– Impact FC Hasn’t Paid Its Fighters; Promoters Blame Each Other
– Zuffa sues MMA Agent Ken Pavia and Bellator for alleged theft of trade secrets
– Roy Jones Jr’s Square Ring, Inc Sues Zuffa, Roy Nelson
– SEC, MMA Manager consent to final judgment
– Can’t Touch This: MC Hammer Starts MMA Firm
Impact FC Hasn’t Paid Its Fighters; Promoters Blame Each Other
We learned of the situation Wednesday from one of the affected fighters who wished to remain anonymous, but have since been able to confirm the story with more than a dozen others, including Karo Parisyan, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Jesse Taylor and Brian Ebersole, that none of the cards’ participants have received their complete fight purses. (CagePotato)
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IMPACT FC Promoters Sparring, Not Paying
“[Tom] Huggins has run back to Brazil and is uncontactable, whilst I (who never negotiated, contracted or was a party to any deal) have now been left trying to find funds to pay the men whilst all the false promises of sponsorships (never happened) and late gate sales and walk up all turned out to be lies,” McManus wrote in an email to Cage Potato.
“That statement is categorically untrue,” Huggins wrote in resonse to McManus. “I can provide you with the agreement between Andrew and myself, which clearly demonstrates that my responsibility was to procure fighters and make matches for the event within a given budget. The agreement clearly shows that ALL of the financing for the events, including fighter purses, was the responsibility of McManus.” (MMAWeekly)
Zuffa sues MMA Agent Ken Pavia and Bellator for alleged theft of trade secrets
Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting, has filed suit against Ken Pavia, one of the sport’s most prominent fighter agents, alleging Pavia passed along trade secrets and confidential Zuffa documents to rival mixed martial arts promotion Bellator. (Yahoo! Sports)
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Pavia, Bellator Under Fire
The rationale for Zuffa’s claims comes in the form of an e-mail, attached as an exhibit in the complaint filed in Clark County District Court, sent by Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney to Pavia on July 4: ” … you’ve been great about sending us ‘All’ of the seminal docs from the UFC, so that we can re-do them and implement them for Bellator.”
Pavia is alleged to have shared “promotional agreements, bout agreements, sponsorship forms, extension letters, injury forms, and the like.” (Sports Illustrated)
Roy Jones Jr’s Square Ring, Inc Sues Zuffa, Roy Nelson
Roy Nelson enters the cage later this week in what could possibly be a career changing match-up with heavy hitter Junior Dos Santos, but his showdown with the Brazilian striker is not the only opponent he is staring down these days. Nelson, as well his overseers at Zuffa, are facing off in court with another combat sport participant that goes by Junior – Roy Jones Jr, that is. RJJ and his Square Ring, Inc. (SRI) filed suit in late Spring in Nevada court against both Nelson and Zuffa, alleging that the two parties acted together to deprive SRI of its’ contractual rights. (MMAFA.TV)
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Roy Nelson Could be Liable for Zuffa’s Expenses and Damages in Connection with Square Ring Lawsuit
According to the allegations in the complaint, under the terms of an agreement between Nelson and SRI, SRI allegedly agreed to promote Nelson in a MMA bout against Jeff Monson scheduled for March 21, 2009 in Pensacola, Florida… SRI alleges that the agreement with Nelson provided in Paragraph 11 that:
“SRI would have certain exclusive first negotiation rights with respect to Nelson’s future bouts and thereafter under certain conditions a right to match any offers Nelson received for such future bouts. Under the terms of the Agreement, Nelson agreed that he would not engage in any “Future Bouts” (as defined in the Agreement) except in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 11 thereof.” (The Fight Lawyer)
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Zuffa Responds to RJJ Lawsuit, Seek Indemnification Against Big Country
Zuffa seeks to use the warranty and indemnification clauses in their promotional agreements in order to make sure if there are any real and actual losses in the event of an unfavorable decision in the SRI case, it will be the fighter Roy Nelson that will bear the brunt of these costs and damages, not Zuffa. (MMAFA.TV)
SEC, MMA Manager consent to final judgment
Nine months after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Jason Genet alleging the Arizona-based MMA manager helped perpetrate a “pump and dump” manipulation of common stock, Genet consented to a final judgment in June that will cost him just over $2.5 million, according papers released by the regulator Monday…
Genet continues to represent MMA clients such as highly regarded heavyweight Shane Carwin and WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson through his Tempe, Ariz.-based firm, Magnetic Marketing Associates (Sports Illustrated)
Can’t Touch This: MC Hammer Starts MMA Firm
Hammer’s Alchemist Management, based in Los Angeles, is a management, promotion, marketing, and brand-building firm for MMA fighters. Hammer is the company’s CEO and has named Lex McMahon as President and Nima Safapour as Vice President of Business Affairs and General Counsel.
“I’ve been a fan of combat sports for years,” said Hammer. “MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world and this is a great opportunity for us to launch a full-service management company. Alchemist Management will leverage its relationships and resources for the benefit of fighters, the sponsors, and the industry at large.” (MMAWeekly)
PICTURE OF THE DAY
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Patrick English (Bellator Attorney) : “Frankly, it’s a legitimate concern in terms of the way the e-mail is raised. But I think when we talk and I just go through exactly what was said, this will not be an issue at all. I can tell you nothing was said that would be a competitive advantage to Bellator or put UFC at a competitive disadvantage.” (Josh Gross, Sports Illustrated)
QUICK HITS
- Spike TV to air UFC 122 via same-day delay from Germany (MMAJunkie)
- Daniel Cormier vs. Jason Riley added to “Strikeforce: Houston” prelims (MMAJunkie)
- UFC on Versus 2 ratings result in average audience of 1 million viewers (MMAJunkie)
- Yoshiyuki Yoshida added to Bellator 31 against unnamed opponent (MMAJunkie)
- Meet the cast for “The Ultimate Fighter 12,” field includes 28 lightweights (MMAJunkie)
- Schneider, Carmouche Meet in Strikeforce Tourney Reserve Bout (Sherdog)
- Maia Takes UFC 118 Slot Against Miranda (Sherdog)
- Pudzianowski Draws ‘Butterbean’ at KSW 14 (Sherdog)
- Fighters and Health Insurance (Sherdog)
- Sonnen: Lance Armstrong Gave Himself Cancer (MMAFighting)
- Roger Huerta Caught on Tape in Street Fight (MMAFighting)
- UFC Targeting March 2011 Return to Ireland (MMAFighting)
- ANDERSON SILVA ISN’T BUYING INTO SONNEN’S HYPE (MMAWeekly)
- UFC DEBUTS ULTIMATE INSIDER WEB SHOW (MMAWeekly)
- Jessica Pene Partakes in Bellator’s Tournament (Heavy)
- Gallery: UFC 117 Open Workouts (Heavy)
TV LISTINGS
- HDNet Fights Vault: DREAM at 8:00 PM ET on HDNet (08/06/10)
- Fighting Words with Mike Straka (Renzo Gracie) at 8:30 PM ET on HDNet (08/06/10)
- Inside MMA (Tito Ortiz, Joe Soto, & Joe Warren) at 9 PM ET on HDNet (08/06/10)
- HDNet Fights: Best of Sengoku, Vol. 2 at 10 PM ET on HDNet (08/06/10)
- UFC 117 : Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen at 10 PM ET on PPV (08/7/10)
UPCOMING EVENTS
- UFC 117 : Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen at 10 PM ET on PPV (08/7/10)
- Bellator 24: Lombard vs Goodman on FSN (08/12/10)
- Strikeforce Challengers: Riggs vs Taylor 10 PM ET/PT on Showtime (08/13/10)
- HDNet Fights: KOTC: Imminent Danger at 9 PM ET on HDNet (08/13/10)
- WEC 50: Cruz vs Benavidez at 9 PM ET on Versus (08/18/10)
- Bellator 25 on FSN (08/19/10)
- Strikeforce: King Mo vs Rafael Feijao at 10 PM ET/PT on Showtime (08/21/10)
- Bellator 26 on FSN (08/26/10)
- HDNet Fights: Sengoku Raiden Championships 14 on HDNet (08/27/10)
- UFC 118: Edgar vs Penn 2 at 10 PM ET on PPV (08/28/10)
- Bellator 26 on FSN (09/2/10)
- UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Belcher at 9 PM ET on SPIKE TV (09/15/10)
- UFC 119 : Minotauro Nogueira vs Frank Mir 2 at 10 PM ET on PPV (09/25/10)
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