UFC 250 is in the books, and in terms of action, the card did not disappoint.
After a weekend of fights, the discourse usually would centre around the big winners on a night of compelling drama. This week, however, the conversation took an entirely different route as several of the UFC’s more prominent stars continued to voice their discontent with the promotion, and its president, Dana White.
In the past few weeks Jon Jones (reigning light-heavyweight champion), Jorge Masvidal and now Conor McGregor all took to social media to air their concerns about their own difficulties negotiating with the UFC.
More often than not the discourse has centred around compensation, or perceived lack thereof.
Last month, former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo retired in a move widely seen as a push for more money, while Jones and Masvidal have both threatened to sit on the sidelines, highlighting their frustration with a lack of fair compensation and restrictive contracts that prevent them from competing elsewhere, that ultimately limit the control fighters have over their own careers.
During Saturday’s post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White took an all too familiar tactic, outlining to those who are less than satisfied, that the show would roll on regardless, with or without them.
“And one of the beautiful things about this sport is you don’t have to fight. This isn’t the NBA or the NFL where you better be at practice, you better show up; do this, do that.
"You don’t have to do anything here. And if these guys want to sit out or retire right now or anyone feels uncomfortable in any shape or form with everything that’s going on, you don’t have to fight. It's all good", said White.
White also detailed the effects that the coronavirus pandemic has had on businesses the world over, hinting that the worst is yet to come in terms of economic hardship. This is a salient point, and operating costs for each UFC event will have increased with COVID-19 making additional safety protocols mandatory for every card.
The UFC also has to contend with missing out on the gate receipt for each event. However, while both are examples of the UFC’s profit being diminished, it does not insulate them from critique.
Those contracted to the UFC do not get a share of gate receipts, and the recent UFC’s broadcast deal with ESPN has enabled the promotion to fall away from an overreliance on PPV sales.
This was a hit for the bigger stars in the sport, as ESPN+ - the digital streaming service airing UFC cards in the US - placed PPV’s behind not one, but two paywalls, meaning fighters who earn PPV points were expected to lose some revenue from high sales.
Perhaps, surprisingly, the conversation even split over onto First Take, one of ESPN’s daily morning talk shows.
In his post-fight comments, White also alluded to the fact that fighters on the UFC roster are independent contractors and are not forced into competition. This may well be true. However, as Masvidal pointed out on Twitter, as independent contractors, they cannot sever the contract they have signed, and are essentially presented with the choice of retiring, or taking what is offered.
That may be a failure on the part of fighters management, but this is a topic for another day.
The fact that UFC fighters are not employees lessens their opportunity to bargain collectively for a higher share of the revenue split. NBA players earn 50% of all revenue generated, fighters contracted to the UFC earn roughly 20% of the revenue share, as per Bloody Elbow, who covered the ongoing antitrust lawsuit filed against the UFC extensively.
In a recent survey conducted by the Athletic (paywall), of 170 fighters from promotions such as the UFC, Bellator, and the Professional Fighters League (PFL), nearly 80 per cent of fighters polled indicated they would favour the creation of a union. As independent contractors, it remains to be seen how much such an effort would benefit the fighters, but a unified stance would undoubtedly assist their cause.
Regardless, it was always going to take high profile stars within the UFC to voice their displeasure, before the winds of change began to blow.
The promotion has been in this position before. There have been several fighters throughout history who have taken stands against the UFC, from Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz, to more recently, Mark Hunt, who had been involved in a long-running legal dispute with the company since UFC 200.
The key difference here is a number of significant names are banding together and speaking up at the same time.
While it is hard to tell whether or not this will be the watershed moment that sees the pendulum swing into the fighters' corner, it may prove to be a positive step for them as a whole. If more add their names to the list calling for a re-evaluation of the business model, the problems for White will mount, and we may see the UFC lighten their stance.
To quote Masvidal, “This is the fight of our lives.” The question is whether those already enveloped in this battle remain resolute, and, if so, for how long?
Written by Ruairi Carberry.
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