URCC’s March 15, 2012 official statement, posted on its website’s home page, may be lacking in the particulars of its allegations, but it sure is overflowing with anger and jingoism against Legend FC.
As of this writing, the nitty-gritty details of URCC president Alvin Aguilar’s accusations against Legend FC’s co-founder Michael Haskamp are still unavailable, though the former claims that he has already “filed three cases” against the latter “with the Games and Amusement Board,” the Philippines’ sanctioning body for professional sports.
Here’s the official statement—in full and unedited—of URCC, the pioneering Philippine MMA organization against Hong Kong’s trailblazing MMA promotion Legend FC:
URCC Founder Alvin Aguilar, founder of one of Asia’s longest running MMA promotions filed three cases with the Games and Amusement Board against Michael Haaskamp and his promotion Legend FC. The cases being filed are regarding:
1.) Illegal and unethical hiring of fighters under contract with the URCC. (It was also noted that they overmatched a poor Filipino fighter from the province who didn’t know any better, to make his own veteran fighters look good.)
2.) Bringing legally registered Professional fighters outside the country without complying with any of the GAB’s requirements. Totally disregarding all of its rules and regulations
3.) Hiring trainers who are blacklisted and unlicensed by the GAB. One trainer he enlisted, Marciano Basas, was denied a fighter and trainer license as he has Hepatitis and a series of other sicknesses that may be passed on.
When asked for comment URCC Founder Alvin Aguilar said: “These foreigners think they can just come in and disregard the rules of our country and take advantage of our countrymen, and our efforts to promote Filipino MMA fighters around the world. Now that Philippine MMA is mainstream because of the URCC’s efforts, all sorts of foreigners are trying to make a quick buck off the efforts of OUR COUNTRYMEN. They even blatantly said that everyone is for sale here in our country. Well I’m sorry to say that we are not and this commission definitely is not for sale. I have personally dealt with them for ten years and they never asked me for a dime! They will learn to respect the rules here, all of the so-called Filipinos that supposedly support them (if any) should be hung up on a tree alongside these foreigners. As the founder of professional mixed martial arts in the Philippines, I am duty bound to protect my fighters and ensure that all the laws regarding and protecting them are followed. We will not standby and let these foreigners take advantage of anyone here. If ever I do meet them they will also learn the true meaning of BAKBAKAN NA!!!!”
“Bakbakan na” is URCC’s signature Tagalog catchphrase and battle cry to signal the start of its fights. Loosely translated into English, it can mean “Fight on,” “Let’s fight” or “Let’s rumble.”
For his part, the accused Haskamp only has this to say for the time being:
We’re actually waiting to see what the actual allegations are before we respond. I assume that GAB will be following up with us, and Legend will issue a statement once we’ve had a chance to review them.
For now, I can only say that we’re disappointed that Mr. Aguilar has decided to take this action without speaking with us directly. Legend’s top priorities are fighter safety, fairness, and promoting MMA across the Asia-Pacific region. We have had and always will have fighter well-being and the integrity of the sport as our top priorities.
Stay tuned for further developments. For the meantime, it’s safe to conclude that Asian MMA is really heating up.
For more info and insight on Asian MMA, check out the slide show Power Ranking the Top Asian MMA Organizations by Steve Sadoka. This article features URCC and Legend FC.
Karlo Silverio Sevilla is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.
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