Silent majority?
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) may not get much dissension among the ranks when it comes to issues affecting the current crop of mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, but that's probably because most of them are worried about job security.
Take away their identity, however, and they sing like a canary.
That's according to "MMA Confidential" in the Sept. 16, 2013 edition of ESPN the Magazine, which quizzed 38 fighters -- most of them competing under the ZUFFA umbrella -- about a variety of hot topics, including a union, fighter pay and (gasp) transgender athletes like Fallon Fox.
Here's what they came up with.
51 percent believe fighters are taking some form of performance-enhancing drugs
47 percent are convinced that abstinence will benefit them on fight night
29 percent worry about a fighter dying inside the Octagon
41 percent believe Georges St. Pierre is the best MMA fighter on earth
16 percent admit that sweat is the grossest thing about their opponents
96 percent are opposed to having a transgender athlete compete in MMA
27 percent have competed against opponents who lost their bowels during a fight
74 percent are against promoter-mandated "super fights"
76 percent are in favor of a fighter's union
For the record, UFC employs over 300 fighters.
Other "confidential" tidbits include the average fighter salary ($70,307) and average amount of weight cut prior to a fight (17 pounds). To see more from the upcoming ESPN poll, including a nifty little graphic of all the questions and answers, click here.
You've seen the numbers, Maniacs, but do they accurately represent the bigger picture?
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