Tim Means will be taking on Alex Oliveira in a rematch this weekend at UFC Fight Night 106.
Means isn’t much of a fan of Oliveira and he’s also not a fan of the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association (MMAAA).
“They’re all in it for themselves,” said Means to Bloody Elbow. “They’re trying to get people on board so they can try and get more numbers for themselves.” Means expressed bemusement at the MMAAA’s lack of information, including whether they are concerned with only UFC fighters and if so, what happens once MMAAA members are cut/released by the UFC. Means also bemoaned what he saw as a track record of inconsistency out of the fledgling labor organization. Since the last time I talked about this, they jumped off that Rebney dude’s jock strap. They had him handling it and Tim Kennedy came out said himself that he was the wrong dude to bring in. They have to get themselves organized before too many people want to jump on their bandwagon. Rebney was the wrong dude, and it just shows that they’re inconsistent with the choices they are making right now, so it’s not something that interests me. It was quite funny to see how quickly that changed with Cerrone; in just a couple of days. And then St-Pierre was so upset - telling fighters that they should not be scared to climb on board. Look how quickly he turned his little cheek and looked the other way; as soon as title fights started getting offered. You haven’t heard him bring up a union this time around. Now, all of a sudden, he’s excited and happy to be back.”
The welterweight star does want to talk over some things with the UFC’s new owners, but a meeting hasn’t happened yet. The Reebok deal is something that Means does support though.
“Before the Reebok deal, I had eight sponsors on my gear, and I’d get paid by only one sponsor sometimes, or none at all sometimes, or they pay me six or seven months after the fact. People are saying the Reebok deal is garbage...I get free gear and $10,000. That’s more money than I’ve ever made from sponsorship,” says Means.
UFC Fight Night 106 takes place on Saturday, March 11 from the Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste in Fortaleza, Brazil with Kelvin Gastelum and Vitor Belfort headlining, the main card airs live on Fox Sports 1. Fightful will be providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow the next day.
