Paul Buentello Suspended from AKA, Trouble for the 'Team' Model?

Paul Buentello is preparing to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 107, unfortunately for Paul, he will not have the training services of American Kickboxing Academy at his disposal. Why, because Buentello was suspended from the gym for signing on with a new manager not attached to AKA.

For those unfamiliar with AKA they are a MMA gym, which provides services outside of simple work out facilities and sparring partners, such as mangers, sponsorships and legal representation.

When WKR pondered the possible avenues of establishing fighter's union, the "team" route was one of the possibilities we discussed, personified in AKA's model.

It is quite simple really. The high cost of training has lead many fighters to band together in gyms that provide services outside of mere facilities to work out in. Take American Kickboxing Academy for instance. This gym provides lawyers, managers and sponsors for the fighters that pay to be apart of the gym. In a sense AKA is a mini-fighter's guild already functioning and dealing with the UFC. While fighter's are still free to make independent decisions they are all providing support for one another without prejudice to what tier a fighter is currently in e.g. local promotion vs. Strikeforce vs. UFC. 

The formation of "teams" --that provide ancillary services in addition to training partners-- is a trend that is occurring across the landscape of MMA. The rise of the "team" unit is an unique moment in combat sports and could provide the pathway to organized labor.

Buentello's suspension from AKA is a significant development as it represents a cracking in the "team" model WKR previously described. For AKA, it is in their interest to ensure that fighters within the gym stick together with all the services being provided as it is essentially acting as a mini-guild. Buentello's actions are similar to a union worker crossing the picket line during a strike, so it comes as no surprise that AKA suspended him.

What is unknown is whether the UFC's stance towards AKA contributed to Buentello's decision. In the Fight! Magazine piece Buentello insists that his decision was made due to the desire to have passionate representation, which he felt he wasn't receiving from AKA. However, the UFC has clashed with AKA before, at one point threatening to banish the entire team from the promotion.

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Conspiracy theorists will see Buentello's UFC return coincide with him leaving AKA management and will claim that the UFC is using their leverage to block new, even returning fighters, from using AKA management. Outside of the coincidence of these events there is no concrete proof of such activity.