The war between UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and the Ultimate Fighting Championships has taken another blow as the lawyer for GSP, James Quinn, has now compared the UFC’s contracts to slavery.
Quinn, when speaking to MMA Fighting, spoke about just how restrictive he believes the UFC contracts are to those who sign them.
"I've done a lot of work in sports. When I read that contract, I was blown away by how restrictive it is," Quinn said. They're basically tying him up for life. They have no rights and they own all of his licensing and all the other things. It's unheard of in the other professional sports. And they won't get away with it forever."
Quinn also brought up the anti-trust lawsuit that the UFC is currently battling, something GSP isn’t a part of at this point.
"You couldn't get away with any old contract in any of the other sports," Quinn said. "There is litigation in that aspect of a class-action lawsuit that challenges the contract as being illegal under the NHS laws. That case is ongoing, and I think that under the law's terms, I don't think the contract -- that formal contract -- is likely to stand up. Not in today's world. It's a pretty nice form of slavery."
Quinn also stated that he is willing to work with the UFC to renegotiate a contract for GSP, but it's up to the UFC to reach out to them first.
“It's really up to the UFC, whether they're willing to negotiate another contract or not," Quinn said. “We take the position that we believe the contract has been terminated. They have their hand, we have our hand, we'll see how it plays out,” he said. “Georges still wants to fight and he's perfectly happy to fight under a new UFC contract, if we can negotiate one. Or if not, he'll look at other options."
GSP was spotted in Las Vegas earlier this week and he still clarifies himself as a free agent in the MMA world, despite statements to the contrary from the UFC.
