UK middleweight star, Tom “Kong” Watson has decided enough is enough and has turned his back on the BAMMA promotion where he was champion, vacating the title over a sum of £6,000 which he claims the promotion still owe him from the blockbuster fight with Alex Reid last year.In a statement released on his own website this morning, Watson said:
“I am disappointed to announce that I have been left with no choice but to vacate my BAMMA title due to a number of issues which have taken place over the past few months. I have given BAMMA so many opportunities to correct their wrong and they have failed to act which has left me no choice but to make this statement.”
“I was assured that if I signed for the Reid fight in September I would be paid half of my purse 28 days before the event and the rest 72 hours after the event. I was paid nothing. It is well publicised that Alex Reid failed to make weight at the agreed time and arrived on the scales some 4 hours late. The contract clearly states that if an opponent does not make weight his opponent gets 25% of his purse.”
“At the time, my management spoke to [BAMMA exec] David Green about what happens since he has not made weight. David asked us not to make a scene and assured us he was in complete control of Alex’s purse and I would be paid the extra 25%. I was informed Reid was earning £18k for this fight so the extra £4,500 to me was a huge difference.”
“In the initial first few weeks after my fight I had received no payment from BAMMA. They then asked me to attend an event by EA Sports at London Shoot Fighters. I was sceptical as I had not been paid but David Green met me and explained the payment was imminent so I took part in the event. I was told that by attending this event EA sports would look into sponsoring me and BAMMA would appreciate me helping them out. No money came for at least 6 weeks until I was finally paid a percentage of my purse.”
“I had been paid some money but not the part of my purse I was owed for Alex missing weight but I wanted the fighters to be informed. I am also owed my expenses which included flights for my corner which I also had to pay in advance as BAMMA told me they would refund this after the event. BAMMA immediately asked me to withdraw this statement and say I had been paid, I refused to do this as I was still owed over 6 thousand pounds!”
“I was assured I would be paid by the end of December so I once again kept quiet. I have not been paid a penny since this day. My management and BAMMA have been in negotiations for weeks and now BAMMA have asked me to sign a 3-fight deal and have said they will make up the money I am owed through extra payments with my purse and up front cash payments.”
“They have now told me this money is now a grey area?? I have declined this offer as I feel like I am being blackmailed to fight for them again in order to receive money I’m owed from September. It is rather upsetting to me that Bamma seem to think its okay to work out new deals with fighters and pay for new arenas (MEN) upfront before they have even paid their dues for September. I think I deserve some honesty and frankly I will not sign anything becuase ‘once bitten twice shy’.”
“I do not want this money to live a lavish lifestyle, I want it so I can be able to pay my rent and continue to train full time in this sport… Only people in the MMA community will understand we are not on footballer wages let alone McDonald’s wages for that and this whole episode has really depressed me.”
“Luckily I have a great team in Jacksons MMA where money does not come first and they have seen me through this period.”
This will come as a huge double body blow for the UK promotion who have not only missed out on the chance of promotion Watson vs. Reid II over the summer, an event that had been lined up for London’s O2 Arena, but will likely make people think twice on the day they have started selling tickets for the first of five arena dates in 2011.
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