THE UCFC has confirmed that Ken Shamrock is no longer part of the Legends of MMA fight card.
He was due to face Ian “The Machine” Freeman at the show being held on July 27th at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster.
A UCFC spokesman said: “We can confirm that Ken Shamrock will not be appearing on the Legends of MMA show.
“He has claimed we are in breach of contract – which is not the case. He has alleged that the reason he does not want to fight on the show is due to the UCFC not wanting to pay him. This is factually incorrect.
“Ken had made a Twitter tweet on June 4th saying he was going to pull out of the fight. When the UCFC contacted him he told us that this was because he could not have three of his fighters on the card. He claimed this was a breach of contract.
“We never guaranteed we would have these fighters on the card and it doesn’t appear anywhere in his contract.
“As a goodwill gesture we repeatedly asked him to tweet a positive post about the show but he failed to respond.
“He has claimed he told us categorically that he would not be coming to the UK to face Ian “The Machine” Freeman. Again that is factually incorrect. His team were negotiating and wanting to change the contract right up until July 2nd. If Ken had categorically said he definitely was not fighting why was his team still in talks up to that point?
“Our legal team advised us that no money should be paid directly by escrow to Ken in the USA. This was because we could not guarantee he would actually turn up and recovering the money for his breach of contract would be prohibitive in the USA. Instead, as a UK company, we offered to pay the cash into an UK escrow account which Ken could have transferred to the States after the show. The UCFC agreed to this measure even though it was not part of his contract.
“Ken claims that we have been selling tickets on the back of his name knowing he had decided not to fight. Again this is not supported by the facts. Although we suspected he was looking to withdraw from the card, his team were telling us he would fight. So in good faith we continued promoting his contribution to the card. With emails we can substantiate this fact up to July 2nd.
“Up to Ken’s last interview on the July 3rd no mention of a sanctioning body has appeared in any emails or communications between both parties.
He said that the contracts are not valid in the UK because there is no sanctioning body. Contracts are legal documents and are covered by civil law in the UK and not sanctioning bodies. Why did he sign the contract in the first place if this was a major concern?
“Although we tried to get Ken to fight he decided to retire from card. We wish him all the best in his future fights. We are now focusing on the show and this chapter is now closed for us.”
The UCFC will be revealing the new opponent for Ian “The Machine” Freeman very shortly along with some other updates.
The event will see top UK rapper Professor Green head line the music acts which also includes The Sunshine Underground and Jay Mya.
Tickets are now on sale at start from £50. Corporate - Box of 10 (£1000 + VAT) Limited numbers; VIP Restaurant - Tables of 10 (£850) Limited numbers; Olympic Seating - £120 (Cageside); and Standard Seating - £50.
To buy tickets phone 0844 324 5590, or go to the Keepmoat Stadium Ticket Office at www.keepmoatstadium.com or www.ucfc.tv
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