Comments abound regarding potential voluntary UFC medical fund
I write many of my articles to initiate a civil debate. I like to make people think and examine their own views. I also learn and grow by reading the view points of others. I enjoy the wisdom of crowds.
My recent article asking the simple question "would you pay a dollar to help support a medical fund for retired UFC fighters?" sparked an curious avalanche of responses.
I never ask anyone to agree with my position. Commonly, I don't even state my position. I just ask a provocative question and gain perspective by reading the comments.
Many people voiced that they already pay too much for the ppv's, so they are unwilling to voluntarily pay an additional $1.
Others went on a rant about Dana White...as if he had something to do with me asking a simple question.
Some stated that they don't think it's fair to tax them an additional $1....even though the question was posed as a voluntary donation.
There are many who believe that most of the fighters are making huge sums of money and therefore should be able to provide for their own medical care.
Some saw a far reaching political agenda in the question and felt that President Obama was in some way to blame.
And a vocal segment stated "F' them...they wouldn't give me a dollar!"
The MMA community is an interesting and passionate group to say the least. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars and maintain rabid chat boards and message forums but become hostile when hypothetically asked for a voluntary contribution of $1 to help a fighter in need.
There must be a Phd dissertation investigating the psyche of MMA fans in here somewhere.
My recent article asking the simple question "would you pay a dollar to help support a medical fund for retired UFC fighters?" sparked an curious avalanche of responses.
I never ask anyone to agree with my position. Commonly, I don't even state my position. I just ask a provocative question and gain perspective by reading the comments.
Many people voiced that they already pay too much for the ppv's, so they are unwilling to voluntarily pay an additional $1.
Others went on a rant about Dana White...as if he had something to do with me asking a simple question.
Some stated that they don't think it's fair to tax them an additional $1....even though the question was posed as a voluntary donation.
There are many who believe that most of the fighters are making huge sums of money and therefore should be able to provide for their own medical care.
Some saw a far reaching political agenda in the question and felt that President Obama was in some way to blame.
And a vocal segment stated "F' them...they wouldn't give me a dollar!"
The MMA community is an interesting and passionate group to say the least. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars and maintain rabid chat boards and message forums but become hostile when hypothetically asked for a voluntary contribution of $1 to help a fighter in need.
There must be a Phd dissertation investigating the psyche of MMA fans in here somewhere.
All too often people bound to their anonymous cyber-pottie are just too anxious to throw in their flaming wooden nickel's worth without ever really having carefully read the statement they are blasting. They are more concerned about venting their unrealistic expectations going unmet, while demonstrating their own ignorance of what has just been posted.
Rev. Bodhi
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Your column on MMAweekly is much different (and better, IMHO) than your blog here on the subject of healthcare for retired MMA fighters because you propose a solution -- an additional charge to pay for health insurance.
I don't like that idea. MMA promoters already charge plenty, and they reap enormous profits. If they could charge an extra dollar, they would. And they'd keep it for themselves, too!
It is not the responsibility of MMA fans to pay for the fighters' health insurance any more than I have an obligation to pay an additional surcharge to my dry cleaner for health care related to their breathing carcinogenic fumes for years on end.
It is the fighters' responsibility to get health care insurance or pay for the medical services they need. After all, it's not like MMA is something they fell into accidentally or were coerced to become involved with. Fighters should negotiate for health insurance benefits (if they don't already) when they contract with a promoter to fight for them. And they should use their earnings from winnings to build a nest egg for retirement.
That said, there are only a small handful of fighters who earn enough money from fighting to save anything. I'd even argue that most fighters have little experience and virtually no education when it comes to money management beyond living hand to mouth, week to week, paycheck to paycheck.
Also, keep in mind that health insurers, being the vile bottom-feeders that they are, will consider retired fighters uninsurable...every ailment would be an uninsured "pre-existing condition."
Here are two possible solutions to the ex-fighter long-term health care quandary: First, universal health care for everyone. Call it "socialized medicine" if you want, but before anyone brings up that argument, they had better REALLY know what the term "socialism" means, 'cause I do and I'm not afraid to use it.
And a second solution -- which I hesitate to mention because I'm deeply opposed to it -- is unionization. Unions have proven to be fundamentally counter-productive to our national economic well-being, but this situation provides a good modern-day example of how collective bargaining (read "unions") came into being in the first place in the early 1900's.
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I honestly can't believe this became so politicized. It's one buck. What's the problem?
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