The Fickett Saga Ends...

Maximum Fighting Championship President Mark Pavelich announced Sunday that Drew Fickett (34-5) will not fight “Real Deal” Ryan Ford (6-0) for the MFC welterweight title.

“Drew Fickettwill never fight in the MFC,” Pavelich said.

Fickett was contracted to fight Ford in Edmonton 25 July, but agreed on a day’s notice to fill-in for “Diesel” Joe Riggs (27-10) Friday in San Jose after Riggs was denied a license by the California State Athletic Commission.

Pavelich said, “We were shocked to learn Drew agreed on one day’s notice to fight as a middleweight in another organization’s event this past Friday.  When I contacted this other organization, its owner immediately cancelled Drew’s fight when informed that he was under contract to fight on the MFC show and as part of Mr. Fickett’s contract he was not allowed to take another fight up to five weeks before the MFC show.”

Fickett told MMA Rated that, “Some jerk-off wanna-be like promoter, some tough guy, like calls us and he’s like pullin’ the frickin’ contract card on me.  I’m like, ‘Dude, I don’t care.  I just want to fight.’  This guy’s like, ‘Oh, you M-F this, you M-F that, frickin’ son-of-a-bitch.  I’m going to fly down there and I’m going to kill you.’”

Fickett published online a profanity-laced voicemail that Pavelich – said jerk-off wanna-be like promoter – left for Fickett’s manager.

“I admit to being very upset, angry and frustrated not only by Drew’s action but also by not being able to reach his manager and the tone of that voicemail reflected my feelings,” Pavelich explained.  “For Drew to post the private voice mail – which was not left on his phone – was just ridiculous and petty.”

The soap opera mirrors an incident earlier this month when Fickett postponed an EliteXC title fight versus Fighters.com’s eighth-ranked welterweight Jake Shields(20-4-1) because of a knee injury, only to fight “Steuss Killer” Jeff Horlacher (5-12) in Arizona 7 June while on the DL.

Fickett accused Shields of further delaying the fight until August, forcing Fickett to take “a very low risk fight” for a $2,500 pay day.

“Before I fought, I even e-mailed [Shields] to let him know, ‘Hey, man, I’ve got to take this low risk fight to make some money,’” Fickett explained.  “So, now all the sudden [Shields is] better, and he’s not injured until August, and he’s fighting Nick Thompson for his little fake-ass little belt.”

Fickett was replaced by EliteXC with ninth-ranked “Goat” Nick Thompson (36-9-1).

“We now completely understand why that despite his excellent record so many organizations will not work with Drew and we have a pretty clear indication why he has been banned by the UFC,” Pavelich pointed out.

Fickett is a fighter, in personality and profession, but his personality has got in the way of his profession twice recently, amounting to a single $2,500 purse and a reputation that will turn promoters away.

For Ford, Fighters.com’s original Fighter of the Month, Pavelich said, “I will also move immediately into replacing Drew Fickett with a top-level fighter to contend for the MFC welterweight title.”