Chris Leben plans to sue the World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation (WBKFF) owner Tom Stankiewicz and he isn’t exactly convinced that Bas Rutten is free of any blame for the promotion’s controversy.
WBKFF has allegedly failed to pay fighters their full purse for the Nov. 2018 event. Leben is suing for $90,000 that he claims is owed to him. Leben knocked out Phil Baroni in the main event of WBKFF 1.
Chris Leben Talks Bas Rutten’s Role In WBKFF Controversy
Leben appeared on Bloody Elbow‘s “Pull No Punches” podcast. “The Crippler” talked about Rutten’s involvement in the fiasco:
“I’ve known Bas for 20 years, love him. I have always had a great relationship with Bas. Best case scenario: Bas knew we weren’t going to get paid in a timely fashion before we all flew out to fight in Wyoming, because the bank account was suspended before that and he knew it. Worst case scenario: he knew we were never going to get paid at all. The one thing I will say is, as of up to right now, Bas is still standing behind and supporting the owner Tom.”
Rutten is the WBKFF president. He released a statement late last year and claimed he walked into a situation where outlandish contracts were signed before he even took the role.
