In a rather disturbing news regarding the practices in the video games market, we found out that welterweight contender Jon Fitch was dropped from the UFC after the fighter refused to sign a lifetime contract to allow his name and likeness to be used by THQ, starting with the UFC Undisputed 2009 game. That doesn’t sound right, does it?

UFC president Dana White said: “There are a lot of guys who help us and work with us and are great partners with us, and they’re the ones we’re going to remember and take care of,” hinting that it’s all about the money, after all: “This economy is ***** up. It’s totally ***** up. It’s bad, real, real bad. The networks are in trouble and don’t have money. The sponsors are in trouble, and they have no money. If they don’t have money, they go out of business.”

On the other hand, Fitch noted that he saw no reason for him to sign a lifetime contract with THQ and I can understand that (especially if we’re talking about an exclusive contract that would stop the welterweight contender from signing deals with other game developers). Also, Fitch noted that in the event of his death, his family would not be paid. Pretty strange things, don’t you think?

Update: Just seconds after sending the story, we got an update. According to MMARated Jon Fitch decided to sign the video game agreement after all and he will be welcomed back to the UFC. But I still have an awkward feeling about this. It doesn’t seem like the deal was settled.