Tito Ortiz suing manager of Jon Jones, Wayne Harriman, for unpaid ‘loan’

Tito Ortiz’s lawsuit for breach of contract against former organized crime member and manager of Jon Jones, Wayne Harriman, will skip arbitration and go right into discovery.

A lawsuit filed by former UFC light heavyweight champion and current Bellator star Jacob “Tito” Ortiz against veteran MMA promoter and manager Wayne Harriman in Clark County, Nevada District Court last October for “breach of contract” is now progressing to the discovery phase.

In a complaint filed on October  22, 2015 by Tito Ortiz’s attorneys, Martin Little and Taylor Waite, it is claimed that on July 19, 2011 Ortiz loaned Wayne Harriman “a sum of money in excess of Ten Thousand and no/100 dollars” (according to the March 30th, 2016 Commissioner’s decision on request for exemption the amount was $125,000.)  Harriman is alleged by Ortiz to have signed a “Simple Promissory Note (the “Note”) wherein he expressly agreed to pay back the Loan, plus interest, by no later than August 1, 2012.”

Civil suits under $50,000 in Nevada typically require the parties to enter a mandatory, non-binding arbitration program but Ortiz requested an exemption from arbitration, which was granted last month. Discovery now goes forward and according to the scheduling order it is supposed to be completed by June 21, followed by the filing of any dispositive motions by July 21.

In the complaint, Ortiz claims Harriman refused to repay the loan pursuant to their terms, breaching their agreement. He is seeking relief to recover his reasonable costs, attorney’s fees and interest claiming a breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment by Harriman.

From the date and description, this could very well be the same “loan” that Stephen Bonnar discussed in a 2014 interview with Ariel Helwani. According to Bonnar, this wasn’t a loan but instead a payment to Harriman for negotiating Ortiz’s 2010 return to the UFC.

“My former manager Wayne Harriman. Great guy. Great guy,” Bonnar told Helwani. “Like he has such a great relationship with Dana. Remember when Dana White said ‘Tito Ortiz will never get back into the UFC, I’m done with him. He is a goner.’ And then all of a sudden ‘Hey, a mutual friend got us to sit down and hash out our differences.’ And magically Tito got back in the UFC and made some some ridiculous pay days. And then of course tried to screw Wayne out of the money he was going to pay him. Wayne finally got it out him and then Tito comes back to him and says to him ‘that was a loan, pay that back to me.'”

While Tito Ortiz is one of the most recognizable names in MMA, Wayne Harriman is relatively unknown to the general public. This is despite the fact that he has been a major player in the world of MMA for years. He has worked as a promoter, having founded both the (now defunct) World Fighting Alliance and the Renaissance Fighting Alliance (although he apparently is no longer associated with the RFA). Harriman also manages fighters and has represented Jon Jones, Stephan Bonnar, and Benson Henderson in negotiations with the UFC.

Harriman has been described as a long time friend and associate to both Tito Ortiz and Dana White. According to Ortiz’s autobiography “This is Gonna Hurt: The Life of a Mixed Martial Arts Champion,” it was Wayne Harriman, who Tito describes as a “friend” in the book, that convinced him to take Dana White on as his manager in the late 90s. He is also credited with convincing White to allow Ortiz to return to the UFC in 2009, following the two men’s very public feud. As White told Kevin Iole for Yahoo Sports, “Without Wayne, I doubt if this [referring to Ortiz’s return to the UFC] ever would have happened. When Wayne first approached me, he said some [expletive] that made some sense and that started things moving.”

Ortiz’s relationship also extended to Harriman’s brother, Keith. This led to a public relations headache in 2011 when Ortiz helped post the $500,000 bond for Keith Harriman after he was arrested and accused of attempting to murder his son, Dominick Harriman.

The incident happened in 2009, when Keith’s adult son, Dominick, was shot nine times outside Wayne Harriman’s Nice Cars of Nevada lot by an unidentified gunman. He would survive, accusing his father of being behind the attempted hit.

Dominick testified that his father wanted him dead for informing insurance investigators that Keith Harriman’s $160,000 burglary loss claim was a scam and for having an affair with both his father’s ex-wife and his former girlfriend.

Keith Harriman’s defense was that the shooting was the result of Dominick Harriman’s own criminal past, which included working as an informant for the DEA.

Keith Harriman would end up pleading guilty while minting his innocence via an Alford plea to one count of attempted murder with a deadly weapon for which he was sentenced to five years probation.

Wayne Harriman has had his own run ins with the law. A self-professed former organized crime member Harriman was among 16 defendants who pleaded guilty before trial in 1994 in Las Vegas in a federal drug investigation involving the Buffalo mob. In early 2010 he was involved in another drug trafficking investigation, in which he was charged along with four other defendants of conspiring with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. A sworn affidavit filed by Special Agent Kevin Bolesky of the Drug Enforcement Agency described Harriman as integrally involved in the drug trafficking activities of the co-defendants, thanks in part to his Hells Angels connections.

As part of a plea agreement most of the charges were dropped and instead he pleaded guilty to a misprision of felony, for which he was sentenced to 24 months of probation.

Tito Ortiz’s lawsuit for breach of contract against former organized crime member and manager of Jon Jones, Wayne Harriman, will skip arbitration and go right into discovery.

A lawsuit filed by former UFC light heavyweight champion and current Bellator star Jacob “Tito” Ortiz against veteran MMA promoter and manager Wayne Harriman in Clark County, Nevada District Court last October for “breach of contract” is now progressing to the discovery phase.

In a complaint filed on October  22, 2015 by Tito Ortiz’s attorneys, Martin Little and Taylor Waite, it is claimed that on July 19, 2011 Ortiz loaned Wayne Harriman “a sum of money in excess of Ten Thousand and no/100 dollars” (according to the March 30th, 2016 Commissioner’s decision on request for exemption the amount was $125,000.)  Harriman is alleged by Ortiz to have signed a “Simple Promissory Note (the “Note”) wherein he expressly agreed to pay back the Loan, plus interest, by no later than August 1, 2012.”

Civil suits under $50,000 in Nevada typically require the parties to enter a mandatory, non-binding arbitration program but Ortiz requested an exemption from arbitration, which was granted last month. Discovery now goes forward and according to the scheduling order it is supposed to be completed by June 21, followed by the filing of any dispositive motions by July 21.

In the complaint, Ortiz claims Harriman refused to repay the loan pursuant to their terms, breaching their agreement. He is seeking relief to recover his reasonable costs, attorney’s fees and interest claiming a breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment by Harriman.

From the date and description, this could very well be the same “loan” that Stephen Bonnar discussed in a 2014 interview with Ariel Helwani. According to Bonnar, this wasn’t a loan but instead a payment to Harriman for negotiating Ortiz’s 2010 return to the UFC.

“My former manager Wayne Harriman. Great guy. Great guy,” Bonnar told Helwani. “Like he has such a great relationship with Dana. Remember when Dana White said ‘Tito Ortiz will never get back into the UFC, I’m done with him. He is a goner.’ And then all of a sudden ‘Hey, a mutual friend got us to sit down and hash out our differences.’ And magically Tito got back in the UFC and made some some ridiculous pay days. And then of course tried to screw Wayne out of the money he was going to pay him. Wayne finally got it out him and then Tito comes back to him and says to him ‘that was a loan, pay that back to me.'”

While Tito Ortiz is one of the most recognizable names in MMA, Wayne Harriman is relatively unknown to the general public. This is despite the fact that he has been a major player in the world of MMA for years. He has worked as a promoter, having founded both the (now defunct) World Fighting Alliance and the Renaissance Fighting Alliance (although he apparently is no longer associated with the RFA). Harriman also manages fighters and has represented Jon Jones, Stephan Bonnar, and Benson Henderson in negotiations with the UFC.

Harriman has been described as a long time friend and associate to both Tito Ortiz and Dana White. According to Ortiz’s autobiography “This is Gonna Hurt: The Life of a Mixed Martial Arts Champion,” it was Wayne Harriman, who Tito describes as a “friend” in the book, that convinced him to take Dana White on as his manager in the late 90s. He is also credited with convincing White to allow Ortiz to return to the UFC in 2009, following the two men’s very public feud. As White told Kevin Iole for Yahoo Sports, “Without Wayne, I doubt if this [referring to Ortiz’s return to the UFC] ever would have happened. When Wayne first approached me, he said some [expletive] that made some sense and that started things moving.”

Ortiz’s relationship also extended to Harriman’s brother, Keith. This led to a public relations headache in 2011 when Ortiz helped post the $500,000 bond for Keith Harriman after he was arrested and accused of attempting to murder his son, Dominick Harriman.

The incident happened in 2009, when Keith’s adult son, Dominick, was shot nine times outside Wayne Harriman’s Nice Cars of Nevada lot by an unidentified gunman. He would survive, accusing his father of being behind the attempted hit.

Dominick testified that his father wanted him dead for informing insurance investigators that Keith Harriman’s $160,000 burglary loss claim was a scam and for having an affair with both his father’s ex-wife and his former girlfriend.

Keith Harriman’s defense was that the shooting was the result of Dominick Harriman’s own criminal past, which included working as an informant for the DEA.

Keith Harriman would end up pleading guilty while minting his innocence via an Alford plea to one count of attempted murder with a deadly weapon for which he was sentenced to five years probation.

Wayne Harriman has had his own run ins with the law. A self-professed former organized crime member Harriman was among 16 defendants who pleaded guilty before trial in 1994 in Las Vegas in a federal drug investigation involving the Buffalo mob. In early 2010 he was involved in another drug trafficking investigation, in which he was charged along with four other defendants of conspiring with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. A sworn affidavit filed by Special Agent Kevin Bolesky of the Drug Enforcement Agency described Harriman as integrally involved in the drug trafficking activities of the co-defendants, thanks in part to his Hells Angels connections.

As part of a plea agreement most of the charges were dropped and instead he pleaded guilty to a misprision of felony, for which he was sentenced to 24 months of probation.