Will the UFC's Fighter Insurance Result in More Cancelled Fights?

by ufc4 on May 17, 2011 10:22 PM EDT

While a big deal has been made about the positive impact of the new health insurance policy that Zuffa has given their fighters there is one possible negative side affect that I haven't heard mentioned- will this cause more fighters to pull out of scheduled fights?

There is no doubt that health insurance is a great thing for the fighters and the long term viability of the sport. However, now that the fighters know that they don't have to shoulder as much of the cost of their medical treatment as they used to it makes it much more likely that they will want to get any medical treatment taken care of before the fight in which case they will have to postpone or cancel any upcoming fight that they are scheduled for.

From what I understand the insurance only covers injuries suffered in training, not during a fight. If a guy has an arm or leg injury that before they would have just fought through they are now taking a big monetary risk by just "toughing it out" and waiting until after the fight to see a doctor. It only makes financial sense for the fighter to have it taken care of on Zuffa's dime rather than their own.

I don't want to make it sound as if I am criticizing a fighter for wanting to do this, it makes perfect sense and if I were in their position I would probably do the same, but it may cause more headaches for Zuffa brass than they had previously considered. The UFC is already dealing with injuries to 3 of their 7 champs (plus Georges St Pierre but his is apparently healed) and the next 4 numbered cards have all had their main events impacted due to fighters getting hurt. We all remember cards like UFC 108 which seemed to be cursed from the day it was announced. I wonder if we will have to deal with more of these types of events in the future.

We as fight fans hate seeing a card get shuffled due to injury, especially if we have purchased a ticket to the event (not to mention spending money on travel and hotel) but I think it's probably something we're going to see more and more of in the future. In the long term the health of fighters is obviously the top priority and will make for a better sport but there may be some unintended consequences to deal with because of it.

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Comments

Good thought and good article.

I guess only time will tell but I could definitely see more fights being cancelled because of it. Like you said, you can’t really fault them for it, but it may end up being a pretty big headache. I’d bet we see more “balls to the wall” training too considering the risk of incurring medical bills is lessened. Besides just taking care of old injuries, the harder training could just mean a natural increase in the number of injuries that result in fight cancellations regardless of the fighters intent.

by Brandon Starr on May 17, 2011 10:31 PM EDT reply actions

Tell me you did that photo shopping yourself

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by II SMASH II on May 17, 2011 10:33 PM EDT reply actions

LOL, I wanted something straight and to the point.

by ufc4 on May 17, 2011 10:38 PM EDT up reply actions

That's enough for a Rec

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by II SMASH II on May 17, 2011 11:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Photoshopping?

MS Painting

by Shaun32887 on May 19, 2011 12:46 AM EDT up reply actions

doubt it. It would also be kind of hard to prove a causation here.

by tkired on May 17, 2011 10:48 PM EDT reply actions

Fighters were already covered for injuries in fights, and that isn’t changing, so there’s no concern about dodging a fight to avoid a post-fight check IDing an injury. In fact, guys used to have to do the opposite at times, fighting so they could be covered for a training injury by disclosing it during post fights.

And, while this may lead to a slight increase in fighters pulling out, as treatments they could not afford can be afforded now, leading to a miss due to a surgery, for example, fighters are still going to do everything they can to fight because most of them still need to fight to make money, The insurance covers bills for medical care, but doesn’t pay your rent.

And on the flip side, the pull outs could go down, as a fighter is more likely to get something checked out early, before it becomes an injury that can sideline them long term if neglected for months.

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by JustBlogGuy on May 17, 2011 11:35 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs

No

The fighter pulling out still loses his paycheck. The UFC covers his medical bills but he’s still out the cost of his training camp.

But now at least a guy who breaks his arm training isn’t out a paycheck AND out of pocket for his own treatment.

Never approach a vast undertaking with a half-vast plan.

by szquirrel on May 18, 2011 3:31 PM EDT reply actions

It might mean that fights will get cancelled sooner,

as fighters now have less incentive to try to work through the injury, only to fail and have to pull out anyway.

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by Llewdor on May 18, 2011 5:23 PM EDT reply actions

Maybe

But if that means less guys fighting injured, then I’m all for that. I’d rather see a healthy up-and-comer than a wounded champion.

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by Derek Suboticki on May 18, 2011 6:28 PM EDT reply actions

Took the words from my mouth.

It’s up to the fighter to weigh the potential risk/ benefit of every fight he takes. Having insurance to take care of injuries is a good thing, especially if it’s a pressing injury that you can’t afford without taking a fight injured.

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by ElliotMatheny on May 20, 2011 8:18 AM EDT up reply actions

In the short term? Maybe. Long term? No.

Right now, there are a bunch of fighters with issues that are probably seeing doctors and to get things taken care of. So, you might see a bunch of fighters pulling out to get stuff done that’s been bothering them for a while.

But . . . the sooner an injury is treated, the shorter the period of healing and the better the healing, meaning they’ll be able to train more effectively. Healthy fighters will fight more often. This . . . seems pretty obvious to me.

by Christopher Bradley on May 19, 2011 2:24 AM EDT reply actions