Koscheck Troops card may be his last fight in the UFC, refuses to sign licensing agreement

Published on: 5th December, 2008

Koscheck Troops card may be his last fight in the UFC, refuses to sign licensing agreement  | read this item

Koscheck & Fitch at the center of the "Licensing Gate"

Two weeks ago there was a lot of uproar when UFC veteran Jon Fitch was cut from the organization for refusing to sign a lifetime licensing agreement that would let the UFC use his name and likeness rights in future products such as the upcoming UFC 2009: Undisputed video game from THQ. UFC president Dana White was bashed for releasing the top tier fighter over Fitch’s refusal to sign the contract for life. less than 24 hours later the situation was resolved when he signed the agreement and it seemed as if the situation was resolved. Now new information has come forth that says Fitch’s teammate at AKA Josh Koscheck who will headline the Fight for the Troops card next week, may be his last fight in the UFC since he has no intention of signing the agreement.

Franklin McNeil on ESPN’s latest edition of MMA Live spoke about the Koscheck situation and stated that his next fight may be his last in the UFC.

“There is a lot going on in his career lately, especially with AKA (his training camp) having their dispute over the merchandising and licensing dispute with the UFC.” McNeil said.

When asked by co-host Jon Anik if the situation would be on his mind come fight time with his opponent Yoshiyuki Yoshida at Fight for the Troops, McNeil explained further about Koscheck’s ongoing dispute with the UFC.

“It has to. Even if he looses, or wins this may be the last fight he has in the UFC. As far as I know he hasn’t signed the licensing agreement and has no intention of signing it. So it has to play on his mind right now.” McNeil explained.

This may be one of the ugliest and public disputes between the UFC and it’s fighters and may have no “Middle ground” for the UFC management, who appears to want all or nothing in the licensing agreement. Jon Fitch wanted to sign for 10 or 20 years and said he felt the deal was unfair in several interviews. While the UFC has stated several times that the deal benefited the fighters best interests.

We can not speculate who is right or wrong in this deal given the limited facts, but the one thing that would be a simple solution is if the fighters do not want to sign do not put them in the game. This would eliminate this ugly and petty looking agreement, why alienate each other over a game that could potentially ruin the UFC and their fighter’s long term relationship?

 Narcisist is the Co-owner of UR Dirt and is the designer, editor and author. URDirt.com is a MMA blog that covers the UFC, WEC, StrikeForce, DREAM and several other Mixed Martial Art promotions. Read more from this author

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