Dave Herman has signed a one-fight contract to face
Aaron Rosa in an undercard heavyweight bout for Shark Fights 13 on Sept. 11 at the Amarillo Civic Center Coliseum in Amarillo, Texas, Sherdog.com has confirmed.
The 25-year-old Herman is suing Bellator Fighting Championships for allegedly breaching a six-fight, 30-month contract that he terminated in December 2009 after the promotion failed to give him two fights within a year’s time.
Bellator is counter-suing Herman, also for breach of contract, claiming it has honored all of its contractual obligations thus far, and that the fighter is still exclusive to the promotion.
Herman is also suing Bellator for tortuous interference with his attempts to secure bouts outside of the Chicago-based promotion since January. Herman’s complaint includes a Jan. 25 letter sent from Bellator’s attorney to Shine Fights, threatening legal action within 48 hours if it didn’t withdraw a written offer it had made to Herman. Herman claims interference from Bellator into late March, when the suit was filed.
The case is tentatively set to go to trial in January 2011.
In the interim, Herman said the promotion had offered him a slot in its upcoming heavyweight tournament up until June 16, but only under the debated contract’s terms. Herman said he turned that offer down.
Last week, Herman said Bellator offered him a single bout to face former UFC heavyweight champion
Ricco Rodriguez on Sept. 9 or 16, for an $8,0000 purse and an $8,000 win bonus. That purse reflects what Herman would get for the third contracted fight of his contract.
Herman said he told Bellator that he’d accept the bout under one condition: that the promotion acknowledged that his contract was terminated and drafted a new one. Herman said Bellator declined this request.
“The only way I’ll fight for Bellator is if we take this out of court,” said Herman, “but it doesn’t appear like they want to do that. So, I want to fight for Shark Fights.”
Shark Fights’ matchmaker
Brent Medley said he’s well aware of Herman’s current legal issues with Bellator, but was still willing to make him an offer for the Sept. 11 event.
“At the end of the day, Dave needs to fight,” said Medley. “Dave’s a compelling heavyweight and is appears that he doesn’t want to fight for Bellator at the moment.”
After speaking with his own attorney, Medley was not worried about any legal action Bellator might take against the Texas-based promotion to prevent Herman from fighting for him.
“Contractually, with all the smokes and mirrors gone, I’m not sure Bellator will be able to issue a cease and desist letter that will hold,” said Medley.
Medley also questioned why Bellator would want to take such action.
“My number-one question to (Bellator) would be why would they want to issue (a cease and desist letter) when the fighter doesn’t want to fight for them?” asked Medley. “I don’t see why you’d prevent a fighter from making a living. If they decide to take legal action, in my eyes, it shows Bellator isn’t as fighter-friendly as it presents itself to the public.”
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