*UPDATED* Exclusive: Ryan ‘Big Deal’ Jimmo’s Camp Explain Why They Turned Down MFC LHW Title Shot
(Jimmo’s a tough dude, but his mean-mug needs work.)
Imagine spending more than three years working for a company and putting in countless gallons of your blood sweat and tears in equity to be given the opportunity to compete for a promotion within the organization. Now imagine if the company’s president decided to bring in a talented, but underrated go-getter to interview for the role you worked frenetically and incessantly to earn in your 44 months under his employ.
Chances are you might not be too receptive of the proposition.
That’s exactly the situation Ryan Jimmo found himself in the past few weeks when negotiating his next fight with the Canada-based Maximum Fighting Championship.
MFC president Mark Pavelich called Jimmo’s manager to tell him that the “Big Deal” had earned a shot at the promotion’s light heavyweight strap and that they were working on securing Glover Teixeira as his opponent for the main event of MFC 27 on November 12.
When Jimmo’s camp questioned why a relatively unknown fighter like Teixeira was getting an immediate championship berth when Ryan had to work his way up the MFC’s 205-pound ladder to earn his title shot, Pavelich conceded and sought out a “known” fighter to face the “Big Deal.” He nailed down Bobby Southworth for the bout and after he verbally agreed to the fight, the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ pulled out for personal reasons, leaving the MFC with few options.
Pavelich contacted Jimmo’s manager yesterday to tell him that the
Pavelich contacted Jimmo’s manager yesterday to tell him that the fight with Teixeira was the only bout he could put together on five weeks’ notice.
After weighing the pros and cons of the fight, like Teixeira’s lack of name recognition and the lingering question of whether or not they believed Teixeira deserved the title shot, they declined the offer that was on the table.
Just like that, Jimmo was dropped from the card and a press release questioning the heart and fighting spirit of the two-time Pan-Am medalist and four-time Canadian national karate champion who is widely regarded as Canada’s top light heavyweight quickly made the rounds.
“It was a tough decision, but we did what we felt was right and I wasn’t going to trade my convictions for a title shot,” Jimmo told cagepotato.com/ today. “Teixeira is a tough opponent for anyone, and I still really want that belt because I worked so hard to earn it, but I stand by our decision.”
A longtime protégée of former UFC light heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell, Teixeira (10-2), who is undefeated in his last eight outings is no joke, but by MMA math, the records of the opponents he beat don’t equate to a lot in terms of risk and reward.
Of those eight opponents – Marko Peselj (1-2), Tiago Tosata (6-8), Joachim Ferreira (10-6), Leonardo Nascimento (8-7-2), Buckley Acosta (4-9), Jorge Oliveira (4-2-1), Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (9-7) and Carleton Jones (1-4) – only half have +.500 records with the best topping out at .625.
In the same timeframe, Jimmo (12-1) took out UFC veterans
In the same timeframe, Jimmo (12-1) took out UFC veterans Jesse Forbes (14-5), Marvin Eastman (17-13-1) and Wilson Gouveia (12-8) as well as former MFC light heavyweight champ, Emmanuel Newton (13-6-1).
So the question is, where does this leave Jimmo’s contract status with the MFC?
According to Jimmo’s manager, Bobby Karimi Busheri, the St. John, NB native who relocated last year to Edmonton to train at Hayabusa Training Centre and to be closer to where he was fighting, doesn’t hold any ill-will towards the MFC.
“Ryan has one fight left on his current contract which we plan on honoring. We fully intended to re-sign with the MFC after this fight and we are still open to doing that. It’s unfortunate the way things went down, but sometimes you have to look at what’s in the best interest of your fighter and we feel that’s what we did by turning down this fight,” Karimi-Busheri says. “Ryan has a bright future in this sport and he worked hard to get the opportunity to fight for a title. No disrespect to Glover. He’s a very good, very tough fighter who has flown under the radar for a long time, but we just felt that he should have to earn his shot like everybody else.”
In spite of his being forced to sit out the rest of 2010, at least in North America since next month’s show is the MFC’s last one this year, Jimmo says he’s open to the prospect of taking on the winner of the bout between Teixeira and his replacement.
“Sure. If Glover wins a bout in the MFC, then I’ll fight him next year. If he loses, I’ll take on the guy who beats him,” he explains. “Until then, I’ll keep training and maybe I’ll look for a fight in Japan or Europe. We’ll see what happens.”
*Updated at 7:40 pm ET to add information provided to CP about an opponent change that occurred last night.