{"id":208471,"date":"2016-10-26T06:05:19","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T13:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=208471"},"modified":"2016-10-26T06:05:19","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T13:05:19","slug":"donald-cowboy-cerrone-says-mma-needs-fighters-union-offers-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/donald-cowboy-cerrone\/donald-cowboy-cerrone-says-mma-needs-fighters-union-offers-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone Says MMA Needs a Fighters Union, Offers to Lead It"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s unfortunate, but it’s true: tension between the UFC and its fighters is at an all-time high.<\/a><\/p>\n

After weeks of failed negotiations, welterweight legend Georges St-Pierre<\/a> recently made the claim that he’d terminated his UFC contract and that he’d be testing free agency. Featherweight great Jose Aldo<\/a> has asked to be released from his UFC contract so he can leave the sport altogether. Top contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Julianna Pe\u00f1a have both recently flirted with UFC departures after being stiffed on title shots. Featherweight veteran Tatsuya Kawajiri<\/a> has asked to be released from his contract. The list goes on and on.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, even the toughest fighters are not adequately equipped for bureaucratic battle with a corporate leviathan\u00a0like the UFC. Try as they might, they generally don’t have the resources or support to improve their UFC contracts \u2013 contracts that were recently compared to slavery<\/a> by the lawyer representing St-Pierre.<\/p>\n

If fighters were to mobilize in the creation of a fighter’s union that could change. Were this to occur, they’d likely need a high-profile and high-energy figure to lead the charge.<\/p>\n

\"ufc<\/a><\/p>\n

Several names have been mentioned in this discussion in the past, including Conor McGregor<\/a> and Mark Hunt<\/a>. The latest fighter to express his willingness to lead a potential fighter’s union is fan favorite welterweight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. The Colorado native discussed this possibility with Tim Kennedy and Derek Brunson on a recent episode of his podcast, BMF Ranch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll headline [a union]. I\u2019m with you guys. We need the union,\u201d Cerrone said on his show. \u201cI\u2019ve talked about\u00a0this many times, I think we need strong fighters and popular fighters that can headline and let everyone know that it\u2019s okay, that we need: not only better pay, but we need dental, we need medical. And what happens if you\u00a0get hurt? Where is your 401K? Where is anything? Every other sport in the world has a union.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not fair to what we are doing,\u00a0because like I told you the other day,\u00a0if you were Derek Brunson playing football or baseball, you\u2019d be a 10\u00a0million dollar a year guy at least. At least. And why are you not right now? Because we don\u2019t have a union, because if Derek Brunson doesn\u2019t fight, but this guy\u00a0will just because, \u2018oh, it\u2019s the UFC! I\u2019ll do it for $2,000\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need league minimums,\u201d\u00a0Cerrone continued.\u00a0\u201cWe need everything. We need to pay our dues.\u00a0It\u2019s not only pay, it\u2019s so much deeper,\u00a0what needs to be happening with the union.\u00a0 When it comes, I\u2019ll be on the front lines\u00a0saying,\u00a0\u2018I\u2019m Cowboy, I\u2019m fucking pro-Trump and pro-union.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Do you think Cowboy is the man to lead the charge in the creation of a fighters union? Sound off, PENN Nation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s unfortunate, but it’s true: tension between the UFC and its fighters is at an all-time high. After weeks of failed negotiations, welterweight legend Georges St-Pierre recently made the claim that he’d terminated his UFC contract and that he’d be testing free agency. Featherweight great Jose Aldo has asked to be released from his UFC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":128060,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10134],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDonald "Cowboy" Cerrone Says MMA Needs a Fighters Union, Offers to Lead It | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/donald-cowboy-cerrone\/donald-cowboy-cerrone-says-mma-needs-fighters-union-offers-lead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone Says MMA Needs a Fighters Union, Offers to Lead It | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It’s unfortunate, but it’s true: tension between the UFC and its fighters is at an all-time high. 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