A we already saw with his thoughts on the treatment of Rousimar Palhares, Jon Fitch is not shy about throwing shade at the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Well, in addition to sharing his thoughts on that mess, he also talked to MMAFighting.com about the issue of the week: The same commission suspending Nick Diaz for five years over a questionable marijuana test failure. Fitch, a former UFC welterweight contender, didn’t mince words at all in going over how he felt the NSAC arrived at their decision:
It’s could’ve been that’s what they were looking for, was an ass-kissing. They wanted somebody to kiss their boots. They’ll pat you on the head, then after you kiss their boots, they give you a lighter sentence. Who knows? I mean, it’d be really corrupt and telling if that was it, and me speaking about this now, if consequences come down on me, we’ll all know that there’s some serious truth to it. I think fighters are starting to have enough. We’ve had enough of being treated the way we’re treated.
We’re race horses who get sent out to the glue factory when our career is done, or when they decide our career is done. It’s just sad, especially when you contrast the Nick Diaz situation, no fighters’ association to help him out and have his back, to Tom Brady and the NFL Players’ Association having his back and getting the suspension overturned. It’s a clear symbol of, this is what happens when you have an association. This is what happens when you do not. Right? You have a lifetime ban, pretty much, versus nothing.
Fitch is one of the named plaintiffs in the class-action antitrust lawsuit against the UFC,. As you can probably tell from the last paragraph, he’s a strong advocate for collective bargaining in MMA via some type of fighters’ association. While such a fighters’ association would likely b able to negotiate the terms of the UFC’s own testing, dealing with commission punishments would be a taller order.
