https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2017/11/17/16668308/ufc-bellator-mma-ali-act-markwayne-mullin
Mullin: To make it fair. We're not adding anything new, we're just asking that MMA fighters get the same protections that boxers already get. The Ali Act was written because promoters like Don King were talking advantage of his boxers and we're seeing some of those same things in MMA now. That's not good for a sport.
People just assume that when you’re having a championship fight it’s the best two fighters, because in football or baseball they have a set playoff and system to get the two best to play, but in MMA that doesn’t have to be true. They can just say it’s the two best and pretend. But we aren’t getting the top two fighters.
When was the last time the 185 belt was defended by the champion against the number one contender? You have to go back to Weidman against Luke Rockhold that was two years ago. When Bisping fought Luke he was number 4. Then you had Bisping against Dan Henderson, and Henderson, his career speaks for itself, but he wasn’t in the top 10. How does he get a title fight? And then you have GSP who hasn’t ever fought at 185-pounds, and it would be different if he was still the 170-pound champ but he also hasn’t fought in the last 4 years. So how you get to jump over everyone else? What happened to the number one contender? Or number two or three or four or five? Did they get a title shot or offer?
It goes down to what Lawrence Epstein said to me when we met. They don’t look at that title as a title they look at it like they are bestowing a trophy on the best fighter that night. That is a quote of what Lawrence Epstein told me here in my office. And I thought that’s discrediting the sport.
That’s like the WWE at that point.
Mullin: With the ranking and titles being controlled by the promoter than ranking and title fights can be manipulated by the promoter. And it’s fine to matchmake whatever fights you want but don’t discredit the title. I like fun fights, that's not the problem. Make those fights but fighters deserve to know if they work for it and win in the ring they'll get a chance to earn the title. Just like a real sport. It can't just be decided by who the promoter wants to see fight for it.
We feel that if we get a true ranking system, that ranks all fighters objectively regardless of the promotion they're in, this will help fighters negotiate much better contracts.
If the UFC or Bellator want to have their own ranking system and their own titles and have no one else fight for them, they need to move to a real “league” system. They need to make the fighters their employees. But if they want to continue operating like they do in boxing where the fighters are viewed as independent guys, then they should follow the same rules they do in boxing.