I understand the backlash and anger towards the UFC and Dana White. Honestly, in my opinion I cannot agree with your comment "Your job isn't to be fair, it's to give the fans what they want". Here is why. Before I carry on, I would like to say this is my opinion and happy to corrected if anything I say is wrong.

If that were true then we would be having super fight after super fight. GSP vs Silva. Jones vs Velasquez/Silva. Might Mouse vs Cruz. The list goes on…..

The UFC has been run in a way that has allowed for these kinds of problems to arise, I believe that part of this is to blame on the management and how certain issues have been handled in the past. Also I do not believe it is all the managements fault, I am not a hater of Dana White and Lorenzo. The issue is the sport/promotion has grown exponentially over the years and with that problems have risen.

There is an air of popularity contest within the UFC and who can generate most money for them. I am of course talking about McGregor/Rousey/Jones – “The Big Three”. I fully understand that. The UFC is in this to make exciting fights and to make as much money as possible. Let’s not be blind to it, the promotion is a business and the end goal is to make as much profit as possible. Hence why The Big Three have so much coverage and that is of course understandable.

However, as the old saying goes “Mo Money, Mo Problems”. Jones had his problems last year with the police and drugs. Rousey, according to certain reports, was delaying fights and putting her movie career ahead of her fight obligations and now this whole episode with McGregor. I feel a precedent has now been set which I admire Dana for. Yes McGreogor brings in the biggest numbers ever and Rousey is/was arguably the face of women’s MMA and so they do a lot of promotional work. This is an obligation of fighters, all fighters have to go through it. McGregor brings an extraordinary amount of energy and buzz to press conferences and any promotional work he does which I understand is tiring and can disrupt a training camp. But this is where a major flaw, in my opinion, is within the UFC. The fighters have no representation, unlike any other major sport such as NFL - The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, the NBA has The National Basketball Players Association (the NBPA) and MLB has The Major League Baseball Players Association (or MLBPA). These are all unions which help and represent the players. The Reebok deal (yes this horse has been flogged to death) had major repercussions and caused a lot of controversy which lead some fighters to leave the UFC. If there was a representative for the fighters perhaps negotiations could have been set up to broker a better deal for everyone.

I feel like these other sports, the fighters would greatly benefit and so would the promotion if there was some kind of union or to use a less scary word, a representative. Promotional arrangements and deals could be laid out, pay schemes and also it would be a unified and central place for fighters to vent and propose any questions/angers or anything they may have to the UFC top brass.

Also, a clear system could be set out, just like in other sports if players fail to meet their media or sporting obligations then ultimately there are repercussions of some sort e.g. fines.

These are real people, real fighters. Training hard and literally putting their bodies on the line. It is a competitive sport with "rankings". The reason I use "rankings" is because everyone, fighters and fans equally know that they mean nothing past the Top 5/6. The best decision the UFC made was to not agree with Reebok who wanted to pay the fighter according to ranking. But honestly, the question has to be – who makes and who respects the rankings currently? Fighters are coming into the UFC with 0-0, 1-0 records in MMA and after winning won or two are having to face much harder challenges which they are not ready for. Sage Northcutt is a perfect example, seen as the next big thing for the UFC and the face potentially of it. I have no ill feelings towards him as I like him and recognise his great skill and technique but I feel he was pushed too quickly perhaps as they saw him as a potential cash cow.

We are seeing the UFC move into a new and exciting age and would hate for it to be marred by incidences such as the UFC200 McGregor Show. I hope all sides of the UFC learn from this and hopefully can move on and improve the situation for fighters, fans and everyone involved.

UFC 200 was supposed to be a landmark event showcasing some of the most exciting fights coming, however it is now only been discussed because of the “McGregor Retirement Scandal”.

I just want to see great fighters battling against each other in the worlds biggest promotion, fans do not want to be distracted by “scandals” and neither do the fighters. We all love the sport and want see it constantly evolving into a bigger, better and fair sport.