So here’s a bit of the the backstory, at the 2017 UFC Athlete Retreat the UFC had brought out special guest speakers to give their own little “Ted Talks”. One of those guests was Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, and one of the UFC athletes to attend was Leslie Smith (currently 2 fight win streak since fighting Cris Cyborg, exploded ear, 5 FOTN bonuses – 4 in Invicta – 1 in UFC). And Leslie Smith asked him about Unions.
What They Are Fighting For whether or not they unionize:
“The UFC can choose to either pay into our needs and respect us as employees with a say in all decisions affecting us.”
or
“Treat us like the independent contractors that we are being called and lighten up with the USADA supervision, uniforms and restrictions.”
“We need to have either the autonomy of being independent contractors like the UFC claims we are or we need to get benefits and a seat at the table as employees since the UFC treats us like employees.” – http://www.projectspearhead.com/
All this can be found on their website neatly under the “Why Associations” tab.
Next, is the process, which is also concisely explained and outlined on the website for Smith’s fellow fighters.
[#5 FW] 
[#6 FW] 
[#1 W105] 
[#16 W105] 
