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[trustkill]

Cage Religion: Sponsor Allegedly Cancels Payment To Bellator's Rick Hawn For Loss To Michael Chandler

An undisclosed sponsor allegedly cancelled its payment to Bellator lightweight title contender Rick Hawn for coming up short to unbeaten champ Michael Chandler last week.

While Hawn would not disclose the company due to a pending lawsuit, he posted a statement made by said sponsor explaining the cancellation of payment.

"At this point, a stop payment has been placed on check which cannot be cashed or deposited now"

"I will not comment on Rick and his fight. That is not my place. But what I will tell you is this: I took a huge chance with him. TV exposure was great…but it only holds weight if he wins or puts on a good show. Neither happened. At the end of the day…not one sole (sp) will run to [my] store and buy product because they [saw my logo and saw] Rick loose (sp) the fight. I've made it my career and business to know what nets a return on investment for the brand…and this is the number 1 reason why I DO NOT hand out money or product to fighters."

The bout in question took place last Thursday during Bellator's debut on Spike TV where Hawn was submitted by champ Chandler in the second round. Despite the losing effort, Spike TV executives announced earlier this week that 950,000 viewers tuned in to see the lightweight title clash.

The defeat to Chandler snapped a three-fight win streak for the judo Olympian, which included back-to-back knockouts of Ricardo Tirloni and Lloyd Woodard and a decision over Brent Weedman. The series of victories won Hawn the Bellator Season Six Lightweight Tournament, having also made it to the finals of the Season Four Welterweight Tournament in 2011.

When contacted by CageReligion.com on Tuesday, Hawn declined to comment due to a pending lawsuit.

Holy hell, the nerve of some people. Who the hell is this sponser?!?! And do they really expect to do business in the MMA sphere once word gets out that they reneged on the deal?

I can't imagine this will fly unless there's language in the contract that required Hawn to put on a "good" performance, which is hard to interpret.

This is some craziness.

EDIT: Unconfirmed, but word on the street IDs the sponsor as HTFU (http://htfu.com/)

[TapOut27]

Sponsor is fucked. He will most likely lose more money & pay Rick's court fee's. He fucked himself really good.

[KevoOnTheRadio]

Huh, who knew a business that charges $50 for a fuckin t-shirt would be sketchy.

[MIZjitsZOU]

Chandler was a beast in that fight. I hope Hawn doesn't hang them up. He is 35 and I would love to see him make one more run at Bellator gold.

Sounds shady of his sponsor. Unless something was in the contract about him losing then I hope they pay, pay, pay.

[cjamis000]

assuming it is HTFU... this sponsor might be sketchy and kind of a prick, but at least he isnt selling chinese crap. those clothes are made here in the USA

[SWIFTboy]

I already hate this sponsor just based on terrible grammar and criminal overuse/improper use of ellipses.

Not to mention stating he took a huge risk. It's not exactly a risk if you can just choose not to pay afterwards!

This is so bad it's funny...for everyone except Rick and his family that is.

[Sakara=Excitement]

Checking out their 'Athletes' tab, they only have one MMA fighter that they are promoting and that is Jeremy Stephens.

[Cat--Smasher]

Originally Posted by Sakara=Excitement

Checking out their 'Athletes' tab, they only have one MMA fighter that they are promoting and that is Jeremy Stephens.

How fitting. I kid, I kid

Shitty deal for Hawn, lets hope the negative publicity encourages them to pay up.

Maybe Bellator needs to start charging a sponsorship fee up front from companies.. And now that they offer Spike TV exposure, I see this as very likely.

[Rise]

Originally Posted by TapOut27

Sponsor is fucked. He will most likely lose more money & pay Rick's court fee's. He fucked himself really good.

Not to mention when it comes out who they are I'd like to think they'll lose some sales over it... doubtful they'd find many athletes lining up at the door to endorse them again as well.