With an ultimatum made by plaintiffs’ attorneys on behalf of the fighters suing Zuffa to the MMAAA, Dana White appears to be the winner at this point.
In an interview with TSN, White finds the current state of organizing fighters hilarious. He has specifically called out Bjorn Rebney, the former Bellator head. On the UFC Unfiltered podcast, he referred to him as “Bjork.”
Last week, the MMAAA was unveiled with Rebney as an unpaid strategic adviser according to the organization. This week, plaintiffs’ attorneys in the Le, et al. v. Zuffa, LLC, et al. sent a “cease and desist” letter to Rebney on behalf of MMAAA advising them that they were the court appointed representative of the class of fighters that Rebney’s group is seeking. Moreover, it was revealed in the letter signed by Eric Cramer, that Rebney met with the plaintiffs’ attorneys at CAA offices in New York. The meeting was to determine whether the two sides would come together. However, according to Cramer, Rebney wanted input as well as a portion of costs related to his fees associated with putting together what was to become MMAAA. Of course, MMAAA denies this.
White has called Rebney a “bottom-feeder” stating that he is out to make money implying that he does not have the interests of fighters in mind.
Payout Perspective:
With the PFA, MMAAA and MMAFA seeking to advocate for the rights of fighters but competing with each other at the same time, White has to find it amusing. While each of these groups are seeking to bargain with the UFC for better pay, pensions and other interests, they need a unified front of fighters. But, with competing interests on the fighter side, the UFC has no obligation to negotiate with any of these groups. Aside from the lawsuit, which UFC lawyers are dealing with, the UFC will likely just wait and see if there is any need to address any of these groups.
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