(Exclusive): "Be happy to be lucky enough" - Jon Fitch reveals how the UFC persuaded fighters to sign their likeness for their earlier video games

Former welterweight contender Jon Fitch recently sounded off on the UFC for the tactics they used to persuade fighters into signing over their likeness for their earlier video games.

During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, the former WSOF welterweight champion revealed that he had initially declined to sign the video game agreement for the promotion's Undisputed video game franchise, which was published by THQ. He mentioned that fighters were expected to sign over their likeness and receive no compensation for appearing in the video game.

He said:

"This is when they first started to dig all the hooks of the monopoly in, right? Forcing guys to sign over their identity, their likeness, their name, their image forever for no money. That was the deal for the video game agreement. You were supposed to just be happy to be lucky enough to get a chance to be in the video game. That was how it was sold." [3:34 - 3:58]

Jon Fitch also brought up that fighters are now being compensated under their current video game agreement but that it isn't much when compared to other sports leagues. He mentioned that the agreement should be based on sales rather than a lump sum payment, saying:

"Now they're [fighters] getting paid a little bit, but it's still peanuts compared to what they should be getting. If you look at other professional sports, those athletes are getting percentages of the sales of the game. They're not getting a small lump payoff, you know, just to keep them quiet." [4:01 - 4:17]

It remains to be seen whether the UFC's video game agreements with fighters will change should the new installments of their video games under EA Sports outperform their predecessors.

Check out the full interview:

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Amanda Nunes reacts to EA Sports UFC cover curse

Serving as the cover athlete for EA Sports UFC video games hasn't exactly been beneficial to the promotion's stars.

Former two-division champion Amanda Nunes recently reacted after Alexander Volkanovski, who was the cover athlete for the latest installment, was defeated via first-round knockout. She mentioned that she believed it was a positive for her career that she didn't grace a cover, writing:

"I’m glad I was never on the cover of UFC video game. Seems like a curse"