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MMA managers, promoters clash over rising star Bernardo Sopai
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A dispute over rising MMA prospect Bernardo Sopai has been brewing among managers and promoters in Sweden as of late, reaching its boiling point in the last few days. That’s when Fight Club Rush, a Swedish promotion streaming on UFC Fight Pass, decided to strip Sopai of his FCR championship title.
”A clear-cut case where managers need to put their fighters first,” says FCR promoter and matchmaker Jörgen Hamberg, pointing to a so-called ”career-defining offer” that was turned down by Sopai’s team.
”I always put the fighter first. And I always will, no matter what,” says Sopai’s manager Majdi Shammas, who represents several European fighters including UFC star Khamzat Chimaev.
”It almost seems as though FCR is punishing Bernardo. It’s unfortunate that they chose not to collaborate with us,” says AFN promoter Mohammad Babadivand.
Bernardo Sopai to fight for AFN: ”Allstars refused to agree”
After winning the FCR belt with a head kick knockout in 2022 and later defending the strap with a 20 second KO back in February, Bernardo ”The Lion King” Sopai is currently booked to fight for the championship in his gym’s newly-founded promotion Allstars Fight Night against 11-4 Brazilian Geovane Vargas on Dec. 30.
FCR’s Jörgen Hamberg, who’s also a manager with JDZ Management, says the promotion wanted Sopai to sign an exclusive contract with them for 2024. However, Sopai’s team declined the proposed deal and FCR subsequently saw ”no other option but to strip Sopai of the title” as they couldn’t come to terms.
Hamberg commented on the situation at length as he provided this following strongly-worded statement (via FCRMMA.com):
”Fight Club Rush have decided to strip our bantamweight champion Bernardo Sopai after difficulties dealing with his team. The prelude to the decision is that Sopai has been given three additional opportunities to defend his title during 2023 but his team has had leads to other promotions and other issues, which have been legitimate at the time.”
”We countered these points with a career-defining offer at FCR 19 where we see that a win would place Sopai on the map as one of the hottest prospects in all of Europe. His team then decided to book him for a title fight at Allstars Fight Night. We informed his team that a promotions champion traditionally is exclusive to that promotion nationally, while freeing up for international opportunities, but they proceeded to book the fight.”
”Following that we requested that Sopai sign an exclusive contract with FCR for 2024 where we guarantee four title defences as a main or co-main event on UFC Fight Pass. During the month of November we had a meeting with the UFC Fight Pass team who confirmed that the UFC’s match makers have full knowledge of FCR’s champions and talent pool. Based on our meeting with them we concluded that Sopai would need two title defences at most before being picked up by the premiere MMA promotion in the world.”
”Team Allstars refused to agree to the deal as they wanted Sopai at AFN, which they expressed themselves. For a team to betray a fighters career opportunities in order to strengthen their own event is highly regrettable.”
”We see no other option than to strip Sopai of the title and give other top-tier bantamweights the opportunity to compete for the now vacant title.”
”Obviously we at FCR MMA are saddened for Sopai’s sake and his loss of opportunies, but this is a clear-cut case where managers need to put their fighters first and not let other interests cloud their judgement.”
”Lastly we would like to add that this is FCR’s subjective take on the matter based on the evidence at the communication at hand, the other parties involved may have a different take on the matter – a take we cannot comprehend.”
Majdi Shammas responds: ”We have a dialogue with the UFC”
Bernardo Sopai, a 23 year old Albanian bantamweight with a 10-2 pro record, lives in Sweden and trains at the famous Allstars Training Center in Stockholm since a couple of years back. Finishing his opponents in spectacular fashion more often than not, he’s currently considered one of the hottest prospects in Scandinavia and could be nearing a UFC contract.
In an interview with Frontkick’s sister site Maximum Sports, manager Majdi Shammas responds to FCR and says that he made the call that Sopai should not be tied to any promotion at the moment. Shammas, who has no official role in Allstars Fight Night, says that he’s been having a dialog with the UFC regarding ”The Lion King” and don’t appreciate Hamberg’s suggestion that his loyalty is anywhere but with the fighter he’s representing.
”Jörgen Hamberg questions my intentions as a manager and says that I put my own interests above the fighters’ interests. He couldn’t be more wrong. I always put the fighter first. And I always will, no matter what. It doesn’t matter which promotions we’re talking about, if it’s AFN, if it’s Superior Challenge, if it’s FCR, if it’s Zone, it doesn’t make a difference. I will always put the fighter first. That’s my goal. Sometimes you need to be careful not to big up yourself too much and think that you’re bigger than you are, without knowing how management really works,” Shammas says, translated from Swedish by Frontkick, and continues:
”Now Jörgen is a manager himself, and he has his own promotion too. If there’s anywhere your own interests collides with the fighters’ interests, it’s right there. I can put the question back to him. What are your number one priority, your fighter or your event? I don’t think he really thought this thing through before accusing me of betraying my fighter. I’m not involved with any organization in that way, and in this case I made the call that Bernardo shouldn’t have to be tied to anyone. We have a dialogue with the UFC about him. And at this point, it doesn’t really matter where he fights. They think to highly of their event, and they believe Bernardo needs two more wins in FCR to get a UFC contract because they had a meeting with UFC Fight Pass. That’s not how it works. It doesn’t matter. I’ve had fighters competing in Trophy MMA, a small local show in Malmö, and going to the UFC thereafter. So yeah, I think I know what I am doing.”
Bernardo Sopai: ”We didn’t want to make an exclusive contract”
AFN promoter Mohammad Babadivand, a undefeated retired fighter who’s also a coach at Allstars Training Center, also responds to FCR with a statement of his own (via Maximum Sports):
”We think it’s a bit weird to claim that you have the fighter’s best interest at heart only to strip him of his title because he didn’t sign an exclusive deal. We have no issue letting our champions fight for other promotions. This shows that we actually care about what’s best for the fighters.”
”We were open to work together with FCR but they choose to come back with an exclusive contract, which only serves FCR’s interest. That makes it heard to believe that they prioritize Bernardo’s career.”
”It almost seems as though FCR is punishing Bernardo. It’s unfortunate that they chose not to collaborate with us. We are an organization who want to work with everyone to promote fighters so that we can build Swedish MMA together.”
While managers and promoters are arguing about the situation, Bernardo Sopai doesn’t seem up in arms at all. As we met up with ”The Lion King”, he gives his side of all the controversy in a fresh interview with Frontkick.online:
”Me and my team, we didn’t find a way with FCR,” says Sopai. ”They wanted to make an exclusive contract, that was the deal. They didn’t have any problem to fight in AFN December 30, and they said that there was a problem after. So they want me to fight only in FCR. So the reason is like, we didn’t want to make an exclusive contract. Because me and my team wanted to be able to fight wherever there is events, and fight in FCR as well, defend the title. My plan was to fight here December 30, and then fight February 24 in FCR to defend my belt. And yeah, they didn’t like this. They wanted an exclusive contract and my team and me, we didn’t want this so they stripped me for this. And yeah, that’s it. I mean, there’s no problem with them. No argument, nothing. Everything is fine, you know? We just didn’t manage to negotiate and find a way to work together. That’s it, nothing wrong you know?”
Simply put, the Allstars prospect now wants to keep his options open while working towards the UFC, even though he was previously under an exclusive deal with FCR that expired back in August according to sources.
Now, Bernardo Sopai’s next fight is scheduled against Geovane Vargas and the championship bout goes down at AFN 4 on Dec 30. As for Fight Club Rush, it remains to be seen who gets to fight for the vacant FCR bantamweight title now that Sopai is no longer their champion.
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