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Trading Shots: Downes and Fowlkes on the antitrust lawsuit against the UFC

Cung Le

Cung Le

In this week’s Trading Shots, MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes joins retired UFC/WEC fighter Danny Downes to discuss the antitrust lawsuit filed against the UFC by fighters this past week.

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Fowlkes: Danny, it seems the fighters are rising up against the owners. You know, with the help of the lawyers. Earlier this week we heard from two former UFC fighters and one current one, all of whom have banded together to file a class-action lawsuit against the UFC for, according to them, illegally stifling competition while creating an unlawful monopoly. There’s a lot more legal stuff to it than that, but let’s not get too bogged down in that just yet.

I’d like to hear from Danny Downes the retired fighter on this one. When you first heard about this lawsuit, did a part of you want in on that? Or are you more the type to remind fighters that they knew what they signed on for and therefore have only themselves to blame if they don’t like it now?

Also, is it not a little weird to see how many fight fans so quickly side with management in disputes like this? Whether you think the lawsuit can or will succeed, I thought we all agreed that fighters deserve more money and more contractual protections than what they currently enjoy? Or was that just me?

Downes: At first I thought, “Good for them.” You know, power to the people and whatnot. But then, I was kind of disappointed. I don’t know what I anticipated happening when the news first leaked, but the press conference Tuesday felt kind of underwhelming. This lawsuit will certainly be a game changer, but when Nate Quarry, Cung Le and Jon Fitch are sitting there, you have to wonder, this is the best they could do?

Yes, it would have been a bit of a stretch to see a current UFC fighter out there (though I think Le is technically still under contract), but it would have been nice. Isn’t it weird that the only people who ever seem to speak out are on the Diaz family tree? There’s no real fighter community. They all roll in their different cliques ignoring larger issues. They’re far too busy mean-mugging competition to worry about the bigger picture.

Then again, maybe I’m being unfair. Maybe the only people who have the opportunity to speak out are the Wanderlei Silvas and Jon Fitches of the world. Doesn’t that muddle the message, though? We’ve talked about it before. Don’t these former fighters just come off as jilted lovers? Many have dismissed the lawsuit as a simple cash grab. Don’t we need current UFC fighters to say something for this to have any real bite?

Fowlkes: From a fan perspective, yeah, maybe. But the courts aren’t likely to concern themselves  too greatly with the ebbs and flows of fighter popularity, so it probably won’t matter much in terms of whether the lawsuit itself has any actual legal bite.

Jon Fitch

Jon Fitch

Personally, I don’t see how you can make the claim that the UFC has stifled competition when one of the plaintiffs currently fights for a competing organization and another is hoping to be released from his UFC contract so he can consider signing with a different competing organization, but whatever. The question of the moment seems to be whether this suit will make it far enough to force the UFC into pre-trial discovery, where we might finally get a good look at the financial documents that the company has done its best to keep secret.

As for why fighters rarely speak out when they’re on solid footing to do so, it seems like the UFC has inadvertently found the key to preventing the formation of a union. You don’t need the Pinkertons to come in brandishing clubs and smashing picket lines. All you need is an industry where the labor is used to being in constant conflict with one another, all in search of a few lucrative spots that they’re all certain they’ll one day possess.

Sure, it seems unfair that the big money is reserved for champions and UFC executives, while everyone else has to scrape by. But if you’re sure that you’ll be a champion one day, then it feels less like getting the shaft and more like waiting your turn, right?

What always baffles me is the argument, advanced by both fighters and fans at various times, that no one can complain since they knew the deal going in. As if, by virtue of agreeing to be a fighter at all, you give up any right to expect fair and equitable treatment. What does that say about our perception of this sport and its power structures? And where does that sentiment come from?

Downes: Because everyone thinks their situation/place of work is way more difficult than anyone else’s. When was the last time you heard somebody say, “You know what, I think I’m overpaid”? Especially when it comes to athletes, we assume that they have such easy lifestyles. I bet people even misunderstand the life of a member of the so-called media. We’d all like to be making that Ben Fowlkes money, but your life isn’t just sitting at a laptop in your pajamas and all-expenses-paid trips to Las Vegas. Right?

The life of a fighter (especially one on the undercards) isn’t glamourous. There’s a perception out there, though, that it is. Even though I haven’t fought for a couple years, I still get introduced that way. Friends will introduce me to new people and still try to work that piece of information into the conversation. There are a couple different reactions, but most of the time it’s some permutation of, “Oh wow. What was that like?” Then I have to spend 10 minutes explaining my life choices and adding things like, “Yes I am worried about longterm health consequences. No, I never hung out with Dana White. Yes, it does hurt to get punched in the face.”

The point is, being a professional fighter sounds interesting. If you meet someone who’s an insurance salesman, you’re probably not going to ask a lot of followup questions (should I get term or whole life?). Fighting sounds like a fun job. Therefore, when you hear complaining from people with this fun job (one that sounds a whole lot more interesting than your job), you think they’re being greedy. Every time a professional sports league threatens to go on strike, we hear the same tired cliches. I wish I could get paid millions of dollars for just playing a game! They should be grateful!

What do you think Ben? Do people have a romanticized view about what they think the fighter lifestyle really entails? Or is the life of a fighter really pretty chill?

Fowlkes: First of all, sitting in front of my laptop in my pajamas? That’s literally what I’m doing right now. Second, people might think pro athletes are just spoiled millionaires in some sports, and in some sports they’re right. Baseball, for instance. That’s a game. Sure, it’s psychologically tortuous, but if you’re the 11th best second baseman in the world, you’re still probably making millions. Even if you’re driven out of the sport by a bad case of the yips, all you’ve lost is time and confidence.

Fighting, on the other hand? Try being the 11th best featherweight on the planet. See how often you crack six figures in annual income during your short-lived prime. See if you don’t pay for that with a flattened face and maybe even a ticking time bomb for a brain. MMA might be a sport, but it is not a game.

As much as I love watching MMA, and as much as I’ve enjoyed getting to know the many fighters I’ve covered over the years, never have I felt like I’d want to trade places with them. Even the precious, lucky few, like Jon Jones or Ronda Rousey, live a day-to-day existence that’s a lot more grueling and emotionally taxing than most people realize. The vast majority of fighters are putting in the same work for far less reward, and somehow all they seem to want is to be allowed to keep doing it for a little while longer.

That’s not to say that these fighters are right to sue the UFC, or that they even stand any chance of winning. I just think it’s odd that the fans – the people whose money helps fill the Zuffa coffers in the first place – aren’t more interested in seeing that money divvied up fairly. Why do we only consider it “whining” when it’s someone else’s wages up for discussion? In this battle between labor and management, shouldn’t fight fans almost automatically side with labor? Isn’t it the labor, after all, that they’re paying to see?

Downes: I can’t speak for international fight fans, but I think a lot of this can be attributed to how we understand the “American Dream.” There’s an understanding that if you work hard enough, you can have whatever you want. We’re not a place of haves and have nots. It’s haves and “soon to haves.”

There’s nothing systemic holding fighters back. It’s their own limitations. Want to double your pay? Win some fights. Maybe if you drilled your takedown defense more, you’d have a few more dollars in your pocket. They have nobody to blame but themselves.

Fighters buy into this thinking, too. Hey guys, we could give everyone a little bit more money and do away with performance bonuses. Or, we can keep the performance bonuses and maintain the same pay structure. Whether it’s arrogance or ignorance, no fighter is ever going to ask the UFC to eliminate the performance bonuses. Sure, your odds odds of getting a knockout may be a bit better than the roulette table at MGM Grand, but it’s a gambler’s fallacy nonetheless.

The one thing I worry about with this lawsuit is that the real importance will be lost in all the legalese. We’ll get so caught up in the nuances of monopoly vs. monopsony that we’ll forget that the major issue is fighter treatment. Is being a fighter as difficult as a lot of the other professions? Of course not. There are plenty of people struggling to get by, but that’s not the point. You can reduce anything to whiny “first-world problems.” If you have clean water and live in a country that’s not embroiled in civil war, I guess you have nothing to complain about.

We’re not here to compare the life of an MMA fighter to a construction worker, a fast-food employee, an NFL running back, or even someone living in Sudan. We have to look at the sport as a whole and wonder, “Are fighters getting a fair deal?” I guess that’s for the courts to decide.

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Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Danny Downes, a retired UFC and WEC fighter, is an MMAjunkie contributor who also writes for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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