It didn’t exactly come as a huge surprise when Tim Kennedy proudly announced the launch of the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association(MMAAA) during the early stages of a conference call on Wednesday.
When a press release promising an “industry re-defining” announcement from Bellator founder Bjorn Rebney, Georges St-Pierre, Donald Cerrone, Cain Velasquez, Tim Kennedy and TJ Dillashaw was sent around on Monday, it was immediately speculated that a union or fighters association was about to be established. After all, a number of those involved had been quite vocal in their criticism of the UFC in recent times and/or had advocated for some sort of a fighters association.
Then, when a report from Deadspin suggested that Rebney had already registered domain names such as mmaathletesassociation.org and mmathletesassociation.info, it became rather obvious what was about to unfold.
Per MMAFighting, it was announced that the MMAAA has three main goals; to earn settlements for UFC fighters past and present, to bring the revenue share between the UFC and it’s fighters to a level that is in line with that between franchises and their athletes in other major sports, and to negotiate a collective-bargaining agreement with the UFC.
Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre said that, at present, UFC fighters only take home about 8% of the revenue that the world’s largest MMA promotion brings in. The Canadian great added that even the UFC’s highest paid athlete, lightweight champion Conor McGregor, isn’t being paid what he deserves.
GSP says that in most sports the money is 50/50 for athletes. In MMA it's 8%.
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) November 30, 2016
GSP: Even Conor McGregor doesn't get his fair share.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 30, 2016
Rebney: These athletes are risking more for less than any pro athlete on earth. They are paid pennies on the dollar.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 30, 2016
Tim Kennedy, whose extensive military background is well documented, said that the MMAAA was there to ensure that no fighter would get left behind.
Kennedy: 'No man left behind resonates' with me. We're here to make sure that no fighter in the UFC gets left behind.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 30, 2016
“I would have assumed that if the UFC had reached the level of success they have, the fighters would not be left behind,” added Kennedy(via MMAFighting).
Here is how other fighters reacted to the news….
https://twitter.com/NikLentz/status/804071096660164611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/colemillerATT/status/804078507462688769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Here… we… go! https://t.co/xGraZnsQDN
— The Mane Event™ (@EliasTheodorou) November 30, 2016
I'm listening in on THE conference call right now, fighters in support of each other and their rights is awesome. @TimKennedyMMA
— Leslie Smith (@LeslieSmith_GF) November 30, 2016
Great group of fighters there to start this movement. As long as ya'll can handle getting periodically cussed out by Bjorn this has a shot https://t.co/BTB0WNMjt6
— Stephan Bonnar (@StephanBonnar) November 30, 2016
One of the biggest concerns/gripes that many seemed to have with the announcement was the involvement of Rebney. UFC fighter Sam Alvey told FloCombat earlier in the week that he always thought of Rebney as a “shady guy” and it seems that others are not so fond of his involvement in the association either.
Rebney's saying a lot of the right things, but some of this feels like his personal anti-UFC axe to grind.
— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) November 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/JESnowden/status/804074950328012804
https://twitter.com/JESnowden/status/804073068587089920
Listing to what Bjorn says ! Why didn't he do all this when he had the chance to change it ? Why ? Fuck me ! The BS outa this guys mouth.
— Graham Boylan ?? ☘️ (@GrahamBoylan) November 30, 2016
Fighters involved MUCH RESPECT. Bjorns involvement just damaging,it stinks & I don't believe his intentions are legit &for the right reasons
— Graham Boylan ?? ☘️ (@GrahamBoylan) November 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/iainkidd/status/804117594177470464
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time in 2016 that an association has been set up to represent the interests of UFC fighters. In August the formation of the Professional Fighters Association(PFA) was officially announced at a press conference in Las Vegas. However, in recent days, the PFA has taken a major hit, as MMAFighting reported that UFC bantamweight Leslie Smith and founding member Lucas Middlebrook cut ties with the association on account of an apparent information leak.
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Read More About: Bellator, bjorn rebney, cain velasquez, Donald Cerrone, donald cerrone news, georges st-pierre, georges st-pierre news, mma, mma news, tim kennedy, tj dillashaw, Top Story, UFC, ufc news
