...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
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.
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.