Global Fighters’ Association Launches Landmark Inquiry Into Combat Sport Welfare and Safety

Former boxer Paul Smith has condemned what he describes as a failing system that leaves fighters “hurt, exploited or forgotten,” citing a critical absence of support for athletes.

Smith is part of an initiative established to represent fighters and protect their futures. The group plans to launch what it describes as the largest-ever inquiry into health and safety standards in combat sport.

The Global Fighters’ Association (GFA) hopes the inquiry will position it as the new umbrella organisation for all combat sport.

Founded last year, the organisation aims to establish a union dedicated to safeguarding fighters’ futures.

The GFA is campaigning for fair contracts, improved pay, insurance and pensions, robust health and safety standards, and an official channel through which fighters can report problems.

The group cites recent public fundraisers that have helped fighters, including Lee Reeves, cover emergency care costs following serious injuries.

Smith, a three-time super-middleweight world title challenger who retired in 2017, calls it a systemic failure when fighters such as Reeves must raise funds to pay for their own recovery.

“Every week, somewhere in this sport, a fighter is hurt, exploited or forgotten,” Smith said. “The only safety net is whatever the boxing community can scrape together after the fact.”

“That is not a system. It is a failing. To our knowledge, no one has ever invested the time and resources to examine this sport thoroughly, identify exactly where it fails fighters, and publish actionable recommendations to fix it.”

The GFA has engaged respected barrister Jonathan Caplan KC to lead the inquiry, which will examine the safety, governance, and treatment of combat sports participants at every level, from grassroots to professional.

Caplan will produce a report based on the evidence and testimonies gathered.

As a non-profit organisation, the GFA aims to raise £500,000 through a crowdfunding campaign to fund the inquiry.

Simon Bazalgette, the group’s chair designate, says the goal is to provide fighters with the same support available to athletes in other sports.

“Over the past decade, professional sports such as rugby, football, and horse racing have improved participant welfare,” Bazalgette said.

“It is striking that combat sport remains one of the last workplaces without professional representation for its workers,” he added. “This means little protection, no minimum health and safety standards, no independent pension scheme, no insurance floor, and no single body a fighter can turn to when something goes wrong.”

“The GFA was formed to rectify this, to help the sport build a stronger bond of trust with its participants and audience, and to provide a stronger foundation for growth.”

Earlier this month, British mixed martial arts fighter Michael ‘Venom’ Page called on fighters to form a union to campaign for better pay.

Page cited the Muhammad Ali Act, a 2000 US law designed to protect boxers’ rights and combat monopolies, as a model he would like to see replicated in MMA.

UFC President Dana White has led a push to amend the act, a development that GFA acting general secretary Paul Maloney says should concern fighters.

“It is the only legislation anywhere in the world that gives fighters a measure of workplace protection,” Maloney said. “Critics say it is currently being rewritten in a way that favours the promoters and networks that already hold most of the power.”

“If it can be stripped back there, it can happen anywhere else that lacks an independent, respected voice for fighters—which is exactly why the GFA exists.”

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