Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney told Sherdog.com on Wednesday that he recently received a copy of the UFC's proposed contract to Lombard and will soon make a determination on whether to re-sign.
"We've received the final proposed UFC agreement from Hector's attorney, and right now we are in the process of reviewing it to determine whether we're going to match the agreement," Rebney said. "We've got the 60 pages of UFC contract that were forwarded to us by Hector's counsel. We've been waiting on the actual contract itself to see all of the specifics and every conceivable detail and know exactly what is being offered. Now we have something really specific to look at."
"The reality is that Hector is going to do extremely well whether he is fighting in the Octagon or the Bellator circle, and I think everybody knew that. He's one of the best middleweights on the face of the earth. He hasn't fought in a long time, and he had to wait through these periods contractually to get to a point where he could go out and seek an offer from a competing organization."
"Out of respect for Hector, I think we will turn [the UFC contract] around very quickly. Obviously, we have a huge event coming up Friday [Bellator 66]. As soon as that is over, we will sit down with our partners and go through the UFC contract line-for-line and make a strategic decision whether we're going to match it or pass. [If we pass, we will] wish him the best and let him go knock out everybody in the UFC."
"The reality is that Hector is going to do extremely well whether he is fighting in the Octagon or the Bellator circle, and I think everybody knew that. He's one of the best middleweights on the face of the earth. He hasn't fought in a long time, and he had to wait through these periods contractually to get to a point where he could go out and seek an offer from a competing organization."
"Out of respect for Hector, I think we will turn [the UFC contract] around very quickly."
In the day and age of MMA CEOs holding up fighters contracts, freezing them for a year or bashing them if they leave, how cool is it to see an MMA CEO say this?
"The reality is that Hector is going to do extremely well whether he is fighting in the Octagon or the Bellator circle, and I think everybody knew that. He's one of the best middleweights on the face of the earth. He hasn't fought in a long time, and he had to wait through these periods contractually to get to a point where he could go out and seek an offer from a competing organization."
"Out of respect for Hector, I think we will turn [the UFC contract] around very quickly."
In the day and age of MMA CEOs holding up fighters contracts, freezing them for a year or bashing them if they leave, how cool is it to see an MMA CEO say this?
Yep rebney seems like a good guy. Just gutted being in the UK where there's no tv coverage of bellator. Anyone from the UK watch if so where's the best place to see events live??
"The reality is that Hector is going to do extremely well whether he is fighting in the Octagon or the Bellator circle, and I think everybody knew that. He's one of the best middleweights on the face of the earth. He hasn't fought in a long time, and he had to wait through these periods contractually to get to a point where he could go out and seek an offer from a competing organization."
"Out of respect for Hector, I think we will turn [the UFC contract] around very quickly."
In the day and age of MMA CEOs holding up fighters contracts, freezing them for a year or bashing them if they leave, how cool is it to see an MMA CEO say this?
agreed but didn't he sue Peewee a while back?
Ah damn, that's right. Well, he's being cool now. ;-)
<p>"<b>The reality is that Hector is going to do extremely well whether he is fighting in the Octagon or the Bellator circle</b>, and I think everybody knew that. He's one of the best middleweights on the face of the earth. He hasn't fought in a long time, and he had to wait through these periods contractually to get to a point where he could go out and seek an offer from a competing organization."</p><p><b>"Out of respect for Hector, I think we will turn [the UFC contract] around very quickly." </b></p>
In the day and age of MMA CEOs holding up fighters contracts, freezing them for a year or bashing them if they leave, how cool is it to see an MMA CEO say this?
Classy.
Please read this Pavelich. that's how you handle someone leaving your organization.
ghostmaster - Yep rebney seems like a good guy. Just gutted being in the UK where there's no tv coverage of bellator. Anyone from the UK watch if so where's the best place to see events live??
Does the live stream on spike.com not work for you either?
ghostmaster - Yep rebney seems like a good guy. Just gutted being in the UK where there's no tv coverage of bellator. Anyone from the UK watch if so where's the best place to see events live??
Does the live stream on spike.com not work for you either?
USA only. I can find a stream easily enough though.
Bjorn seems like such a good guy and handles his business with class. Hope we get to see Lombard in the UFC, a tough matchup for anyone.(excluding Silva)
"The reality is that Hector is going to do extremely well whether he is fighting in the Octagon or the Bellator circle, and I think everybody knew that. He's one of the best middleweights on the face of the earth. He hasn't fought in a long time, and he had to wait through these periods contractually to get to a point where he could go out and seek an offer from a competing organization."
"Out of respect for Hector, I think we will turn [the UFC contract] around very quickly."
In the day and age of MMA CEOs holding up fighters contracts, freezing them for a year or bashing them if they leave, how cool is it to see an MMA CEO say this?
agreed but didn't he sue Peewee a while back?
Did the same thing to Jon Brookins too. IIRC, there are others as well.
Rebney talks a good game, but his words do not match his actions. Bellator has a long history of fucking with fighters who leave them.
