Does the UFC Need a Union?
Union? We don't need no stinkin' unions!
In the wake of finding out Keith Jardine got paid like a Mexican migrant worker ($14,000) for beating Chuck Liddell ($500,000) some people are considering whether there should be an MMA union. For a serious, but incomplete take, check this here. (hat tip, Deadspin)
The best part would be: UFC 105: Scabs versus Strikers
1 comment:
I posted a rather long comment on that girl's site. Just for fun, here it is:
hey, i’m new to your site but I’m a big MMA fan. I really enjoyed your post; it’s a good debate. but i have to respectfully disagree with the union thing. Here’s why:
By far, the majority of payouts for UFC fighters are not as lopsided as they were for UFC76. Yes, i think it’s ridiculous Jardine got paid $14K to fight Liddell, but that’s the contract he agreed to sign months (if not a year or more) before that fight was ever dreamed up. The fault goes to him and his agent — not the system as a whole. And I haven’t read of him complaining about his pay.
What the idea of a union fails to consider is that some fighters (Liddell, Couture, GSP, F.Griffin, Ortiz) have HUGE followings and bring in a lot of fans to the sport, significantly moreso than other fighters (Jardine, Saraiva, Junk, etc.). The first fighters I named SHOULD make more than their less-famous counterparts. By comparison, you don’t see the guy who plays Stanley on The Office (Leslie David Baker) demanding equitable pay as Michael Scott (Steve Carell), even though they both have to show up each week.
That said, the UFC does have a ways to go. It could up the base pay for all fighters ($3K is a bit low–perhaps $6K?). And I completely agree that health insurance should be provided for all fighters under contract. But I would hesitate to go the way of unions. We’ve all seen what they have done to the four “major” sports, and I think we’re all tired of hearing about some NBA player who makes $4 million a year complain about his contract. Boohoo.
Randy’s resignation was not about the fact that some fighters like Jardine only make $14K to fight. Randy was mad that the organization is bringing in all these PRIDE fighters and offering them bajillions when the “tried and true” UFCers (mainly, him) aren’t being compensated similarly. He was pissed that they (reportedly) offered Fedor Emilianenko between $1.5 and $2 million per fight, while Randy himself only makes $250,000. His resignation is a business tactic (and smart stuff), but not one that suggests the need for unions.
Lastly, I highly doubt that UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva concerns himself with scheduling a particular fighter for a fight in State X because he has a better chance of passing that state’s drug test. That’s pretty far fetched. Just my opinion.
Despite the fact that I disagree with you, you offer a compelling argument. I could see this becoming a larger debate in the MMA world. Good stuff.
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