MMA News Forums - The UFC’s Code of Conduct Policy, COO Lawrence Epstein Explains

The UFC's Code of Conduct Policy, COO Lawrence Epstein Explains | MMAWeekly.com

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“This stuff’s already frankly been in place for many, many years and we’ve always sort of had an unwritten code of conduct that we expected our athletes to live up to. Now we put it in writing, that’s really the only change,” Epstein said.” There are some teeth in the program, penalties associated with violations, but as far as we’re concerned this policy is going into effect immediately.”

The first step for the UFC will be to get the written policy to all 400-plus athletes the promotion has under contract since this will be an addendum to their current agreements. After the fighters have had time to review the policy, Epstein said it would be released to the public.

Going forward, all fighters will have the policy contained in their initial agreements with the UFC when they are signed.

When asked about “the teeth” of the policy Epstein said that there would be financial penalties associated with violating the policy, but also some community service.

“For example, if you make a discriminatory comment about a certain community, you would be required to provide some community service to that community,” Epstein said. “In our view that’s going to turn into a benefit. It’s easy to criticize people you don’t know, but once you get to know somebody, once you get to experience what they’re all about it sort of changes you as a person in a way that money or fines could never do.”

Those type of repercussions make a lot of sense, all too often highly compensated athletes are only fined for their indiscretions and once the check is written they quickly move on, totally putting the incident behind them. To have to meet individuals that were potentially affected by a fighter’s actions will have a much longer lasting effect than any hit to the wallet ever could.