Reader “mmalogic” finds what can only be described as a doozy. Get a load of this:
If you think Seth’s second statement was a big contradiction of his first get a load of this:
Seth was interviewed by sam caplan:
Sam Caplan: Would you have received a bonus had you submitted Kimbo?
Seth Petruzelli: Yes. There were submission bonuses, knockout bonuses, and a “Fight of the Night” bonus — just like the UFC does it. They just want an exciting fight no matter where it goes.
Sam Caplan: Did the submission bonus pay the same as the knockout bonus?
Seth Petruzelli: Yes. Every bonus is the same.
Now Josh Gross just interviewed Jeremy Lapen:
EliteXC, it seems, does not view submissions, widely thought of as the most technical aspect of MMA, as an overly important portion of an exciting fight.“We don’t give submission bonuses,” Lappen said. But Petruzelli “knew a knockout bonus was possible before the fight.”
(source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/josh_gross/10/08/seth.petruzelli/index.html?eref=T1 )
Benji Radach confirmed on sherdog radio:
“No, not at all,” Radach said, when asked whether Elite XC officials ever mentioned knockout, submission, or fight of the night bonuses, before or after the event. “I wish there was a bonus because I think my fight was really exciting, maybe fight of the night or knockout of the night. But nope, I never heard anything.”
Sounds like Seth is taking his back tracking a little too far.
First we have Petruzelli telling everyone he was paid to stand then backtracking. Now we have Petruzelli and Lappen directly contradicting each other not only on the terms of Seth’s contract but on EliteXC contracts in general. Radach’s statements get a pass because it’s possible his contract had no such clause, which would still cohere with Lappen’s statements that not every fighter’s contract has such provisions. Nevertheless, what is going on?
The plot thickens.
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