From Dave Meltzer on his message board at f4wonline.com:
dave
Joined: 20 Oct 2005 23:01 GMT
Posts: 1730
I think it's a settlement to a lawsuit.
Did Zuffa get Hunt's contract in the Pride deal and then freeze him out?
clintpac1 - From Dave Meltzer on his message board at f4wonline.com:
dave
Joined: 20 Oct 2005 23:01 GMT
Posts: 1730
I think it's a settlement to a lawsuit.
Did Zuffa get Hunt's contract in the Pride deal and then freeze him out?
yes... that sat him down for about a year and a half and wouldn't use him but also wouldn't let him take bookings elsewhere....
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=6668&zoneid=3
how nice of UFC to take away someone's livelihood & make him & his family suffer. I hope Hunt demolishes everyone put in front of him
Man, i'd love to see Mark fight Pat Barry!
Thats just fucked up.
yes... that sat him down for about a year and a half and wouldn't use him but also wouldn't let him take bookings elsewhere....
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=6668&zoneid=3
man thats all sorts of fucked up! to take the food off another mans plate and not let him earn, if the UFC didnt want Hunt to fight in the UFC, at least release the guy from his contract and give him a chance to provide for his family, dick move IMO
How does this make any sense? The Pride contract is long gone and Hunt has fought in DREAM 3 times since then.
RyannVonDoom - It's nothing new that Zuffa freezes people out.. Look at Arlovski and Huerta.. they made them wait as long as possible then gave them the worst match ups they could to send them out on a loss.
Well the Hunt situation is at least a little different because at the time there was no way Mark could make 265 so they really couldn't give him a fight.
Zuffa did that to a lot of fighters, fucking shady imo. All the PRIDE LWs got fucked over like that and had to sit out a full year or so. That shows the mentality Zuffa operate under, they froze guys out just so other orgs couldnt get top fighters even though Zuffa had no intention of using them.
Hunt should have got a fight 3 years ago obviously Zuffa realised their big time lawyers couldnt get them out of this one so they had to give Hunt soem fights, pretty pathetic stuff.
strykr619 - Hmm Mark Hunt has fought in Dream 3 times since PRIDE poofed, how did Zuffa freeze him out?
MMAWeekly: After the Pride sale it was believed your contract was held by the UFC. Tell us about that period and maybe clear up a little about what exactly was happening there?
MH: Well, after the sale of Pride, I thought I was unemployed. Apparently that wasn’t the case. I wanted to get work elsewhere, but I couldn’t because (the UFC) had my contract and said I couldn’t go anywhere while they had it. But they said they were going to put on a show in Japan that I could go on and all that stuff.
I don’t know what happens in the office, but what I was told was that I couldn’t go and do (professional) wrestling because it would be considered as one of my fights. So you know I just had to wait it out. And the thing was that I waited it out for a year and a half and I got nothing for it. At first they denied my contract being with them, but my manager showed them some things that showed my contract followed over to them.
MMAWeekly: So they really pushed the no fight clause?
MH: Yeah, well, the worst thing about that no fight clause is that I got no money for the contract. So I sat out waiting for no real reason. And even if I could have got a fight, they have the weight limit and I couldn’t have made that anyway.
Obviously Zuffa realised that taking food off a man's table for a year and a half was beyond fucked up and let him fight in DREAM eventually.
Because if they didnt he would sue the fuck out of them.
strykr619 - I'll go one further he fought in K1 as well in 08, so what freeze out is he talking about?
Zuffa got his contract in early 07.
Are you really trying to say the guy is lying? It is a known fact that Zuffa froze out a bunch of ex-PRIDE fighters.
EckY - Because if they didnt he would sue the fuck out of them.
So he would first sit out for couple of years without really sitting out and then threaten to sue Zuffa if they wouldn't give him a fight?
strykr619 -So why did Dana say the following:EckY - Because if they didnt he would sue the fuck out of them.Or could it be that between the fall of PRIDE in the summer of 07 till mid 08 there was no other big org to fill the void. Contract law esp one that is made in a foreign country is HARD to in force when it is inherited.
part of the pride deal we contractually owe him fights from our purchase of the company
NorthFromHere -EckY - Because if they didnt he would sue the fuck out of them.
So he would first sit out for couple of years without really sitting out and then threaten to sue Zuffa if they wouldn't give him a fight?
Lawsuits take time especially when you are going against big time lawyers that will try to stretch thing sout and make you drop the case, obviously Hunt knew he was in the right and kept it going.
strykr619 -EckY -Pride fell apart in the summer not early 07 and AGAIN its hard to enforce contracts that are both inherited and made in a foreign country, it still doesn't answer the fact that he has fought once in K1 kickboxing and 3 times in DREAM MMA since PRIDE's fall.strykr619 - I'll go one further he fought in K1 as well in 08, so what freeze out is he talking about?
Zuffa got his contract in early 07.
Are you really trying to say the guy is lying? It is a known fact that Zuffa froze out a bunch of ex-PRIDE fighters.
PRIDE's last event was in April 07, the sale was announced before that event.
Why are you arguing this? Obviously Zuffa knew they were in the wrong and eventually let him fight elsewhere. He didnt sit out for a year and a half for no reason and he isnt making things up for no reason. How much does Zuffa pay you to post?
EckY -strykr619 - I'll go one further he fought in K1 as well in 08, so what freeze out is he talking about?
Zuffa got his contract in early 07.
Are you really trying to say the guy is lying? It is a known fact that Zuffa froze out a bunch of ex-PRIDE fighters.
Are you trying to say he didn't fight 3 times since having his contract acquired?
FSD -No, if you read my posts you would understand what I am saying. He went over a year between fights after PRIDE collapsed and he himself has said what happened.EckY -strykr619 - I'll go one further he fought in K1 as well in 08, so what freeze out is he talking about?
Zuffa got his contract in early 07.
Are you really trying to say the guy is lying? It is a known fact that Zuffa froze out a bunch of ex-PRIDE fighters.
Are you trying to say he didn't fight 3 times since having his contract acquired?
Why is he saying he's frozen out from fighting when he's fought since?