Strong chance Leslie Smith is one of the nine. Her and Meathead were the only ones to attend the first PFA presser at UFC 200. I think Tim Kennedy is another good guess. Al Iaquinta is probably another one. Would be nice to have at least one former/current champion.
http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/11/...t=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter According to Middlebrook, after the upcoming announcement of the PFA's interim executive board, the group will continue to seek out the threshold of signed authorization cards needed to begin the process of unionization. That process will likely stretch into the new year, allowing the PFA's new nine-fighter executive board plenty of time to continue its course of education and outreach among the rest of the roster. Then, once that stage is done, the real work will begin in earnest. "I think we're still talking maybe into the early spring of 2017," Middlebrook said. "But what I will tell you, I do feel that once the executive board is announced and fighters see that there are other fighters who are now willing to serve in a position on the union, and these other fighters are then out there with the authorization cards, I think it's going to just lend more credibility to the organization and the drive, the organizing drive that's going on. "I expect the card collection to actually pick up once the board is out there, so I could see an influx of cards coming in shortly thereafter. But I would still think that we're probably looking at the early spring of 2017 before we have a sufficient number of cards to where we need to make a decision on where we're going then."
Even if Cerrone isn't one of the nine this is the kind of support they need. From the UFC 205 presser: "I'll be the guy," Cerrone said. "I'm not scared. All I'm saying is we need a fighters union 1,000, million percent, especially with the new owners coming in and I think now is the time."
http://mmajunkie.com/2016/11/docume...-minimum-25k25k-purses-monthly-rehab-stipend/ 1) An increase in base pay, with all fighters receiving a minimum of $25,000 to show and $25,000 to win. (Currently, the UFC offers unknown newcomers around half that, and Bellator far less.) 2) Comprehensive health insurance for a fighter and his or her family. (The UFC, by contrast, offers only accident insurance that often come with high deductibles.) 3) An experience-based pension system. With 20 octagon appearances, a fighter becomes eligible to receive $75,000 a year – for life – beginning at age 65. That figure goes up to $150,000 a year with 30 fights inside the UFC cage. Make it to the UFC’s Hall of Fame, and you receive $100,000 a year. 4) A drug policy with a “mutually agreed upon testing procedure,” penalties, specific drugs tested, and an “equitable appeal and resolution process.” (So far, the UFC is the only promoter with a comprehensive drug testing program, contracting with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for year-round testing and results management.) 5) A procedure for resolving disputes between the promoter and fighters that involves an independent arbitrator. 6) A share of revenue, including a share of the ticket sales, TV and pay-per-view money, and merchandise. (Top UFC earners get a share of pay-per-view money, and the promotion’s standard contract promises “10 percent of gross revenues generated from ‘commercial exploitation’ of ‘licensed merchandise.'”) 7) Agreed upon weight classes. 8) A ranking system independent of the UFC that determines fighter matchups. (The UFC employees media-generated rankings and frequently departs from its order to make sought-after fights.) 9) A “fighter board” that evaluates officials, presumably to weed out poor performers in judging and refereeing. 10) A “rehab allowance” that provides medically suspended fighters a $2,000 monthly stipend to support themselves while injured.
List of potential board members Leslie Smith, Kajan Johnson, Al Iaquinta, Donald Cerrone, Paige VanZant, Anthony Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Nick Diaz, Urijah Faber, Tim Kennedy and Gilbert Melendez
25/25 doesn't sound like much until you figure that the PFA will take 50% of revenue, totalling nine figures per year, potentially bumping the lowest level fighter into the six figure salary range.
PVZ... Imagine Sage was on there? DFW would be Dead Sea levels of salty. Little concerning that they don't seem to be getting through to the international fighters. I suppose they will keep a low profile for now. They have even more to lose. No UFC contract, no work visa, no way of staying in the US? I dunno. Higher profile list than I was expecting. Not every person there is a good candidate for a leader but this is a preliminary board in any case.
