While Jake Paul talking trash about Dana White and the UFC pay structure brings a lot of entertainment (and headlines) in the background the Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association have been fighting legal and political battles for improvement for over a decade. These battles have quietly but surely yielded positive results.
The MMAFA is the force behind the antitrust lawsuit, lobbying Congress to bring the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act to MMA (to give fighters the same rights as professional boxers) and other reforms. While none of these fights are over the finish line the long term pressure created by these battles has brought about some improvement for current fighters.
Today the MMAFA issued a press release boasting about some of their successes including shedding light on the real revenue split in the UFC (with only 15%-20% of revenues going to fighters), bringing in contractual reforms (such as the sunset clause which may clear UFC Francis Ngannou for real free agency while still the active heavyweight champion of the promotion) along with the potential to pay past fighters hundreds of millions of dollars if the antitrust lawsuit proves successful.
There is room for both celebrities such as Jake Paul raising awareness about woeful fighter pay and looking to fan the flames of reform along with the less media friendly long hard fought battel of groups such as the MMAFA.
Below is their press release in full:
Combat Sports Law 