Former UFC champion George St. Pierre is one of the many UFC fighters to join the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association. (Photo : Getty Images/Mark Blinch)
St. Pierre claimed that UFC fighters do not get their fair share or revenue from the multibillion dollar mixed martial arts promotion, saying that fighters, such as himself, get only eight percent instead of the usual 50-50 partition of promoters and athletes, Fox Sports reported.
The Canadian fighter, who has not seen action in the UFC since November 2013 after vacating his belt he defended against Johny Hendricks, added that even the UFC's highest paid fighter in Conor McGregor is not given his fair share for what he has brought to the company.
It can be remember that the only two-division champion in McGregor called out the UFC expressed his interest in owning stakes of the promotion, per MMA Fighting, right after dethroning former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez last November.
Former Bellator MMA founder and chief executive officer Bjorn Rebney sided with the association in the two-hour conference call and presented the plans they want to discuss with the UFC.
However, Rebney's inclusion in the association was approached with a little bit of scepticism due to his reputation with fighters and managers when he was CEO of Bellator MMA.
Included in the MMAAA's plan is the compensation of former and current UFC fighters for the "egregious, outrageous conduct they've been subject to over the last decade" and the raising of partition of revenue from eight percent to fifty percent. Rebney added that a collective bargaining agreement that includes benefits with that of major American sports MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL.
Aside from the three former champions, Tim Kennedy and Donald Cerrone have also joined the new MMA.
While St. Pierre still has to come back in action inside the Octagon, Kennedy, Cerrone, Velasquez and Dillashaw are participating in two UFC events this December and they are wary of the backlash joining MMAAA would cause their UFC careers. But as Kennedy puts it, "it needs to be done."
