Despite a deadline to garner enough signatures to go forward with a union for UFC fighters, MLB agent Jeff Borris and his organization, Professional Fighters Association, is seeking to debate competing entities over the right to represent athletes according to the Sports Business Journal.
Borris’ PFA has fallen off from the momentum it seemingly had when it the formation was announced this past summer. Borris made media rounds and appeared accessible to anyone that wanted more information on the organization.
But since this summer, he lost the support off labor lawyer Lucas Middlebrook and UFC Fighter Leslie Smith. The split may have been due to the release of names of a possible board of fighters that appeared in an MMA Junkie article. According to Smith, the names were supposed to be confidential. Borris denied releasing the information.
Borris had given a deadline of early April to obtain information or he would cease operations.
Borris is requesting a live debate as he believes it “would benefit the fighters so they can make an informed selection of who they want leading this movement.”
MMAAA’s advisor Bjorn Rebney or MMAFA’s Robert Maysey indicated that they were not interested in debating Borris.
Payout Perspective:
It is interesting to note that these tactics attempted by Borris is not working out. The “live debate” concept seems like a last-ditch effort to garner some media attention. However, it only seems like a sideshow that would denigrate the efforts made by others to organize fighters for better working conditions. While Borris may have some good ideas, he seems to be thought of as an “outsider” to the MMA community. This might be a good thing, but most seem to have more trust in Rebney or Maysey’s organization than with PFA.
Borris was buried a while ago and this ridiculous idea that a union would work in the UFC with him. What’s funny is how arrogant he was at first assuming every fighter would greet him with open arms in the UFC and clearly they realized he did not have their best interests in mind.