MMA pioneer Don Frye out of Aug. 28 "M-1 Breakthrough," event moved to Kansas City.
M-1 Global's Aug. 28 event, "Breakthrough," has suffered another setback as Don Frye has backed out of the evening's main event.
Frye's opponent, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal, released the information in a recent video blog posted on YouTube.
"Don Frye, I guess, pulled out because he didn't like the location of the fight," Lawal says in the video. "It was originally supposed to be in Los Angeles, but I guess they moved it to Kansas City or something. I'm trying to still get that payday, so they're going to find a replacement to take his spot."
Sources close to the event have since confirmed Frye's withdrawal from the card with MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com), as well as the relocation of the event to Kansas City.
SI.com first broke the news that "M-1 Breakthrough" would not be happening in Los Angeles in conjunction with IMMAE, an international MMA trade show. Much was made of M-1 Global's lack of a promoter's license in California, but sources close to the event point to a financial backer withdrawing its commitment as the real culprit.
While M-1 Global has yet to make an official announcement regarding a venue in Kansas City, the organization would most likely look to Memorial Hall, the same venue that hosted a June event from the company's "M-1 Challenge" team-vs.-team event series.
Sources close to the event said a replacement for Frye is likely to be announced as soon as Monday, and the show – which will be broadcast on HDNet – will go on despite the changes.
If you have never seen King Mo fight, you are missing out. He is awesome! I think he would have had no trouble with the aging Frye.