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When news broke last night that nine UFC fighters would be named to a Professional Fighters Association (PFA) interim executive board in order to work towards the oft-discussed fighters’ union, it served to emphasize the current climate amongst UFC competitors after the company’s record-breaking sale and restrictive sponsorship deal with Reebok.

None of the top names were revealed in the announcements described by Lucas Middlebrook, but Donald Cerrone – one of the UFC’s most popular fighters – unveiled his willingness to spearhead a union during a recent media lunch scrum via MMA Fighting, and as usual, ‘Cowboy’ held nothing back:

“I’ll gladly put my head on the chopping block and say I’ll be the front face of this mother f*cker. I’ve paid my way, man. I’ve earned the right to sit here and speak. I think there’s a lot of people that are scared and not willing to step up and do it. It’s gonna take a couple of us and it needs to be done.”

Much of the backlash among fighters revolves around the massive amount of money that new owners WME-IMG were willing to pay for the promotion, a harsh reality that finally woke them up to their true relative value. The owners have only served to further an uneasy feeling by laying off ‘less than 15 percent’ of the total staff, including several top executives last week and more layoffs this week.

‘Cowboy’ wants to be the head man of the union, and it’s no surprise to hear him say it. Often a honest critic of what he earned to put on some of the most exciting bouts in the Octagon, Cerrone stated it is simply time for a union now that there are new owners:

“I’ll be the guy,” Cerrone said. “I’m not scared. All I’m saying is we need a fighters union 1,000, million percent, especially with the new owners coming in and I think now is the time. I want to know their point of view and how they want to attack the whole situation,” Cerrone said. “Because I don’t know. There’s a lot of things that I don’t know.”

It’s understandable why fighters want more certainty as a new regime takes over by cutting costs in a major way at first, something that fighters like Cerrone most likely don’t look upon positively. After a failed title bid at his usual lightweight last year, Cerrone has won three straight by stoppage a division up at welterweight, providing highly entertaining fights suggesting he deserves to get paid what he provides.

‘Cowboy’ then moved focus to the perceived lack of organization amongst fighters, who nearly always stick to their own respective inner circles in an often self-centered sport. With so much fighters lack in the way of benefits in competition where the health is on the line in a big way, the streaking welterweight voiced his stance for fighters to finally fight for themselves:

“We have no direction,” Cerrone said. “We have no one to stand up for the fighters’ rights. If something bad were to happen, no one backs him and it’s just him alone and everything gets washed out. We need people to stand up and fight for it.”

In closing, Cerrone, a thrill-seeking adrenaline junkie who is considered the most risk-taking fighter outside the Octagon, stated something that none of us would ever doubt about him; the only difference it was now all about his bid to head the pending union:

“I’m not afraid,” Cerrone said. “I’m not scared to put my neck on the line.”

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