Checks Continue to Bounce, Nemesis Fighting's "MMA Global Invasion" Mired in Controversy

It’s an unfortunate fact of life: the more popular something gets, the more it has a chance of developing a seedy underbelly. As Mixed Martial Arts continues to sweep the globe with the UFC leading the charge, there have emerged several “one and done” promotions hoping to make a quick buck by cashing in on the latest craze. Most of the time these promotions exist very briefly and quickly find out the cardinal truth of MMA: there are no overnight successes. This trend has unfortunately given rise to another trend: fighters not getting paid. And that’s exactly what happened at a recent event in the Dominican Republic featuring former UFC stars like the much-maligned Keith Jardine. Here are all the details.

MMA Weekly reports that fighters involved in the Nemesis Fighting promotion’s “MMA Global Invasion” event have yet to see a single penny from the promotion. The event took place on Monday (December 13) after a tropical storm forced the original date of the event (November 13) to be pushed back a month. The event featured MMA veterans like the aforementioned Keith Jardine as well as Paul Buentello, Terry Martin, and Dean Lister.

According to the report, fighters were handed out checks following the event, but everyone’s checks started bouncing when the fighters attempted to cash them. The report also states that at least eight fighters have officially reported that their checks have bounced. Mike Winkeljohn, one of the head trainers at Greg Jackson’s famed MMA camp, had this to say regarding the situation: “As far as I know none of the fighters got paid… The checking account bounced those checks. It did not have any money in it… It’s a black eye to the sport… The other gentleman involved, his name is Tim Fields, and he’s been involved in some shady deals in the past… I’ll step up to the plate and be that guy and I’ll let everybody know to stay away from that guy cause he’s a scam artist.”

Now, I know the cynical/harsh response is to ask “what did you expect?” The event took place in the Dominican Republic. According to Winkeljohn, one of the men involved in this show had a shady reputation to begin with. It is what it is, what did the fighters expect?

They expected to be treated fairly. That’s all.

No matter what the situation, I will always come down hard on promotions that don’t pay their fighters. I don’t care what reasons are involved, I don’t care what mitigating circumstances should be taken under consideration.

Pay your damn fighters.

You’re not the one dealing with the emotional and physical difficulties of training for a fight for months and then putting it all on the line by stepping into a cage or ring to either hit or get hit. You may be the one pulling the strings and putting everything into motion, but you’re not the one the fans show up to see. This is not a two-way street, unless you’re the UFC or Strikeforce, nine times out of ten MMA fighters don’t need you as badly as you need them.

And to top it all off, there’s no mitigating circumstances here. There were deliberate actions taken to ensure that the promoters and individuals involved in putting this show together could sneak off into the night with their money before anyone discovered that their checks would bounce. So, yeah, the only harsh response I have to this story is the one I have towards the jackals that put on this show.

But what about you, fans and friends? What’s your opinion on the matter?