Conor McGregor, UFC200, and Unionization

In the past few hours we have learned that Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz are “retiring” young.

UFC fans know these fighters well enough to question the “retirement” claims. I’m sure we all suspected contractual sparring behind the scenes of the UFC200 event. Then this tweet by Charly Arnolt pointed us toward the money:

McGregor wants to be the Floyd Mayweather, Jr. of MMA

Let that sink in. I don’t mean McGregor wants to be the best fighter alive. I’m saying McGregor wants to be the richest fighter alive. His constant trolling of Mayweather, Jr. and the proposed $1-billion-dollar reward McGregor expects for such a fight, illustrate his intentions perfectly.

But boxing is not a good model for MMA athletes to look at for pay structure. The boxing industry is archaic and in desperate need of a “league” structure. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. may even go down in history as the last of his kind: a superstar boxer with the power to suck up all the money and attention in the business.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. made all the money in boxing. Illustration by Cassidy Lee Phillips

The UFC must be mindful of the bigger picture. The UFC has to pay a whole league of fighters, and years worth of expenses. Maybe McGregor knows something about the UFC’s financial books that the public does not, in which case, we might be headed for a fighters union.

A Fighters Union

If Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz really want to change the pay structure in the‪ UFC‬, they should start a fighters union.

Unionization is the only thing that gives NBA, NFL, and MLB players the power to negotiate the big contracts we always hear about.

As a group, the fighters have the collective bargaining power to make the UFC open their financial books. Then everyone knows how much money there is to go around.

Otherwise, McGregor and like-minded MMA fighters are welcome to go play in Mayweather’s old boxing playground.

If boxing is doing it right, you have to wonder why more MMA fighters don’t try to make it in the older sport [1].

Former Youtube star Kimbo Slice has had an “interesting” boxing career to go with his similar MMA career.

Footnotes:

1. Outspoken boxing trainer Freddie Roach criticizes the boxing technique of Nick Diaz (Nate’s older brother). Nick periodically claims that he is leaving MMA for bigger paydays in professional boxing.