Corruption in mixed martial arts, boxing, and basically all forms of fighting have been rampant ever since John L. Sullivan became the first recognized World Champion of Boxing, then proceeded to deny any non-white man a title shot.
It seems like there are more corrupt organizations than those on the up and up in the world of fighting, which makes you wonder if there isn’t something inherent about the fight business that leads to corruption. The fight business is entirely about creating and promoting stars; stars people will pay money to see live, stars that people will spend money to see on PPV.
The trouble is that it’s not always the stars that win championships, but the stars that are more valuable when they do. Thus fight promoters throughout history have been unable to resist the temptation to stack the odds in favour of the guys who draw the most money.
While it’s hard to blame a promoter from trying to be as successful as possible, boxing has been greatly damaged in much of the world by the belief that all governing bodies are corrupt.
Let’s take a look at the top 3 corrupt organizations in fighting.
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