Markwayne Mullin, 38, a retired MMA fighter, successful entrepreneur, and congressman (R), representing the 2nd District of Oklahoma has introduced Federal legislation amending the Ali Act, so that it also covers professional MMA, and even kickboxing.
The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, widely known as the Ali Act, is a federal law enacted in 2000 in response to widespread abuse of boxers by means of exploitation, rigged rankings, and rigged matches. Sen. John McCain offers a one page summary of the Ali Acthere.
The way boxing works now, a sanctioning body has a title, and a list of the top contenders. Then promoters essentially bid against each other to promote that title shot. Unfortunately, boxing sanctioning bodies only get paid for title shots, so, they make up a lot of titles.
“It’s become a farce to recognize 74 different world champions when there are only 17 weight divisions,” explained boxing reporter Joaquin M. Henson for PhilStar last year. “And that’s just covering the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO. Additionally, there are four vacant thrones. Other organizations like the IBO and WBF crown their own champions so the list is virtually endless.
“Governing bodies make money out of charging sanction fees for world title fights so the more, the wealthier. The WBA is the most unscrupulous player of all. It recognizes super, undisputed, unified, regular and interim world champions so that in the latest ratings, there are six super, three unified, one undisputed, 17 regular and 11 interim titleholders. Believe it or not, the WBA recognizes 38 world champions in 17 weight categories and therefore, charges sanction fees each time they fight.”
Many have suggested that the growth and popularity of MMA vs. the decline in boxing is due exactly because there is one champion in a limited number of weight divisions in MMA, rather than the alphabet soup that is boxing.
However, Rep. Mullin says proof that the Ali Act works can be seen in the purses.
“Look at our high end boxers and look at the revenue they can bring in and then look at our top tier athletes in MMA and it’s not even comparable,” he said to John S. Nash for BE.
Of course, boxing purses were large before the Ali Act, too, and are large overseas, where the Ali Act has no effect. On the otherhand, the alphabet soup organizations too existed before the Ali Act.
There are further arguments that the Ali Act has little effect even in the USA, but Mullin does not agree.
“It has worked,” Mullin contends. “It’s a piece of legislation that does work if its used and its been used a few times in court.”
Mullin conceded that there has been little Federal enforcement, but notes that it has been cited several times in civil cases brought by fighters against manager or promoters, which he believes keeps the industry honest.
Mullin pointed to the Ali Act requirement that promoters disclose event income as a clear area of use in MMA, noting that promoters frequently tell fighters they are not making anything, and have fighters sell their own tickets.
In Mullins vision, the UFC would still have its champion, and Bellator would have its champion, and sometimes, if the rankings dictated it, they would have to fight each other.
“Lets say the Bellator champion and UFC champion are one and two in the rankings, they can have a title fight between each other. Maybe it’s for both belts, or for one belt or for a super belt.”
Mullin suggests that the rankings might come from the commissions.
In the end, writes Nash, Mullin thinks the UFC has to choose between one of two options – allow for the Ali Act or make it a league like the NBA or NFL, with collective bargaining.
In the end, in reality, amending the Ali Act will come down a simple test. Is mixed martial arts broken to the point that the Congress and the Senate are willing to change Federal law, making MMA more like boxing in its structure?
Then factor into that question the UFC’s Federal lobbying efforts, as detailed by John Gingerich for O’Dweyer’s.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has retained Washington, D.C. firm Farragut Partners for lobbying help on Capitol Hill in response to a House resolution aimed at regulating full-contact combat sports.
According to June lobbying registration documents, Las Vegas-based UFC, which is the world’s leading promoter of mixed martial arts and generated a record-breaking $600 million in 2015, has launched a lobbying effort to communicate with Congress its position on the Muhammad Ali Act, which is currently facing amendments.
Currently, the Muhammad Ali Act does not apply to mixed martial arts. Some in the MMA world — including industry group The Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association, among others — have argued that Congress should amend the Act to allow its protections to cover MMA, as the auspices it provides would benefit that fast-growing industry’s fighters. Others, however, have argued that the Muhammad Ali Act isn’t applicable to MMA; that the bill was created to offer protections for another sport whose rules and organizational structure are entirely different.
The UFC, in particular, has for years resisted Congressional efforts to expand the regulations of the Muhammad Ali Act to MMA. UFC parent company Zuffa in 2008 retained lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to lobby on Capitol Hill in opposition to Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) now-failed Professional Boxing Amendments Act of 2007, which would have further amended the 1996 Professional Boxing Safety Act and strengthened the oversight of the Muhammad Ali Act by standardizing new health and safety requirements as well as establishing a new commission to oversee the sport.
Now the UFC appears to have a bigger fight on its hands. On May 26, Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) introduced H.R. 5365, The Muhammad Ali Expansion Act, which would broaden the provisions in the Muhammad Ali Act to include fighters of combat sports such as mixed martial arts. The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy (D-MA).
Farragut Partners was formed in January by former partners of lobbying firm Ryan, MacKinnon, Vasapoli and Berzok. A three-person team at Farragut will manage the UFC account, which includes partner Jody Gale; Jeffrey Mackinnon, former legislative director for Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX); and Jeffrey Mortier, former professional staffer to the House Energy and Commerce Committee under chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and legislative assistant to Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY).
