Monte Cox With Strong Words For Ken Pavia
(Guess which one of these men works on the business side of the fight game. Go on, guess.)
MMA supermanager Monte Cox has caught his share of flack recently. First, there was the whole M-1 Global debacle, and then the creation of Adrenaline MMA, which relied upon Cox signing the fighters he managed to the company he was heading up. The phrase “conflict of interest” comes to mind, but I digress.
Now, in a strange twist, Cox is taking aim at rival MMA agent Ken Pavia. In a recent interview on MMA Rated Radio he told Ariel Helwani that Pavia shouldn’t attempt to try his hand at promoting his own organization since he “struggles to be a manager.”
Ouch. But then it got personal:
“I’m taller than him as is most everybody (laughs)… He’s never developed a fighter in his life. You know, it is what it is. I mean, we’re completely different. You have two kinds of people: He calls himself an agent, which is probably right. I’m a manager; I take guys in the beginning of their career and develop them.”
You can’t help but wonder what’s going on under the surface here. Has “The Pav” run afoul of Monte in some way? Cox elaborates:
“Anyone can watch a UFC and pick out a guy who does well and say ‘man I should manage that guy.’ Well, that’s nice but what about the guy who’s been managing and handling that guy for the four years before he got there? In my business, we call those agents ‘poachers.’”
And there you have it. Monte Cox (in his own roundabout way) calls Ken Pavia a fighter poacher. So much anger in this business. So little love.
Props: Five Ounces of Pain
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