We have a place on our front page at ProMMAnow.com dedicated to press releases. We have received numerous press releases from Maximum Fighting Championship, but never one like we received on Tuesday, Feb. 16, regarding Chris “The Exorcist” Price.
The tone was harsh, and frankly, unprofessional, and that is why we added an “Editor’s Note” at the beginning of the press release. We thought about not even publishing it on account of the wording, but decided to go ahead, because it did come out as a press release from Canada’s top MMA promotion.
We unsuccessfully attempted to locate Chris Price, in an attempt to hear his side of the story and get his opinion on what the MFC said. So Chris, if you happen to read this, hit us up.
Fast forward to Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 2:00 AM, ProMMAnow.com received an email entitled, “My Apologies: MFC President”. Here is that email published in its entirety:
There was a Press Release on the Chris Price situation that went out from our office yesterday; it was brought to my attention by some MFC Fans. I do not read or edit 90% of things that go on the sight. There was a paragraph that was in the release that was written by one of our staff writers. After reading it myself I thought it was absolutely uncalled for and was extremely offensive. I would like to apologise first and foremost to Chris Price and his family as well as anyone who received it today. It is not the position of the Maximum Fighting Championship to make attacks on personal issues in Mr. Price’s current family situation. We wish Mr. Price the best of luck in the future and I will find the time to proof read every article prior to going on the MFC website in the future.
Sincerely,
Mark Pavelich MFC President
A couple of things stick out about this. Pavelich says, “I do not read or edit 90% of the things that go on the SIGHT.” Even though the last sentence says he is going to proof read everything from now on, let’s assume he means after this message. And secondly, let’s assume by “sight” he means “site”.
It’s understandable the President of a major MMA promotion does not read or edit 90% of what goes on his website. However, wouldn’t it seem logical he (or at least someone in a position of authority) would need to approve the company’s press releases that are sent out to the media? Apparently not.
It was not long ago we received another press release from MFC looking to hire a staff writer. Guess they found one.
The article regarding Chris Price is still on the MFC website, however, they have removed the paragraph Pavelich called “extremely offensive.” Here is a link to the original MFC press release entitled, “Price is Wrong.”
Rather than nitpick a spelling error it would be better to provide the missing part of the whole article.
What was this offensive press release all about?
follow the link and you will see the original press release.
it was definitely a little excessive maybe a lot excessive
especially the stuff about child support.. and his family. hard to believe a writer hired by them would release that without someone looking at it…
And to JJ.. as far as me nitpicking about the word “sight” – you’re right.. it is nitpicky.. unfortunately, it’s one of the downfalls of being an editor and a writer… those kinds of things stick out to me… if i didn’t have to edit my own work, someone could say hey, “that’s too nitpicky” but, we work with what we got.. – also, it’s easier to notice mistakes in someone else’s work than your own – probably the reason Pavelich made the oversight on “sight”, and the reason I’m sure you’ll find typos and mistakes in my own stuff from time to time.
My mistake I only saw the link for the article that had the offensive bit removed, missed the one after. Thanks.
The article seemed kinda harsh, it would be one thing for a news site to report it so people could find out why the fight was called off. However to drag Price through the mud just because they were unhappy is pretty childish, although Price did it to himself by not paying child support if that part is true.
I guess I was expecting a little more controversy after the Pavelich/Drew Fickett ordeal.
I have to agree, it’s very difficult to see flaws in something you write yourself. I always end up catching something wrong after I click submit…
My nitpicking shouldn’t be confused for ungratefulness–ProMMA has stories that other sites miss :)
Thanks JJ, we try.
Every time you turn around these days, there is some new stink surrounding Mark Pavelich. The sport does not need the negative coverage that he inevitably brings, and the fighters do not need the shabby treatment that he shows them.
Pro MMA needs to be more about the fighters and less about building personal promotional empires and big personal bank accounts. Hucksters like Pavelich cast a bad light across the whole sport, and the fans and fighters should take a stand and stop working with his promotion.