The Legal Submission Newsletter 19
Writer Jay Caspian King wrote a New York Times Editorial on How to Unionize the UFC. While it is great that this issue is being tackled in a well read forum, the ‘opinion’ is more of a survey of the current state of the UFC fighters with a few anecdotes. And while the question was presented and the conclusion was obvious, the column lacks substance. King does conduct interviews and research on the subject but it reads more like a last minute assignment than a thoughtful dive into a subject.
I’m a fan of the Vice series Dark Side of the Ring as its an exploration into incidents and individuals of yesterday. Most of the incidents are folklore and were fanned by internet message boards which existed before social media. One of these incidents occurred in May 2002 in the WWE and was known as The Plane Ride from Hell. Coming home from a European Tour, WWE talent had their chartered jet delayed. The delay allowed for the wrestlers to get drunk and act stupid during the course of the 14 hour plane ride back. This episode featured a flight attendant who retold several incidents on the plane ride including what would amount to sexual misconduct. Although none of the accused agreed to do an interview for the episode (it was not a WWE authorized project), former WWE wrestler and current Impact employee Tommy Dreamer discussed the plane ride and spoke up about his friend Ric Flair who was accused of exposing himself to one of the flight attendants.
Dreamer’s comments came off as a ‘so what’ and ‘people are too sensitive.’ Thoughts about sexual misconduct then and sexual misconduct now are different. Fortunately, views protecting females and female wrestlers have been on the uptick. Impact wrestling issued a statement which stated it has suspended Dreamer from his work with the promotion. Also, there are rumors that his SiriusXM show may be in jeopardy. While some may argue ‘cancel culture,’ Dreamer’s comments were insensitive. Should he lose his job? That’s an interesting debate. What is more interesting is that Ric Flair, the one that is the subject of the misconduct, is getting away without repercussions.
Bellator 266 takes place Saturday night in San Jose. I spoke with several fighters as they get ready for the fight. Check out my YouTube Channel (and please subscribe) to see interviews with Grant Neal, Alex Polizzi, Deanna Bennett, Georgi Karakhanyan and Nieman Gracie.