Despite a surprise KO victory that should propel his career forward, Tyson Nam is concerned he may be engaged in a legal battle for a shot to continue his career.
Nam’s KO of Bellator Champ Eduardo Dantas received interest from major promotions. But, Nam is under contract with Bellator and due to his contract, Bellator can match any offer. However, Nam’s career with Bellator has been non-existent. Twice he was scheduled to appear in the organization’s tournament but was pulled from each tournament. Its reported that Bellator will place him in the promotion’s next tournament in 2013.
Nam’s trainer indicates that Bellator will not offer Nam a regular fight on a multi-bout agreement. He states that Bellator is threatening a lawsuit if Nam accepts a deal with another organization.
Via MMA Junkie:
The dispute stems from a clause in Nam’s contract that gives Bellator matching rights on offers from other promotions 18 months after its expiration. Now that the fighter is a hot commodity, (Phil) Claud (Nam’s trainer) said, it gives Bellator undue leverage in controlling the fighter’s future.
Payout Perspective:
Nam is in an unfortunate situation. When he signed the Bellator deal he probably thought that it would be his big shot. It was unlikely that he thought about the non-compete/right of first refusal clause in his contract. For Nam’s counsel, it’s unlikely that this clause would be a deal breaker. But, Nam’s sudden success seems to have surprised Bellator and it appears that the promotion was not ready for it.
From a public relations perspective, it seems like Bellator could pick up on the momentum of Nam and place him in a non-tournament fight and promote him around his surprising knockout. Or, Bellator could release Nam if he receives a better offer elsewhere. Based upon Claud’s description of the situation, it seems like Bellator is holding onto Nam and will not let him out of his contract nor put him on a card.
Do I have this straight… Bellator signed him to a contract well over a year ago and twice he was pulled from tournaments. So Bellator has never paid him a dime because he has never fought in Bellator and now they want to jack him around because he beat a Bellator fighter outside of Bellator.
If he signed a contract that still gives Bellator any legal rights after being signed and not getting a fight for a whole year then he needs to get a new manager.
Matt C.
This appears to be correct. A horrible contract. Honestly, I am not sure if they paid him to sign or compensated him for not placing him in the tourneys but he signed a contract which has a clause that gives Bellator right of first refusal.
You think the UFC would make him a decnet offer just to force Bellator to pay more money. Hell, a 20/20 contract wouldnt throw off the market for the UFC but would assure this kid gets paid and if Bellator doesnt match it they get a much needed guy with a little cread and hype for their small divisions.
While it seems that Bellator is completely within their legal rights here, there have already been too many legal squabbles between the promotion and their fighters. These situations turn me off to the promotion as a fan, just like it turns me off to Zuffa when they exercise the more oppressive clauses of their contracts.