Edmonton’s Ryan (The Real Deal) Ford has left the organization that helped turn him into a local mixed martial arts hero and signed with a promotion looking to become its rival.
Ford told Sportsnet.ca he has signed with The Fight Club, another Edmonton-based promotion, after two-plus years with the Maximum Fighting Championship. He has also parted ways with manager Mark Pavelich, who is also president and founder of the MFC.
Ford (8-2) said he expects to fight at The Fight Club’s next show on May 22 at the Shaw Conference Center in Edmonton.
The decision comes after a dispute over a new fighting contract between Ford and Pavelich went unresolved. Ford’s former deal with the MFC ended after his loss to Pat Healy in February, his second failed attempt to claim the promotion’s welterweight belt. Ford, 27, said his departure from the MFC is not a temporary move.
“I will not fight for Mark anymore,” Ford said. “And I will never fight for him no matter what.”
“I received another contract for a four-fight deal with Mark. I felt that I deserved more than what I was going to be getting. I restructured the contract and sent it back to him. I never got a contract back. All (I got were) messages back from Mark saying he’s not going to pay me what I’m asking.”
Pavelich said on the MFC’s website last week that Ford’s salary demands were “outrageous.”
“Ryan hasn’t won the title, he’s never fought in the UFC, and yet he wants to make the kind of money that champions and guys with four or five UFC fights can demand,” Pavelich said. “Ryan hasn’t yet reached the level to back up his demands.”
Ford disagrees with Pavelich’s assessment.
“I’m not asking to get paid more than anybody else in the MFC,” Ford said. “There are guys that are paid way more than me in the MFC. I’m just asking for what I deserve and what I’ve been offered by other organizations.”
“And him throwing stuff in my face, ‘I’ve never fought in the UFC, and I haven’t won a title. Well, I’ve had 10 fights, I’ve only been training in this sport and fighting for one year and nine months. I lost to a guy who’s ranked 48th in the world. … I don’t back out of fights. I will fight whoever is put in front of me. But I’m not going to fight for peanuts.”
Pavelich admits Ford’s presence on fight cards has helped ticket sales, especially with local fans. That is evidenced by MFC’s decisions which have seen Ford appear in four main events out of the eight shows he has fought for the MFC. But Pavelich insisted the MFC is not a one-man show.
“I will not go out of business by paying fighters exorbitant amounts of money,” Pavelich said. “Look what happened to the IFL and EliteXC. They paid fighters ridiculous amounts of money and went broke. Look at the number of shows that tried to make a big splash by signing one or two guys to huge contracts. They did one or two shows and were never heard from again.”
Ford got his start in the sport under the tutelage of Pavelich and eight of his 10 career fights have been with the MFC. The Edmonton native has risen to stardom in the eyes of local MMA-enthused fans in part because of his exciting style. Certainly, MFC marketing has helped too.
But Ford believes he’s beyond the point of giving a home-town discount. His only two losses have come against Healy — the most recent by split decision and the first by submission in a fight he appeared to be dominating before making a mistake. Ford believes he has earned higher standing and feels his pay should more closely match his value than it has in the past.
“My fifth fight on nine months of training, who would fight (veteran Pete Spratt) for $850 to show and $750 to win, (and) being a main event? That’s crazy,” Ford said. “But you know what? At that time I thought, ‘Listen, I gotta pay my dues, I gotta do whatever I gotta do to make my career right.’
“I’m pretty sure I could ask any other person at their event if I’d done what I’ve done for the MFC at their show, I’m pretty sure they’d respect me enough to pay me what I’m asking. I’ve got a wife and a brand new baby girl who’s six months old and I’ve got to look at my best interests for me.”
“(If he’s just) paying me what he wants to pay me, there’s a big conflict of interest there as owner of the organization and him being my manager. Because I have nobody working for me, I have to work for myself.”
Ford is also in negotiations with the Xtreme MMA promotion in Quebec and hopes to fight at one of their events in Montreal in July.
The MFC, which has held events at the Shaw Conference Center in the past, has opted to hold its shows at the smaller River Cree Resort and Casino in nearby Enoch, Alta., for recent shows. The next event for the eight-year-old organization is scheduled for May 15.
The Fight Club, which was founded in December 2007, held its sixth event last Friday.
Ford, who is most known for his striking, thinks the move to the new promotion will be even better for his career since The Fight Club uses a cage rather than the ring in which the MFC holds its fights.
“It’s not ropes, it’s in the cage, so it’s better for my non-stop style of fighting,” Ford said. “Fights won’t stop ever. In the ring, sometimes you get caught in the ropes and the referee has to move the fight back to middle.
“In the cage, you’re not going anywhere if I keep you pinned up against it!”
