UFC President Dana White recently appeared at a rally in support of President Donald Trump, speaking on his personal relationship with the President.
One person who wasn’t happy about White speaking at the Trump rally was former UFC fighter and current Bellator MMA star Leslie Smith, who said the following on Twitter (via MMA Junkie):
“This guy is so loyal and such a good friend that he shut down that meddling little bitch’s case that almost cost me MILLIONS of dollars, thanks to him I can keep classifying the fighters that are my employees as independent contractors. Vote for him!” – Dana
My charges against the UFC for retaliation and misclassification were found to have merit. That mean the NLRB agreed that we seemed enough like statutory employees to pursue the case. But a few hours later that decision was pulled back and the Division of Advice
(Trump’s appointees) commandeered my case & a few months later dismissed it without examining our status as statutory employees- they said I had not been retaliated against even though I had a 3 fight win streak in my weight class when I was cut in unusual circumstances
The article says Region 4’s director made the decision but it wasn’t him- it was Washington DC’ s Peter Robb. Region 4 gave a merit determination and Peter Robb abused his power to distort the NLRB’S role in protecting employee’s rights again- again”
All the issues between Smith, White and the UFC began when Smith tried to unionize fighters while still with the promotion. Things took a turn for the worse for Smith when a bout with Aspen Ladd, scheduled for UFC Fight Night Atlantic City, was called off after Ladd pulled out of the encounter. The UFC would argue that Smith fulfilled her contract with them and the promotion parted ways with her a short time later.
Smith would file a complaint with The National Labor Relations Board a short time later, but her case was dismissed a few days after White had met with Trump. Smith has since signed with Bellator MMA and holds a 1-1-0 record in her second run with the promotion.
