Leslie Smith dishes on the UFC's underhanded tactics - interview with Luke Thomas

[Foppa21]

Huh. I vaguely remember them adding two weight classes both of which are female.

It's always the first. They started with BW. FW came well after that.

By his words, he wasn't keen initially

 

[mad55555]

She is a independent contractor. There is zero requirement to require her contract holder to pay for any required testing for license. Do you pay for your plumbers drug test? Do you pay any electrician more than it required to travel to your residence? If she needs extra baggage its her responsibility to cough up that 25 bucks.

You're actually making the case why the are not independent contractors and are employees.

 

[beastman]

Most of these WMMA fighters are stealing a living anyway as they are not any good, no one wants to watch them and they are only there for political reasons. Lets not sugar coat it.

They are there because Ronda Rousey made WMMA profitable. It isn't political. It is because Rousey generated a sh!t ton of money. They think another Rousey will come.

 

[tithas]

You're actually making the case why the are not independent contractors and are employees.

Then take it up with the NLRB. Until that point they are IC's and should be treated as such. Transport paid, bare minimum required to do the job and you are required to pay for any and all things needed for your certifications. You do not pay for your electricians certifications do you? I do not pay my gardener extra mileage if he needs a bigger piece of equipment.

 

[Queue]

I may be wrong, but I think she said 100k over the course of two fights, flat fee, which is 50k a fight.

I'll be honest I had no idea about the tumor, that's pretty crazy. I will admit that I don't think that should be the UFC's responsibility and I'd like to understand more behind it.

wait, I'm confused. I thought through their contract, UFC fighters get health insurance. Wouldn't this be covered?

 

[Queue]

Mmmm. So she got free money and than was cut....

And is complaining about what exactly?

That's how contracts/commission rules work, though. You can't complain out of one end that fighters should stop bitching about things that are in their contract or that AC rules specify and then bitch about the UFC having to pay up for stuff in a contract/commission stipulations. Not that I care about Leslie Smith, she's boring and that division is garbage, but still.

Also, I didn't mean you as in you personally, more the royal you.

 

[The Merchant]

what you fail to mention is that

- She initially asked for 100k per fight on a new deal

- The UFC paid for her to have a malignant tumour removed from her stomach in 2016 which they didnt have to

They treated her pretty well. She in return went out and compared them to an abusive husband on twitter.

Not really surprising they declined to offer her a new contract all things considered.

if she was 20-25 maybe.. but shes 35 years old now

The 100k story has more to it though, here's the quote.

"Smith asked the UFC for a two-fight extension worth $100,000 per appearance. The UFC declined, so she then countered with an offer to keep fighting at her current pay rate. The promotion declined that offer as well, according to the fighter."

The tumour came about after she went on TV and said she had a Benign tumour that her health insurance doesn't cover. The UFC then contacted her and got it removed, presumably as it was bad press for them not too.

Here's the text of the tweet.

"In any relationship a person is only lets themselves be treated as badly as they feel they out to be treated. UFC fighters- your employer relationship is abusive. Stop letting them undervalue your worth. Man up, Woman up, Sign an authorization card."

No mention of husband and the point is about only being treated badly as you allow.

Also Tumour wasn't malignant but benign and could be seen in her weigh-in photo's the last few years.

"“It’s a benign tumor,” Smith told MMAjunkie. “I’ve asked quite a few doctors about it, and they’ve always told me that it’s not going to kill me or anything, and that’s always nice to hear when you have growths on your body. But I don’t want this thing on my body anymore. I want to get rid of it, and I’ve wanted to get rid of it for a while.”



Here's the complete context so folk cna make up their own minds.

 

[Better Every Day]

- Even though Leslie is 4-3 in the UFC (with a 2 fight win streak), in what I must say is a very weak division

4-3 in the UFC... mediocre record.

Actually, she's on a 3 fight win streak in her division because the Cyborg loss was not in her division. And it is worth noting that the win before last was a FOTN victory. Followed by a TKO victory.

If one ignores the loss to Cyborg (Smith is after all a small bantamweight who probably could fight at flyweight), then she is 4-2 (and is, in any case, factually 4-2 in her division). And one of those two losses was a doctor-stoppage (which she argued hard against at the time) when her cauliflower ear burst from a strike and was hanging half off.

So to say 4-3 in a weak division isn't a summary that tells the story well.

~~
In addition, she gave us this brutal finish in the UFC:

 

[tithas]

wait, I'm confused. I thought through their contract, UFC fighters get health insurance. Wouldn't this be covered?

Only for training related injuries. They paid for her cancer treatment when they had zero requirement to do so.

 

[The Merchant]

Starting talking shit about the people you work for and publically organizing others against them and see how your employment/contract goes.

She even admitted to being purposely antagonistic towards the UFC the entire week. Who in their right mind would want to continue a toxic working relationship like that when you're constantly shit on about everything?

Welcome to the real world Leslie Smith and thanks for the popcorn.

I worked for the UK Government and you can speak against them and organise unions no problem. In fact it's protected by law.I'm sure this is all across my continent. Sure some younger or less well developed countries might not have caught up in employment rights etc. For majority of Westerners it is the real world. For the rest however...according to 2015 census data 71% of the world live on less than 10 dollars a day. So the majority of the world don't give a fuck.

I would hate to see how my mining in the UK would have turned out if everyone was as servile and domesticated as yourself.

 

[Queue]

Only for training related injuries. They paid for her cancer treatment when they had zero requirement to do so.

Really, they don't have an employee insurance program? I guess being contractors it makes sense but damn.

 

[LukeSkyrocker]

i cant believe these crummy woman get paid so much.

Lol at the adjective “crummy.” Reminds me of Leave it to Beaver

 

[The Merchant]

Only for training related injuries. They paid for her cancer treatment when they had zero requirement to do so.

The Chronology is she went on one of the MMA shows to say she had a tumour and wasn't covered (so had been denied) then after the interview she was contacted again and was brought in and the procedure paid for. Also somehow benign has changed to malignant in the telling as well. Which is telling. Also it wasn't malignant that's been made up by someone presumably to strengthen their argument which is telling in itself.

"Last week, Smith said on AXS TV's Inside MMA that she had a tumor on her stomach that she could not afford to have removed. The UFC does not provide fighters with full-scale medical coverage, only insurance for fight-related injuries.

After the piece aired, the UFC was quick to act. Smith flew into Las Vegas on Thursday and the UFC sent her to doctor to have the benign tumor removed. Just like that, Smith got what she needed."

 

[The Merchant]

Also UFC bought her out the rest of her contract. Then never bothered entering negotiations with her.

 

[007]

Nobody is tuning in to watch her fight so they cut her

 

[Ghost in the Dark]

Weigh missing is a major problem and something needs to be done about it, for example the one FC medical weight class assessment system.

 

[Better Every Day]

So let's say she goes out there and submits Ladd inside of a minute, that would be 3 wins in a row.

Without some foul play, how on earth was she going to be cut?

4 wins in a row in her division. The Cyborg loss was not in her division.

 

[Better Every Day]

Nobody is tuning in to watch her fight so they cut her

That isn't consistent with rewarding her with a FOTN bonus for her victory two fights back. It may surprise you, but lots of fans who aren't you like to watch FOTN-worthy fights.

 

[Better Every Day]

I'll be honest I had no idea about the tumor, that's pretty crazy. I will admit that I don't think that should be the UFC's responsibility and I'd like to understand more behind it.

Only for training related injuries. They paid for her cancer treatment when they had zero requirement to do so.

In most developed countries, it would be covered just by being a citizen of that country (national healthcare). And if there was a fighter's union, I expect that healthcare would be part of that deal.

 

[Better Every Day]

She is a independent contractor. There is zero requirement to require her contract holder to pay for any required testing for license. Do you pay for your plumbers drug test? Do you pay any electrician more than it required to travel to your residence? If she needs extra baggage its her responsibility to cough up that 25 bucks.

She is an "independent contractor" who is required to work exclusively for the UFC, and who is subject to their total control just like any regular employee. Let's face it, this has become a common unscrupulous legal loophole used by many American employers these days to gain all of the upside having of employees without having for themselves the mandated obligations to employees that come with having regular employees.