I started this series in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it looked like fights might be on hiatus indefinitely and the lifeblood of the media—fight announcements, live coverage and pre- and post-fight analysis—had stopped flowing. I reasoned that, with a windfall of free time, now was the ideal time to engage in sober reflection regarding the structural and cultural problems in the MMA industry.
The first entry to the series discussed how fighters on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster legitimize the promotion’s exploitative business practices, underscoring their collective deference to authority and total lack of labor consciousness. The second put MMA managers under the microscope, criticizing the lack of barriers to entry to the vocation and the rife conflicts of interest involving the industry’s biggest players.
This entry will focus on the native MMA media and the precipitous lack of independent reporting which defines the industry and how this reinforces UFC hegemony and shields the industry’s most powerful individuals from accountability.
You can read the rest of this article at Sherdog.com.
Jacob Debets 