THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
Super heavyweight Bob Sapp is no longer fighting on Saturday's Impact FC event in Australia, according to a report from MMAJunkie.com.
Sapp was pulled from the bout this week because the organization would not fly him out to the event, saying the plane ticket was too expensive.
Sapp was told via email that he was off and that the organization would not pay for the ticket.
He had set up a training camp for this scheduled bout with Soa Palelei on the card, and estimates he spent $10,000 preparing for the bout. However, unlike with previous events, Sapp did not make the promoter put his fight purse in an escrow account before signing on for the fight. Failing to do so allowed for the organization to make this move.
Now Sapp and his team plan on formally requesting reimbursement on the expenses incurred in preparation for the bout. Should the organization not reimburse him, he's likely to take legal action.
"I'm not going to allow anybody to screw me over," Sapp said.
"What I never liked is that I go to these other countries and they just treat fighters and people like crap. It's just rude."
Penick's Analysis: This setup for IFC has been ambitious from the outset, as they've scheduled a large number of fighters from far away to set up these two cards. This Saturday's event is headlined by a Ken Shamrock vs. Pedro Rizzo bout, and a number of fighters that are based well outside of Australia. If they didn't have the money available to pay for the fighters they've acquired and to get everyone to the event, they shouldn't have set their sights so high. It sucks for Sapp, but I'd have to imagine he'll eventually be able to get reimbursed due to this last minute cancellation.
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...
PART OF THE USA TODAY UFC GROUP