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**Manx** · 03-17-2008, 10:04 PM

Posted 17MAR08

Despite a recent announcement by Maximum Fighting Championship that it had signed Gary Goodridge (23-15-1) to a multi-fight contract, the Canadian UFC, Pride and K-1 veteran said he may never fight for the Edmonton, Alberta-based promotion.

“I’m having such a problem with [MFC promoter Mark Pavelich] that I’m not even sure that I ever want to fight for him,” Goodridge said. “He reminds me of an ex-wife. With all the problems that I’m having with this a–hole, he will be lucky if I show up there and I fight. If I do show up there to fight for him, he’ll be lucky if I don’t punch him in his f–ing head.”

Anyone know of the details that is making Goodridge angry?

**Manx** · 03-17-2008, 10:15 PM

I found the answer to my own question! Here is more on it:

According to Goodridge, the problem involves his desire to compete three weeks before a scheduled MFC appearance. Doing so would violate a clause in his contract that forbids him from fighting six weeks prior to an MFC fight. The Team Go Riki founder has been offered a fight on the Korean Martial Arts Federation’s card on Sunday, March 30 and admits he’s considering accepting. Slated to make his MFC debut on Thursday April 9, the 42-year-old Goodridge said he cannot afford to turn down work in the twilight of his career.

“I’d say that 95 percent of my fights I’ve walked away from with no injury whatsoever, so I would have been fine to fight for [the MFC],” he said. “They don’t even have an opponent for me yet. If I could find a job tomorrow that paid me $50,000 a year, I’d never fight again, but I can’t afford not to take fights if they’re offered.”

Although some might argue Goodridge has an obligation to fulfill his MFC contract – which calls for one fight with the option for a second – “Big Daddy” claims he has a trick up his sleeve he can play if his issues with Pavelich are not resolved.

“One stipulation in my contract is that, for the first time in my career, I can pick my opponent,” Goodridge said. “By that, I mean that I can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to anyone they offer me. If they keep screwing me around, I’ll never say yes to anyone they offer me. If they were paying me decent money, I wouldn’t have to fight anywhere else, but they aren’t. I’ve had other offers from other Canadian promotions that are looking very good to me now.”

Inactive since he defeated Jan Nortje by technical knockout at a K-1 Hero’s event last March, Goodridge’s dance card has been filling up in the past month. Besides the KMAF and MFC fights, Goodridge is scheduled to face Eric “Butterbean” Esch on Friday, April 11 at YAMMA Pit Fighting’s inaugural show at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J. One week later, Goodridge will take on Tony Lopez at King of the Cage “Fight Night” at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 19.

Goodridge – who claims he has never had a problem with a promoter – said he signed with MFC because he wanted the experience of fighting in Canada. A proud Canadian who emigrated with his family from Trinidad and Tobago as a child, Goodridge said he wants to fight in front of family and friends before he retires.

“I’m so frustrated,” he said. “I’ve fought everywhere in the world, and I really wanted to fight at home because I wanted to fight in front of my kids. [Pavelich] is an idiot; he’s hard to deal with, and I’m at the point that I want out of my contract. He’s left such a bad taste in my mouth that he’ll be lucky if I ever get on a plane and go to Edmonton.”

**Manx** · 03-19-2008, 09:37 AM

Pavelich Responds to Goodridge’s Comments

In a recent post, MFC promoter Mark Pavelich shed some light onto the situation with UFC, PRIDE and K-1 veteran Gary Goodridge.

“Great article. I have never spoke with Gary Goodridge ever, just his manager. My contract reads he can not fight 5 weeks prior to my event. He wants to fight 3 weeks before in a show in the states and I’m the asshole. We have Eric Pele to fight him and he won’t respond. The MMA Business what to do next, I know what…”

Realistically, one can understand why Pavelich wouldn’t want Goodridge competing three weeks before his scheduled bout at MFC 16: Anger Management. It makes no sense for Pavelich to risk having Goodridge get injured when he’s promoting him as the main event of his upcoming show.

Eric “Big” Pele possesses a mixed martial arts record of 11-4. The former “Inked” star hold victories over the likes of Wesley “Cabbage” Correira, Dan Christison, Travis Fulton, Bobby Hoffman, Vince Lucero, and Antonio “Junior” Silva.

If MFC and Goodridge can right the ship, a potential fight between Pele and Goodridge could be very interesting.

TheNegation · 03-19-2008, 10:21 AM

I love Pele, hope he endsup fighting Goodridge.
Goodridge is just being retarded, hes the one who signed the contract.

**Manx** · 03-20-2008, 05:29 PM

I have never spoken to Gary Goodridge on the phone in my life – that, for me, is the most upsetting part about this whole situation,” Pavelich said. “He’s been in the background saying hello when I talk to Dave Wallace, his manager, but I have never spoken to him beyond that.”

Pavelich claims he attempted to reach Goodridge earlier this week in an effort to resolve their differences. He was unsuccessful.

“I called his house for the first time [Monday] night to ask him why he would say these things about me,” Pavelich said. “He never answered, so I left him a message. How can he say I remind him of his ex-wife and he wants to punch me in the f—ing head and that I’m an a—hole if I’ve never spoken to him before?”

Goodridge’s comments in Monday’s “The Great Fight North” column caught Pavelich off guard. The promoter said he was unaware a rift had developed between him and the 42-year-old kickboxer. Pavelich had already settled on an opponent – King of the Cage and Bodog Fight veteran Eric Pele – for Goodridge’s debut in May.

“He’s disgruntled because I told his manager I wouldn’t give him permission to fight three weeks before he was to fight for us,” Pavelich said. “[His manager] told me he’d look into it and he would handle it, and I’ve never heard another thing about it until I read Gary’s comments on Monday. His manager has been extremely professional with me so I thought this must be some kind of a joke. When I read what he said, I thought he must have been drunk or on some kind of substance for him to be saying such outlandish things.”

Although he remains hopeful fences can be mended, Pavelich admitted he has started looking for a replacement for Goodridge on the May 9 card.

“If I tell people that Gary Goodridge is fighting on my card, he’s fighting on my card,” Pavelich said. “I don’t want him to get hurt fighting for another organization because I’d look like I’m being dishonest to my fans. You’ll never find a fighter that will say that I screwed them or I never paid them. I don’t want to ever say I have someone fighting and then not have them show up. Then people have the right to say Mark Pavelich is a liar.”

Pavelich chalks up part of Goodridge’s actions to the kind of showmanship and bravado that is typically reserved for World Wrestling Entertainment employees.

“This reminds me of when he came out and offered to fight ‘Kimbo Slice’ for free,” Pavelich said. “Sound bites are great, but when they are so far from the truth, they’ve gone too far. This isn’t pro wrestling; this is mixed martial arts. There’s a certain amount of etiquette between fighters and owners that has to be respected.”

Though he admits there’s a place for posturing in the sport, Pavelich thinks Goodridge crossed the line with his offhand remarks and believes the fighter knows he stepped out of bounds with his rant.

“For Gary to say that I’m not paying him enough to not take these other fights makes me laugh,” Pavelich said. “I never held a gun to his head and told him to sign the contract. Gary knew how much he was agreeing to being paid, and now he’s getting offers for more so he wants to take them. That’s too bad. We have a deal.”

Since inking his deal with MFC, Goodridge has also signed to fight for YAMMA Pit Fighting on Friday, April 11 in Atlantic City, N.J., and King of the Cage in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 19. He revealed this weekend that he had been offered a fight with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at the Dream promotion’s inaugural event in Tokyo on March 15, but the bout never materialized and promoters chose to go with Tatsuya Mizuno instead.

Crediting himself for rejuvenating interest in Goodridge’s waning career, Pavelich said he went against the advice of several promoters when he signed the 42-year-old fighter. He expects him to honor their agreement.

“No one offered Gary anything until I signed him. His name was dead,” Pavelich said. “Now all these other people are calling him to come fight [for their promotions] because they think I’m treating him poorly. Why do you think I only signed him to two fights? I had promoters from the states asking me why I would ever deal with Gary Goodridge.”

Pavelich questioned why Goodridge would have come to an agreement with the promotion if he felt he was not being compensated fairly.

“He should never have signed the contract if he didn’t think he was getting enough money,” Pavelich said. “I deal with fighters all the time that tell me they want more money than I’ve offered. That’s where negotiations come into play. If Gary was represented poorly in the past, that’s not my fault.”

POSTED -- 03/20/08

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