Right..........

weemate

Incase the mods think Im re-opening old threads........trust me Im not although what happened on saturday night has brought me to posting this question.
Firstly,this is not an underhand dig at Spartan....that debate is on another thread and no doubt will rumble on until a solution is found.

my point is in support of fighters.......now as a retired fighter and now coach to fighters Im used to promoters asking me to sign contracts to cover them if me or my fighters pull out of their show.One such contract even states that I could get sued for an un-natural amount of money if said event where to happen.
So to all the promoters out there.....from here on in I will be asking YOU to sign a fookin contract so that in the event of me taking time off work etc and driving to your event with my fighter after taking two months out to prepare,cutting weight etc etc and YOUR event is not what YOU say it is..i.e...the arena has changed,the opponent has changed [ at the last minute as often happens ] the ring girl is not as fookin pretty.....the ref isnt as handsome as me....then my fighter wants to be sure that he will get some sort of compensation.
You see,I see threads on this forum among others all knocking fighters for pulling out,not making weight etc and sometimes this is justified.I see complaints about too many shows and not enough fighters..I see complaints about lackluster events due to lack of fighters and again sometimes this is justified...but...what about the fighters who do show every time,who do make the weight every time,who treat the promoter with respect and go out of thier way to help make the show a success???
Well,the honey moon is over guys....respect is a two way thing...if you have something in place to cover you against a fighter screwing you over then its about time we had something in place to stop it happening to us.
Peter.

rovert

I read the whole thing

weemate

rovert wrote: »

I read the whole thing

lol:D

weemate

All jesting aside...I will be looking for some sort of insurance from promoters before agreeing to have fighters on their shows,this includes clarity on weigh ins,medicals and officials.
As I said,it always seems to be promoters complaining about fighters behaviour and looking for banning orders etc well its time coaches and fighters had some sort of recompense if the promoter messes up.

mmaireland.com

Couldn't agree more. I'd also like to see fighters have to sign that they cannot/will not fight on another show within 28 days of a contracted fight. Taking up to three fights in two months when you're due to meet an opponent then saying, "injuries happen" and pulling out is just ridiculous.

Contracts is the way to go - for so many reasons.

cowzerp

It's worth noting that most contracts are a waste of time and to chase them up may cost you more than the money your chasing..

Obviously this is different at UFC level when there is serious money to be lost, made!

Barry.Oglesby

cowzerp wrote: »

It's worth noting that most contracts are a waste of time and to chase them up may cost you more than the money your chasing..

Obviously this is different at UFC level when there is serious money to be lost, made!

It's true Paul that it's not really worth it for the amounts of money involved.

I'm a bit depressed by the whole incident from Saturday. Up to now pretty much everyone operated on trust and I think that's been broken to a great extent. I for one will be very wary of committing myself or anyone in my gym to shows in the future which is a huge shame.

rovert

I dont think MMA regulation ranks above Stag Hunting and Dog Breeding either in terms of a government priority either.

Really as Barry pointed out trust is what really matters.

mmaireland.com

cowzerp wrote: »

It's worth noting that most contracts are a waste of time and to chase them up may cost you more than the money your chasing..

Obviously this is different at UFC level when there is serious money to be lost, made!

Whilst that's true mate; a lot of the discussions and arguments in the aftermath are about whether people conducted themselves "rightly or wrongly". Even if the contract does nothing more than set clear and irrefutable expectations of all parties up front - it serves a purpose.

They can and would be legally binding (albeit expensive to enforce) but they would also make clear the terms of engagement to all involved.

MarkFairman

Reading what happened at this show has made me a bit nervous. I am looking to fight at an event later this summer and will be coming over from Spain along with possibly other fighters/cornermen.

It really made me think twice about travelling to compete which is a real shame.

I am however going ahead with my plans to fight as I have heard the promotion I will be fighting in is a reputable one and I have heard good things about the promotor. But it still does leave me feeling a little uneasy. As I think this kind thing reflects badly on professional Irish MMA as a whole.

cowzerp

MarkFairman wrote: »

Reading what happened at this show has made me a bit nervous. I am looking to fight at an event later this summer and will be coming over from Spain along with possibly other fighters/cornermen.

It really made me think twice about travelling to compete which is a real shame.

I am however going ahead with my plans to fight as I have heard the promotion I will be fighting in is a reputable one and I have heard good things about the promotor. But it still does leave me feeling a little uneasy. As I think this kind thing reflects badly on professional Irish MMA as a whole.

This was a rarity and not the norm, dont panic about it and just get ready for your fight, Problems do occur now and again unfortunately and last week was the unfortunate time, if anything this may make the promoters more aware of checking things in advance so might help MMA in Ireland..

MarkFairman

Thanks Cowzerp,

I realise this is a rare occurance . Just a few "what if"... senarios went through my head. But I think you are right actually, I think other promotors will take this as a lessoned learned.

Jason McCabe

Some very valid points.

The Repsect has to work both ways. We lost money on our first show. Nethertheless I still drove to Antrim, Belfast and strabane to make payments to people I had missed on the night.


Thats why we always try our best to do as much for the fighters as we can. They are what the show is all about.

have we made mistakes. YES. Do we take the critism on board. YES. It's the only way to make things better (if it is construction and not destructive)

weemate

mmaireland.com wrote: »

Couldn't agree more. I'd also like to see fighters have to sign that they cannot/will not fight on another show within 28 days of a contracted fight. Taking up to three fights in two months when you're due to meet an opponent then saying, "injuries happen" and pulling out is just ridiculous.

Contracts is the way to go - for so many reasons.

what the fook Shane????
are all of you missing the point?.this isnt about the fighters its about the promoters........fighters already have to sign contracts on most shows and Im totally in favour of that....this is about what happens if the promoter fooks up,and doesnt hold his side of the deal up.How many times have fighters turned up at events to be told their opponent isnt fighting for whatever reason.....how many of them then get paid???
Trust is a major factor......but I'd still like it in writing!

mmaireland.com

Not at all mate. As usual, we completely agree. I'd like to see a single three way contract agreed by all parties (promoter, fighter 1, fighter 2). The 28 day thing was about protecting fighter two if fighter one pulls through bad management (it was not about protecting the promoter). I was coming at it from the angle of fighter protection.

In other words, I agree with your points AND would like to see further protections in place that the promoters claim they can't control (fighter pullouts) when they can, in fact, put in measures to help minimise risk.

I get your point mate and agree 100%. I'm sick of seeing guys try to warm up in a 4x4 space with 16 other fighters and be expected to perform to a high standard. There's loads of things I'd like to see agreed in writing. Most shows are happy with providing 80% of whats needed.

The reason we are "selective" about the shows we participate in are about these "little things". It's still a matter of trust. If we could get promoters to agree in writing on what will be provided; you'd see us participating in a lot more than just the "three shows that we trust".

GSPfan

Sounds like the kind of thing a Governning body would be good for! Sorry had to say it before anyone else did.