According to a recent report from Yahoo.ca, UFC is set to offer a $100,000 insurance policy to each fighter to cover any injuries they sustain in their bouts.
It has become a common occurrence for fighters to suffer injuries during their training camp, forcing them to withdraw from their bouts and ultimately receive no income. It is pretty simple—if you compete, you will earn a paycheck.
However, UFC vice-president Lorenzo Fertitta is planning to change that.
“We looked at this as a necessity for the sport and something that needed to happen,” Fertitta said.
Fertitta commented on the fact that he and UFC president Dana White have explored this issue awhile ago, and acknowledged the fact that injured fighters were not receiving many benefits. Fertitta said the company will pay approximately 350 athletes who suffer out-of competition injuries, effective on June 1.
Fertitta said fighters have been paid in the past for suffering training-related injuries, but in acquiring a carrier, Houston Casualty Insurance Company, now all expenses will be paid for.
“When you go to an underwriter and say, ‘Hey, we potentially want to insure 400 ultimate fighters,’ they pretty much close the door on you pretty quickly,” he said.
“We didn’t just give up, given the responses we were getting and the answers we were getting from a lot of these carriers. We continued on and it has been a 24-to-36-month process we have been going through to do it.”
Yahoo.ca also reports the new insurance plan being provided to the fighters will only cover training-related injuries and not their medical insurance, such as hospital visitations and prescription drugs.
“This will cover accidents that occur while a fighter is under contract with us,” Zuffa general counsel Lawrence Epstein said.
“Training injuries, a guy falls down the stairs, an automobile accident, those would be covered, but it wouldn’t be something like the flu or some disease or illness. It would only cover accident-related injuries.”
The recent news will likely generate a well-recieved approval from several media outlets, and some coverage, too. With recent announcements such as providing monitors for cage side judges, and a launch of their new interactive web page Discover UFC, the UFC is beginning to walk a fine line within the mainstream media and is another step closer to earning recognition and acceptance as a credible sport.
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