Tag: Breaking News

GSP Could Lose Millions to Ex-Manager in Litigation, Court Papers Show

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre’s split with his former manager, Shari Spencer, apparently got a lot uglier than either party is willing to let known publicly. 
On Tuesday, various media outlets reported that “Rush” was embroiled in a …

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre’s split with his former manager, Shari Spencer, apparently got a lot uglier than either party is willing to let known publicly. 

On Tuesday, various media outlets reported that “Rush” was embroiled in a bitter lawsuit with Spencer, per Bloody Elbow. She was quick to deny the claim. 

However, on Tuesday night, TMZ reported that court documents filed in Clark County, Nevada show that GSP and Spencer have indeed been involved in a legal battle this year. 

The court docs show … the judge agreed with Shari and ordered GSP to cut a check for $737,066.35 — which the fighter paid back in April. 

But there’s more … the judge also ordered GSP to pay Shari’s management company the following:

— 20% of future revenue on various UFC Pay-Per-View fights
— 20% of royalties earned under a 2008 UFC merchandising contract
— 5% of future revenues from sponsorships she apparently helped him earn (including Affliction and RUSHFit). 

A source familiar with the case tells us … Shari’s final cut could be worth several million dollars.

TMZ, whose credibility as a legitimate media source is constantly under scrutiny, is under fire for reporting that GSP‘s personal issues include an unplanned pregnancy and his father’s impending death. 

While TMZ is sticking by its story, St-Pierre and his sister, Myriam, have denied the report. 

With that in mind, it appears that TMZ is right on the money about the lawsuit between St-Pierre and Spencer. Fox Sports obtained copies of the same legal documents, also noting that a lawsuit filed by Spencer in 2012 was voluntarily dismissed. 

Of course, no concrete evidence indicates the legal issues with Spencer are why GSP needs some time off. He announced his hiatus from fighting after his controversial split-decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, per MMA Mania. 

GSP has not made any public comments since the UFC 167 post-fight press conference, outside of this optimistic tweet posted Monday morning. 

Whether or not one of the most accomplished fighters of all time has fought his last fight inside the Octagon remains up in the air, although his manager Firas Zahabi claims the champ’s health is fine, per MMA Fighting. 

Will St-Pierre call it a career at 32 years old, or will he be back before we know it? Only time will tell as the champ’s compelling saga continues to unfold. 

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.

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Matt Riddle Cut from Bellator Before Making Promotional Debut

Matt Riddle will not fight on this Friday’s Bellator 109 card. 
In fact, he won’t fight for Bellator at all. Ever. 
A recent report from Fox Sports’ Damon Martin neatly summarized the situation: 

Bellator Director of Communications…

Matt Riddle will not fight on this Friday’s Bellator 109 card. 

In fact, he won’t fight for Bellator at all. Ever. 

A recent report from Fox Sports’ Damon Martin neatly summarized the situation: 

Bellator Director of Communications Anthony Mazzuca said this in a press release sent Tuesday:

Matt was a guy we had high hopes for coming into Bellator. After Matt suffered his rib injury and withdrew from our tournament, we went back to the drawing board and got Matt another fight on November 22. Unfortunately, Matt very recently informed us he would not be fighting on November 22 from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and at that point we decided to release Matt from Bellator. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.

As Mazzuca alluded to, Riddle’s career has been anything but stable lately. 

The 27-year-old former The Ultimate Fighter contestant was cut by the UFC in late February following a string of failed drug tests and questionable PR moves. 

He was quickly scooped up by Legacy Fighting Championships, but he never stepped foot in their cage, as rival promotion Bellator bought out his contract and added him to their welterweight tournament.

His first matchup in the tournament was scheduled for Sept. 20 at Bellator 100, but he cracked a rib and withdrew from the fight and MMA altogether. 

After reconsidering his “hissy fit,” however, Riddle un-retired and scheduled a new bout with Bellator, this time for Nov. 22 at Bellator 109 against Nathan Coy. 

This bout, many thought, would revitalize Riddle’s career, as the event was scheduled to take place in Bethlehem, Pa., just minutes outside of Riddle’s hometown.

Nevertheless, Riddle’s series of unfortunate events continued, as he again withdrew his name from the night’s lineup, this time offering no reason for his actions. 

Bellator, at this point, has apparently had enough of Riddle’s failure to deliver on his obligations, and they gave him the boot Tuesday, just three days before Bellator 109. 

Stay tuned for updates regarding Riddle’s future as more details emerge. 

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Dana White: “GSP Has to Defend the Belt or Retire”

As far as Dana White is concerned, Georges St-Pierre only has two options right now: defend the UFC title or retire from MMA.
The UFC President hasn’t held back from publicly criticizing the welterweight champ for his bizarre post-fight comments after …

As far as Dana White is concerned, Georges St-Pierre only has two options right now: defend the UFC title or retire from MMA.

The UFC President hasn’t held back from publicly criticizing the welterweight champ for his bizarre post-fight comments after winning a controversial split decision over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Saturday night.

St-Pierre, who earned his ninth consecutive title defense, announced that he needed to take an extended leave away from fighting to take care of personal problems in his life.

The announcement resonated in the MMA community as little more than a baffling, impromptu speech possibly hinting at St-Pierre’s retirement.

At the post-fight press conference, White went on a long tirade, claiming St-Pierre owed it to the fans, the UFC and Hendricks to compete in an immediate rematch:

You owe it to the fans, you owe it to that belt, you owe to this company and you owe it to Johny Hendricks to give him that opportunity to fight again, unless you’re going to retire. There’s no I’m going to go on a cruise, and I’m going to be gone for two years, and I’m going to take a hiatus. …That’s not how it works.

White is convinced Hendricks won the fight, and as he told reporters at the post-fight presser, he only “wants what’s fair.”

Still, many people were upset by White’s handling of the situation. St-Pierre has won more fights in the UFC than any other fighter in MMA history. He has spent more time in the Octagon than any other fighter in MMA history, and he has made the UFC more money than any other fighter in MMA history.

How could he possibly owe anyone anything?

On Monday, White was a guest on The Dan Le Batard Show, where he talked about the fallout from UFC 167. When challenged about his comments, White seemed to back off the statement about St-Pierre owing anything.

The welterweight star is the biggest pay-per-view draw in the UFC, which White has acknowledged time and time again. With that said, White still remains firm on his stance regarding the UFC title. St-Pierre has to either defend his throne or step down:

He doesn’t owe anything. If he wants to retire, he can retire, said White. But if you don’t think that while he holds the belt and he still wants to stay in the sport that he has to step up and defend the title, you’re crazy. He can retire and give up the belt.

White remains confident that St-Pierre will return after taking a brief vacation, and talks will resume about a possible rematch with Hendricks.

He recently told the LA Times that he expects to nail a date in a couple of weeks.

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UFC Fight Night 36: Jacare Souza vs. Francis Carmont Booked for Co-Main Clash

An intriguing middleweight clash between top divisional contenders Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (No. 3) and Francis Carmont (No. 8) has been booked for a UFC Fight Night event on February 15, 2014.
The event—previously announced for February 8—ta…

An intriguing middleweight clash between top divisional contenders Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (No. 3) and Francis Carmont (No. 8) has been booked for a UFC Fight Night event on February 15, 2014.

The event—previously announced for February 8—takes place in Jaragua do Sul. It airs on Fox Sports 2, the cable network previously known as Fuel TV. The news was announced via the UFC’s official @UFCNews account on Twitter.

Souza, a former Strikeforce middleweight champion, scored his second win of his UFC tenure by knocking out perennial top contender Yushin Okami at a UFC Fight Night event in September.

Souza made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut earlier this year—following the purchase of Strikeforce by Zuffa and the subsequent closing of the promotion—with a submission win over Chris Camozzi, and he’ll look to extend his five-fight winning streak and jump into title contention with an emphatic win over Carmont. Souza’s last loss came on September 10, 2011, when he lost the Strikeforce middleweight title to Luke Rockhold.

Carmont is riding an 11-fight winning streak. He’s coming off the biggest win of his career, a decision win over Constantinos Philippou, and is undefeated during his seven-fight Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure, with recent wins also coming over Lorenz Larkin, Tom Lawlor and Karlos Vemola.

UFC Fight Night 36 is the third Fox Sports 1 or 2 event currently on the schedule for 2014. It follows events featuring Jake Ellenberger vs. Tarec Saffiedine (Jan. 3 from Singapore) and Luke Rockhold vs. Constantinos Philippou (Jan. 15 in Atlanta), and comes two weeks after Dominick Cruz returns to action against Renan Barao at UFC 169 in Newark, N.J.

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Dana White: GSP Denies Both TMZ Rumor

UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre has confided in his boss, Dana White, denying rumours circulated by trash news site TMZ about his “personal problems”.
According to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times, the UFC president said he spoke to …

UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre has confided in his boss, Dana White, denying rumours circulated by trash news site TMZ about his “personal problems”.

According to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times, the UFC president said he spoke to St-Pierre on Monday and the fighter “is denying those rumors that TMZ is reporting about those two things.”

Those two things are apparently GSP has made some girl pregnant by mistake and that his dad is dying. Apparently “sources” close to the fighter confirmed those rumours to TMZ, which means they might as well have picked them out of a hat.

Nevertheless, internet media has been awash with speculation as to who the lucky girl is and what exactly is killing his dad.

GSP invited all this speculation after he made an impromptu announcement of “hanging up his gloves” following his narrow win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Saturday. For days leading up to the event, the long-time champion had been hinting about a big announcement.

He explained after clinching the victory that his personal problems were stopping him from sleeping at night and that he was going “crazy” thinking about them. By the sounds of it, this is more serious than the number of twitter followers he has. He could always buy twitter followers.

But White gave short shrift to any talk of retirement and has quickly lined up a rematch.

“As far as a rematch, we’re on schedule and I’ll have a date within a couple weeks,” White said. “I feel confident that Georges is fine with that and all is on track.”

GSP, meanwhile, hasn’t spoken to the media since Saturday and there’s no indication as to how long he’ll be out of the sport.

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Updated Report: Georges St-Pierre’s Former Manager Says She Is Not Suing Him

The Georges St-Pierre rumor mill just keeps on turning.
Allegations surfaced Monday that a multimillion-dollar lawsuit with ex-manager Shari Spencer—not previous reports of a terminally ill father or an unexpected pregnancy—may lie at the c…

The Georges St-Pierre rumor mill just keeps on turning.

Allegations surfaced Monday that a multimillion-dollar lawsuit with ex-manager Shari Spencer—not previous reports of a terminally ill father or an unexpected pregnancy—may lie at the center of St-Pierre’s mysterious personal problems, which caused the UFC welterweight champion to semi-retire after UFC 167.

But apparently in response to the allegation, Spencer sent a tweet Tuesday that appeared to deny the allegation. The tweet stated that St-Pierre “may have 99 problems, but I ain’t one.”

The lawsuit comment came from another St-Pierre ex-manager, Stephane Patry, who addressed the issue during an interview Monday with Quebec radio station 98.5 FM (translation h/t to Bloody Elbow).

“When things ended between me and Georges, we stayed good friends but it ended very badly with Shari Spencer and I know she’s suing him for several million dollars,” Patry said during the interview. “I don’t know if the lawsuit is advancing against Georges…but I don’t see another problem. His parents are in good health, his two sisters too, and he doesn’t have health problems.”

St-Pierre and Spencer officially parted ways in early 2011, and though St-Pierre publicly said the parting was amicable, other sources asserted that it was anything but, with the champ essentially firing Spencer. 

On Monday, St-Pierre’s sister and others denied charges that St-Pierre’s father was dying, or that GSP was in the midst of working through an unexpected pregnancy situation. 

A lawsuit between Spencer and St-Pierre has not been previously reported. Interestingly, Patry and St-Pierre, who parted ways in 2007, do have some history of legal acrimony themselves.

Particularly given that Spencer has now apparently denied the suit, speculation is sure to continue about the reasons for St-Pierre’s departure until GSP himself details the personal problems that have caused him to walk away from MMA.

Saturday night at UFC 167, St-Pierre won a controversial split decision over Johny Hendricks to retain his welterweight title and subsequently said he wanted to step away from the sport for an undefined period of time. However, Hendricks, UFC president Dana White and others essentially rejected that desire, demanding St-Pierre grant a rematch to Hendricks in light of the less-than-definitive nature of St-Pierre’s victory. 

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