« Similar Histories: UFC and WWE | Home | Response to UFC & WWE article »
Tanigawa focuses on Sapp & Melendez
By Zach Arnold | October 11, 2006
By Zach Arnold
Update: Gryphon has more details.
Here’s a screen capture from Dave Meltzer’s Wednesday news update. Would K-1 use this as evidence in court of a breach of contract?
As I noted over at Puroresu Power today, K-1 matchmaker Sadaharu Tanigawa held a press conference to focus on upcoming action the company would take against Bob Sapp. Tanigawa indicated that there were several wrestling groups and a wrestling group trying to produce an MMA show for New Year’s Eve (this sounds like New Japan) that was introduced in booking Sapp.
One item that is starting to gain traction, however, is that Tanigawa also stated that another fighter (Gilbert Melendez) breached a signed K-1 contract in order to work for PRIDE. NHB News has more details (in Japanese). Melendez was promoted by K-1 initially for their Middleweight tournament. Rani Yahya ended up replacing Melendez’s spot. With Melendez fighting Shin’ya Aoki at Bushido on 11/5 at Yokohama Arena, K-1 would view this certainly as a breach of a signed contract (if Melendez did in fact sign one) and require compensation of damages.
The idea that K-1 is going after these guys in court is quite a unique signal and change of pace from the way business normally works in the fight scene over there. The big question is whether or not K-1 can tie these guys up in court and prevent them from making a living in Japan again. If that’s the case, then Sapp & Melendez are going to have a legal war on their hands. Tanigawa indicated that he wanted compensation for damages first (instead of stopping Melendez from fighting), but we’ll see how that plays out.
Topics: All Topics, HERO's, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
That’s bad news for Melendez if he did sign a contract for K-1 and breached it. Unless Sapp, he doesn’t have the cash for legal fees or resources to fight this in court over a long period of time.
If he did breach and was at fault, does anyone think K-1 would fight him in court and drain Melendez financially just to set an example for foreign fighters working on their shows to not screw them over and work for the competition?