Impact FC has not paid Fighters in full, UFC may have scared off advertisers

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It looks like Impact FC’s plan to pull off a major pay-per-view card in their second event has not worked out as planned.
According to a new report from CagePotato.com, several fighters have reported they have not been paid in full from the Australian promotion as promised.

“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 .


Although most commissions require that fighters be paid before
the promoter leaves the arena the night of the show (some even hold
onto and distribute the money themselves) none of the men who fought on
either show received checks before flying home from Australia. A
handful of them have since received partial payment – the most being
75% of what was owed, however most of the fighters we spoke to have yet
to receive a dime, despite multiple phone calls they have made and
emails they have sent to promoters Tom Huggins and Andrew McManus
asking that they be paid.”

According to the report it also looks like the UFC may have played a
role in blocking sponsors at the last minute from promoting with Impact
FC, by threatening to ban them from their events. This should come as
no surprise, since the UFC has acted in the past against Affliction and
M-1 Global in a similar fashion.

“A source close to the situation indicated that the UFC
purportedly contacted any sponsors of the event who also sponsored UFC
or WEC shows and told them in no uncertain terms that if they backed
Impact, they would no longer be welcomed as a ZUFFA sponsor. As such,
several sponsors pulled out last-minute, adding to the promotion’s
financial issues.”

In the U.S, most athletic commissions have rules that prevent
promoters from ripping off fighters like this. Most have to show proof
they have the funds availible to the commissions, or have to pay the
fighters up front.
But in Impact FC went down in Australia, where there is an athletic commission, but none that enforce the same rules.
The reason this was set up was because promoters were ripping off
fighters and running away Scott free. In a interview I did with Thomas “The Wild Man” Denny a
few years ago, he told me that he and an entire card of fighters went
running after a promoter in California. Chased down his car and almost
gave him the beating of a lifetime.
It’s sad that this is still happening in MMA today.

props:urdirt.com