UFC newcomer Alistair Overeem has a colossal challenge ahead of him at UFC 141 when he takes on Brock Lesnar.
Overeem now has a huge challenge in the court system as well. He’s decided that he wants out of his managerial contract with Golden Glory and is asking for a court order to break the contract, according to MMAjunkie.com.
The article says Overeem claims Golden Glory misled him with their contract and that he ceded 35 percent in pre-tax earnings. He is also looking for a reported $151,000 in back pay.
If you’re new to the situation let’s back track a little to catch you up to speed.
When news broke that a handful of Golden Glory fighters were released from their Zuffa contracts, many fans were left puzzled by the move. It wasn’t as if the UFC was letting go of some no-name prospects.
They were releasing a fighter who won “Fight of the Night” honors in his bout along with the former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion.
A lot of fans felt the “bad blood” between the UFC and Golden Glory would prevent the arrival of Alistair Overeem to the UFC. Those fears were put to rest when Overeem signed a contract and then was revealed to be facing Lesnar in a title eliminator bout at UFC 141.
Besides the main storylines of “Is Overeem as good as we think?” and “Can he deal with Brock Lesnar’s takedown?”, Overeem has made headlines with his departure from Golden Glory.
In a recent video of his popular documentary series, “The Reem,” Overeem shed light on why he left the gym he had made his home for so long.
Overeem explains that he and a lawyer went over his contract and discovered “some things” that benefited Golden Glory but didn’t benefit Overeem.
He described how he felt when he and the lawyer discovered how the contract was laid out.
“I think it’s the management’s duty to explain stuff to the fighter…(and) to negotiate to explain things to me, and clarify things for me, and they were not doing their job. Not only that, it was such a big disadvantage that it also caused a breach in trust. I like to work with people I can trust.” (via MMAJunkie.com)
Everyone can sympathize with Overeem on this issue. We’ve all felt betrayed by someone close to us at one point in our lives. So when Overeem made the decision to separate himself from Golden Glroy, most of us felt it was the right move.
Of course, throughout all of this we haven’t been presented with Golden Glory’s side of the matter. Now that the issue is going to court we aren’t likely to hear any official statements from Golden Glory.
But Bas Rutten is not scared to share his thoughts on the matter. Be sure to check out Part II of this story to see what “El Guapo” has to say about Overeem and Golden Glory.
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