UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell has put on quite the mixed martial arts career over the years. Now “The Iceman” has come forward to offer his thoughts on a possible unionization effort within the sport.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, Chuck Liddell revealed that he is in support of a fighter’s union within MMA.
“As a fan, you really want one big organization, and all the fighters to be in it. Remember back in the day when it was UFC and Pride, and now it’s just the best guys are here and we’re not having to guess who’s the best? It was almost like a pound-for-pound ranking, where you’re just randomly picking who would fit as best in the world. So for fans, I think it’s best to have one big league. A big league and then you’ve got the best guys in the world all in the one league.
“But I think with that, if you’re going to have that, you really need a union, because [fighters] need to be getting a higher percentage of what’s brought in.”
“Right. I think so. That’s as a fighter. Now as a fan, I really want all my fighters in the same place and I want the best guys fighting the best guys. And I don’t want two 0-1 guys fighting on my card [like CM Punk and Mike Jackson at UFC 225], wasting space on my card. That’s a fight fan. I understand the business side of that too, but it is what it is.”
“For fighters, it’d be more of like the boxing model — that’d be the better model. But again, remember for that, that’s better for the top-end guys. That’s better for your main events and for having that home run at the end of your career. I don’t know that the boxing model is better across the board for fighters, because I remember back in the day — I’m not a big boxing [expert], I don’t know a bunch about their money, how they spread it out, but from what I understood, the undercard was making almost nothing.
“I get it, but because there’s that home run [of a big payday], you’ve got a lot of guys willing to put money into you [in the boxing model and properly build your career].”
