Muhammad Ali Act: Good For MMA?

Rob Maysey of MMAFA.tv thinks so in a very long article...but it's definitely a good read...here's some of the highlights

The following response is to a statement made by Makan Delrahim a lobbyist hired by Zuffa:

Is it really a “whole different story?”  Should the Muhammad Ali Act apply to MMA?  In May of 2008, even Marc Ratner, the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for Zuffa stated that there “is absolutely no reason that the sport should not be regulated along with the sport of boxing.”5

Does this matter to mixed martial artists, and should they care?  In short, the answer is yes.  The activity undertaken by Zuffa “to do everything they possibly can to not be listed under the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 2000″ is directly hostile to the interests of mixed martial artists, and the stakes are enormous.6

The following quote from the article talks about Zuffa's exploitative business practices and other defects in how MMA fighter's are affected:

What actions constituted “exploitative business practices,” and what is meant by increasing “honest competition and the integrity of industry?”  The Senate Committee Report details each of these items:

1. long-term promotional contracts and options hurt the boxer and the sport;
2. organizations do not have credible ratings procedures;
3. organizations have inconsistent procedures, and state regulations do not adequately regulate promoter contracts;
4. difficulty for state commisssions to individually monitor promoter-boxer contracts, and necessity of a federal mechanism to prevent hidden agreements; and
5. promoters forcing boxers to give options in return for getting a title fight.

Each of the defects noted above applies in full to the current status of mixed martial artists.

As I stated it's a LONG article...and I simply couldn't post it all here...but feel free to check it out...and drop your thoughts.