Super heavyweight Bob Sapp will not fight Soa Palelei at Impact FC 2 as advertised. Sapp claims that the fight fell through when Impact promoter Tom Huggins refused to pay for his travel from Bulgaria.
Sapp is currently in Bulgaria after filming a remake of “Conan the Barbarian.” He claims to have trained extensively in Sambo and worked with coaches while on location at the cost of at least $10,000. He indicated to MMAJunkie that the reason for the bout cancellation was the plane ticket and said, “we had all the paperwork completed.”
Jordan Breen of Sherdog, who is on location in Sydney, spoke to Huggins. According to the Sherdog article, the promoter said, “For three weeks, we tried to get Bob to commit to flight dates and sign a contract. He never actually signed the contract we sent him weeks ago.”
Palelei will not face Australian UFC veteran Brad Morris. The fighter was intended to fight last weekend at the first Impact FC event, but pulled out of the contest with an undisclosed illness.
Sapp, one of the biggest figures during Japan’s kakutougi boom, has fallen on hard times now. He won his last bout against Sascha Weinpolter in Croatia, but before that he had dropped three straight fights to Ikuhisa Minowa, Bobby Lashley and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. The highlight of his career came when he pushed then-Pride FC champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to the limit at Pride Shockwave.