Following Leslie Smith's somewhat unusual release from the UFC, the bantamweight's attorney filed a complaint on her behalf with the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, according to ESPN's Brett Okamoto.
With one fight remaining on her deal, Smith did not compete in her scheduled bout with Aspen Ladd at UFC Atlantic City on April 21 after her opponent missed weight. Smith said she was offered her full show and win money from the UFC but was informed it would count as the final fight on her contract. Despite Smith being on a two-fight winning streak and her only loss since 2014 coming at the hands of featherweight champ Cris Cyborg, the UFC has not expressed any interest in signing her to a new deal.
Just months prior, Smith was announced as one of the founders and interim president of Project Spearhead, a group aiming to unionize fighters for better-negotiating powers with the UFC.
Smith said on "The MMA Hour" in April that she was intending to file legal action against the UFC and hopes the complaint will lead to the promotion treating its fighters as employees rather than independent contractors.
"It’s my opinion that what the UFC did was illegal," Smith said on April 24. "Because they have created a situation where it encourages a climate of fear where the other people in the UFC on the roster are going to be fearful of publicly organizing and standing up for their rights.
"By creating a climate of fear, that violates federal law. That’s the whole point of the National Labor Relations Board and the laws that are in there."
Okamoto reports that UFC executives view the situation much differently to Smith, but they have thus far not offered a formal statement on the matter.
