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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
A storm of controversy hit MMA referee Yves Lavigne this week when a French Canadian paper ran an article with comments attributed to him and it was subsequently translated on MMA blogs. With comments regarding Josh Koscheck in a less than favorable light attributed to him, it caused a reaction from Koscheck and negative attention towards his objectiveness as an official.
Lavigne attempted to clear the air this weekend when he stated that he had never given an interview with the reporter, one Vince Morin, but the wording made it seem as if it could have been an "off the record" conversation.
In an attempt to make himself perfectly clear, Lavigne was a guest on MMAFighting.com's The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Tuesday and gave his side of the situation.
"I did not give him an interview on or off record," Lavigne said. "Those are not my quotes. This is not me. Is that enough?
As for his next move, Lavigne is exploring his legal options and trying to determine how best to handle his the situation.
"I can bring him to court. I've got different options," he said. "You know, with lawyers, there's a dollar sign attached to it. If you go that way, it might cost you that much or that much or that much. I'm in a process of evaluating everything and to see if I have the financial back-up to go all the way."
And while the initial statement he made on the topic provided some confusion, he hopes people will see it was simply not communicated well initially on his part.
"I just read a few things on the internet, and I'm like, okay, maybe I should say differently," Lavigne said. "My English is not as good as I want to. I don't see all the nuance or subtlety of the word. So look, I didn't do it, basically."
Penick's Analysis: I definitely feel for Lavigne after he's had his name and reputation dragged through the mud because of comments he didn't make. My initial reaction was to understand Koscheck's blog post on the subject because a referee should not be making public comments about the fighters he is officiating, and now that it seems clear that he not only didn't make the comments, but didn't talk to this author at all, it's even worse. Hopefully he has some recourse against both the author and the publication for what they printed.
RELATED STORY: HENDERSON: MMA journalism and the Yves Lavigne-Josh Koscheck situation: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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