Along with several fighters like Cain Velasquez, Donald Cerrone and Tim Kennedy, to name a few, former UFC Welterweight Champion George St-Pierre, announced the formation of the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association on Wednesday.
The MMAAA is the first known fighters association of its kind, looking to serve fighters and improve the clarity on situations surrounding the fighter’s finances.
In the wake of the new association, George St-Pierre invited UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor, to join the association, claiming every fighter could benefit from the MMAAA, irrespective of their position, ranking or money they currently make.
St-Pierre speaking to reporters post the historic announcement said (courtesy of BJ Penn):
“Even though Conor is the most well (paid) athlete, he doesn’t have his fair share of what he should have, and I’m saying this from the top contestant to Conor McGregor, they don’t have their fair share.”
“There’s something I think about Conor McGregor; I’ve met Conor a couple of times,” St-Pierre added.
“You have the Conor McGregor that’s a human being and the Conor McGregor of business. The one you see in the UFC, is the Conor McGregor that’s business. But the Conor McGregor that’s a human being, I know for sure he knows what’s right. Nobody is a perfect human being, but Conor is not a coward. He knows what’s right, and everybody knows what we’re doing is right. So, of course, we would like to have the biggest name in the sport on board, and we need it.”
The MMAAA has got a lot of backing from fighters across the roster via social media, as Tim Kennedy officially announced the formation of MMAAA, going on to claim the association would not leave fighters, as they have been before.
This is a historic moment for the sport of MMA, with fighters across weight divisions and promotions along with commentators, lauding the move. The key reason for the creation of such an association is down to the massive differences in the percentage of salary earned by the fighter, in comparison to the total revenue collected by the organisation for each event.
The current rate is a minimal 8% of the total revenue made by the UFC, compared to 50% in other sports, former UFC champion George St-Pierre went on to explain.
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