How Dana White used Donald Trump to prevent the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act from benefitting MMA fighters
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Dana White and Donald Trump at a Republican Rally (Image Courtesy - South China Morning Post)
In 2017, MMA fighters were on the brink of being freed from the shackles of bastille contracts of promotions like UFC. However, head honcho Dana White made sure that the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act would not be passed as a bill in the legislation. The UFC boss’s close friend, Donald Trump played a huge part in this bill being vetoed.
Dana White and Donald Trump share a very close relationship. The supremo of the biggest promotion in the world has rallied for the Republican politician and has delivered speeches at two Republican conventions to help the business tycoon come into office. In 2017, White’s efforts came bearing fruit as Trump became the president of the United States. This proved helpful for White to make sure his business model was unaffected by the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act, which could’ve proven to be a true reform for fighters.
Read more: “THIS IS MADNESS” – Dana White dismayed as FBI RAID Donald Trump’s house
What is the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act?
The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform was introduced in the year 1999 by the 106th Congress to protect the rights of boxers and oversee the different boxing commissions. In 2017, Representative Markwayne Mullin, a former professional mixed martial artist, introduced the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act to make sure the bills of the boxing reform applied to the sport of mixed martial arts to ensure the safety of MMA fighters.
While this bill was proposed, Dana White’s promotion of UFC strongly opposed this from being materialized. This would have forced promotions like UFC, Bellator MMA, and PFL to regulate their fighter contracts which are almost prison-like. This bill would have made several changes to how promoters in MMA conducted their businesses.
The UFC fighter contract is devastating in the sense that fighters are never free despite their retirement and it can’t be renegotiated after a single fight. Many fighters have raised their voice against this and the Expansion Act was the perfect solution for this.
Dana White’s friendship with Donald Trump came in handy to veto the Ali Expansion Act
The Ali Expansion Act would have proved to be devastating for the sport’s biggest promoter. This means that fighters would be in control of their contracts and would have the freedom to fight at their leverage. That’s not how things work in a business like the Ultimate Fighting Championship. When the bill was passed in the legislation, Dana White not only had the ‘Trump Card’ but the promoter and then owner, Ari Emanuel hired lobbyists to prevent the passage of this bill.
The heads of UFC were under the plan that even if the bill did make it out of the house of representatives, Donald Trump who newly entered office as the President would veto the bill making sure it was killed. Randy Couture, a UFC Hall-of-Famer was in favor of this bill and wanted this act to benefit the fighters in mixed martial arts. Couture was confident that White would use his influence in the Republican party to make sure the bill doesn’t pass.
Did the Muhammad Ali Expansion act come into effect?
The Muhammad Ali Expansion act, unfortunately, could not pass the committee. The UFC spent big money on lobbyists and made sure that the act would not end up being a hurdle to their business model. The bill got killed in the committee the last time it was introduced but with the help of former middleweight fighter Nathan Quarry, the bill is expected to be reintroduced.
Indeed. 58 signers to the Ali Expansion Act. Then Trump took office, Dana's good buddy. Got our bill killed in committee. Not only that but they were trying to figure out how to kill our class action lawsuit.
— Nathan Quarry (@NateRockQuarry) December 9, 2022
The Expansion act coming into effect would mean that the UFC and other MMA promotions would have to be transparent about their financial regulations. Several fighters in recent years have already raised their voices against the contract and fighter pay situation with the UFC. Hopefully the fighters get the protection and the rights they deserve in the near future.
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Prateek Athanur
(2944 Articles Published)