Wednesday afternoon, several high-profile fighters including former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, and former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw, to name just a few, announced the formation of the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association. The move was certainly a historic one, and left a major immediate impact on the MMA community, as countless fighters took to social media to praise the fighters for the move, and express an interest in joining the MMAAA.
Former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, who is arguably the most high-profile fighter on the panel of fighters, explained that at the present time, fighters receive about 8% of what the UFC makes, while in most sports athletes make nearly 50%.
St-Pierre then went on to explain that even as the highest paid fighter in the UFC, Conor McGregor isn’t getting his fair share:
“Even though Conor is the most well (paid) athlete, he doesn’t have his fair share of what he should have, and I’m saying this from the top contestant to Conor McGregor, they don’t have their fair share.”
“There’s something I think about Conor McGregor; I’ve met Conor a couple of times,” St-Pierre said. “You have the Conor McGregor that’s a human being and the Conor McGregor of business. The one you see in the UFC is the Conor McGregor that’s business.
“But the Conor McGregor that’s a human being, I know for sure he knows what’s right. Nobody is a perfect human being, but Conor is not a coward. He knows what’s right, and everybody knows what we’re doing is right. So, of course, we would like to have the biggest name in the sport on board, and we need it.”
St-Pierre was rumored to be returning to the Octagon next month at UFC 206, where reports indicated that he would be fighting UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, however negotiations between St-Pierre and the UFC failed, and the former welterweight kingpin was once again left on the sidelines.