GSP, Rebney, UFC stars align to form association for fighter rights

A handful of MMA's most reputable names have teamed up to champion fighters' rights.

Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has joined forces with former Bellator MMA president Bjorn Rebney and current UFC fighters Cain Velasquez, TJ Dillashaw, Tim Kennedy, and Donald Cerrone to form the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association (MMAAA).

The group announced the news in a conference call Wednesday afternoon.

Rebney - who'll act as the strategist and adviser to a board comprising the five fighters - revealed the association's efforts will pertain solely to the UFC and its owners WME-IMG. The ex-Bellator boss detailed the MMAAA's three-point mandate aiming to compensate past and present fighters they feel were underpaid for their exploits in the Octagon, even the revenue share between fighters and the UFC to 50 percent, and hammer out a collective bargaining agreement akin to those in other major sports.

UFC fighters currently reap eight percent of the company's revenue, per the group's estimate.

The founding fighters also voiced their displeasure with the UFC's health plan. Kennedy, who'd been scheduled to fight Rashad Evans at UFC 205, recently revealed the laundry list of medicals required for him to compete at the event, all of which he claimed had to come out of pocket.

Related: Kennedy tweets list of medicals fighters must pay for ahead of UFC 205

The MMAAA will act as an association, not a union, says Rebney, as the latter title would only blur the line between each fighter's status as an employee or an independent contractor.

Kennedy revealed the association had obtained the services of lawyer Jim Quinn, whom St-Pierre had recently enlisted to terminate his UFC contract after negotiations for a new deal that would've ended a three-year hiatus fell through. The promotion has since refuted that GSP is a free agent, putting both parties in a contractual standoff.

The association, which Rebney claimed was two years in the making, marks the latest contingent of sports figures to try their hand at championing fighters' rights. Longtime baseball agent Jeff Borris currently spearheads the Professional Fighters Association, formed earlier this year, but his attempts to unionize fighters recently hit a roadblock with the departure of UFC bantamweight Leslie Smith and Lucas Middlebrook, manager to Nate Diaz.

Related: PFA loses key supporters Leslie Smith, Lucas Middlebrook

With the exception of St-Pierre, all of the MMAAA's founding fighters are scheduled to fight in the Octagon before year's end.