In the past, there have been some rumblings that a few mixed martial arts (MMA) stars would be open to forming a fighter's union, seeing as how it would greatly benefit the athletes as far as rights and more specifically, equal pay are concerned.
Not everyone agrees.
According to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White, the chances of a union forming among his stable of fighters is highly unlikely. Simply put, he doesn't see his top earners such as welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and middleweight champion Anderson Silva giving up some of their hard-earned dough in order to inflate the purses of the lower-tier fighters.
From his ESPN SportsNation Fan Chat:
"I doubt it. The thing about fighting is, fighting is not a team sport, it's an individual sport. It's going to be tough to see a day with Silva or GSP is giving up big chunks of their money to guys who won't make two fights in the UFC. Different sports. But if it happens, it happens. I have to negotiate with somebody on the fight contracts."
As the UFC continues to battle the questions of the amount its stars make when compared to those of a couple of select boxing stars, White assures all critics that the payday's are a lot closer between MMA and Boxing, going as far as saying the UFC's purses 'smoke' those of its counterpart.
Though he says ‘if it happens it happens,' White doesn't see a union forming anytime soon.