Free transfers in MMA? We have to do something about it! We invest big money in a fighter, then Uncle Dana comes in and we’re screwed, says Novotny

MMA is a sport where short-term contracts are negotiated and fighters go elsewhere for free when their contracts expire. That’s the beauty of the sport, but Oktagon promoter Ondrej Novotny explained why he doesn’t like it.

MMA is a growing sport. Fighters move from one organization to another, but they don’t earn or spend anything for the transfers.

But that’s what often hurts them. Wrestlers sign contracts for a few fights or for a year, for example, but longer-term contracts tend not to be found in the sport.

There is no reason to do so when there is essentially no transferring. At the end of the contract, everyone can go elsewhere, and in the Octagon, for example, there is no clause in the contract stating that in the event of an offer from the UFC or another large organization, the fighter will be released.

This topic was fueled by Matej Peñaz, who got a chance to fight for a contract in the UFC and of course Oktagon released him. But how does Ondrej Novotny perceive his departure?

“Personally, of course, I’m not happy. I was talking to a manager recently about it, that it’s fucked up, that we have to do something about it within MMA because you invest big money in fighters, promos and so on and then basically anytime Uncle Dana comes in you’re screwed.

Within hockey it’s also, they’ll kick the shit out of anybody here and I also know how unhappy hockey has been with it for a long time and there’s some educational issues and stuff like that. It’s actually absolutely stupid in that way, but it has a few levels,” he said on MMA’s Flight Through the World.

Source: MMA Around the World