On a day that both UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard were forced out of their scheduled May 28 bout with injuries sustained in training, it seemed downright ironic that the organization’s Las Vegas-based company Zuffa would announce its newest initiative.
In what UFC president Dana White calls a “milestone” for the company, the promotion will provide its UFC and Strikeforce contracted talented with supplementary, year-round insurance that will protect them in case of injuries sustained in training and between bouts. The coverage is a rare development in the history of combat sports, and the news came as a surprise to most fighters and managers in the MMA world, though UFC president Dana White said it had been a goal since day one, and Zuffa co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta added that it had become a laborious three-year process to find a willing insurer.
“As you can imagine, when you walk into an insurance company and say, ‘Yeah, we want to get full coverage for 400 ultimate fighters that includes all of their training and all of their lives,’ they pretty much slam the door on you pretty quick,” Fertitta said in a Monday teleconference.