Former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Randy Couture is no stranger to taking a stand against the UFC, as Couture dropped just over $500,000 in attempt to terminate his contract with the UFC before settling for a restructured deal back in 2007, and isn’t all that stunned to see stars the magnitude of Georges St-Pierre embarking on similar battles with the promotion.
During a recent conversation with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting on The MMA Hour, Couture pointed to Zuffa’s recent sale of the UFC to WME as a major ‘red flag’ for fighters under the promotion’s banner:
“I think the company selling for $4 billion was a big red flag,” Couture said. “That a lot of fighters stood up and took notice as to what those guys made off of the sale of the brand we’ve all been representing for a long, long time, and recognized that less than 10-percent of what they’ve been making, we’ve been reaping as the products, as the fighters stepping in that cage. And that’s just wrong. That equation is way out of whack, and I think until we, frankly, come together and use our voice to fight these types of things, it’s going to continue to happen.”
Couture believes change is on the horizon in the form of fighters coming together through the Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association (MMAFA), led by Arizona attorney Rob Maysey, who campaign on issues such as pushing for an amendment to the Ali Act to support MMA fighters:
“I’m confident that it can happen, absolutely,” Couture said. “Obviously, again, I think that the MMAFA model, the fighters association, is the right model for what we do and who we are as independent contractors. I think, obviously, a huge step in the right direction is getting the Ali Act amended, and then that levels the playing field with federal legislation on some level.
“I think that’s a huge step in the right direction. And yeah, I think it can definitely happen, but it’s going to guys having the strength and backbone to get over their fears of the repercussions, or potential repercussions with the promotions like WME and the UFC. Everybody’s scared they’re going to get dropped, they’re going to get blackballed, and there’s going to those kind of repercussions, so they’re not willing to exercise their voice and come together.”
Similar efforts for a fighters’ union have been made by the Professional Fighters Association (PFA), who is led by former baseball agent Jeff Boras, who have not been on the same page with the MMAFA as of late. Regardless of their differences, Couture urges the two sides to unite to fight for a similar cause:
“The association is there now,” Couture said. “The MMAFA, you can get on WhatsApp and get on the thread. There are over 200 athletes on there communicating on a regular basis about the MMAFA and all of the things, and basically there’s an education process just like there was when we were teaching people what our sport was about, and that we weren’t crazy thugs and criminals, we’re just martial artists that want to be professional athletes.
“So I think the same thing is true about what we’re doing as athletes now, educating ourselves about: what the difference is between a union and a fighters association? How does that affect us as 1099 independent contractors? What does the Ali Act do for us? There’s been an education process for all of us as fighters. For 10 years, I’ve been hearing this talk and been involved and trying to see us come together as fighters and unite our voice for quite a while now, and I feel like the best shot we have right now is the MMAFA.”
At the end of the day Couture believes the future is bright for fighters, who are now ‘fed up’ with the abuse they are taking from the promotion, now having realized the power they posses to fight back:
“I think it’s going to take some more time,” Couture said. “I think we’re going to continue to educate fighters. I think fighters are fed up with kind of taking it in the shorts, frankly, and are starting to come together and realize we have power, and only if we stay united.”
You can check out Couture’s full interview here:
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