When it comes to fighters’ rights, nothing will change until more athletes step up and help out Leslie Smith’s unionization effort, according to Brendan Schaub.
Brendan Schaub is calling for more UFC and Bellator fighters to step up and help Leslie Smith out with her unionization effort, Project Spearhead.
The former UFC heavyweight said earlier this week on his podcast, Before The Belt, that more athletes need to act as a public voice and support Smith’s initiative if they want to successfully unionize in the foreseeable future.
“That Project Spearhead, I hope it’s the one that breaks through and all the fighters get behind,” Schaub said. “Can you imagine if Conor (McGregor), Khabib (Nurmagomedov), Kevin Lee, [Daniel Cormier], [Demetrious Johnson], (Cris) Cyborg, Holly Holm, Rose (Namajunas) did this, imagine how many waves this would make? The problem is it’s Leslie Smith doing it, as sad as that is to say. I’m with her, and I’m down for the cause, and I hope it works out.”
Schaub’s comments follow Smith’s departure from the UFC last weekend. The women’s bantamweight was expected to face prospect Aspen Ladd at UFC Fight Night 128 in Atlantic City, but her opponent missed weight. Smith, who was on the last fight of her UFC deal, wanted to use Ladd’s miss as an opportunity to extend her contract. But instead, the UFC decided to pay Smith her show money and win bonus and count that as a fight. Smith subsequently became a free agent last Friday; the UFC was not interested in renewing her deal.
“If Conor did this, the UFC would be sh-tting their pants,” Schaub said. “But if you’re Conor, you’re not mad at the payouts and the way it’s being ran because you have so much money. You’re basically a partner with them. Leslie Smith is not a partner.”
Schaub, looking at it from the promotion’s standpoint, can’t blame the UFC for letting Smith go, seemingly because of her unionization efforts. Schaub said the UFC took “a little bit of a black eye” PR-wise the Monday after Smith’s release, but “this train keeps on keeping on.
“What would you do if you ran the company? You’d probably get rid of her,” he said. “It’s a form of bullying, but for whatever reason, our sport puts up with it.”
The problem with Project Spearhead, Schaub said, is that Smith, “just another grey elephant” that is “difficult” to work with, is its lead voice. UFC lightweights Kajan Johnson and Al Iaquinta are also part of the interim executive board, but if you ask Schaub, that probably isn’t enough.
“All of this is smoke and mirrors until the fighters want it,” Schaub said. “Leslie Smith can’t be the only one that wants it. You need all of them to want it.
“Until you all decide that you want things to change, you cannot complain, because you’re part of the problem. Leslie Smith is not part of the problem. Leslie Smith now doesn’t have a job because she wasn’t part of the problem. She wanted to go against the grain.
“You see any other fighters sticking up for her? Have you seen one tweet from a major superstar in the UFC? Nothing, right? Not one f-cking word. … Why do you think that is?”
Schaub is confident nothing will change until many other fights take action.
“This is the fighters’ fight,” Schaub said. “Until the roster gets together and they decide they want things to change, it doesn’t matter what Leslie Smith does.”