Deivison Ribeiro after Titan FC 39 leg break and $60k medical bill: Any other company would have handled it by now

Deivison Ribeiro had a four-fight winning streak snapped at Titan FC 39. Unfortunately, the loss came after he suffered a broken leg.

Things went from bad to worse when Ribeiro (26-10) was stuck with a $60,000 medical bill Titan FC showed no interest in taking responsibility for.

The situation was initially made public when the Twitter account for the MMA Fighters Association tweeted out an x-ray with the message “After world title bout for Titan, Deivison Ribeiro ‘was left with a boken leg and $60k in unpaid medical bills.”

Ribeiro explained the situation to MMAjunkie in late November.

“After I broke my leg, I went back to Brazil,” Ribeiro said. “Once I returned, and started training lightly, the hospital started sending me bills. They say insurance only covered $20,000 of the total cost. Almost $60,000 still need to be paid. They’re putting pressure on me, sending my name to collections. I contacted the owners of Titan FC. They stalled for a few months. When we finally talked, they said that they didn’t have the money to pay. They said their insurance only covered $20,000, and they did what they were obligated to do.

“In short, the bill is mine, and not their problem. They suggested starting a GoFundMe page to raise the money from my fans, and from whomever takes pity on me. I can walk again. I don’t want to take advantage of donations, when the bill should go to the promotion or the insurance company. I’m starting a legal case against them. I hope a fighter’s union can help me out. I’m in a very bad spot. I’ll spend an entire year without being able to fight, and I still get a $60,000 bill for my troubles. I can’t even earn money. I tried talking to the promoters. I just want this hospital bill taken care of. I don’t want to make any money above and beyond that. I’m not looking for any personal gain, even though I have other bills I can’t pay. But they weren’t concerned at all.”

Ribeiro said the situation shows the need for some sort of unity in the fighting world.

After all, he said, he sold more in tickets than Titan paid him to fight.

“I’m hoping to get some support from the fighting community,” Ribeiro said. “We need to have a voice. This is a scam. We already make very little as it is. I’d have to fight 25 more times for Titan to cover this bill. At my last fight, I just received the loser’s purse, despite the leg break. I sold $2,000 worth of tickets for them, and they paid me $1,250. And now they want me to cover the medical costs. It’s ridiculous. It’s things like that which discourage fighters. I’ve been doing this my whole life – since I was 9 years old. I made it too far in my career, to take such a gigantic step backwards with this situation. I’m taking the promotion to court to be able to pay the hospital bill.”

Ribeiro will be out of action for some time and it’s leaving him in a tough financial position.

It’s especially frustrating, he said, because any other company in any other field would have helped with a job-related injury.

“I talked to Titan, and they skirted the issue, since their name wasn’t on the bill,” Ribeiro said. “I can’t work so I’m not able to generate income. Thankfully I have some small investments in Brazil which are keeping me afloat. I’m able to do physical therapy there. I’m living with a friend, so I don’t have to pay rent. I was sad after they told me at my last medical appointment that I couldn’t fight for another six months. That’s nearly a year after my fracture. It’s both depressing and anger-inducing. Any other company, whether a construction company or even a supermarket, would have handled a job-related injury like this by now. I appreciate anyone’s help and support in this matter.”

For more on Titan FC 39, check out the MMA Events section of the site.