MMAFA takes issue with PFA
Original MMA unionizing effort raises questions about newest group
Most mainstream sports have a players union or association, including the NFL, MLB, and NHL. On Thursday, the Professional Fighters Association announced it’s formation, via press release. It included words of support from the NFL, MLB and NHL Players Association directors.
The PFA appears to be solely directed at the UFC, and not elite professional MMA generally, including the Viacom-owned Bellator MMA, which is nowhere mentioned in the release or on the site.
The PFA appears to be headed by long-time baseball agent Jeff Boris, who has represented over 500 pro baseball players including Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, and Rickey Henderson. Second in command appears to be sports attorney Lucas Middlebrook, who represented Nick Diaz vs. the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Borris works for the Ballengee Group, the sports agency that represents both Nick and his brother Nate. The Ballengee Group was founded by Texas oil billionaire James Ballengee.
The PFA is a separate effort from Rob Maysey’s MMAFA which has advocated for a players union for some years. In an interview with Matt Connolly for Forbes, Maysey was not impressed that the PFA is run by agents, announced its formation without ever contacting the MMAFA, and is focused solely on the UFC.
We would have expected, if their effort was to organize fighters and to bring about changes in contract structure and independent rankings, that they would have reached out, said Maysey. That has not happened yet, but we anticipate that it’s going to happen. Ideally, we all come together in one organizing committee. Any group that does not take that approach … we question their motives.
We stress to all of our guys that successful association efforts cannot be led by agents. They suffer from two irreconcilable conflicts: The first being that agents view all things, necessarily and appropriately, through the lens of their clients. That’s conflict one. Conflict two: agents compete with each other vigorously, and are going to have a difficult time getting other agents to join such an effort.”
Even if the fighters succeeded in becoming employees (instead of independent contractors), they’re negotiating with a monopolist who has hundreds of millions of dollars in cushion.”
UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture recently offered words of support for the MMAFA.
Maysey appears open to a dialogue with the PFA. It remains to be seen if the sentiment is shared.
And lastly, purely from a popcorn perspective, how long before the UFC takes legal issue with the PFA logo, inspired as it is, no doubt, by the stop sign?
