London: Mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor could speak in the United States Congress to help with a campaign to extend the legal protections enjoyed by boxers to MMA fighters, according to Congressman Markwayne Mullin.
Mullin, a former fighter, is trying to get a bill passed which would extend the “Ali Act” - which protects the rights of boxers - to MMA.
He says McGregor, who lost a multi-million dollar boxing bout against Floyd Mayweather last month after switching fighting codes, may help him to do it.
“We have been told by his team that he (McGregor) was going to come to the (Capitol) Hill to talk about this,” Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, said. Enacted in 2000, the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act is intended to protect the rights of boxers and to help US states to regulate the sport and maintain its integrity.
Among the safeguards offered to boxers by the Act are protection from “coercive contracts”, the establishment of an independent ranking system and the banning of promoters from having a “direct or indirect financial interest” in the management of fighters.
Mullin is pressing for another hearing on the Ali Extension Act in September or October, yet as both a de facto governing body and a promoter, the UFC, the most high-profile and lucrative MMA organisation, is resisting the move.
UFC’s chief operating officer Lawrence Epstein said that the body was already “exceeding the requirements when it comes to health and safety and contracts”.
While the UFC treats all of its fighters as “independent contractors” rather than employees, they are not free to fight for other promotions. Nor can they undertake certain commercial activities related to their fighting careers without the UFC’s permission, a situation many critics say is too restrictive in what can be a short and very tough career.
McGregor, for example, still had to get the go-ahead from the UFC and agree to share revenue with the body before signing to fight Mayweather in one of the richest boxing bouts of all time. MMA fighters often complain that their UFC contracts limit their earnings, pointing to the exclusive outfitting deal with Reebok, which prevents them from wearing equipment from any other manufacturer when fighting.
They are also not allowed to include logos from other sponsors on their clothing or to display banners in their corners, as is normal in other promotions. This has led to a considerable drop in income for many fighters, with former women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate estimating in a 2015 interview that the terms of the Reebok apparel deal caused her to lose 80 to 90 percent of what she previously earned in sponsorships.
Legal experts have been discussing in the media whether McGregor is now a boxer in the eyes of the law, and thus entitled to the protection of the Act, or if he will lose that protection when he returns to the UFC.
