Herschel Walker Lends His Considerable Credibility to an MMA Fighter's Union

And not to bring politics into the forum too much but aren’t west coast republicans generally anti- union?

Good article though, and it’d be interesting if Walker brought this up with other media outlets like ESPN and other major news networks.

I think to get all the champions on board, all the champs would have to be from the same gym / same management for it to be organised easily. But of course as soon as a champ loses, the next champ might not be as willing to be part of the union / players association.

of course he says that the ‘announcer’ decides who the best is, that’s BS… the best become that way through fighting

I’m sorry, but I always shake my head at what professional boxing has turned into with fighters having MORE power than the federation and giving “two sh*ts” about what the fans want to see.

I am not for a Union at all!

“the unions are opposing MMA legalization in New York state as a way to punish the Fertittas for their labor practices”

Unions fucking suck for the most part, after years of watching the UAW destroy the American auto industry (and the huge tax deals in the South for Honda/Toyota yeah I know) you learn that unions are more used as a tool for people in power than anything else. Jimmy Hoffa Jr still the teamsters president right?

I’m in favor of unions. I just hope they go after more logical things like fighters keeping the rights to their image and better pay instead of trying to do away with the champions clause. Without the champions clause MMA could become boxing in a hurry. Keeping fighters going against the top competition is part of what makes MMA work.

Because this is an individual sport, I really don’t see how they’ll ever be able to organize everyone and get all the fighters on the same page. Only way would be to do it by gyms, but then what if a fighter changes gyms? Only way I see things getting better is by passing something like the Ali Act or some version of it for MMA. Each fighter has their own wants and needs and bargaining power depending on their drawing power which to the UFC and pretty much all promotions is all that matters.

Those things should never happen, but almost all of the people I see jacked up for a fighters union are bitching about the UFC, not Shine Fights. For all of the UFC’s faults, their fighters are taken care of. There are a few things like full-time health insurance, and possibly purse pay if they are injured and pull out that could be addressed, but what fighters in the UFC are being taken advantage of?

Firstly, I am pro-union, to the extent that they protect fighters, most especially in terms of pooling resources for such things as medical insurance. That said, a fighter’s union beyond that would shift the power to union leaders and fighter management. Then instead of the fights seen on a promotion like UFC, one would see the match-ups promoted by Strikeforce where champions avoid defending the titles. Regardless of the level of abilities of either Fedor or Overeem, they and/or their management have chosen that they will not fight and so there is little that Strikeforce can do except ask the fans to suck on it and enjoy the second tier fights. At the same time, the UFC can have Lesnar fight Cain and had finally forced Tito Ortiz to face a series of real threats instead of washedup fighters like Ken Shamrock.
There are a number of fighters and/or managers who would exploit the power vacuum, like that of boxing, and the result would be, like boxing, champions waiting and avoiding real challengers for years before defending against a credible opponent. In the meanwhile, promising young fighters would rarely be seen until the old ones fall from the vine.
The only reason that Strikeforce is not a greater force then what it is now is because it gave up its power to its main fighters and they control who they ultimately fight. Otherwise, if Strikeforce had followed the UFC’s lead, they would actually be providing real competition to it instead of wondering whether they will entice Fedor or Overeem to fight sometime in 2011.
Just my thoughts.

While a fighter union may not be the best option, there needs to be some system to keep promoter dictatorship in check. Indefinite champion clauses, for starters, should go – and there is no way the UFC as we know it will move a finger in that direction unless it is forced to do so. Being forced to sign away your likeness in perpetuity, the whole ‘independent contractor’ garbage and other such things – just add them to the pile.
Then again, as long as Zuffa keeps its top talent happy with status quo, few things are going to change.

I am not familiar with the health insurance industry in the US to make any valid comment other then assuming that a union (not the UFC), through the numbers of its members, would be able to obtain an insurance plan for its members. In addition, my comment was based on the assumption that a fighter’s union was instituted for purpose of health insurance, would have members from all or most fight organizations and promotions.
Perhaps greater information on insurance for fighters is a BE article in itself since I, and others, are guessing. But, all that said, I am of the mind that a union would severely injure the very industry that it would draw its members from. An oxymoron situation, so to speak.

Without the unions who is looking out for the employees to make sure they are making a decent wage and have decent health care

The employees