The main event of XFC 24 was set to pit fast rising lightweight Scott Holtzman (4-0) against the champion Nick Newell (9-0). Newell made his way through the ranks after the XFC signed him following their open fighter tryouts. Holtzman won his way into the promotion as an amateur and has since finished three of his four opponents to capture the number one contender spot for Newell’s belt. We learned today that Newell has refused to sign a contract to fight Holtzman.
John Prisco addressed the matter in a release earlier today. When asked how he felt about the situation he responded with this:
“Extremely disappointed. I’ve never had a champion refuse to defend his title. Signed fighters in our organization have put in the time, effort, and literally blood/sweat/& tears. We have some very talented Lightweights and every guy on the roster knows from the beginning they’re going to have to fight the top fighters in the division to get their crack at the belt. Hell, many of the guys in our organization have similar XFC records to Nick Newell. They have paid the price to get to this point in their career. So for Nick to deny Scott Holtzman, or any of those that earn their shot, the same opportunity that he was given, is disrespectful in my eyes. It’s always been our motto, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. How can that happen, if your Champion will not defend his title. That’s not a true Champion.”
“Listen, when Nick came to us at the XFC Tryouts, his biggest complaint was that no one would take a fight against him. Everyone was telling him, it’s a no-win situation taking the fight. If you beat him, you beat a guy with half an arm…. and if you lose, you just lost to a guy with half an arm. He knew by signing with our promotion that he was going to be guaranteed fights, as our fighters fight the person I put in front of them. Nick built his name on fighters who were willing to step up and fight him. And now, the opportunity he received, he is not willing to extend to Scott, even though they both carry the same XFC record (4-0). To me, that’s hypocritical and I have zero respect and no room for any individual that acts like that in my organization.”
Prisco goes on to discuss how the negotiations fell apart:
“Nick expressed his wishes to me quite some months back, that he wanted to fight ex-UFC fighters, as it would be his best route to the UFC. While I have always said we are not here to be a feeder to the UFC, I understand any fighter wanting to test themselves against those higher in the rankings. Nick was offered to fight Eric Reynolds for that reason. Then Holtzman earned his shot, in much of the same fashion Nick did. Had Nick gotten past Holtzman, we then would have put him up against one of the few new veteran’d Lightweights we are about to sign. When negotiating with his management regarding this fight, they were telling me about being offered a lot of money to fight for another promotion. We responded that if it’s about money, bring us the best offer and we’ll agree to match that offer. They did, we matched it, and we were again refused by Nick saying he only wants to fight ex-UFC fighters. So I had to make one of the hardest phone calls that I’ve ever had to make as a promoter, I had to call Scott Holtzman and tell him that the current champion is unwilling to fight him for his earned title shot.”
At this time it is not clear if Newell has been released from his contract but Prisco did wish Newell well with his future endeavors. No replacement has been announced for Newell and Holtzman has not publicly commented on the situation thus far.
Stay close to ProMMAnow.com for more news regarding XFC 24 and the title situation.
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