Dana White Explodes Over Licensing Agreement: Koscheck, Velasquez Next To Go?

In a must-read piece by Yahoo MMA writer Kevin Iole, UFC President Dana White comes apart at the seams and goes off on Jon Fitch and Christian Wellisch, regarding their refusal to sign a lifetime video game agreement.

In addition, Iole revealed that Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez could be next to be cut and that the American Kickboxing Academy and agents DeWayne Zinkin and Bob Cook will no longer be worked with by UFC.

White: “We’re looking for guys who want to work with us and not against us, and frankly I’m just so [expletive] sick of this [expletive] it’s not even funny. Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let [Fitch] go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren’t partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them.”

Wow, even for White, that seems a bit harsh, no? Fitch is also quoted in the piece and comes off a bit more, well, polished and calm?

Fitch: “Working for free and selling our rights away for lifetime, that’s a little different. We tried to negotiate five or 10-year deals with them, but it wasn’t good enough. It was all or nothing. He wanted our lifetime. He wanted our souls forever.”

The dispute stems from Fitch, Wellisch, and others not signing over their lifetime rights to use their likenesses in a video game coming out soon from THQ. Fitch said the dispute isn't about money, but rather that the company wouldn't continue to pay his family in the event of death. He didn't understand why the deal needed to be lifetime.

The article notes that Chuck Liddell is a Zinkin Entertainment client (they negotiate only sponsorships, according to White) as is current Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. Hmm...that is interesting.

One of the more inflammatory parts of Iole's piece is this about Velasquez (seen below), a guy that is a fast-rising heavyweight and possibly a future opponent for a big-money fight against Brock Lesnar. After reading this, that fight is apparently done:

Velasquez, one of the sport’s rising stars, clearly is on the outs with White. White said Zinkin wanted standard language that is part of every UFC fighter’s contract removed from Velasquez’s deal.

“Can you believe that?” White said. “Chuck Liddell has that language in his contract. Randy Couture has it. Anderson Silva has it. And Cain [expletive] Velasquez, with two [expletive] fights, wants us to change it for him? That’s [expletive] nuts. He can get the [expletive] out.

“I’m not a douche bag and I do a lot for these guys, a lot more than any of you will ever know. We’re in a horrible time in the economy now, and every guy with two nickels to rub together is making a run at us. We’ve worked too hard, given too much, to let certain guys come in and [expletive] with that.”

I would highly recommend reading the article, because the excerpts here only scratch the surface, but White's comments struck me as coming off as condescending and fear-based.

Many of White's critics are probably saying "Duh," but it's clear that White and the UFC are against agents representing fighters and likely very against unionization. You hear from fighters that there are concerns about mid-level and young fighters getting paid fairly, both from the UFC and other organizations.

While the Liddells, Coutures, and Silvas will be taken care of, how do guys that need to fight for a living ensure they're taken care of? It's natural to distrust the boss, so how do you take them at word value?

While agents like Scott Boras and Drew Rosenhaus and players unions get ripped daily in their efforts to get the most amount of money they can for their clients, they also provide a balance to insure the players get their fair share and rights.

With TV licensing, merchandising, and everything else that comes with being a sports entity today, there's a lot of money that needs to go to the right people.

Without a checks-and-balances system, neither side can be trusted. Annoying? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely.

Inevitably, there will be an MMA superagent and he/she is going to change the entire way the sport's financials are structured. One of these days, we'll look back on situations like this and realized they paved the way to the UFC truly becoming the major sports league they've always strived to be, whether White likes it or not.

Josh Nason has written and maintained Ropes, Ring and Cage since 2007 and can be reached at [e-mail]. If you are using any content or recapping from this site, please include a link to www.ropesringandcage.com. Thank you for your support!