Could the UFC's Accident Insurance Policy Be the Cause of Fighter Withdrawals?

Quote :: On May 9, 2011, Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the UFC and
Strikeforce, announced that beginning in June, all 350 of its contracted
fighters would be eligible for a revolutionary accident insurance
policy. "As this sport continues to grow, we have been working
hard to secure additional insurance coverage so that our athletes can
perform at the highest levels," UFC president Dana White said at the time. "We're proud to give our athletes access to this type of insurance." The move was heralded around MMA circles as being fantastic for fighters because costly training-related injuries would now be covered by the organization. Whereas
before fighters battled through injuries in training camp because they
needed to fight to get paid, now they had the opportunity to pull out
with a lesser financial hit. And the fans have suffered mightily
for it because an unintended consequence of this policy has been a slew
of good fights being cancelled.UFC 133, in particular, has been ravaged. First,
co-headliner Phil Davis pulled out of his fight with Rashad Evans,
citing a knee injury that prevented him from kickboxing, even though
White said it didn’t require surgery and that he could start training
again in a few weeks.Then, Vladimir Matyushenko pulled out
his fight against Alexander Gustafsson, even though White said a day
earlier he was the next fighter in line to fight Evans after Tito Ortiz
and Lyoto Machida had declined (although Ortiz later changed his mind). And
then on Saturday evening, it was revealed Antonio Rogerio Nogueria
would pull out from his match against Rich Franklin, leaving the UFC
with very few alternatives—most other 205-pounders are either hurt or
already booked—to fight the former UFC middleweight champion and only a
few weeks remaining until the event. But it’s not just UFC 133 that has seen this nasty pattern of replacement fights.At
UFC on Versus 4, main-eventer Anthony Johnson pulled out, then
co-main-eventer Martin Kampmann did the same and with only a few days
before the event, T.J. Grant did too. At UFC on Versus 5, surging lightweight John Makdessi was forced to cancel, as were Paul Taylor, Stephan Bonner and Tom Lawlor.Bonner
and Lawlor haven’t fought since last year. Had these guys needed
paydays and pre-accident insurance, they might have been more willing to
battle through their injuries. There is no absolute proof that
the accident insurance policy is to blame. But consider this: The last
UFC event to take place pre-insurance coverage was UFC 130. After Quinton Jackson defeated Matt Hamill in the main event, he revealed he had broken his hand in training, but decided to fight through it.

BleacherReport

It's not a bad lil conspiracy theory there... especially for a BR writer!

I actually just posted something about this on the other site! I felt like a dick for thinking it, but it does make sense.
It's been ridiculous how many fighters are bowing out of fights lately.

It's definitely possible. But maybe it's just that these guys don't have to fight hurt anynmore> They can now afford to bow out of a fight for a couple months and not have to worry about where their next paycheck is coming from. There are probably guys abusing it, sure.

» Matt Riddle. TUF fighter,UFC fighter now pro wrestler?
» No ultimate fighter this week?
» the fighter who has earned the most money in the UFC