How did you get involved with the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association?

I was approached about two years ago and I’d been looking to get involved in something like this for a decade. It was just a matter of finding the right group, with the right motives, with the right team and at the right time. And all that fell into place here.

Our mission is simple: to provide protection and compensation to the athletes. It’s not to line our pockets or get a quick buck from the UFC and its recent sale.

The Association is purely about supporting athletes, guys who have fought, who are fighting and who are going to fight in the future.

What has the response been like since you made the announcement?

In one day, we garnered more followers and supporters than all the other upstart fighter unions in their entire existence.

People get it. We are all about making a change now. It’s not about taking the UFC to court.

It’s about gathering all MMA athletes together and giving them a voice, letting everyone know how strong that one voice in unison can be, and then affecting change positively so fighters aren’t left living in poverty with broken bodies and broken brains.

What are the association’s main short-term goals?

The first goal is recruit all the athletes. We have hundreds of fighters who want more information or who want to join the MMAAA, so we have to work our way through that.

You’ll see many more fighters, past and present, come out and tell their stories in support of the association.

It may not be pretty. Fans and even some fighters don’t want to face up to the realities of a life spent fighting in a cage. We all love MMA. We are drawn to the sport for the excitement and the adrenaline rush of a fight night.

But we have to accept also the repercussions of these battles and what this sport does to the humans in the Octagon.