TJ Dillashaw knocks the UFC: ‘They’re treating us like employees, but not giving us the benefits of an employee’

Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw met up with some old friends on Team Alpha Male’s “Stud Show Radio” recently to talk about some of the latest happenings in MMA.

One hot topic that Dillashaw was vocal about was about how he feels the UFC is treating fighters like employees, rather than what they actually are, which is independent contractors for the world’s leading MMA promotion.

“They treat us like employees, but they don’t give us benefits like employees,” Dillashaw said (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “It’s kind of crazy when you think about it. We have to tell them where we’re at at all times, so USADA can show up and drug test us. But we don’t get health benefits. It’s kind of crazy that we are controlled. Any time you have to tell work where you’re at and what you’re doing, that’s considered an employee, not a contractor. They can’t tell a subcontractor what to do and when to do it. So this whole drug-testing thing is kind of crazy and the way they’re making us wear Reebok and all this stuff we have to do. They’re treating us like employees, but not giving us the benefits of an employee.”

Dillashaw also commented on Zuffa’s recent $4 billion sale of the UFC to WME-IMG and how Zuffa kept the sale confidential, as best as they could until the deal was done.

“With UFC, we’ve pretty much stayed in the dark as much as possible,” Dillashaw said of fighters. “They’re telling us they’re not selling the company when everyone knows they’re selling it. It’s public record, but they’re still trying to tell us they weren’t. They’re just going to wait for the last minute for everything for us to find out.”

“Dana and Lorenzo and those guys aren’t dumb,” he said. “They’re probably going to jump ship before any kind of fighter union happens or any kind of lawsuits happen or anything like that.”