On one hand, UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture sees how easy it would be to get fighters to speak with a collective voice. He then recalls his fighter’s mentality and his optimism becomes tempered.
Couture has been an advocate for fighters’ rights since he resigned from the UFC in 2007 in protest of his treatment. He’s lobbied for the amendment of the Ali Act to include MMA fighters – giving them the legal protections of boxers against unfair or onerous contracts – and spoken in favor of the MMA Fighters Association, the longest-tenured effort to unite fighters for better working conditions.
Yet, 15 many years later, no collective bargaining has been attempted. Although there have been many factors that have thwarted efforts to make changes, Couture believes they were driven mainly by one factor.
” Fighters can be very egocentric,” he stated recently in The MMA Hour . They don’t see the bigger picture often. They don’t see themselves that way. A lot of times we’re arrogant, honestly.
” We think it won’t happen to us, but it’s going to happen to many of you if we fail to take advantage of the window of opportunity .”
Couture understands why fighters fail to see that window. He fought his way to the top and was privileged to be one of the promotion’s biggest stars. He felt that he was still subject to mistreatment. He didn’t realize that the only way to get better conditions at work was to join forces.
Couture was just like everyone else who works in cages. His mission was selfish. And the UFC, ultimately, rewards those who reach the top the the lion’s share of the resources. They often invest more than what fighters take home from fight nights, which fosters a sense of loyalty.
Couture realized that time was his best teacher and had to make a stand for himself in order to get a better deal.
“I had to take care of that money and make sure I could propagate this brand that I’m building while I’m able, physically, to walk up in that cage and do what we do, that’s going to carry me down the road and allow me some existence not getting punched in the face after I retire,” he said.
Couture still requires that punches be made to the head, but they are only for show. He is an actor, comedian and performer. In light of Francis Ngannou’s possible standoff with UFC, he was asked for his perspective.
It’s deja vu, plain and simple. While Couture’s circumstances are not exactly the same as Ngannou’s, in that there were still two fights on his contract at the time he resigned from, these themes remain: Respect, Freedom, and Fairness.
Eventually, Couture tired of the fight and re-signed with the promotion, $500,000 poorer after grappling the UFC in court.
” I was doing what was right for me,” he stated. I didn’t receive any support from the other fighters. We might not have ended up in this situation now if we had unified. It is possible that we could have created a fighter’s organization, established minimum standards for fighters, and set retirement plans, health care, and other benefits professional athletes enjoy in many other sports. But that didn’t happen, so here we are, 14 years later, still talking about the same issues.”
Couture didn’t want to regret the difficult lessons he learned. These lessons gave Couture the insight he now has. The way he sees it, in a fair marketplace, fighters know exactly what they’re worth because of the transparency mandated by the Ali Act, and “a guy like Jake Paul can make more money in one of those crossover boxing matches than any mixed martial artist has ever made.”
” “That’s unfair,” he stated. Let’s face it, the world doesn’t always fair. So it’s up to us as fighters to come together and unite.”
Couture predicts that Ngannou will be available as a free agent by the end of the year or that he could face a tough court fight. Although the former champ doesn’t know what’s going to happen, he is confident that more fighters will eventually join forces.
” “It takes men like Francis to get those six-figure fighting contracts.” Couture stated. “There aren’t very many of them. If those fighters are prepared to sacrifice their lives to make the sport better, and we all unite to develop these criteria and improve the sport for our athletes .”
, I believe the sport will change for the best.
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