MMA Junkie reports that Michael Bisping will have to pay more than $400,000 in unpaid commissions to his former management team after a Manchester court determined that soon-to-be retired former UFC middleweight champion will need to pay up per an agreement between 2005 and 2011.
The lawsuit was reported on by the UK’s Daily Mail back in May of this year. Bisping’s former manager Anthony McGann, owner of the Wolfslair Gym claims Bisping owed him management fees dating back 10 years. Bisping denied the claim.
After an 11 day trial, Judge Richard Salter ruled Bisping owed McGann approximately $426,313 U.S. dollars in back pay for managing the UFC middleweight.
As one might expect, this was a contentious lawsuit with rumors that the two side got into a “scuffle” outside the courtroom.
This is not the only legal issue Bisping has going, as he is being sued by a 24-Hour Fitness patron from an incident this past summer.
With the judgment, there will now be a fight for attorney costs as it appears that the prevailing party will be able to recoup fees. More litigation to come.
Payout Perspective:
I would expect an appeal of the court verdict but I do not know the court system in Manchester. It does seem like this battle between Bisping and his former manager/gym is one where the fighter becomes successful and moves on while the people that started with him wants their share of what they invested. It might be that McGann had Bisping sign a contract that favored Wolfslair. Or, Bisping determined that he could do and/or wanted better representation and refused to pay commissions. It seems that the court favored McGann although the fight over who pays the attorney fees will be another battle.
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