Cage Fight Series – The Plot Thickens!

Last weekends Cage Fight Series: Raw event was cancelled on the night of the show, despite the show being ready to go – all the fighters were there, all of the officials were there. Then the show was mysteriously closed before it had even opened – leaving those that had bought tickets out of pocket, with no refunds forthcoming.

Speculation has been running rife as to what may be the cause of the cancellation, which has been fuelled further by the event promoter’s reluctance to explain the situation.

On the Cagewarriors forum it seems some light be have been shed on the situation, as James Hurran – one of the events financers – made an official statement:

”To All. cage fight series (C.F.S)was formed and incorporated in january of this year. we as investors invited tom and stuart in as part of this project. there role, tom the technician and stuart the match maker,for this they received 25% each of the business. we decided that after the first event we would do one more in Ipswich for the investors to recoup there investment, we as investors saw that this cage fighting is not a profitable business for four people but would support maybe two. so we agreed to give tom and stuart our 50% providing we got our original investment back on the night of the fight. we did marketing in news papers and on the radio, the event was a sell out. on the day of the event there was a disagreement between tom and the investor and the investor decided to take his investment out before the end of the event. and because of there unprofessional behavior we left the event. at 6-30pm we received a phone call from the security that tom and stu had cancelled the event and walked off. if they had called me first before they cancelled we would have come back and the event would have gone foward and there would not be this mess. what these two have done is unforgivable,and unprofessional. i have been training and teaching martial arts for 20 years i believe there are three things that you must live by 1. is your word 2. integrity. 3. honesty. with out these you are nothing. its not just the fighters that have been let down and all those that were there to make the event happen, but most of all it is the fans that have been let down. because with out them we have nothing. the reason i here tom and stu canceled was the fighters thought they were not going to get paid after there fight. the money was there so i don't no, i am still trying to get to the bottom of this stu and tom are not answering calls or e mails, as far as any out standing debts tom and stu are completely responsible and will have to pay. we as investors are still £8,000 out of pocket because of there inapropeat actions, as far as C.F.S is concerned we are going into bankrupts' because of there actions we have nothing to do with tom and jerry. any further business with these two should be seriously considered by all parties. i am deeply sorry for what has happened. A LESSON LEARNT DONT DO BUISNESS WITH WANNABES..........James”

This statement has infuriated many MMA fans who tried to attend the event as they felt that the event should have gone on regardless and that the Promoters should have had the backbone to see it through and take the loss themselves.

It may also be the case that the Promoters pulled the plug because they had not sold any tickets, so they were facing a snap decision of no incoming revenue vs. a long list of costs, and simply decided to do a runner. One forum member explains:

“I phoned the venue at 14:00 and they siad they had sold 300 tickets, and there would be plenty of tickets on the door, its a 800 seat venue, when I got there, there were about 50-75 people waiting in line to but tickets, in the pub next door about 50 people going to the event. To say the event was a sell out is a lie.

I suppose this is bound to happen if MMA follows the pro wrestling model, no sanctioning body, no union and fan boys trying to run shows with no business knowledge.

Dont think MMA fans in East Anglia will make the same mistake twice”

The Promoters have yet to make their official statement regarding the situation, but many are indeed waiting with baited breath!

A note from MMAUniverse.com:

“This is a very unfortunate situation, especially for those that bought tickets and have now lost their money. We strongly recommend that – whenever possible – you purchase event tickets via our online Ticket Sales System. With this system the event promoters do not receive payment for sold tickets until AFTER the event. So, should something go wrong (like in this case) all customers would receive a full refund from MMAUniverse.com. Our system is the safest ticket system out there, plus we’re currently offering cash-back on all tickets sold – so you get free spending money too!

Our hearts go out to those that lost their money, and also to the fighters and officials who wasted their time and money to attend the event.”

MMA Universe