http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2016/8/3...st-for-finishing-its-golden-boy-interview-mma
Paul Bradley competed in the final fight on his Bellator MMA contract at Bellator 148 earlier this year. Despite heading into a rematch against Chris Honeycutt as the underdog, he pulled off the victory with a stunning first-round TKO.
After the win, one could assume the Viacom-owned organization would be more than willing to sign Bradley to a new deal. But that was not the case. Instead, officials delayed the re-signing of "The Gentleman."
"It was one of those things where I'm coming off that big win against [Chris] Honeycutt, and I'd been told for awhile I was getting a new contract," Bradley told BloodyElbow.com. "That was the last fight on my contract with Bellator. They kind of kept dragging their feet. They told me they'd get me a contract in April; then they said they'd get it to us in June, nothing there."
Bradley was actually on a list of fighters who were potentially not going to be re-signed by Bellator MMA, despite currently riding a three-fight unbeaten streak. He wasn't aware of that until contacting Bellator MMA's matchmaker, Rich Chou. Although the news was very surprising to him, it explained the delays.
"Finally, I kept hounding Rich Chou. He called me, and he basically told me that there were too many fighters and not enough events. And I was actually on a potential list to not be re-signed," he revealed. "I'm not the only one; I've talked to a few other fighters. But I don't want to bring their names up. I'll be very surprised when I see more names on that list that are coming out that won't be re-signed. I have one guy in my head in particular, and I'm just like, 'Wow, really?' The guy's on a two-fight win streak with two nasty knockouts. I'm not the only one.
"I kind of had something going on with [WSOF] when I first moved to San Diego three years ago. I actually signed a contract with them," he said. "But Ali couldn't give me a date, couldn't tell me when I was ever going to fight. I don't really know the guy, but, like I said, we signed a contract with him, and the guy just couldn't give me any answers to when I was going to fight. At that point, I needed the money, and I needed to fight. So, I ended up taking a fight in a regional show down in Florida. I lost a very controversial split decision and essentially lost my job for it.
"That's the only interaction I've had with Ali, but after talking with Ray, he brought that up, that Ali was matchmaking and managing fighters at the same time. It just wasn't in their best interest to have a guy like that in that position. Even if you don't want to think you're favoring your fighters, there's always going to be that in the back of your mind. Like, 'Oh, I gotta get my guy in here soon.'"
There was a good chance Bradley would not have signed with WSOF, had Abdelaziz stayed with the organization.
"I don't know that I would go that route with him still being in there," he said. "I think it could've been a lot different if he was still in there, but I don't know enough about the situation to really dig deep down in there to really know what's going on."
Paul Bradley competed in the final fight on his Bellator MMA contract at Bellator 148 earlier this year. Despite heading into a rematch against Chris Honeycutt as the underdog, he pulled off the victory with a stunning first-round TKO.
After the win, one could assume the Viacom-owned organization would be more than willing to sign Bradley to a new deal. But that was not the case. Instead, officials delayed the re-signing of "The Gentleman."
"It was one of those things where I'm coming off that big win against [Chris] Honeycutt, and I'd been told for awhile I was getting a new contract," Bradley told BloodyElbow.com. "That was the last fight on my contract with Bellator. They kind of kept dragging their feet. They told me they'd get me a contract in April; then they said they'd get it to us in June, nothing there."
Bradley was actually on a list of fighters who were potentially not going to be re-signed by Bellator MMA, despite currently riding a three-fight unbeaten streak. He wasn't aware of that until contacting Bellator MMA's matchmaker, Rich Chou. Although the news was very surprising to him, it explained the delays.
"Finally, I kept hounding Rich Chou. He called me, and he basically told me that there were too many fighters and not enough events. And I was actually on a potential list to not be re-signed," he revealed. "I'm not the only one; I've talked to a few other fighters. But I don't want to bring their names up. I'll be very surprised when I see more names on that list that are coming out that won't be re-signed. I have one guy in my head in particular, and I'm just like, 'Wow, really?' The guy's on a two-fight win streak with two nasty knockouts. I'm not the only one.
"I kind of had something going on with [WSOF] when I first moved to San Diego three years ago. I actually signed a contract with them," he said. "But Ali couldn't give me a date, couldn't tell me when I was ever going to fight. I don't really know the guy, but, like I said, we signed a contract with him, and the guy just couldn't give me any answers to when I was going to fight. At that point, I needed the money, and I needed to fight. So, I ended up taking a fight in a regional show down in Florida. I lost a very controversial split decision and essentially lost my job for it.
"That's the only interaction I've had with Ali, but after talking with Ray, he brought that up, that Ali was matchmaking and managing fighters at the same time. It just wasn't in their best interest to have a guy like that in that position. Even if you don't want to think you're favoring your fighters, there's always going to be that in the back of your mind. Like, 'Oh, I gotta get my guy in here soon.'"
There was a good chance Bradley would not have signed with WSOF, had Abdelaziz stayed with the organization.
"I don't know that I would go that route with him still being in there," he said. "I think it could've been a lot different if he was still in there, but I don't know enough about the situation to really dig deep down in there to really know what's going on."
