Agent Jeff Borris and labor lawyer Lucas Middlebrook's Professional Fighters Association will hold a news conference today officially announcing its formation, marking the "most aggressive effort to date to see fighters unionize," according to Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com. Borris said, "Every single athlete who is under contract with the UFC is currently being taken advantage of. From the guy who is fighting for $10,000 to show and $10,000 to win, all the way to the very top." Borris said that he intends to "spend approximately six months getting in front of 'as many athletes as I can.'" Middlebrook, who has counseled the NBRA and the Professional Soccer Referees Association, said that the group "needs to collect authorization cards" from 30% of UFC's roster, which features roughly 600 athletes. The PFA "expects the UFC to challenge its fighters' right to unionize." In order for a union to be recognized, Borris "would require support from a simple majority." He has promised to "only move forward with the PFA, however, if the support is far more overwhelming than a simple majority." Borris: "I'm not going to go to war with these guys if only 301 of them vote me in to be the executive director. That would show there are fragmented groups within the whole. So far, after talking to the fighters I have spoken with, I don't notice any fragmentation whatsoever." The UFC "has always been a private company, meaning its financial information is not public." The PFA estimates, however, that athletes "currently receive" only 15% of the organization's revenue (ESPN.com, 8/17).
FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT: In Las Vegas, Ed Graney wrote when it comes to the PFA, that "old line about a union only being as strong, effective and powerful as its members who participate isn’t necessarily true." In this case, it "must be the right members," which are the fighters the UFC "actually needs." Many have "attempted to unionize UFC fighters over the years, to get them in line with other professional athletes," but all "have failed." Borris, who represents Nate Diaz, "has as good a chance as any" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 8/17).
