UFC on Fox 5 is arguably the best card in MMA history to appear on free TV. Definitely the strongest card the UFC has featured on the FOX network since their new partnership began. The main card features an exciting Lightweight title bout between champion Ben Henderson and contender Nate Diaz. The UFC pulled in veteran stars Shogun Rua and B.J. Penn to face off against rising talents Alexander Gustafsson and Rory MacDonald respectively. Although less divisionally relevant, even the opening bout between Matt Brown and Mike Swick should be action-packed.

Despite all the promised excitement, some of matchmaking for the December 8 card is drawing the wrong kind of attention. Specifically, the political rival of the UFC, Culinary Workers' Union Local 226 takes issue with the scheduling of Lightweights Jeremy Stephens and Abel Trujillo.

Dear Mr. [Eric] Shanks (Co-president, FOX Sports Media Group):



We are writing to alert you about two UFC fighters who are scheduled to compete on the "UFC on FOX

5" event on December 8th at the KeyArena in Seattle. Attached you will find the Trial Information in the

pending criminal case involving one UFC fighter, and two guilty pleas entered into by the other UFC

fighter.



Jeremy Dean Stephens, a professional cage fighter who competes under the nickname "Lil’ Heathen,"

has been charged with Willful Injury Causing Serious Injury (Class C felony), Burglary in the First

Degree (Class B felony), and Assault Causing Bodily Injury (Serious Misdemeanor). A trial in the case is

currently schedule for January 9, 2013.



Abel Nazario Trujillo, another cage fighter scheduled to compete on the UFC fight card on Dec. 8th

in Seattle, has twice pleaded guilty to Domestic Abuse Assault Causing Bodily Injury, an aggravated

misdemeanor. In both cases, the victim was identified as the mother of his child. In May 2007, Trujillo

also pleaded guilty to Obstruction of an Emergency Communication. In the plea agreement, Trujillo

acknowledged that the crime required the State to prove that his alleged assault victim was making a 911

call, Trujillo knew that she was making a 911 call, and Trujillo hung up the phone. Trujillo competes

under the nickname "Killa."



These criminal cases raise serious questions about FOX’s programming judgment. At minimum, FOX

and the UFC should wait for the resolution of an upcoming jury trial related to the allegations against

Stephens before allowing Stephens to fight on FOX. The trial is scheduled for January 9th in Iowa.



Stephens was arrested on October 5th in Minneapolis on an Iowa warrant, just hours before his previously

scheduled fight on UFC.



One of the victims of the alleged assault is identified as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army who has

dedicated his career to military service and has been deployed overseas multiple times, according to

a 2010 article. This should be of concern to FOX, given that fans of cage fighting events and regular

viewers of FOX likely include military veterans and active-duty soldiers who, along with their families,

have paid a great sacrifice to our country.



The UFC already has a troubled relationship with some leaders in the veterans’ community and advocates

for survivors of sexual assault, who believe the cage fighting organization has not done enough to prevent

socially irresponsible speech among its fighters. UFC fighters have made jokes about rape, homophobic

slurs and sexually explicit remarks that are demeaning towards women.



In a disturbing video published in April 2012 on YouTube, UFC fighter Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

pretends to sexually assault a woman in a parking garage using chloroform and zip ties. Jackson is

scheduled to fight on the "UFC on FOX 6" event on Jan. 26th in Chicago. At a public press conference

in December 2011, UFC fighter Rashad Evans taunted his opponent by threatening to act like former

Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who at the time faced more than

50 counts of sexual misconduct involving young boys. In other cases, UFC fighters have made light of

rape on their Twitter accounts.



You can find more incidents of offensive behavior among people associated with the UFC at the

following website: www.UnfitForChildren.org



As reported by FOX News, this summer more than 10,000 people nationwide signed a petition calling

on the U.S. Marine Corps to renounce its support of the UFC and to refrain from using taxpayer money

to sponsor the organization. A veterans committee of UNITE HERE delivered these petitions to the

Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James Amos; to Marine Corps recruiting stations in 10 cities;

to Representative Howard "Buck" McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; and to

the Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS).



Leaders of more than a dozen state and national organizations that advocate on behalf of veterans and/or

survivors of sexual assault have called on the military to sever ties with the UFC. These groups include

the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, National Institute of Military Justice, Protect Our

Defenders, Women in the Military Project, Veterans For Peace, Veterans For Common Sense, Veterans

United for Truth, and the Veterans Committee of UNITE HERE, among others.



The UFC was no doubt aware of the criminal charges against Jeremy Stephens at the time in which it

announced on November 23rd that Stephens would fight on Dec. 8th on FOX. The alleged assault was

widely publicized in the national news media. FOX Sports, ESPN, New York Post and USA Today,

among other media outlets, reported details of the arrest and an unsuccessful effort by the UFC to get

Stephens out of jail on bail in time for a UFC fight in Minneapolis on October 5th.



Stephens’ management agency, Evolution Agent, released a statement denying that Stephens was

involved in the alleged assault. According to the statement, Stephens attended a party in Des Moines in



which a physical altercation occurred, and Stephens’ "name came up during the police investigation of the

assault."



Less than 48 hours after Stephens’ arrest in Minneapolis on Oct. 5th, UFC President Dana White was

quoted in USA Today and the New York Post as saying he believed Stephens’ assertion that he was

innocent. "I’m taking [Stephens’] word for it," White was quoted as saying. "Man to man, that’s what

he says, and I’m going to take his word for it. I believe him." White was also quoted as saying he was

willing to pay an "astronomical amount of money" to bail Stephens out of jail in time for the Oct. 5 th UFC

fight in Minneapolis.



White’s rush to support Stephens following his arrest was criticized by some in the media. Josh Gross of

ESPN wrote, "[White] can’t know the truth about Stephens, yet he pushed and pushed to get him out on

bond so he could fight in a cage the same night? Think about the optics, which probably has more to do

with public relations but also delves into real-world business. Where’s the benefit to the UFC?"



There are other professional cage fighters with better fight records. As noted on UFC.com, Stephens has

lost three of his last five contests in the UFC. Why isn’t a different cage fighter scheduled to fight on

December 8th on FOX?



In light of the concerns cited above, we strongly encourage FOX to wait for the resolution of the jury trial

in Iowa related to the alleged assault before allowing Stephens to fight on your network.



Regards,



Chris Serres

Research Analyst

Culinary Workers Union, Local 226

UNITE HERE