There has never been a fighter's union in boxing, which leads many to believe one will never be formed in MMA.The idea of a fighter's union in MMA has been talked about for years, however, it has always remained just that: an idea.
MMA manager Lex McMahon, president of Alchemist Management, said on Wednesday's episode of The MMA Hour that he was in favor of seeing fighter's union in MMA.
"I think it's needed," McMahon said. "I think that it's going to take further growth in the industry. I think that you're going to have to have a little bit more of a level playing field between the fighters, the management groups and the promotions before you are able to be in a position where you can really have enough strength from the fighter's side to be able to come together in a union. But it's an important issue."
Along with CEO MC Hammer and and VP of business affairs Nima Safapour, Alchemist Management represents some of the biggest names in MMA: Nate Marquardt, Brendan Schaub, Tim Kennedy and Paulo Filho.
And McMahon believes it's the veteran fighters who need to step up to make the union a reality.
"I think more important [is] to get the hall of famers, like Randy [Couture], like Chuck [Liddell], to help champion the cause. You know, I think if you get that then you start to address some of the key issues that are present: minimum standards in pay, uniform rules as respect [to] MMA across all promotions, commissions everywhere that you go, I mean, there's still many jurisdictions where there are not commissions present, medical insurance -- I think is the greatest issue confronting the sport right now. You have all these incredibly talented people who step into the Octagon, and they're covered while they are in the Octagon or in the cage, wherever it is they're fighting, they've got medical insurance then, but the training is often times harder than the fight and they are not covered during that time that they're training and that's where most of the injuries occur and most of the fighters don't have medical insurance."
Everyone from Couture to Tito Ortiz have talked about the possibility of starting a union in the past. The latest fighter to publicly support the idea is former football player turned mixed martial arts Herschel Walker, who surely knows a thing or two about unions from his NFL days.
"I think right now because of all the money being generated right now," Walker said. "This [has] become a very popular sport I don't know why there can't be [a union]."
(Editor's note: watch McMahon's interview on The MMA Hour below.)
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