Mousasi takes John Makdessi, Fear the Fighter to court
Gegard Mousasi has sued Fear the Fighter and UFC fighter John Makdessi, who is the president of record for the apparel company.
Back in December UFC middleweight Gegard Mousasi took an unusual step, alleging publicly rather than privately that a sponsor had not paid agreed upon revenue.”
Gegard Mousasi @mousasi_mma
•I am prepared to let the cat out of the bag in order to find justice,
•The cat is coming out of the back this week. Non-Paying sponsors have become an epidemic in our sport. Honest fighters are being cheated.
•I am putting all of the sponsors that have refused to pay me the money they owe on notice. I am calling u out bc. I know I am not the only 1
•@Fearthefighter u have refused for my last 2 fights & still owe me money from my 1st fight. U owe myself and others. @ftfenergy @ufc
•@Fearthefighter u promised me and @ufc that u would pay, and u lied to us. Instead of paying your debt u are investing in @ftfenergy
•All @ufc fighters I encourage all of you to speak up about sponsors that are stealing from you. We have to support each other!
•@Fearthefighter owes money to various @ufc fighters. They need to pay their debt. Stop stealing from honest fighters. @bisping @roynelsonmma
•Prepared to support any fighter that is being cheated by @Fearthefighter Before u promote @ftfenergy 1st pay your debt to the @ufc community
•@Fearthefighter your brother is a @ufc but u are stealing from his co-workers. Shame on u and @ftfenergy . Pay your debt. @AkiraCorassani
*@Fearthefighter , instead of investing in @ftfenergy pay the @UFC fighters u owe money to. Pay your debt to our community.
•Thank u to all of the honest sponsors in the @ufc community. We value u! @Venumfight @kalapakijoes@TrainingMas@Hayabusa_MMA
•Thank you @BoosterMMA for being an honest sponsor in the @ufc space
Now Mousasi’s camp reveals a lawsuit against UFC lightweight John Makdessi, and Fear the Fighter. Makdessi is the president of record of Fear the Fighter. John Morgan has the story for MMAJunkie.
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.
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.”
Safapour declined to reveal the amount of the monies owed other than to say the total was substantial.
A source close to Mousasi indicated the amount owed is in excess of $25,000.
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.