UFC stars dumped for refusing THQ
Wouldn't sign away likeness rights.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has dumped some of its most promising stars for refusing to sign lifelong image-replication deals for the THQ series of official videogames.
"We thought that was kind of crazy. Why would you sign anything away for your lifetime?" lead dissenter Jon Fitch, a contender for the Welterweight crown, told Sports Illustrated.
"To have this happen is crazy. This sport is definitely not about fighting any more. It used to be about finding out who the best guy was, what the best style was.
It's not about that any more. It's about the top company making the most money," he added.
Fitch says he was told "either you're in if you sign this, or you're getting cut" by the UFC. But his rebellion comes after a string of fighters were upset by a similar deal in the summer to sign life-long rights for all sorts of merchandise.
UFC big cheese Dana White told Yahoo these fighters were, "[no longer] partners with us. [naughty word] them. All of them, every last [naughty word] one of them."