Improving fighter representation will not be stopped
Published by Zach Arnold on October 27th, 2008 in Current Events

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“They’re all a bunch of pukes who tell you ‘we can do this, we can do that.’ If they deliver on 20 per cent of that they tell you they’re going to do, you know … When you end up signing with this those guys, they end up (screwing) you up some way.”

Those are the words of UFC President Dana White in an article by Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press published last Saturday. Davidson’s article detailed Georges St. Pierre’s recent move to agency powerhouse CAA to represent him in all major business matters.

What? A major fight promoter upset with one of his top fighters signing up with a real agency to represent him in business matters? I’m shocked. Maybe if St. Pierre cut his ties with CAA, Dana White and UFC will also cut his ties with Shaquille O’Neal’s agent, Perry Rogers. Sure.

No one should be surprised that Dana White is angry about the concept of his top fighters getting ‘Hollywood’ agents. After all, Randy Couture ended up with agent Matt Walker and proceeded to have a long legal battle with UFC management. Tito Ortiz has found himself in-and-out of UFC several times. White has a long track-record of not dealing with high-powered agents representing high-profile fighters, which is why Lorenzo Fertitta has been Ortiz’s conduit to talk to UFC on a business level.

Unfortunately for White, he better start boning up on how to do business with real sports agents and managers. With UFC being the only ballgame in town for Mixed Martial Arts, fighters are more than ever in desperate need of representation at the bargaining table. Leverage is rapidly decreasing along with the amount that UFC will pay out to fighters in base salaries and bonuses. Why wouldn’t a fighter like St. Pierre sign with powerhouse CAA?

White has boxed himself publicly into a corner in regards to fighter representation. In the past, he has made remarks about how unserious some fighter agents are, claiming that fighters bring along their fathers, brothers, and uncles to represent them at the bargaining table. However, someone like St. Pierre signs with CAA and suddenly Dana’s upset at ‘Hollywood’ puke agents? Is there any agent Dana White likes? Of course not. However, if he thinks that every MMA fighter will represent himself like Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics represents himself at the bargaining table, then think again.

Given UFC’s current structure for fighters to make money, sponsorship is a big part of the equation. UFC has gone to great lengths to not only supervise which sponsors fighters are with but also which sponsors (like Affliction) are permitted by the company themselves. It doesn’t seem like there hasn’t been a month gone by when we haven’t heard some story about UFC having trouble with another company over merchandising or sponsorship. MMA Payout recently claimed in a report that Walmart has been having problems with UFC. If UFC wants to keep a low base salary structure and have fighters heavily reliant on bonuses and sponsorship money, then the company has to be prepared for fighters to turn to major agencies like the CAA to protect the fighter’s interests in terms of obtaining sponsorships. It only makes business sense, especially considering that UFC manages to utilize WWE-style tactics in having fighters sign as ‘independent contractors’ despite the fact that fighters, when signing such an agreement, are only allowed to work for UFC and for what UFC deems to be appropriate in terms of business deals.

For fighters like Georges St. Pierre, signing with CAA is an absolute necessity. With UFC now pushing new merchandising provisions and contracts to fighters to sign away their image likenesses for video games, toy figures, and other merchandise items, it is imperative for a fighter to protect themselves at all costs. It’s also interesting to note that if UFC is able to get the rights to all of the likenesses and image trademarks of the fighters who work with them that it would, in theory, make it easier and more attractive to sell the company and its assets to the highest bidder down the road (if Zuffa wanted to get out of the business at some point.)

UFC has created an environment in Mixed Martial Arts where they are gaining acceptance within the mainstream sports media. As part of that tradeoff of being taken as a serious sports entity, UFC better be prepared for its fighters to sign with good agencies and to pay out more of the profits made from shows to the fighters who deliver the goods in the cage. In past business analyses of World Wrestling Entertainment business reports, Dave Meltzer has noted how WWE has been able to manage costs in such a way that wrestlers are taking home maybe 15-20% of the profits while the company maintains the rest of the revenue stream. While MMA is certainly a more expensive business to run than WWE, the fact remains that UFC has done a masterful job of controlling costs by limiting the salary structure that fighters are under. Part of this strategy is by encouraging fighters to generate a significant portion of their income through sponsorships. As long as UFC continues to encourage fighters to look elsewhere for further revenue streams, then the company better expect that fighters will look to high-powered agencies to represent their best interests. UFC can’t have it both ways.