Jon Fitch Got Fired

According to this article on All Things Digital, Jon Fitch was dropped from the UFC because of his unwillingness to sign likeness rights over to video game publisher THQ for their upcoming title UFC 2009 Undisputed. The article mentions that Koscheck was also resistant to the mandate. I wonder if the rest of the AKA crew have expressed any discomfort in the situation.

Fitch was let go by the organization earlier this week because he had refused to sign a lifetime contract that would have given the game publisher THQ (THQI) the right to use his likeness for UFC games. The presentation of the contract rubbed him the wrong way, according to an interview he did with Hardcore Sports Radio: “They basically kicked the door open, guns blazing, pointed it in our face and said, ‘Sign this or you’re going to pay.’”

This kind of heavy handed management that the UFC practices is unfortunate, and I think in the long run it will create more problems than benefits for them. Essentially what’s happening is that the UFC is maintaining control over the fighters by holding their contracts over them. Fighters have very little say on salary, who they fight, or in this case who they sign their likeness rights to.

The article says the fighters were “asked to sign away their likeness rights for life”, which seems a bit unreasonable. I would imagine it could easily be altered to provide some limitations.

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