When news first broke that UFC veteran Gary Goodridge stood up former The Ultimate Fighter Season 2 contestant Tom Murphy for their MFL fight this weekend in Montreal, rumors started circulating about why “Big Daddy” walked out of the arena minutes before the main event bout.

CagePotato.com spoke with Goodridge last night and the MMA veteran explained why he went AWOL Saturday night.

According to 44-year-old Barie, Ontario, Canada resident, the event’s promoter, Dirk Waardenburg promised to pay him double what the commission was to be told he made for the fight, with 50 percent to be paid in cash prior to the bout and the remainder to be paid via check after the event.

When Waardenburg continued to make excuses all night why he couldn’t pay yet, Goodridge says he confronted the promoter about their agreed upon financial terms that were not met and he was told that because of poor attendance, he would only get 20 percent and could take it or leave it.

“All night I kept asking [Waardenburg] where my money was and he kept saying he couldn’t pay me because there were too many people around. I was like, ‘Why can’t we go into a bathroom or something?’ you know? Finally, I’d had enough and I talked to him just before they were about to announce the fight and I told him I wasn’t going out there unless he paid me,” Goodridge recalls. “He gave me 20 percent of what he promised me and he told me he couldn’t afford to pay me the rest. I handed it back to him and I told him I wasn’t going to fight unless they came up with all of it. “

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