Sean Sherk on Chad Mason

DanDavis · 11-30-2003, 05:17 PM

From mmaweekly.com:

Chad Mason: Fight At Your Own Risk

By Sean Sherk

Sean Sherk is one of the better fighters in the world in his weight class and today he wanted to get this off his chest at MMAWeekly.

I remember how proud I felt standing across Matt Hughes at UFC 42, fighting in the main event on pay-per-view after struggling to make a name for myself in smaller shows since 1999. I’m a very private person and have made MMA my full time career—it’s in my blood, the subject never drifts far from my mind.

Today I’m working 15-hour days, holding down two jobs. This is certainly not where I expected to be after recently proposing to my girlfriend. When I choose to fight, there is nothing that is going to stop me…until I met promoter Chad Mason.

In mid-August, Chad contacted me about promoting a fight in my hometown here in Minnesota. After reaching an agreement with my manager, DeWayne Zinkin, Jr., I spent hours on the Net finding suitable venues to help him any way possible. I really want the sport to grow, and despite hearing things about Chad’s storied past, I wanted to fight in front of my hometown fans, friends and family.

After settling on Spikers, a local bar that I had fought at before, I joined Chad in meeting with them to cut the deal for November 1st. Originally, I was going to be on two Chad Mason cards during the same month—one on the 1st(Minnesota) and one on the 28th(Iowa). On his word and supposed contract, I turned down other offers and put everything I had into training and assisting Chad with the promotion.

Unbeknownst to anyone, including Spikers, Chad changed the first date to November 7th. Spikers called me and read me the riot act, but I assured them the November 7th date was good as gold and not to worry. Though I had nothing to do with the promotion outside of fighting, I told Chad I could sell tickets and sure enough, I sold over 150 in less than two weeks. My family and friends were staying at nearby hotels and I was excited about fighting in front of my hometown crowd.

The Monday before the show, Chad called me and said everything was great and that he was going to finalize my deal with DeWayne, along with buying some airtime on a local radio station for advertising. I felt good about the situation and concentrated on my training, anticipating the inevitable. But as the days passed, I never heard back from Chad and my manager couldn’t reach him.

The day before the show I received a call from someone who said the show had been canceled for two weeks. Promoter Monte Cox even called and said the same thing, as if it had been public knowledge. But how could this be? I had just spoken with Chad days before the show. After receiving two more calls relating to the same subject, I tried to reach him but to no avail.

Chad finally called Thursday evening, admitting the show was canceled. If not for that call, I would have shown up Friday night with all the people I sold tickets to, along with my family and closest friends, expecting to see me fight. I would have looked like an ass.

I told Chad I needed to be paid for the 12 weeks of training and keeping me off the market for three months with no fights and no money. He said he would personally come to Minnesota on Sunday to remedy the money. He never did.

As soon as I got off the phone with Chad that Thursday, I spent the rest of my night calling everyone I know, and everyone I sold tickets to, telling them the show was canceled, assuring their money will be paid back. I called Spikers as well and left a message with the manager telling him the show was canceled and what happened.

I got a call from Brad Kohler on Friday morning saying he talked with Spikers; they wanted to meet with me. He told me they were pissed off and rightly so. Brad went to the meeting to do some damage control. They blamed me for everything that happened. They said they were out a lot of money for chair and table rentals and whatever else.

Outside of losing money and other opportunities, I lost face in my own town and that’s something I can never regain.

At the end of the meeting they asked if I would stay and meet people on the night in question to explain why there was no show. Along with Brad, I stayed at Spikers for five hours. I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday returning people’s ticket money. Chad Mason just disappeared and left me to clean up his mess.

He is a coward without a conscience.

Chad did not answer any of my phone calls or my manager’s calls for several days. When we finally got a hold of him, he kept saying he would pay my show money which he said I was entitled to for all my work and training. Chad assured me he would pay the next day, but tomorrow never came. Of course the November 28th date came and went without a thought. Several fighters lost out on this opportunity as well.

The last time I talked with Chad was about a week ago. He said he was going to Western Union to wire the money and would call back 20 minutes later after everything was sent. He never called back.

I’ve called 30 times since then; he will not answer his phone.

So for the first time in nearly three years, I’m working full time and unable to concentrate on training 100%. Every night, no matter how tired I am, I still train with the same intensity I’ve always had. My name is mud in my own town, Chad Mason contends he is putting on a show (without me against my original opponent) on December 12th and refuses to acknowledge the people he’s hurt in the process. To boot, the money owed to me was to pay for my wedding on January 24th, something Chad knew all along.

I’m not asking for sympathy, but I am asking the MMA community to permanently ban Chad Mason from promoting shows. He is taking advantage of a movement yearning to find its legs and I cannot allow this person to continue his practice of stepping on people for financial gain.

I urge everyone to strongly reconsider any dealings with this individual. This sport is still a grassroots community, one with a lot of hope to succeed. It’s a shame bad apples have plagued what so many have fought for so I ask you to do the right thing and shun his unscrupulous practices.

FingerorMoon? · 11-30-2003, 05:47 PM

wow. That is fucked up.

Owen · 12-01-2003, 07:06 AM

DanDavis, I've noticed your posts on Chad Mason previously. Have you or friends been burnt by him as well?

DanDavis · 12-12-2003, 11:27 AM

Yes, Owen. A few friends of mine fought for him and didn't get paid. After my bout in Extreme Challenge XXV, Chad went around telling stories about me to some close friends. One story he told my best friend was that I tried to climb out of the cage during the fight. Another one he told my wife's friend was that I tapped out to punches and left the ring in tears. To make himself look like a badass, he went so far as to tell her that he bitch slapped me once and made me cry.

After all of that, he had the balls to ask me if I'd fight on one of his cards. I tried to be nice and professional by telling him I retired, which really was one reason I wouldn't do it. He wouldn't take "no" for an answer though and kept asking me on several other occasions. Every time he asked, I'd give the same response. Finally, he asked if there wasn't more to it. So, I told him what I'd heard from my friends and asked him to leave me alone. He "seemed" okay with that and we went our separate ways.

When UFC XXII came along, it wasn't available and I didn't have a satellite dish. A tough spot to be in when you really want to catch it. My wife and I had gone to a sports bar in Omaha called DJ Dugout to catch UFC XXI. So, I decided that would be the place where I'd catch XXII. So, I called up my best friend and down to Omaha we went.

Guess who happens to be there hanging out with the likes of former UCC middleweight champ Jesse Jones, UFC vet Matt Andersen, Extreme Challenge vets Brian Dunn and Scott Morton, and a few other guys? Guess who also decides he now has a problem with why I won't fight on his card? The shitty part is I have no idea what he told those guys about me. He rolls off so many lies.... Plus Scott Morton was upset that he didn't fight me at EC XXV. He was my original opponent until he backed out. I think he figured that since I lost to a less stellar opponent, he missed an opportunity to add another "W" to his record.

Chad starts going on and on with this "apology or an ass beating" bit. My friend begged me to apologize. Even though I couldn't justify it, I gave Chad his apology in the parking lot after the show. He talked a bunch of smack and told me to leave. Jesse Jones was the coolest cucumber there and tried to keep things under control. When I turned to walk away, Chad gave me a weak slap across the cheek. I looked at him as he grinned and puffed his chest like he'd just won the Olympics and walked away as he and another MMA wannabe talked more smack.

***Omega the Merciless*** · 12-12-2003, 12:34 PM

Hey Dan you sure that's on MMA weekly I can't seem to find it.

J-kid · 12-12-2003, 12:34 PM

thats crazy shit yo, that guy should be sued.

Stold3 · 12-13-2003, 02:42 PM

That guy needs an ass kicking.

***PizDoff*** · 12-13-2003, 09:57 PM

What the flaming fuck?

Owen · 12-14-2003, 05:54 PM

If you'd like Dan, I can find out what he told Morton, Dunn, and Jones. I work with Brian and train with all three of them. I've only seen Matt fight once, but he recently married, I think, so I'm not sure if he'll be training any, anyway. More along the lines of serving the role of an extra heavy bag, but I learn all the same. If it's any consolation, I believe the opinions in the Omaha area to concur with your general line of thought.