Matt Lindland: UFC Refuses to Negotiate New Deal

By John Morgan/TAGG Radio Network

As perennially top ranked middleweight Matt “The Law” Lindland (20-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) readies to sign a new fight contract, one organization has already been ruled out: the UFC.

“I made it very clear to Dana (White), and he’s the final decision-maker on all that stuff,” Lindland said. “I made it very clear that I was looking for them to make me an offer. I said, ‘Make me an offer, and let’s talk. Let’s do business.’ I got back a, ‘We’re not going to make you any kind of an offer’ response.”

Lindland discussed the failed negotiations while a guest on Thursday’s edition of TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), a partner site of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Lindland said it was not even White that delivered the disappointing message, but rather UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.

“Joe actually responded back to me and said, ‘Dana is not going to make you an offer of any kind,’” Lindland said.

The relationship between Lindland and the UFC has been strained since the fighter was fired in August 2005, two days after his victory over Joe Doerksen at UFC 54. Lindland was told the reason for the termination was that he wore the logo of an unapproved sponsor to the weigh-ins.

“There’s a lot of other people that had similar sponsors, or unapproved sponsors, (and they) weren’t suspended,” Lindland said of his sports-book sponsor. “They didn’t fire me for doing that. They fired me the next day after I fought. You know, I didn’t wear the sponsor into the ring. There’s guys that have worn similar sponsors — or even the same company — into the ring that didn’t get fired. I didn’t wear it into the ring. I wore it at the weigh-ins.

“That’s a crazy reason to fire someone.”

Lindland has dropped out of most top-10 middleweight rankings recently due to his inactivity; he hasn’t competed since an April 2007 loss to Fedor Emelianenko in Russia. Lindland wants to dispel any speculation that the lay-off was due to him being difficult to negotiate with.

“It was because I had a contract with (BodogFIGHT) that they were in breach of,” Lindland said. “They failed to fulfill their obligation to me to get me my other two fights… I’ll probably never see that money. They set themselves up as a shell company. BodogFIGHT is not the same as Bodog, the billion-dollar Internet gaming company.”

Lindland said he hopes to have a new deal in place in the next week or so, but that in the meantime, he was preparing his Team Quest IFL squad (formerly known as The Wolfpack) for competition later this month.

“We have a team fighting the 29th of this month at Las Vegas,” Lindland said. “You want to call us the Wolfpack? That’s the theme you want to go with? That’s fine. I always thought that we should be Team Quest.”

Lindland said his three-man team, scheduled to compete against Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den, will consist of current IFL lightweight champion Ryan “The Lion” Schultz (18-9-1), welterweight Jake Ellenberger (16-3), and heavyweight Fabiano Scherner (7-5).

Fellow Team Quest fighters featherweight Ian Loveland (8-7) and current IFL welterweight champion Matt Horwich (21-9-1) will also appear on the card, but in individual fights that will not affect the team competition. The main card of the IFL’s inaugural 2008 event will air live on HDNet from the Orleans Arena.

Lindland also shared his thoughts on his fight with Emelianenko, the possibility of competing in the newly announced DREAM middleweight Grand Prix, and the UFC’s handling of the recently departed Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic. To hear the full interview, download Thursday’s edition of TAGG Radio, available for free in the TAGG Radio archives.

This story was produced by TAGG Radio specially for MMAjunkie.com. The show — which is hosted by fighter/broadcaster Frank Trigg, Gorgeous George and Goze — books some of the biggest names in MMA. Download all the former episodes at www.taggradio.com, or tune into TAGG Radio’s live shows Monday-Friday at noon ET/9 a.m. PT.