MLB agent Jeff Borris is attempting to start a UFC fighters union

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Jeff Borris is the counsel for the Ballengee Group, the agency that represents Nate Diaz. The longtime baseball agent took a look at Diaz's contract for the fight with Conor McGregor at UFC 196 in March and could not believe what he saw.

"They're baffling when you read them," Borris said of UFC contracts on Monday's episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. "It's just preposterous the things that are in there that I don't believe are legal, valid or enforceable. I even believe the UFC knows that."

Soon after, Borris said he and Diaz's agent Lloyd Pierson met with UFC president Dana White and other UFC execs. Borris said he asked White why fighters have yet to unionize and White "kind of scoffed at the idea."

"I walked out of the meeting and I turned to Lloyd and I told him, ‘I'm gonna unionize these guys,'" Borris said.

A few months later and that's exactly what Borris is attempting to do. The former agent for the likes of baseball stars Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson and Jose Canseco is putting forth an effort to get fighters to unionize through a new organization called the Professional Fighters Association (PFA). Borris, who describes himself as a longtime fight fan, feels like fighters are currently competing on an unfair playing field.

"This just can't happen," Borris said of current fighter conditions. "With the sale also. It indicates that the UFC is really the premier league. When you look at Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA, National Hockey League, it's right up there with them now. And these fighters need representation. Their rights right now are being trampled upon and it's probably worse than ever. The UFC is profiting, which is OK. They're running a successful business, they're entitled to it. But the fighters, they're the show. They're the ones that drive that business and they're entitled to be compensated for their efforts."

On the PFA website, there are pie charts showing the percentage revenue athletes in other major sports are getting, compared to what UFC fighters are believed to be getting. In other sports, the share is more than 40 percent for the most part. For fighters, the number is estimated to be at 15 percent, though it's impossible to know for sure, because the UFC is a private company.

Borris said a union would also wish to collectively bargain for things like medical insurance, a pension, pay minimums, a drug policy, licensing deals and uniform contracts. Borris pointed to the UFC's apparel partnership with Reebok as a major issue, because fighters are only able to wear that brand and not any of their individual sponsors.

"That's something that I look at as an agent and I laugh at," Borris said. "That would never fly in baseball or any of the other major sports. And yet it flies in the UFC? That must change."

One of the biggest issues facing a union is the fact that UFC fighters are currently considered independent contractors. A court would need to consider them employees before a union certified under the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would be a possibility. Borris thinks that would be a slam dunk.

"They already are employees and I'll tell you why," Borris said. "The UFC is the boss. They tell them where to fight, when to fight, what to wear then they fight. They're employees and they're full-time employees. You know what it takes to train for a fight?"

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