MARK PAVELICH OF MFC CLARIFIES THE NATURE OF COMMISSION ORDEAL

I was surprised to be copied yesterday on a correspondence involving a request for Mark Pavelich and MFC to be suspended for an overdue balance with a certain branch of the Canadian athletic commission.  The story was confirmed by two athletic commission members “off the record”, and I felt that in addition to seeing the email from the ABC President, that I’d done the due diligence to warrant publishing the story.

As usual, each side has its own story, and this is MFC's side of things.  Many will find it unnecessary, but I wanted to share that Pavelich was among the most respectful and professional people I’ve yet to interact with.  Our conversation was not one of “give me your official statement”, but rather a casual explanation on the history and dynamics of the situation that I’ll attempt to summarize.

First, the clarification of the facts: Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) President Tim Lueckenhoff confirmed that a request from the River Cree commission for Pavelich and MFC to be suspended was filed and approved.

A member of commission River Cree asked that Mark's promotional company be listed as suspended with both the mma and boxing databases. While this suspension does not have to be followed by each member we certainly expect each member commission follow the suspension.

Since an athletic commission provides a valuable (and required) service but is not a profit center, they continue to function by taking a cut of the event’s profit.  After MFC and the River Cree Casino could not come to terms when renegotiating their exclusive promotional contract, MFC took their show elsewhere.  This separation apparently coincided with an inexplicable spike in the standard fees that are normally charged by local River Cree athletic commission, which is one of many signs that more is at play here.

Pavelich indicated that the change to a higher rate was brought up quite informally before the event, and he immediately expressed his reluctance, and no further discussion or resolution took place.  After the event, which was the final show on their exclusive contract, Pavelich explained that MFC paid the commission the original price within a month.  Pavelich said the commission then contacted him with the claim that they had not received any check, so he mailed a second, and says he has all the accounting documentation to prove it.

Pavelich also relayed that the “non-payment of fees” that spawned the request for his suspension consists of the additional funds that were conspicuously and non-mutually added, plus a late fee for the alleged absence of the first check, which he has proof was mailed on time.

Business is an unavoidable, necessary evil of the sport, and though one can’t survive without the other, the best business decision does not always reflect what’s best for the sport and the fans.  The prime example is the reason we haven’t seen Fedor Emelianenko in the octagon.  Business is at the heart of most of the problems in MMA, and this appears to be no exception.  Knowing the sole purpose for the commission’s existence is to protect the fighters, a promoter who has not paid the commission on time could reflect a warning sign for the fighters, thus my reasoning behind the first article.

The issue really boils down to a minor squabble over contract details between a local commission and a longstanding MMA promotion; and MFC has had contractual disputes before, but none to my knowledge that involve not paying a fighter.  The only thing clear on this after hearing both sides is that MFC has not committed any major act of injustice, they paid the amount that was originally agreed upon, and the “non-payment of fees” pertains only to the additional charges in question--which are so minimal that they wouldn't even afford a decent new laptop computer.

Pavelich intends to carry on with all of his future shows, saying with confidence that the issue will be fully resolved in the near future, and this is more of a case of two big fish in a small Canadian pond.