Yesterday ProElite.com was the first outlet to report that Ben Rothwell and Mike Whitehead had been removed from the IFL's upcoming World Grand Prix tournament on Nov. 3 after contracts for the 2008 season could not be secured for either fighter.

The agent for both Rothwell and Whitehead is Monte Cox, who is one of the longest tenured managers in MMA. ProElite.com contacted Cox for comment in regard to what had been reported yesterday by this site and others.

Below is a transcript of our conversation with Cox...

Sam Caplan: I just wanted to see if you feel that everything that has been reported thus far in regard to Ben Rothwell and Mike Whitehead being pulled from the IFL's World Grand Prix on Nov. 3 is accurate?

Monte Cox: No, it's not true. It's 50% true. The situation is that they wanted to re-sign all three of my guys; Jay Hieron, Mike Whitehead, and Ben Rothwell. They all signed one-year deals and we made one-year deals for a reason -- so that we can get to the end of the year and then check the market and see what they're worth.

Well, then they came up with this Grand Prix that wasn't in our contact (and) that had never been discussed with me. Then all of a sudden they announce that all of these guys are in the Grand Prix when we never said we'd be to fight.

That being said, they then came to us and said "Oh yeah, to fight in the Grand Prix you have to re-sign for a year plus an option. So basically it was for two years and I said "Our guys won't do that. We're not going to fight for two years (when) we only signed for a year. They responded by saying "Well, that's the way it's going to be" and I said "Okay, then we're all out of the Grand Prix."

Then they came back to us 10 days ago, or whenever, and said "Okay, how about this deal?" And they sent me a new deals with one year deals with three fights. And I looked at them and I looked at Hieron's and it looked good and I looked at Whitehead's and it looked it good and then I looked at Ben's... and I just don't know what Ben's worth. I think that I need to wait until the contract ends and I need to check the market to see what Ben's worth. He's a big name now.

I called back and I said "Whitehead's in and Hieron's in" and they said, "What about Ben?" I told them we're not going to do anything with Ben (and) that I'm going to wait until the season ends. And they said that "If Ben doesn't sign then these other two guys are out." I go "What do you mean?" They said "If Ben doesn't sign then the other two guys can't fight in the Grand Prix."

And I go "Well, that's retarded. Why would you do that? It's not even related." And they said that was the way it is and I said a few choice words to (IFL V.P. of Operations) Keith Evans and told them what I thought of them and the IFL and I said "That's fine. We're out. We're all out."

Then the next day Keith Evans calls Hieron and tells him they need to meet. So they go meet and drive off and Hieron calls me and says, "You're not going to believe this. I just went for a ride with the IFL and they tried to get me to sign a contract in the back of their car. They said that 'Monte wasn't doing a good job and he's not handling things properly and you need to sign this thing and you need to do it now.'"

Hieron said "I'm not doing anything without my manager" and he didn't do it. Then he called me. I'm like, what is the IFL, is this the Sopranos now? So I had them FAX me the contract and I looked at the contract. It was the same contract I had already approved. I already said we'd do this. So I went "Jay, it's a good contract. I'd sign it." So Jay signed the contract.

Then, Mike Whitehead calls me and goes "Hey, what about me?" And I go "Let's call these guys." He calls them and Kurt (Otto) told them over the phone that "You should have signed yesterday. That was the deadline, you could have done it. Your manager knew." They just made all this shit up (as if) they never told me if Rothwell didn't sign that the others were out. (They were) pretending that it didn't happen.

So Mike said "What are you talking about? What's the difference if I was good to sign yesterday then I'm good to sign now! I want to fight in the Grand Prix! I'll sign the deal for next year."

Nope, they're not interested, they won't do it.

So no, he's (Whitehead) not out of the Grand Prix because of a contract dispute. We 100% absolutely said we would sign with him and Hieron and they wouldn't let either guy sign and then they backdoored to get Hieron in and decided not to get Mike.

Sam Caplan: When I initially called you for comment you had mentioned that it seemed as though there might have been an assurance from the IFL that Mike would be released from his 2007 contract early if nothing negative was said about the IFL. And now it's been reported in several articles that Mike won't be released early.

Monte Cox: That's why we're talking (laughs).

Sam Caplan: So do you feel the IFL went back on a promise?

Monte Cox: No, I don't think they did. Not in that respect. It had gotten back to me through two or three people that if I didn't report on all of this -- I mean, who wants this reported, they look like idiots -- they are sacrificing Whitehead for nothing. This guy (Whitehead) did nothing. All he did was show up was fight hard, fight on a losing team, win all of his matches, qualify for the Grand Prix, agree to fight in the Grand Prix, agree to sign a new contract and they won't let him. Because what? They're mad at me? They're mad at Ben? I mean, this is retarded. They look stupid.

They said if I didn't say anything they would consider releasing Mike from his deal. Well, I can't go on their word, it's worth nothing to me. So I said "You have until noon today to get a release on my FAX machine" and if they had done that my comment to you would have been "We had a contract dispute and this is how it ended."

But no, no release.

Basically, Mike did everything he was supposed to. He fought and he fought well. He asked three months ago if he could fight outside of the IFL because he had just been sitting for two months and he was going to sit for five months before the Grand Prix. And they said "Nope. We can't have anyone fight outside of the Grand Prix or outside of the IFL but if he wants to take a chance on getting injured before the Grand Prix, we'll give him a fight." We said "That's perfect. That's what we want." Then they changed their minds and decided not to give him a fight. They said "Hey, you just got to understand we can't afford to have him injured."

So he's now been sitting five months. Well now they're going to sit him for the next three months. So basically Mike's reward for joining the IFL is that they're going to sit him eight months for no reason.

Sam Caplan: When I had spoke to Kurt, his position was that there was a verbal commitment from you that all three fighters would re-sign for 2008 and that when it came time to finalize those agreements and put it in writing that there was a disconnect.

Monte Cox: Well, maybe. Anyone who knows Kurt knows that Kurt hears what Kurt wants to hear. And Kurt has been on me with this Rothwell thing for quite awhile. The bottom line is that it doesn't matter what I tell Kurt. I could go "Yes, it's 100% (that) we're signing." If Ben says "I'm not signing," we're not signing.

And any businessman that's worth a shit knows that until you sign on the dotted line, it ain't over. You've got to sign. That's why we have contracts. If he could just say "Well, I thought that you said it was okay" and that's a binding deal, then we wouldn't need contracts. I told Kurt in the past that I wanted Ben to re-sign with the IFL. I did say that. There was a time for sure that I thought his best deal was to go back to the IFL and do one more year and then look elsewhere.

Ben and I talked about it and after talking about it we said we should at least wait until the end of the year and see what the other offers are. We don't know, maybe Showtime will come up with something. Maybe UFC will have HBO. Maybe Cuban will call. I don't know. The whole purpose for putting him on a one-year deal was so that we would have these options. If we just turn around and sign three months ahead of time (then) we did the whole thing for nothing!

It's just common sense. If you manage a guy that you think is a hot property, what sense does it make to sign early when all you have to do is wait a couple of months and you can have everyone bidding for him. How do free agents in baseball do it or any other professional team sport. Free agency is a huge deal.

If Ben Rothwell was a baseball player and just came off the year he did undefeated then you've got to believe he's going to look to get paid.

He (Kurt Otto) can say whatever he wants. My thing is, if you're going to cry every time a fighter doesn't re-sign when you want him to re-sign; it's going to be a tough sport for you because it happens all the time. This isn't something new. The only thing new is having an organization take people in back of cars and try and ram a contract down their throat and for them to take one of their stars, a guy like Whitehead, and punish him because another guy that he doesn't even train with won't sign. That's like your boss calling you and saying "Hey, if Monte if doesn't sign Ben, you're fired." They're not related.

Sam Caplan: Do you feel that Kurt was off base to believe he had a verbal agreement from you guys?

Monte Cox: I honestly don't know. I'll tell you this much about Kurt: one time we went into Chicago and he was sitting down having lunch. I sit down for Kurt and we talked for three minutes. For three minutes we talked. And he said "This is what I'm thinking for Ben..." and "We're thinking this money, this money, this money" and that "We're not sure if all of his fights will be title defenses. We don't know whether he'll fight as part of the team or not but this is kind of what we're thinking." And I said, "You know, that sounds good. It sounds like we're headed in the right direction. Those are good numbers, blah, blah, blah."

The next thing I know, he's telling me "Well, you said that it was a go. I talked to Ben's family. Ben's family said it was a go!" Yeah, his family!? This is ridiculous. Just because I say "that sounds good" or "I like the way you're talking" -- until you sign a contract, nothing is done. If he hasn't learned that through being an architect then there are some serious problems.

Why would I agree to something that far out? There's no reason to. And I don't think the money is anywhere near what Ben is worth.

Sam Caplan: In regard to the option for the second year, is that a mutual option or only an option that the IFL retained?

Monte Cox: (It was) an IFL option.

Sam Caplan: Are you talking to other promotions now about Ben?

Monte Cox: No.

Sam Caplan: Well, I believe Kurt's feeling was that the only reason why you guys wouldn't sign for 2008 is because you must be entertaining offers from elsewhere.

Monte Cox: No, the reason we didn't sign for 2008 is because he told me I wasn't allowed to entertain offers elsewhere.

You've got to look at this from our end. We're sitting there cruising. We've got a one-year deal (and) he's winning all of his fights. Then all of a sudden we get hit with an ultimatum: "You sign a new two-fight deal or you're not in the Grand Prix." Well, we're like wow, that came out of nowhere. If I'm going to sign a new deal, I need to find out what Ben is worth. Because what if they say "We're going to pay you $20,000 a fight" and I sign the deal and a week later someone else goes, "Dude, we would have given him $50,000 a fight." No one in their right mind would sign under those circumstances.

So they hit us up with this and I made a couple of phone calls, trying to find out -- not negotiating deals -- but trying to find out "Where would you see Ben's value?" Is he worth a little less than (Tim) Sylvia but a little more than (Andrei) Arlovski? Where is he?

I told Kurt that I had checked around and that Ben is worth quite a bit. And he said "Well, you know, while he's under contract you're not allowed to negotiate any deals." And I said "I'm not negotiating any deals, I'm just trying to figure out what his worth is. I can't consider your offer unless I get an idea of what he's worth."

That was kind of a red flag for me that Kurt was going to bring this thing up and make problems. At that point I'm not talking to anybody. I haven't talked to anyone whatsoever about Ben since that conversation. And I won't. I'm not going to mess this up. I am going to wait until January 1 (2008) and (then) I'm going to contact every single organization and we're going to see what Ben is worth. If we get a good offer, I'll submit that offer to the IFL and they can either match it or they can let Ben go. It's their call.

Sam Caplan: So you're not ruling out a return to the IFL for either Mike or Ben?

Monte Cox: Well, the IFL has an option to match for 180 days so no matter what I do -- if the UFC gives me this big offer, if the IFL matches it, we're still in the IFL.

Sam Caplan: So they have 180 days to match it? For a guy like Mike who has already been on the sidelines for five months and could be out eight months by the end of the year, even after the 2008 calendar year begins he could still be out for a couple of months?

Monte Cox: Well he could be, yeah, but the deal is they have 180 day period but if I turn in an offer on January 2, they have ten days to either match it or leave it.

Sam Caplan: Okay, I was a little confused there.

Monte Cox: But you're right. The situation for Mike is that he's still going to be sitting for eight months and my point is, why? I hate to... I hate -- you'd have to ask Mike what he thinks about the IFL right now. But I would guess that he would think that the initials stand for something else. I don't think Mike wants anything to do with the IFL right now.

Sam Caplan: I know that you represent a lot of Pat Miletich's fighters but do you also represent Pat?

Monte Cox: Well, I have. I've been Pat's only manager.

Sam Caplan: The reason why I ask is because I've interviewed him in the past and he's spoke very highly of the IFL. Do you know if his feelings about the IFL have changed in regard to Mike and Ben's situation?

Monte Cox: I can never tell you what someone else is thinking but I've talked to Pat and he's kind of angry with both myself and Kurt. He sort of feels like he's stuck in the middle. But this has nothing to do with Pat. This has to do with a fighter, his manager, and an event that is trying to make him sign early. That's the triangle.

You can add and heap all kinds of stuff on this but the bottom line is we signed a one-year deal and that's the deal we want to honor. I don't care if Kurt likes it, hates it, whatever. Tough shit. That's the deal, that's what we're going to do. If he wants to turn around and be a baby and punish other fighters and make an example out of Mike, well, that's fine. If he can sleep at night after all of the claims of being better to the fighters and treating the fighters better, then that's fine. If he thinks that's the right thing to do then he's got to sleep at night. I'm having no problems (sleeping).

Sam Caplan: Is there anything else that's being reported that you'd like to dispute or anything else you'd like to address for the record?

Monte Cox: A lot of times if you're looking to go to a place like the IFL, there's a lot of things that could change your mind. Ben started kind of souring on the IFL before the season even ended. And one of the things that he was upset with was during his fight with Ricco Rodriguez, Ricco spit on him and nobody did anything. The commission didn't do anything (and) the IFL didn't do anything.

When his own mom asked Kurt Otto about it, she said something like "That kid spit on my son." Kurt's response was "Maybe Ben should have hit him harder?" And that left a bad taste in Ben's mouth. He's supposed to be one of their biggest stars and this is the way he's getting treated?

And another thing, one of Ben's teammates Rory Markham -- Rory is a super guy -- he goes out and fights his heart out and fights with abandon. And sometimes you get hurt doing that. Well, he got hurt this year. He got cut, he got his hand broken, and he only fought in two fights. And last week in a conversation with the IFL, the IFL brought up to Rory, "You know, because you only fought twice we can reduce you to an alternate" for pay and everything. And he was like "What!?" He instantly called me and I'm like "That's just ridiculous."

Why would you say that to a kid like Rory, who is a promoter's dream? He goes out and fights his ass of every time and just because he got hurt doing what you asked him to do, you're going to threaten to cut his pay?

This isn't the league we signed up for. A lot of things have changed. The front office of the IFL is like a revolving door. And the same things that I saw and the same things the IFL promised when it started, I don't see that anymore. No one is going to come to me and say "Boy, the IFL treats their fighters good." Don't ask me. Don't ask me how I think they treat the fighters.

I think that included with being able to go on the free agent market is a big part of why Ben wants to see what his options are.

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com