Ending MMA “leagues” would allow for better pay.

[Istryker]

I’m not saying to end promotions such as The UFC or Bellator or ONE, those should be kept and so should the belts (we need more belts in my opinion). But the exclusivity of fighters and the lack of cross promotional matches is what hinders mma fighters from touching real money. There needs to be a mma oversight commission that allows for purse bids and open negotiations amongst fighters and fights. We just seen this in boxing with Triller outbidding Top Rank for Teofimo Lopez’s next fight even though top rank is Teo’s promoter. (Also the fight is a mandatory and not even a big fight).

imagine If Dhiego Lima and Usman were to have an open purse bid for a fight? Or Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou?

I understand that boxing or Conor Mcgregor money isn’t exactly sustainable for mma but I truly want these fighters to get better pay and have a CHANCE to touch some real life money.

 

[AmericanMMA]

I'm not a big union guy myself, but a fighters union in this case would alleviate the issues. Especially in the UFC.

 

[Istryker]

I'm not a big union guy myself, but a fighters union in this case would alleviate the issues. Especially in the UFC.

What exactly would a union do?

 

[AmericanMMA]

What exactly would a union do?

Fight for profit sharing as they do in the other Major sports in America with unions. They'd go for a 50%. I have no idea what it is now in the UFC, but I know it is not that high.

 

[kflo]

I’m not saying to end promotions such as The UFC or Bellator or ONE, those should be kept and so should the belts (we need more belts in my opinion). But the exclusivity of fighters and the lack of cross promotional matches is what hinders mma fighters from touching real money. There needs to be a mma oversight commission that allows for purse bids and open negotiations amongst fighters and fights. We just seen this in boxing with Triller outbidding Top Rank for Teofimo Lopez’s next fight even though top rank is Teo’s promoter. (Also the fight is a mandatory and not even a big fight).

imagine If Dhiego Lima and Usman were to have an open purse bid for a fight? Or Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou?

I understand that boxing or Conor Mcgregor money isn’t exactly sustainable for mma but I truly want these fighters to get better pay and have a CHANCE to touch some real life money.

Aren’t purse bids only for title fights when the mandated challenger can’t agree to terms with the champion? How would this work in mma when the titles are with the promotions?

 

[Nightgunner05]

You’re right OP, this is why everyone loves boxing so much. The best fight the best no matter what promotion they belong to.

 

[Post 2 Decision]

I would hate to see more belts, the belt system in boxing is fucking retarded.

 

[kflo]

Fight for profit sharing as they do in the other Major sports in America with unions. They'd go for a 50%. I have no idea what it is now in the UFC, but I know it is not that high.

There is no profit sharing in golf, tennis, baseball. And the other sports have revenue sharing (well, they set floors and caps based on prior years revenues).

 

[FIghtxIQ]

I’m not saying to end promotions such as The UFC or Bellator or ONE, those should be kept and so should the belts (we need more belts in my opinion). But the exclusivity of fighters and the lack of cross promotional matches is what hinders mma fighters from touching real money. There needs to be a mma oversight commission that allows for purse bids and open negotiations amongst fighters and fights. We just seen this in boxing with Triller outbidding Top Rank for Teofimo Lopez’s next fight even though top rank is Teo’s promoter. (Also the fight is a mandatory and not even a big fight).

imagine If Dhiego Lima and Usman were to have an open purse bid for a fight? Or Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou?

I understand that boxing or Conor Mcgregor money isn’t exactly sustainable for mma but I truly want these fighters to get better pay and have a CHANCE to touch some real life money.

This will only happen if the belts weren't tied to the promotions. Other than that only way it can happen is cross promotion fights which may or may not ever happen. Promotions don't want their belts being held at another promotion because that would just cause all kinds of problems like having to have more cross promotion fights trying to win it back and what happens to your division with the belt gone and taken by another fighter in a different promotion?

Only when there are belts that aren't tied to the promotion can this happen but they would still have to work on cross promotion between the promotions. This will only happen if a promotion gets viewed as equal to or better than UFC in terms of talent. That's the only time the demand for cross promotion fights will be high, and the only time the promotions would consider a cross promotion fight.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

I’m not saying to end promotions such as The UFC or Bellator or ONE, those should be kept and so should the belts (we need more belts in my opinion). But the exclusivity of fighters and the lack of cross promotional matches is what hinders mma fighters from touching real money. There needs to be a mma oversight commission that allows for purse bids and open negotiations amongst fighters and fights. We just seen this in boxing with Triller outbidding Top Rank for Teofimo Lopez’s next fight even though top rank is Teo’s promoter. (Also the fight is a mandatory and not even a big fight).

imagine If Dhiego Lima and Usman were to have an open purse bid for a fight? Or Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou?

I understand that boxing or Conor Mcgregor money isn’t exactly sustainable for mma but I truly want these fighters to get better pay and have a CHANCE to touch some real life money.

What you’re really saying is ending exclusive and / or multi fight contracts.

 

[Istryker]

Aren’t purse bids only for title fights when the mandated challenger can’t agree to terms with the champion? How would this work in mma when the titles are with the promotions?

Number one contender or other champion fights go to a purse bid

 

[kflo]

Number one contender or other champion fights go to a purse bid

So again, how would that translate to mma?

 

[Istryker]

So again, how would that translate to mma?

Are you being retarded on purpose?


Not even trying to be rude or anything.

 

[avenue94]

I'm not a big union guy myself, but a fighters union in this case would alleviate the issues. Especially in the UFC.

Unionizing is nearly impossible in the UFC, too many barriers:
-UFC can fire fighters trying to organize
-UFC can sit out strikes longer than most fighters
-It's a combat sport, the UFC can put bounties on fighters they don't like and strike break that way
-Card check requires 30 percent of the workforce to sign, that's nearly 200 fighters
-How do you get a fighter in Brazil to understand that a purse that they can live on in is not enough to get by in the U.S.?

Major sports in America with unions. They'd go for a 50%. I have no idea what it is now in the UFC, but I know it is not that high.

Fighter pay is usually under 20 percent for the UFC. And unions and associations are helpful, but the biggest boon for athlete pay comes off of competition and free agency. Those would be better areas to focus on if you want to increase fighter wage share.

 

[kflo]

Are you being retarded on purpose?


Not even trying to be rude or anything.

Sanctioning bodies call for the purse bids when the 2 promotions can’t agree on terms. The UFC #1 contender is a UFC fighter. Always. Should I ask if you are being retarded on purpose?

 

[Volador]

I'd rather have them keep the UFC and Bellator, etc, and unionize in order to bargain for collective deals, like the NFL, NBA, etc. Either you agree to pay a negotiated percentage with the players association and certain contractual benefits, minimum purses, # of signed fights, or flexibility to get bought out by other orgs, etc, or the players collectively boycott the org. I think this would allow the UFC and other orgs to keep some of the matchmaking and promotional powers and make plenty of money, while having to pay a larger piece of the pie to the fighters. Not sure about the logistics to make this happen.

The boxing system allows for higher pay, but also makes the sport unattractive at times. The promoters become obsessive and protective about building their fighters' records, and many of the best matchups never happen.

 

[Bubba32]

its just going to make the fights we want to see harder to make. we dont want boxing.

 

[avenue94]

Not sure about the logistics to make this happen.

It would be really hard. It would mean negotiating multiple CBAs (most professional sports unions only have one at a time). Just as an example, a card check to hold elections requires 30 percent of the workforce signing up, that's nearly 200 UFC fighters you would need to get onboard and coordinate. And that doesn't' even guarantee a union.

The best way to drive up fighter pay, like any athlete, is free agency and competition. For example, cap all mma contracts in length, no tolling, no champion's clauses, limit matching periods. Those kind of things would be a fighter's best friend in terms of pay.

 

[TheChance]

(we need more belts in my opinion)

Stopped reading after this. Horrible take. Look at what having all those belts have done for boxing.

 

[Volador]

It would be really hard. It would mean negotiating multiple CBAs (most professional sports unions only have one at a time). Just as an example, a card check to hold elections requires 30 percent of the workforce signing up, that's nearly 200 UFC fighters you would need to get onboard and coordinate. And that doesn't' even guarantee a union.

The best way to drive up fighter pay, like any athlete, is free agency and competition. For example, cap all mma contracts in length, no tolling, no champion's clauses, limit matching periods. Those kind of things would be a fighter's best friend in terms of pay.

Yeah, not sure about the practical side, just saying, at least in theory, it would make sense. If the roster feels defeated from the get go and none of the influential guys even try, then it's tough. Is that 30% number based on some kind of law?

And I agree with the other points. I think one of the worst things is that the contracts are ridiculously unbalanced in favor of the UFC. They can offer you 3 shitty fights a year until you complete the 8 contracted fights they made you sign when you were on TUF, or in the regionals, and if you don't like the opponent, the pay, the venue or anything, UFC can sit you out forever, literally, and not allow you to work with anyone ever again in your life until you accept what they give you and complete all 8. I feel the contracts should expire after a set period of time so you can explore free agency.

At the same time, they can end your contract on a whim and cut you with no compensation. Since the other orgs do similar things, and the UFC has a huge historical advantage to the point of an oligopoly that brutally favors the UFC (not to diminish their accomplishments, they also earned their popularity), this creates shitty conditions for many guys. How exactly could this change, is it a matter of legislation or what? I was thinking collective actions could help with that too, but I don't know.