MMAScoops.com is reporting that top welterweight contender Jon Fitch and well as several other fighters have reportedly been released from their UFC fight contracts Wednesday over failed negotiations with the UFC regarding contracts pertaining to lifetime name and likeness rights for future UFC video games. MMAScoops.com is reporting that other fighters who have yet to sign the contracts, including welterweight Josh Koscheck and heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez, may also be released from their fight contracts in the following days.
“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" UFC president Dana White was quoted as saying. "Affliction is still out there trying to build it's 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…. 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.”
While full details have yet to become available about the situation, these certainly seem like strong words considering that Mr. White is referring to some of the top fighters in the world and in the UFC. The loss of Fitch and possibly Koscheck is certain to be a severe blow to the UFC welterweight division, not to mention that Affliction could finally be able to put a little power into one of their weakest divisions.
