UFC's Unethical Domestic Violence
Company Background
The
UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship, is an MMA sports promotion company that
allows fighters from all over the world with different fighting styles compete for
glory. The UFC was founded in America in 1993. The business was founded by Art
Davie and Rorion Grace (mmawild). They
place a series of fights that takes place around the world. Fighters would be put
up against fighters that are suitable against each other to compete at
different weights. Fighters will try to climb the ladder to challenge the best
fighter of that weight division for the belt. There are a set of rules and
regulations to provide a clean, fair match and to make it as safe as possible. Like
boxing, they fight inside an octagon/cage instead of a ring and there are
judges to provide the scores. The UFC is the most popular MMA promoting company
that popularized mix-martial arts even though it was around for a long time. Ethics Case Controversy
The whole controversy all
began because of Nurmagomedov and his crew decided to gang up on Lobov. According
to a couple of videos, he brought his crew with him to confront Lobov and
accused him of calling Nurmagomedov a pussy. He continued to deny that he
called Nurmagomedov that. After the end of their conversation, he smacked Lobov
in the head (MMA Focus). That’s what sparked McGregor’s hate towards
Nurmagomedov and why he attacked the bus. Once he heard that his teammate was
hurt by Nurmagomedov, he flew from Ireland to America in pursuit of vengeance. He
brought his own group of people to search for Nurmagomedov. He went to in an
area where all the buses are parked and looked for Nurmagomedov. Once McGregor
spotted him, McGregor immediately grabbed
This time, he went a bit
too far with his trash talks because they were disrespectful. Trash talks are
normal in the UFC, however, he insulted Nurmagomedov's family, religion, and
country. There’s only so much a man could take, and McGregor went too far with
his insults. Although trash talking is part of the sport, there are words and
topics that shouldn’t be used as insults. He is known for getting into his
opponent’s head and getting them angry with his insults, which is why he went
so far with his trash talk. He brought alcohol to the press conference and
offered a shot to Nurmagomedov when he was aware it was against his religion to
drink; however, he persistently insists and pressured Nurmagomedov to have a
shot of whisky (UFC). Someone’s family, religion, and country should not be talked bad
about and should be respected.
At the end of the fight, Nurmagomedov won by submission on the fourth round. After the fight, Dillon Danis was insulting him with very offensive language and racial slurs which made him jump over the cage (sportsjoe). He tried to kick Danis in the air but security was holding both of them back from fighting. McGregor tried to help Danis by trying to climb over the cage too, but he spots one of Nurmagomedov's cousin trying to join the fight as well. He punched Nurmagomedov's cousin to stop him from joining the fight. Two other of Nurmagomedov's teammates jumped into the cage to attack McGregor (complex). That wasn't the only brawl that happened; McGregor fans were fighting Nurmagomedov fans.
Khabib Nurmagomedov jumps over cage |
Individualism
Through the lens of
Individualism, their goal is to maximize profit legally. Friedman’s theory
approached prioritizing maximizing profits and is obligated to only do what’s
best for the business. On the other hand, Machan’s theory is to do that but considering
indirect goals that is not aimed at profiting and other goals. An Individualist
would try their best to maximize profits, and the ideal way for the UFC to
maximize profits while would want to keep McGregor and Nurmagomedov because of
their popularity in the UFC. This wouldn’t be illegal since all the fighters
who were involved in the controversy were dealt with lawfully. Conor McGregor
was a two-time world champion who earned his two titles spontaneously. No one
did what he did in UFC history, which makes him worth having because of his
accomplishments. His accomplishments are what attracts fans to watch him fight.
This would benefit the UFC because it would increase profits, but this would be considered unethical to the eyes of an Individualist because domestic violence is considered to be illegal.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism considers everyone’s
wellbeing and happiness, so they would do their best to maximize everyone’s
happiness. The main people’s happiness that the UFC must consider are the fans
and the fighters. Since the company is all about promoting fights, they should
give the fans a fight they want to see. Many fans want a fighter to fight a
specific fighter because they want to see an intense fight between them—usually
they want to see the best against the best. It makes the event more interesting
and entertaining because no one knows who will come at the top and makes
betting more fun. The UFC did this with UFC 229; a fight between McGregor and
Nurmagomedov. When their fans are entertained, they are satisfied with the
events. But they failed in keeping the environment safe and keeping the
environment safe should be prioritized. Individualism would increase security
and add stricter rules to ensure their consumers feel safe. When someone feels
safe, they feel happier because they won’t have to be worried about getting
hurt and violence adds on to more hatred.
Kantianism primarily
focuses on letting customers decide what they want to do, but they would
provide the information that is necessary for their customers. This method
gives consumers more flexibility on their decision. Kantianism, in terms of the
UFC, would not fire any fighters because they want to focus on having more
fighters available for events, so the fans could decide whether to watch or
not. It is by good will to let all the fighters not get fired because it gives
room for entertainment and that’s the purpose of the UFC. A big part of sports
tradition is betting on who will win. Kantianism would have two of the best
fighters to compete and everyone will bet money on whoever they think will come
out victorious, but to help fans decide who to bet on they will provide
information and accomplishment of the fighters. They would respect a fan’s
decision on who to bet on. Kantianism would not fire McGregor or any fighter
because it would limit their decision on who they want to watch and limit who
they want to bet on.
Kantianism strictly follows the formula of motivation.
The formula of motivation gives a general rule of thumb a business should
follow: being honest with fans to gain their trust, being honest because they
like their fans, and being honest because it’s right. The UFC gave out the
accomplishments of both fighters and showcased the main fighters’ training
session publicly on stage. This is what a Kantian would’ve done. The fans got
to see with their own eyes on how the fighters prepare a fight. They interview
fighters and have them answer questions that are frequently asked or fan
questions. That’s as honest as you can get when informing consumers about a
product because the fighters are like the UFC’s products since they are what
sells the fights. And when they give their own opinions, it’s coming from their
experience and their own knowledge. The formula of humanity states that a
business should treat their consumers in a way they would treat humanity. It
has exactly the same meaning as “treat others the way you want to be treated.”
In a Kantianism perspective, they would be honest with their fans by keeping
their promises. For example, when they promote an event, the company should try
their best to make that event happen on that time and day.
Virtues
The four main
virtues in business are: courage, honesty, temperance, and justice. Courage is
identified as being risk-taking and willing to follow an idea or action. Dana
White followed this by allowing the fight to happen. It’s a crazy fight and
anything could happen. McGregor also demonstrated courage by agreeing to fight
when he hadn’t fought professionally in the UFC for two years. Honesty was
demonstrated a lot by giving the correct information on the fighters. Although
the fight between the two was a disappointment to many fans because the UFC
promised a good fight between the two. The fight wasn’t as great as many fans
were expecting it to be. It felt like McGregor didn’t keep his word when he
said he’ll give a good performance because he was utterly dominated my
Nurmagomedov. This also aligns with temperance as it is defined as “reasonable
expectations and desires.” Most people expected both fighters to give an
outstanding performance, which shouldn’t be expected because anything could
happen in sports. The brawl after the fight was totally unexpected and did not
give the company justice. Part of justice is to have a good idea and fair play,
and letting this fight happen was not a good idea. There was no fair play in
the main event of UFC 229, but there was bad behavior and horrible
sportsmanship.
Conclusion
The controversy sparked because there was beef between the two fighters. If these two fighters were not allowed to fight, this controversy wouldn't have happened but the UFC would not get their profits. To prevent these circumstances from ever occurring again, I believe the UFC should create more rules and regulations for the fighters during press conferences and fights. They should also try to become stricter if regulations are broken such as longer suspensions, firing, or fining fighters.
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