Here is what Mark Pavelich owner of the MFC has to say about it:
Through repeated conversations between myself, his agent Steve Gavin, and our respective lawyers, Mr. Ford was left with three options:
1) Complete his contract which has two fights remaining
2) Do not compete and let his contract run out at the end of September 2011
3) Buy out his contract or have another organization buy it out for him
The Maximum Fighting Championship and its legal representation have received no letters, emails, phone calls or communication of any kind in any attempt to solve this matter.
The Maximum Fighting Championship received information on Jan. 20, 2011 that Mr. Ford's agent had sent out text messages alleging that Mr. Ford is being discriminated against racially.
For Mr. Ford and Mr. Gavin to allegedly claim racism is completely baseless, preposterous and nothing more than an attempt to induce his way out of a legal contract. He was brought back into the MFC’s employ in all good faith, and any claim of discrimination or racism is clear defamation and slander. The MFC has a great deal of cultural diversity amongst its fighters including African-Americans, Native Americans (First Nations), Asians, and South Americans.
Mr. Ford’s mixed martial arts career was started in the MFC when my organization gave him a chance to put his life back together following a troubling time that included incarceration. He previously left the MFC over a contract dispute and then returned by signing a new four-fight deal in 2010. Mr. Ford was offered three different opponents for a fight on the MFC 28 card and his management turned down all of them.
As part of his contract, there is an arbitration clause that can be utilized, so if Mr. Ford wants to go in that direction to find a buy-out price we will oblige. However, he will NOT be allowed to just walk away from his contract for free.
Pat Reid of the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission was notified recently that Mr. Ford remains under contract with the MFC and that he should not be allowed to participate as an MMA fighter in any other promotion until the matter is resolved.
The MFC has stood beside Ryan Ford through many difficult times, and as a matter of record I was the only person to stand up and speak for him at a probation hearing. Ryan left the MFC before and even after the animosity of that departure, matters were patched up and he came back in 2010. The MFC gave him a second chance to come back to our organization. For unexplained reasons he does not want to be part of our organization.
I look forward to resolving this issue via arbitration in a fair and timely fashion.
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