Late Thursday morning the U.S. House of Representatives’ energy and commerce committee met for a hearing entitled “Mixed Martial Arts: Issues and Perspectives,” during which it heard testimony from both a former UFC champion as well as a current UFC vice president, all in the name of gathering information on the sport and the proposed expansion to the Muhammad Ali Act that would further regulate it.
It was an encouraging hearing for Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, the bill’s sponsor. Questioning from most of his fellow representatives seemed to focus more on former UFC champion Randy Couture’s testimony on UFC contracts and fighter pay than it did on UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky’s description of all the UFC has done to make the sport safer.
Under questioning from Rep. Joseph Kennedy III of Massachusetts, Couture outlined what he saw as the negative effects that the UFC’s exclusive contracts have on the sport.
“What if Wimbledon forced all the top tennis players to sign an exclusive contract to compete in Wimbledon for that title?” Couture said. “That’s in essence what the UFC does right now. They are that Wimbledon.”
It was a hearing that UFC representatives initially threatened not to attend, according to Mullin, based in part on Couture’s participation. (UFC officials did not respond to a request for comment.)
Mullin said he originally planned to have former UFC fighters Cung Le and Nate Quarry on hand to offer testimony, but the UFC objected on the basis that the two are involved in ongoing litigation against the company.
“That’s fine, so then Randy had offered that he would do it, and he’s not part of any lawsuit, and then we got word from the committee that (the UFC) said they wouldn’t participate if Randy was going to testify,” Mullin told MMAjunkie after the hearing. “… At the end of the day they ended up participating, and I’m glad they did. I want them to understand that this is not an ‘I got you UFC’ thing. I can’t say that enough. The UFC has done a great job promoting this sport that I care so deeply about. But we also have to take care of the fighters, and this is about the fighters.”
Presently, according to Mullin, the bill has enjoyed strong bipartisan support in committee. That much was evident in the tone of much of the questioning, which lingered on contractual issues, the lack of an independent sanctioning body to provide rankings, as well as concerns over brain trauma, while largely glossing over Novitzky’s contributions to the discussions.
Mullin said he wanted the informational hearing in part because so few on the committee have a strong knowledge base on the sport and the issues pertaining to it.
“When you start talking about how the UFC controls the promotion of the sport, the contracts in the sport, they control the belt, the championship of the sport, and they control the rankings in the sport, people are surprised,” Mullin said. “They’re surprised there’s not a third party that looks at this.”
But this hearing came at what is essentially the end of the 114th Congress. The next session won’t convene until early January, a few weeks before President-Elect Donald J. Trump is set to be inaugurated. And therein would seem to lie one potential roadblock to the bill.
The UFC has vigorously opposed any expansion to the Ali Act, which it criticizes as overreaching and unnecessary while doing little to improve fighter health and safety. According to Mullin, the UFC has spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” lobbying against the bill.
But UFC President Dana White is also a close personal friend of Trump’s, so much so that the fight promoter spoke in support of Trump at this year’s Republican National Convention – a first for both the RNC and the UFC.
In the event that the Ali Act Expansion bill moves through the House and the Senate and onto Trump’s desk, wouldn’t it be reasonable to think that a President Trump might get a phone call from his friend at the UFC, urging him to consider a veto?
“I’m not concerned about that at all,” Mullin said. “Trump has taken care of his employees. He understands what employees are, and he’s done a great job taking care of the people who work for him and his companies. This is about the fighters, and we’re seeing overwhelming bipartisan support from Republicans and Democrats. While I’m glad (Trump and White) have a friendship, I don’t think that plays any role in taking care of the fighters here.”
And yet, it’s not just White connecting Trump to the UFC. The President-Elect also has a long-standing relationship with Ari Emanuel, the co-CEO of WME-IMG, which bought the UFC earlier this year. Until recently, Trump was represented by WME-IMG, and was reported to have met with Emanuel just last month.
But Mullin insists he’s not concerned that the incoming President might be convinced to veto his bill. Instead, he said, he’s more concerned about rallying bipartisan support to move it out of committee and onto the House floor.
That might not happen any time soon, however. The bill will have to be reintroduced when the 115th Congress convenes, and even then, Mullin said, the new administration is likely to have other immediate priorities that take precedence.
Still, according to Mullin, he’s currently enjoying support for this legislation from both Republicans and Democrats.
“And in this day and time in Congress, to get support on both sides of the aisle is a big deal,” Mullin said. “And we have both sides saying, ‘Hey, we need to take care of the fighters here.’ If the Ali Act is good enough for boxers, why isn’t it good enough for (other) combatant sports?”
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