Two of the biggest public names linked to the Professional Fighters Association (PFA) have cut ties with the organization.
Lucas Middlebrook, the PFA's labor lawyer known by many in MMA circles as Nick Diaz'sattorney, and UFC fighter Leslie Smith will no longer be involved with the PFA after information of a possible board of fighters was recently leaked to the media, they told MMA Fighting.
Baseball superagent Jeff Borris and Middlebrook announced the formation of the PFA at a press conference in August. The group has set out to unionize UFC fighters in an effort to balance the pendulum between promotion executives and the talent. The UFC was sold to talent agency powerhouse WME-IMG for more than $4 billion in July.
Smith, who was one of the few UFC fighters public in her support of the PFA, told MMA Fighting that she helped compile a list of potential fighters to target for a spot on a "fighter board." Those fighters, Smith said, told her they might be interested, but had not committed to anything.
Smith said all talks with those fighters were meant to be confidential and she was shocked when their names — and other pertinent info about the PFA — ended up in an article onMMAjunkie.com earlier this month.
"I promised confidentiality to everyone I talked to," Smith said. "And Jeff promised me confidentiality and Lucas promised me confidentiality, too."
After the leak, Smith said she asked Borris about the situation. In the process of doing so, Smith said Borris told her that he had put together an advisory board of MMA agents. That news further upset Smith, because she hadn't intended for agents to be part of the unionization process.
After a few weeks of thinking it over, Smith said she told Borris that she would not be part of the PFA anymore last week because of the breach of trust.
Middlebrook, Smith cut ties to PFA after info leak