Despite contract dispute, CEO says Vyacheslav Vasilevsky will fight at Bellator 66

Despite a contract dispute that's hit the courts, Bellator CEO and chairman Bjorn Rebney said Vyacheslav "Slava" Vasilevsky will continue to compete for his organization.

The fighter's former home, M-1 Global, recently won a judgement in a Dutch court in relation to the fighter.

Rebney, though, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) it won't affect his plans for the New Jersey-based Russian to compete in the season-six middleweight-tournament semifinals next month in Ohio.

"He will (fight in the semifinals)," Rebney told MMAjunkie.com. "He will be fighting in Cleveland."

Vasilevsky (16-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC), who won an opening-round match with Victor O'Donnell at Bellator 61, meets Maiquel Falcao (29-4 MMA, 1-0 BFC) in Cleveland, which hosts Bellator 66 on April 20 at the I-X Center. The winner advances to the finals, where he'll fight either Brian Rogers (9-3 MMA, 2-1 BFC) or Bruno Santos (13-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC) for a tourney championship, $100,000 in total pay, and a guaranteed title shot.

This past week, M-1 Global staked claim to Vasilevsky in a Dutch court and now plans to pursue the fighter in the U.S. The judgment calls for damages that amount to several hundred thousand Euros and bars the 23-year-old prospect from fighting in Bellator or any other organization. M-1 asserts Vasilevsky has been in breach of contract for more than a year and is tied to the promotion until mid-2013.

Vasilevsky's manager, Sam Kardan, told MMAjunkie.com he and his fighter were unaware of M-1's legal action and weren't notified of it. He believes M-1 does not have an enforceable contract with the fighter.

Like Kardan, Rebney said he had requested documentation of the M-1 contract before Vasilevsky, a top prospect who's won 15 straight fights, signed with Bellator in November.

"We asked for a number of months for any type of documentation, and we never got any," Rebney said. "I don't know what's going to come of that. I don't know what their ultimate situation is going to be. It's obviously a conflict, and they obviously have a claim, but it really hasn't affected us or what's going on in terms of our middleweight tournament."

M-1 Global executive Evgeni Kogan confirmed that M-1 did not send Vasilevsky's contract to Bellator officials but said multiple attempts to resolve the situation with Vasilevsky and Bellator officials were unsuccessful, which prompted M-1 to file suit in Holland. M-1 ultimately wants the fighter to fulfill the contract.

But for now, Vasilevsky remains a Bellator tourney fighter.

"He's a very talented fighter and wanted to fight for us," Rebney said. "Our relationship with 'Slava' is great."

http://mmajunkie.com/news/28056/despite-contract-dispute-ceo-says-vyacheslav-vasilevsky-will-fight-at-bellator-66.mma

"We asked for a number of months for any type of documentation, and we never got any,"


Why didnt Rebney as the fighter for his copy. Rebney should respect the judgement of the courts, even if its not an American court.

Since I'm going to this fight I am actually glad he will be fighting. Looking forward to seeing his fight with Falcao but I agree it is BS that they are not going with the court decision.