie could be shared with the fighters, and the UFC would still make a profit.
Should the UFC have the right to own a fighter’s likeness until the end of time? No, it should not. The company does need to secure rights in order to promote and to sell merchandise and DVD’s and video games. But those rights should expire upon expiration or termination of a fighter’s contract, plain and simple.
Silva’s concerns are nothing new. Fighter pay and image rights have been an ongoing concern for years. But outside of Randy Couture, Silva is the highest-profile athlete to speak out.
The problem here is that it is difficult to take Silva seriously. He can make all the valid points he wants, but who is listening? He severely damaged his own credibility over the past eight months. If another fighter stepped up and expressed the same concerns, we’d listen. With Silva, it just comes off as blame-shifting and an attempt to take the spotlight off himself.
These issues aren’t going away any time soon. The UFC won’t change its business practices until it is forced to do so, and it won’t be forced to change until a top, non-retired fighter steps up and starts making noise.
If Jon Jones or Ronda Rousey or Chris Weidman start talking about fighter pay and image rights and other concerns, they’ll be taken a whole lot more seriously than a man who exited the sport under a cloud of suspicion and shame.
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