Breaking News! Shark Fight 17 Line-Up Gets Shuffled

The drama immediately manifested itself last night following the weigh-ins for Shark Fight 17 (Tonight, Dr Pepper Arena, Frisco, TX).  After former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez’s opponent, Karl Knothe, got off the scales with an official weight of 253.75 lbs the proverbial stuff hit the fan.  According to Rodriguez’s team, the contract weight for the Shark Fight 17 co-main event was 230 lbs.  Rodriguez explained that it was no mistake that he cut weight to come in at an official weight of 227.75 lbs.  However, according to Knothe, the contract his team received (on short notice I have to add) only specified that the fight would be contested at heavyweight (206-260 lbs).  It appears that the miscommunication was to be the fault of the promoter given that they were the party responsible for drawing up the contracts.

Needless to say, Rodriguez and his team were not pleased with the results and it soon was announced that Rodriguez would no longer fight on the card.  Rodriguez’s manager Ken Pavia took to the Underground to announce that Rodriguez was no longer fighting on the card.

“Ricco’s contract was for a 230 catch and he dieted and cut to make it.  Karl was a replacement fighter and I can’t speak to what his contract said.  He missed weight by like 30lbs.  Ricco isn’t fighting now.”

Obviously this news came as a major blow to the card but it appears Shark Fights Promotions have moved some things around to keep Rodriguez on the card.  Replacing Knothe will be Doug Williams who gets bumped up to face Rodriguez in the co-main event.  The biggest causality to the card, outside of Knothe, is Daniel “Jacare” Almeida.  Almeida was to have made his television debut on the main card but now will be without a fight.  This is a shame given that the young Brazilian out of Octagon MMA is widely considered a legitimate “can’t-miss” prospect. 

New Fight Card Line-Up

Main Card

Middleweight Main Event – Matt Horwich (26-16-1) vs. Jake Rosholt (11-3) 

Co-Main Event – Ricco Rodriguez (46-11) vs. Doug Williams (5-12) 

Emmanuel Newton (13-6-1) vs. Ilir Latifi (4-1-1NC) 

Alan Joubain (1-1) vs. Andrew Goldthwaite (1-0) 

Prelim Fights

Eric Perez (7-5) vs. Douglas Frey (9-6) 

Gabe Vasquez vs. Russell Brewer (2-0) 

Quaint Kempf (4-1) vs. Victor Hernandez (3-13) 

Jay Flores (1-2) vs. Matthew Hobar (1-0)