Organizers of failed UK expo may face legal action
The MMA Show Live was marketed as a massive MMA trade show on May 12-13 in Birmingham, England. The event…
The MMA Show Live was marketed as a massive MMA trade show on May 12-13 in Birmingham, England. The event was organized by Paul Clifton, the director of MA Inc., a U.K.-based MMA management company, with the assistance of Liam Fisher, a former executive with British MMA promotion BAMMA.
The list of announced attendees were stars from the sport’s past and present, worldwide, including:
Michael Bisping
Mark Coleman
Randy Couture
Paul Daley
Rashad Evans
Kenny Florian
Ian ‘The Machine’ Freeman
Ben Henderson
Dan Henderson
Vladimir Matyushenko
Brittney Palmer
BJ Penn
Jorge Rivera
Diego Sanchez
Dan Severn
Jake Shields
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Stefan Struve
Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson
Frank Trigg
Organizer Liam Fisher said I am unbelievably pumped up for this event! The MMA Show Live is shaping up to be the biggest MMA expo ever held in Europe and we’re all very happy at the turnout of A-list talent so far. Rashad, Brittney, Shields, Coleman, Trigg, Wonderboy, Rivera, Severn, Jardine plus more names to come… we’re gonna need a bigger boat!
Now it appears the only boat needed is a small, fast one, capable perhaps of outrunning the law.
Representatives for several fighters scheduled to appear this weekend at a British MMA expo said organizers cut and ran when the event suddenly was canceled over the weekend.
The reps now say a lawsuit is likely to recover money promised to participants.
“We believe [the organizers] breached the agreement, and all of our guys have been relying on this,” manager Lex McMahon, who represents nine fighters scheduled for the expo, told MMAjunkie.com. “We believe these guys were not honest with us at all.”
On Monday, the expo’s website was replaced with a press release that said the show was postponed to Oct. 20-21 due to “circumstances beyond our control.”
Refund-seekers were directed to a ticket company in charge of sales for the event. A second expo, The Martial Arts Show Live, is proceeding at the same time and location as MMA Show Live.
Indications of trouble surfaced prior to the cancelation. McMahon said his clients received a series of emails that resembled flight confirmations only to find the tickets unbooked. Couture, who was scheduled to fly to Birmingham following his commentary duties at this past weekend’s UFC on FOX 3 event, wasn’t given a confirmation and flew back to Las Vegas before organizers ceased communications, said Sam Spira, who represents Couture.
During initial communication with the organizers, Spira was told 24,000 tickets already had been sold to the event and that 30,000 were expected by the weekend of the event.
McMahon, meanwhile, was assured that more than 15,000 tickets had been sold. He was told the expo was backed by the a company affiliated with The Martial Arts Show. He also was told the company had secured sponsorship from “The Expendables 2.”
“If you sold 15,000-plus tickets, you had the money to put on the show,” he said. “The UFC didn’t even sell 20,000 tickets to their expo, so it seemed a bit disingenuous to me.”
Financial losses for Couture, who had tacked promotional stops for his book “The Last Round” to his itinerary abroad, total in the high five figures, Spira said. McMahon declined to comment on his fighters’ losses but said it’s a “considerable number.” Wire transfers set for Tuesday never came through.
“They were front-loading this event, and they were looking to bring in a sponsor,” McMahon said. “My belief is that they didn’t have the funds. They never had the funds.”
Nevertheless, both reps say they have executed contracts with organizers and expect to be compensated, not only for the agreed appearance fee but for the use of fighters’ likenesses in promotional materials. Couture may join the fight on behalf of other fighters out money.
“We’ve got 50 guys who have been stiffed,” Spira said. “I don’t think we’re going to let this one go.”
Clifton could not be reached for comment at the time of this writing.
Fischer in the meantime, has responded via Facebook:
I would like to take this opportunity to explain the situation and circumstances of events over the past 24 hours regarding The MMA Show Live.
Firstly, I would like to state that I was not made aware of any postponement until yesterday afternoon, just before the information was leaked on Twitter.
Paul Clifton, a director of MA Inc, informed me yesterday that a major contractor had pulled out making it impossible for the show to proceed. I was informed by Paul that the show was being postponed but not cancelled. He had a press release drafted by an agency that I’ve had no contact with and it was released without my final approval.
I was assured that Paul and his team were going to speak to every fighter, manager, member of staff and exhibitor involved BEFORE the press release went out and I was advised to stay off my Facebook and Twitter accounts so they could manage the situation in conjunction with their PR agency.
Secondly, I would also like to remind people that my company, Split Decision, worked on the content of The MMA Show Live in partnership with MA Inc and I would like to reiterate that I had no final say in the postponement of the show.
I am deeply shocked and disappointed that this has happened and that months of work have gone to waste. I am very saddened and frustrated for the fans who were looking forward to this show and for all the staff, fighters, managers, exhibitors and members of the media who have supported The MMA Show Live.
Refunds can be obtained via The Ticket Factory and any issues with regards to travel expenses should be addressed to info@themmashowlive.com . There are some FAQ’s and answers also available at Important Notice
All enquiries regarding The MMA Show/The Martial Arts Show Live should be directed to Paul Clifton at cliftoncombat@aol.co.uk or on +44 (0) 121 351 6930
