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Roy Jones Jr.’s Square Ring Sues Zuffa & Roy Nelson Over Alleged Contractual Interference
Zuffa’s legal team may be busy suing the pants off Ken Pavia, Bellator FC and internet pirates by the shipload, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have an occasional lawsuit to defend against too.
Robert Joyner, formerly of MMA Payout, brings word on MMAFA.tv that Roy Jones Jr.’s Square Ring, Inc. has filed suit against Zuffa and Roy Nelson for the UFC allegedly interfering with the contractual relationship they had with Nelson.
[quote:3c4lpssm]Nelson initially entered into a relationship with RJJ and SRI when participating against Jeff Monson on the Boxing/MMA March Badness PPV, which was headlined by Roy Jones Jr. vs Omar Sheika. In his contract for the fight, SRI alleges that Nelson granted “exclusive first negotiation rights” on subsequent fights and under certain conditions the right to match any offers that Nelson received in the future.
…The suit claims that UFC VP Marc Ratner was at said event and met with Square Ring CEO John Wirt. In the process of their conversation Wirt alerted Ratner to the fact that Nelson was assisting at the event in a matching making role and also stated that Nelson was an under contract Square Ring, Inc. fighter. The case states that Ratner later met separately with Nelson while at the Primm event. After the event, in late May/early June, SRI alleges that Nelson would negotiate first with Zuffa, did not provide SRI with the opportunity to match the Zuffa offer, and would sign an exclusive promotional agreement with Zuffa. SRI alleges that all these actions violated their agreement with Nelson. SRI also alleges that bouts that Nelson participated in while competing in the TUF 10 season were also in violation of the agreement.
Zuffa’s legal team may be busy suing the pants off Ken Pavia, Bellator FC and internet pirates by the shipload, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have an occasional lawsuit to defend against too.
Robert Joyner, formerly of MMA Payout, brings word on MMAFA.tv that Roy Jones Jr.’s Square Ring, Inc. has filed suit against Zuffa and Roy Nelson for the UFC allegedly interfering with the contractual relationship they had with Nelson.
[quote:3c4lpssm]Nelson initially entered into a relationship with RJJ and SRI when participating against Jeff Monson on the Boxing/MMA March Badness PPV, which was headlined by Roy Jones Jr. vs Omar Sheika. In his contract for the fight, SRI alleges that Nelson granted “exclusive first negotiation rights” on subsequent fights and under certain conditions the right to match any offers that Nelson received in the future.
…The suit claims that UFC VP Marc Ratner was at said event and met with Square Ring CEO John Wirt. In the process of their conversation Wirt alerted Ratner to the fact that Nelson was assisting at the event in a matching making role and also stated that Nelson was an under contract Square Ring, Inc. fighter. The case states that Ratner later met separately with Nelson while at the Primm event. After the event, in late May/early June, SRI alleges that Nelson would negotiate first with Zuffa, did not provide SRI with the opportunity to match the Zuffa offer, and would sign an exclusive promotional agreement with Zuffa. SRI alleges that all these actions violated their agreement with Nelson. SRI also alleges that bouts that Nelson participated in while competing in the TUF 10 season were also in violation of the agreement.
This suit is especially interesting considering how adamant Dana White is about not messing with other organization’s contracts. That line seemed to be blurred somewhat earlier this summer with Fedor Emelianenko while M-1 was giving Strikeforce fits, but the Fedor situation has always been far more complicated with presumably more loopholes than you would ever expect with someone like Roy Nelson. Also interesting that Marc Ratner of all UFC officials could be involved[/quote:3c4lpssm]
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