Fighting professionally is a tough line of work. A pro can spend years of grueling training, injuries, and brutal weight cuts to step into the ring or cage and battle an opponent for the fans’ entertainment. Most fighters never have their names on the marquee in lights or fight at a 15,000-seat arena with people screaming their names. No big paydays, endorsement deals, or first-class tickets to the event venue.
Since most professional fighters are considered independent contractors, they are not eligible for company-sponsored retirement benefits. They are responsible for their expenses, including paying their coaches. It leaves little room in the budget for an IRA, a solo 401(k), or other investments for their golden years.
At a press conference on Monday at All City Boxing Club in Los Angeles, California Assembly member Matt Haney flanked by Ronda Rousey, UFC Hall of famer, MMA champion, and three-time WWE Women’s Champion; Andy Foster, executive officer for California State Athletic Commission; and Herb Dean, professional mixed martial arts referee for UFC gathered to announce proposed legislation, AB 2130.
AB 2130 would create a dedicated funding stream for retirement protections for professional fighters. The bill authorizes the California State Athletic Commission to place sponsor logos on referee and official apparel at combat sports events. It requires the majority of that revenue to support fighter pensions. The proposal helps ensure that fighters receive greater long-term financial protection without raising taxes or increasing ticket prices.
Andy Foster, Executive Officer for California State Athletic Commission, speaks during a press conference at All City Boxing Club in Los Angeles, to announce new legislation (AB 2130) that creates a dedicated funding stream for retirement protections for professional fighters. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Ronda Rousey, UFC Hall of Famer, MMA Champion, and three-time WWE Women’s Champion, speaks during a press confernce at All City Boxing Club in Llos Angeles, to announce new legislation (AB 2130) that creates a dedicated funding stream for retirement protections for professional fighters. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
California Assemblymember Matt Haney, speaks during a press confernce at All City Boxing Club in Los Angeles, to announce new legislation (AB 2130) that creates a dedicated funding stream for retirement protections for professional fighters. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Ronda Rousey, UFC Hall of Famer, MMA Champion, and three-time WWE Women’s Champion, speaks as California Assemblymember Matt Haney listens during a press conference at All City Boxing Club in Los Angeles, to announce new legislation (AB 2130) that creates a dedicated funding stream for retirement protections for professional fighters. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
California Assemblymember Matt Haney, speaks as Ronda Rousey, UFC Hall of Famer, MMA Champion, and three-time WWE Women’s Champion, right, Andy Foster, Executive Officer for California State Athletic Commission, second from left, and Herb Dean, Professional Mixed Martial Arts Referee listen, during a press confernce at All City Boxing Club in Los Angeles, to announce new legislation (AB 2130) that creates a dedicated funding stream for retirement protections for professional fighters. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Herb Dean, Professional Mixed Martial Arts Referee speaks as Ronda Rousey, UFC Hall of Famer, MMA Champion, and three-time WWE Women’s Champion, right, California Assemblymember Matt Haney, right, Andy Foster, Executive Officer for California State Athletic Commission, left, listen, during a press confernce at All City Boxing Club in Los Angeles, to announce new legislation (AB 2130) that creates a dedicated funding stream for retirement protections for professional fighters. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
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Andy Foster, Executive Officer for California State Athletic Commission, speaks during a press conference at All City Boxing Club in Los Angeles, to announce new legislation (AB 2130) that creates a dedicated funding stream for retirement protections for professional fighters. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
“AB 2130 aligns with our core mission of protecting health and safety and ensuring fairness in combat sports. This is the biggest piece of legislation for retired fighters in the history of boxing and mixed martial arts,” said Andy Foster, Executive Officer of the California State Athletic Commission.
AB 2130 builds on previous legislation authored by Haney, AB 1136, that created a Mixed Martial Arts Retirement Benefit Fund, which provides specified fighters a pension financed by ticket sales, souvenirs, and sports paraphernalia.
“Fighters put everything on the line every time they step into a fight, and this sport made billions off the athletes willing to sacrifice everything for it. AB 2130 is about basic respect. If the people at the top of the industry are making billions, some of that money should be going back to the fighters who gave their bodies and their careers to build it,” said Rousey.
She wants combat sports — which she says changed her life for the better — to be a legitimate career path.
“I want fighting to be a legitimate career path and not the kind of thing that your mom rolls her eyes at and says, ‘‘This is a stupid … idea.’ I have experienced that,” she said. “I would love for this to be an actual career that people consider a great idea, lucrative, and beneficial to them, and not a crazy gamble. I think that’s a benefit for the sport as a whole when you have more people getting into it and having support behind them to devote their lives to it.”
California maintains retirement funds for boxers and mixed martial artists, but those funds rely largely on event-based assessments and regulatory fees. This bill would create a new revenue stream tied directly to the commercial activity surrounding fights without raising taxes or increasing ticket prices.