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Report: Jon Fitch released by UFC
By Zach Arnold | November 19, 2008
And the reasoning has nothing to do with his fighting ability, either:
Former number one UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch was today handed his walking papers for refusing to sign an agreement that would give the promotion exclusive lifetime video game rights to his name and likeness, MMAmania.com can exclusively confirm.
My first reaction: UFC wouldn’t be so willing to do this move if they didn’t think that Jake Shields would soon become available on the open market.
My second reaction: This situation reminds me a lot of the lawsuit that famous poker players filed against the World Poker Tour.
My third reaction: This is pretty abhorrent behavior, in my opinion, on the part of UFC. Yes, the 170 pound division has a lot of talent. I realize that Fitch was outclassed by St. Pierre in Minnesota last August, but that still doesn’t change the fact that he’s a decent fighter to have on the roster. Remember, this latest business dispute with UFC is not the first time Fitch has encountered anger from the powers-that-be — he was also going to be sponsored for a fight by MMA Mania and UFC supposedly put the squash on that.
Here’s hoping that Jon Fitch can find himself booked in Japan very shortly. I think he was vastly underutilized by UFC.
There is a part of me that is wondering… why is UFC so hard up on the licensing rights agreement issue right now? Are they in that much need of a revenue stream? It’s not as if Jon Fitch being in the video game would make or break sales of it. So, I wonder if there’s another motive at work here…
Luke Thomas has some thoughts on this developing story. I’m sure that Rob Maysey will also have some thoughts to share on this situation soon.
Update: Dave Meltzer reports that other stars like Cain Velasquez and Josh Koscheck could get cut very soon.
While there will be some who attack agent Bob Cook for telling his fighters not to sign the ‘lifetime’ rights give-away deal by UFC, let me be the first to stand up and applaud Cook for doing his job. He’s trying to represent his fighters as best as he possibly can. We can’t complain about piss-poor representation in the sport and then, when fighters do get legitimate agents who look out for their clients, suddenly complain about fighters being ‘greedy.’ The situation UFC seems to be creating for themselves, in my opinion, is penny-wise and pound-foolish.
There’s little upside for UFC to cut guys like Jon Fitch or Cain Velasquez over this situation, considering what the company currently pays for them per fight. This situation will ensure negative media attention and probably take away a fair amount of good-will that was earned in the major sports media over the weekend with Brock Lesnar’s title win. No other ‘major sport’ has issues like this, but then again most other ‘major sports’ have players associations/unions.
So much for those upcoming ‘legendary’ Brock Lesnar/Cain Velasquez fights.
Update II: From UFC-friendly Kevin Iole… Dana White says he doesn’t want to do business with any fighters associated with American Kickboxing Academy any longer.
“Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let [Fitch] go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren’t partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them.”
Now, this is a Vince McMahon-style promo. However, check out this gem from Iole’s article:
Zinkin also represents UFC light heavyweight Chuck Liddell, though Liddell does not fight for AKA. White said he has been “beefing with Zinkin for years” and said he had to call Liddell, one of his closest friends, and tell him to get Zinkin to back off.
Shocking – just shocking – that a fight promoter would allegedly tell a fighter to tell his agent to stop being ‘a bully.’ Yes, I’m being sarcastic.
I find it rich that Dana White is now playing: the victim card, the economy-sucks card (a few days after a $4.8 million USD gate in Las Vegas and claims of 1.2 million PPV buys), the you-with-me-or-against-me card, and now the we-want-all-your-likenesses-for-life-you-independent-contractor card. It would be a shame if UFC and WWE had to face a world where they lost a battle in court with fighters challenging their independent contractor status, wouldn’t it?
One other thought… this story gives the anti-MMA people in New York some ammunition now to cause UFC problems in terms of getting MMA legalized in the state.
Michael Rome has more details on the purported agreement Zuffa wanted Fitch to sign.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 53 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
That’s F’d up!
I’ll reserve my final judgement until more facts are out, but my initial reaction is utter disgust at this turn of events.
Wow. It’s wild that the UFC would even CONSIDER dropping the man who is arguabley the #2 welterweight in the world. Fitch was destined for greatness in the UFC, even though he may never beat GSP, and hopefully they realize that.
The UFC is going overboard with these clauses and hardball tactics. Exclusive lifetime video game rights to name and likeness? Aren’t clauses like that illegal? Absolutely ridiculous. And yet fans have the nerve to criticize Fedor for not signing with the UFC. Fedor and other big stars might make more money with the UFC in the long run but you have to look out for your own rights. At the end of the day, Fedor, Fitch and others have the right to not sign with the UFC. Slavery was abolished 143 years ago.
ridiculous imo. although i would be more then excited to seen on Dynamite
Why do this to Fitch after going the distance with GSP?
Best of luck to Fitch, there are great matches for him with Strikefore, Affliction, K1, Dream, etc.
This is another reason the sport needs strong competition among promoters and a union for fighters.
couldn’t they reach a compromise where Fitch wasn’t in the video game? i guess that it’d be unacceptable to the UFC to show weakness
Lifetime rights?
Bastards.
Jon, I wish you a successful career outside the UFC.
The biggest loser: us fans.
45, cyph and the crew – still think a UFC monopoly is a good idea?
Nothing like unbridled trampling of fighters rights etc. just because you can…first it was because they’re “boring” or won’t “renegotiate”, now it’s because they won’t sign away rights in perpetuity.
I just was gonna say that Gaijin, thanks for stealing the words out of my mouth. Toss in Ivan to that pile also.
Bottom line is UFC has the ability to ensure we are watching the very best compete and are completely squandering it. I guess my argument broached on these comment sections isn’t so stupid after all, plus the bounty of points I had already highlighted that were apparently “straw man arguments”.
Alot of these blogs should not exist now with UFC beign the only MMA available, alot of these people are just not qualified to be talking like they are.
Yes, one organization is still the best. Like I have said before, the fighters will need a union when that happens. This is an example of why. A guy like Fitch has no reason to sign a contract like this. With a union, they could push back on Zuffa nad these terrible tactics.
Zuffa is really dropping the ball lately. They are going in many wrong directions. Fitch and his contract. Werdum and his contract. Okami not being given a title shot. A popular fighter needs to take stand to make sure these things don’t happen in the future.
*barfs*
Gaijin: Exactly. There’s always Strikeforce in Jon Fitch’s future. Thanks to available competition, Jon Fitch knows that he doesn’t have to be bullied by Zuffa like this. But Strikeforce can only do so much. Fedor, Andrei Arlovski, Tito Ortiz, Josh Barnett, etc. are screwed though once Affliction bites the dust.
*wipes eyes* Did 45 just criticize Zuffa?
Did hell just freeze over?
Zuffa is moving farther and farther away from true sport, and more and more into spectacle.
And btw 45, one organization is the best, when they actually attempt to make all the best fights. Otherwise then no, it is absolutely not the best, it is the WORST.
Well, Fitch & Okami are two of my favorite fighters… So it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, even for a “Zuffa Lover” such as myself.
When are these fighter camps going to stick up for each other?
I know it will be a long road to get a union going. The Fertitta’s are known union haters in their casino business. They will fight it to the end. However, it just takes a few big champions and retired stars like Couture to get this rolling. I always mention Couture when I mention a union, mostly because he really can yield so much power. He is a powerful name that fighters respect. He has a gym that reaches a large number of high profile fighters. And all they would have to do is get 3 or 4 other major gyms (AKA, ATT, Soares Crew, and Jackson’s) to go with them, and Zuffa would have to bow to their wishes (as long as they are reasonable.
Things such as:
1. Minimum Pay for UFC fighters.
2. Tiered contracts. So if a fighter is signed for a certain amount and then gets a title shot, he gets more for that fight.
3. Fighters get money for their likeness. Whether it be DVD sales, video game sales, either way, they need to be compensated for the each money being raised on their names.
4. Fighter Fairness. A union can push for this. A guy like Okami has no business being 1 fight away from being shown the door. He should be fighting Anderson Silva next. Also, some fighters spend way too much time not fighting, even though they say they are ready…. And this all happens to please Zuffa’s schedule. A union can avoid this.
I have to believe that MMA fighters are smarter then Pro Wrestlers. Eventually they will realize they have to unite or only get bullied more in the future.
Union will never happen because the top guys will never risk huge paydays for the bottom guys. This is exactly the reason why one big org is not good for the fighters.
So, 45, how do you feel about fighter’s striking? I mean, you hated it when Couture didn’t “fufill his contractual obligations”. What if it happens en masse?
Better yet folks, let’s say MMA fighters unionize and then strike for higher pay against Shitty Don King: What do you think happens to the explosive growth of the sport? I bet it makes the contraction of hockey’s popularity look like a party.
I want to believe that a union can change things in the UFC but boxing has been around for a long time and fighter unions haven’t really made much traction in boxing. How many lives has Don King ruined? Dana White isn’t down at Don King or Vince McMahon’s level but hell even WWE superstars get ancillary rights on merch, DVDs, etc.
The difference is that boxing is filled with random promoters all trying to work together.
MMA is set up by company. Much easier to unionize when there is a company backing it.
Most boxing promoters want to control the sport all on their own. Why do you think De La Hoya bought Ring Magazine?
In any case, 45: MMA strike. How would you feel?
I would be for it. If it cripples the sport for a period of time, then so be it. It is a necessary evil at this point.
Here’s to hoping Affliction scoops up both Jake Shields and Jon Fitch with their “Unacceptable Pay Grade” and throws both against eachother on Januarys card to stfu all the Zuffaettes.
Viva Le Affliction~
I dig Affliction for putting on great fights but there’s no way they are going to survive past January. T-Shirt Guy is going to lose a lot of money in January, be forced to drop MMA as a result and just stick with his clothing business.
Question…. Could this mean that Zuffa is trying to sell the company?
One thing that makes many of these MMA companies worthless is that their fighters are not bound to the company. By having everybody not only signed to contracts, but to have their images signed as well, it makes the value of the company much higher for a potential sale.
This could be a motive.
Nah I don’t think the Fertittas are trying to sell Zuffa. Lorenzo Fertitta recently left his executive position at Station Casinos, where he was paid an obscenely large salary, to spend more time at Zuffa. That shows he’s in it for the long haul.
dave2 your more then likely right, but as I have all along and will continue to hold a slight glimmer of hope. If UFC keeps cutting fighters it will make things alot easier for Affliction by not having to lure them away with double/triple the pay UFC offers. And if thats the case and they can pay comparable to UFC without burning bridges like Zuffa, and have meaningful fights unlike Elite XC, Affliction could be around abit longer atleast.
I hate to say it but I feel slightly vindicated from all the hate I was getting in that last thread, all thanks to Zuffas stupidity. Who’s got the Sherdog Trollface mentality now? Not Me! (I dont think so atleast)
Speaking of Sherdog, Greg Savage left out the words lifetime and exclusive in his report on the Fitch situation:
“A source close to the situation told Sherdog.com that Fitch had refused to sign an agreement that would have relinquished his likeness rights for video games.”
If you frame the scenario like that, then it makes Fitch look bad because it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Fitch to allow the UFC to use his likeliness for UFC videogames. It’s the lifetime part of the clause that is really bad. Though even without the lifetime thing, this deal would be controversial because UFC fighters won’t earn any royalties from this game just like they don’t from the DVDs UFC sells.
Dave Meltzer is reporting that the agents for those two had told talent they were contracted to not to sign the merchandising paperwork, and that Cain Velasquez will be released and that Josh Koscheck will be released following his next fight.
Fitch is placing considerable value on the future use of his name and likeness.
I doubt that any licensing deals and future purses will exceed what he’s chosen to forgo in future UFC and sponsorship earnings.
Phase 1: Retain rights to name and likeness
Phase 2: ???
Phase 3: Profit!
Considering the fact that Affliction is losing tons of money and is gonna have a huge failure on ppv in January, i’d say that slight glimmer of hope isn’t even that.
Sucks for Fitch but guys need to realise that just like with the NFL, if you work for Zuffa it’s their way or the highway. I really see no reason why a guy like Fitch wouldn’t sign this agreement he’s not marketable and he is one bad move away from being the next Matt Lindland.
Did a little research. Seems like even the major players unions are exactly doing great thing to their former athletes. A few interesting articles, with how these issues are being handled in other sports:
NBA: http://espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/s/2003/0226/1514486.html
NFL: http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/sports/story.jsp?floc=sp-main-7-|1&flok=FF-APS-2020&idq=/ff/story/0030%2F20081019%2F1116786776.htm&sc=2020
Guess we should’ve seen this coming, without any competition Dana White is going to play hardball with fighters, especially fighters who aren’t drawing money for him right now. Neither Fitch, Velasquez, or Koscheck are money draws at this point.
Without EliteXC where do they go? Dana will just let them sit on the sidelines until they feel like coming back, almost like he did with Randy Couture. Only problem being none of the previously mentioned fighters have made the money Couture has, and probably can’t afford to be on the sidelines for that long.
Well here I am Tom, at your defense once again.
Lets break down some actual numbers rather then just blatently saying “Afflictions already broke”
The total disclosed payroll for the event was $3,332,100.
This past Saturday’s “Affliction: Banned” event drew a total attendance of 14,832 — a small increase from the night’s announced attendance of 13,988 — for a live gate of $2,085,510.
Tom Attencio claims the PPV did over 100,000 buys at $39.95 (cheaper then UFC also)
Affliction Clothing grossed over $100 million dollars in sales for 2007, and will almost double it’s sales to $200 million in 2008 if they finish as they have in the 1st and 2nd quarter.
You guys can do the rest of the math, its pretty simply. Sure some if it is probably fabricated, but the proof is in the pudding and Affliction doesn’t seem to have to worry about dryed up fudning too quick.
Well if everything is great in the land of Affliction why did they ask fighters to take a paycut after only their first show?.
Why did they cancel their second show and have taken 6 months to put on another one?.
While those numbers are nice, you forgot to factor in all of the cost that go along with starting your own MMA org. That plus all the cost of promotion their shows and bonuses that go undisclosed etc.
There is a reason why these companies lose millions upon millions of dollars when they start. Add to that also that the have no real revenue stream aside from t-shirts that have gone out of favor with mma fans.
Not to mention that they also just tried to make peace with the UFC, and get out of the mma fighting business and stick to t-shirts.
All of these things lead me to believe that these guys are all ready to throw in the towel. Once the January 24’th show flops horribly, it’ll be a matter of months before they join Elite on the mma org graveyard.
Zach:
I haven’t read the thirty comments above me. Bit to answer your question the reason he was released is that UFC has to make it an absolute. You sign on for all liscensing rghts or you are gone. If UFC makes an exception for one guybthy have to for everyone. You can argue that isn’t right. But looking at this as a business UFC’s position makes sense. If it wasn’t for the risk Zuffa Fitch wouldn’t be making money in MMA.
The athletes in the other sports all give away those rights. Now they are repped by a union which the MMA guys aren’t. What Zuffa is doing is similar tithe WWE deals. The WWE guys make good money off toys and video games. I’m not sure what Zuffa is ofrfering. But as a fights you have to realize that UFC holds all of the cards.
Fair enough I took no overhead or their stupid Megadeth performance into consideration.
I said it originally, and I still believe the reason they pushed things back is because after the first show they realize they made mistakes and are now attempting to learn from them to rectify the situation. It’s only human nature to make mistakes, but it’s the responsibilty to learn and correct them so hopefully they never do them again.
Plus from the looks of things now Golden Boy won’t have a boxing card on the same night after all due to some type of contract difficulties with their boxers.
I see Afflictions glass as half full unlike many here, sure it will likely backfire but I will support their product and pay the money to watch especially if they can secure people like Fitch/Shields, which would heavily bolster their coming card.
And the main reason why Affliction becomes so much more relevant now is besides UFC there is no more “Big Show” except what Affliction is doing.
Basically the only logical move for Fitch right now is to Affliction. Japan makes absolutely zero sense. And if he goes to Affliciton it should entice Shields to join up to fight the elite competition he covets.
The more fighters UFC cuts the more relevant Affliction becomes. (even though they only held one show this year)
This is what happens when the UFC holds a proverbial gun to the head of everyone on its roster and says, “Sign away the rights to your own likeness for the rest of your life, or else.” Not everyone is going to respond well to threats.
Great reporting on this btw Zach, your analysis is spot on as usual.
Maybe he doesn’t get paid enough to break news, but he reported it to me since I saw it here first (with great satisfaction validating my previous arguments, notice the silence?) since I use this site as a portal to everything MMA related.
His analysis is golden. Just like my prognostications that some individuals declared trolling. Bahahaha.
“Question…. Could this mean that Zuffa is trying to sell the company?”
I brought this up before. 100% they will sell the company if the right offer is in place. This is why Lorenzo came to clean things up. This is why they’ve been pushing the likeness agreements since the Spring of this year. Fighter’s likenesses in perpetuity is a great asset to sell if you are selling the UFC.
Who would sign their likeness away to a company that might sell. You have no idea who the new owners would be or how they would run the company. Like Fitch mentioned in his Iole article, a fighter could die and they could make memorial shirts/figures/dvds/etc and the dead fighter’s family wouldnt see a fucking dime.
People clammoring for a union are fucking retarded….tell me how that would ever happen. It will never happen. You would need everyone on board, and the big stars won’t sign on.
It doesn’t matter anyway, cuz guess what one of the requirements for getting on TUF is now? You guessed it, signing the likeness agreement. They have a stable of dudes and all these UFC shills will a year from now be saying Jon Fitch was scared of Amir Sadollah. Jon Fitch was a farce, etc etc.
Look at how Fedor was being shit on even yesterday. How can you blame the best fighter the sport has ever seen in its short history from signing a deal like this?
More insight:
http://www.tapoutlive.com/images/mags/ufc_legal.pdf
Ed. — Someone should get a hold of Darren Rovell at CNBC and ask him for comment on this situation.
Wow, Zach you’ve really jumped the fence now into full on Sherdog poster mode here. Zuffa is selling, ripping Iole, bashing TUF, Fedor the greatest fighter ever, let’s not get crazy now.
Every time a top level UFC fighter was cut, Japanese people saved him from unemployment. Things have been like this until Tito was refused. Since then, Americans who pursue his career in Japan are those who don’t mind getting lowballed. We are in a new era.
Problem with Fitch is that he’s a real man living in a life sized world, and he doesn’t think it’s cool to be a star playing in someone else’s senario. You know what it means? It means he’s not cut out to be a showbizer. I knew it when he said in the interview “I don’t care how many guys come to me and kiss my ass”. I was impressed with what he said but at the same time, I knew he wouldn’t last very long.
I am more curious how Dana’s decision will affect the relationship with AKA, especially after the Punk retains his title and makes people believe Strikeforce will be there forever. AKA is now like a refugee shelter where ex UFC contenders run to. Dana obviously doesn’t appericate that.
EJ…I am not Zach Arnold if you were responding to my post. I rarely ever go on the Sherdog forums either.
I apologize Zach (Arnold), for confusing you with the other Zack.
It sucked playing Chicago in NBA JAM? Horace Grant instead of MJ? C’mon.
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How can people who make it a point that the fighters should form a union get offended when union-less fighters get screwed with? I guess fighters don’t have to form a union after all. They can just rely on hardcore MMA fans leaving butthurt messages about them on MMA blogs and everything will work out in the end.
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If unfair contract agreements held up in court, Brock wouldn’t be fighting in the UFC right now. The WWE made him agree to not wrestle in Japan or compete in MMA for ten years when they let him out of his contract in 2004. He was able to get both of those provisions overturned and has wrestled in Japan and fought in MMA.
I think the first MMA fighter to challenge this lifetime likeness clause in court will win.
We should all protest by boycotting the year end UFC PPV event. It would require multiple MMA blogs to organize and distribute the message, but it could be done.
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