In a historic move, the first union for MMA fighters has been announced in the form of the Professional Fighters Association.
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UFC has yet to release a statement regarding the formation of a fighter’s union. Now they got it thanks to the PFA.
Today is the day that UFC fighters take their largest stride on their journey towards unionisation. According to a release, the Professional Fighters Association (PFA) “will not only be a union of fighters, but it will be governed exclusively by the fighters”.
According to a press release sent out this morning, the PFA will be attempting to legitimize a player’s union through the National Labor Relations Act, a 1935 law that aimed to “protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining, and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices, which can harm the general welfare of workers, businesses and the USA economy”. The website is now a very in-depth explanation of what the union is, who the legitimate key figures from the other top sports players unions in the world are that are involved in it, and what exactly their goals are to help improve the balance between fighters and management.
The UFC has previously said that fighters are not employees of the company and are instead independent contractors. The PFA is headed by veteran baseball agent Jeff Borris, economist Andrew Zimbalist and attorney Lucas Middlebrook. “The scales have been tipped in favor of the UFC for too long”, the release states. “It is time for the fighters – the one’s responsible for the UFC’s success – to receive their equal share”, says the statement. The UFC, as a privately held entity, does not release the bulk of its financial figures and is not required to.
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Cries for UFC fighters to band together became louder when, last month, it was announced that the previous majority holders, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, had sold the promotion to a group led by WME-IMG for $4 billion. That deal has not yet closed.
