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War between Sapp & K-1 continues
By Zach Arnold | June 28, 2006

By Zach Arnold
On Tuesday, a FAX was sent to the mass media in Japan on behalf of Bob Sapp (through a Japanese lawyer), explaining what happened at the infamous K-1 Amsterdam show and why he didn’t fight Ernesto Hoost. In short, Sapp said that he was threatened. (English summary of Sapp’s argument in the past can be read here.) It garnered major media coverage, and today K-1 management responded back with accusations that a DSE American lawyer (who matchmaker Sadaharu Tanigawa named Mr. M — likely as in Michael Connette, the lawyer who got involved in the dispute with Royce Gracie a couple of years ago for fighting Akebono in the K-1 ring on New Year’s Eve) was present with Sapp at the time everything fall apart in Amsterdam. K-1 claims that Sapp demanded that his long-term contract with K-1 be annuled after the Hoost fight, but the promotion didn’t back down.
Update: On Friday, DSE boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara stated that DSE did not have any involvement in the dispute between Bob Sapp & K-1 in May at the Amsterdam Arena show.
Topics: All Topics, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
[…] American attorney Michael Connette, who is based out of Tokyo and has experience practicing law in California, sent a press release to the fight media on Monday claiming of inaccuracies in statements made by K-1 matchmaker Sadaharu Tanigawa last week. Tanigawa issued a public reply to a FAX that Bob Sapp sent through a Japanese lawyer. In Tanigawa’s statement, he mentioned how Mr. M (referring to Connette) was advising Bob Sapp in regards to demanding an annulment of his K-1 contract, labeling Connette as a DSE American lawyer. […]