John Makdessi
On Saturday, John Makdessi meets Shane Campbell on the pay-per-view main card of UFC 186. But that’s apparently not the only fight he’s got on the schedule.
MMAjunkie confirmed with noted manager Nima Safapour that his team has filed a lawsuit on behalf of his client Gegard Mousasi against both Makdessi and the company in which he’s listed as the President of record, Fear the Fighter.
“Gegard Mousasi has filed a lawsuit against John Makdessi and Fear The Fighter Apparel,” Safapour wrote in a statement issued to MMAjunkie. “The facts speak for themselves.
“Per the public corporate records filed in Canada, John Makdessi is the president of Fear The Fighter Apparel. An unpaid debt is owed and outstanding to Mr. Mousasi (along with a number of other fighters). Despite making countless promises that payment would be forthcoming, Fear The Fighter has yet to pay the debt that they owe. They missed every deadline and used every excuse under the sun as to why they could not send a wire transfer or mail a check. They even threatened to take legal action against the athletes they owe money to if they were to publicly speak out about the monies that are owed.”
Mousasi first revealed his complaints with Fear the Fighter in December, as the UFC middleweight took to Twitter to blast the company for an alleged non-payment of a sponsorship agreement.
According to the timeline established with Mousasi’s tweets, the fights in question would be a September 2014 loss to Ronaldo Souza, as well as a May 2014 win over Mark Munoz.
Safapour declined to reveal the amount of the monies owed other than to say the total was “substantial.” A copy of the lawsuit, which he says was filed in Canada, wasn’t available at the time of publication.
A source close to Mousasi indicated the amount owed is in excess of $25,000. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to publicly discuss such matters.
Sponsors failing to pay fighters isn’t necessarily a rare occurrence in MMA, an issue UFC officials hope to alleviate beginning in July, when the company’s uniform deal with Reebok officially kicks off. However, Safapour expressed frustration with Makdessi’s involvement with the company considering his role as an eight-time UFC veteran.
“Along with being the president of Fear The Fighter Apparel per the public records, John Makdessi is also under contract with the UFC,” Safapour said. “This is the first time that we have seen a UFC fighter use the UFC platform to cheat other UFC athletes from their rightful sponsorship earnings. We take this matter seriously and as a great priority as this has become a fighter issue.
“Mr. Mousasi is a person of integrity and principle. He is focused on pursuing all of his legal remedies to the fullest extent possible. We welcome the judicial process as it has become abundantly clear that Fear The Fighter does not intend to fulfill their promises to the detriment of Mr. Mousasi.”
Mousasi declined to comment directly on the matter, instead referencing Safapour’s statement.
A request for statement from Fear the Fighter officials wasn’t immediately returned.
For more on UFC 186, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
