On April 15th, UFC and TUF 5 veteran Brian Geraghty travelled to St. Paul, Minnesota to face rising prospect Marcus LeVesseur on a card promoted by Seconds Out and Vivid MMA. To date, Geraghty has not been paid for his fight by promoter Tony Grygelko, and an official complaint has been filed.

According to Geraghty and his agent, noted MMA manager Shu Hirata, the fighter is owed over $1500 and has faced bounced cheques from Grygelko on multiple occasions since the fight. With Grygelko no longer responding to texts, Geraghty is seeking to prevent him from holding future shows.

The featured bout between Geraghty (24-16-1) and LeVesseur (20-5-0) ended just under two minutes into the first round, with LeVesseur emerging victorious via technical knockout. Following the fight, Geraghty was issued a cheque for $1500 in show money and $50 for travel expenses. In an official complaint sent to the Minnesota Combative Sports Commission, Geraghty, a native of Wisconsin, outlines the events following his fight on April 15th.

Geraghty states that he deposited his cheque for $1550 on April 18th, but the cheque was returned, unpaid. The same scenario occurred on April 22nd. Grygelko is said to have contacted Geraghty early on the morning of April 20th to inform him that the cheque would probably be bad due to funds not being immediately accessible.

Geraghty was directed to redeposit the cheque a few days later, which he did. He was initially told by his bank that everything looked to be okay with the cheque and the matter appeared to be resolved. However, on May 9th, Geraghty says that he was informed by his bank that the cheque had been returned again, and that $1550 plus a return cheque fee would be deducted from his account.

Since this time, both Geraghty and Hirata, as well as the Minnesota promotion’s matchmaker Jeremy Bjornberg, have attempted to resolve the situation through phone calls and text messages with Grygelko. Two additional Seconds Out/Vivid MMA events have been held since the April 15th card in question, and Grygelko is said to have also been actively promoting boxing events during this time.

Proceeds from one of Grygelko’s recent boxing ventures, reportedly totalling $12,000, were deposited by Grygelko on June 4th, according to messages sent to Geraghty. Grygelko told Geraghty that there would be a waiting period of 7-10 business days for the deposit to clear, and Geraghty claims that he was then promised a total payment of $2000 plus an additional $200 for overdraft fees incurred. A firm deadline of yesterday, June 14th, was set for payment to be received.

Both Hirata and Geraghty state that Grygelko is now avoiding text messages and phone calls, and they have jointly filed complaints with the Minnesota commission as a result. Grygelko has been informed of the complaint and a deadline of Friday, June 17th, has been set for him to provide proof of payment to Geraghty. Hirata asserts that such proof will be impossible, as Geraghty is still in possession of the bounced cheque.

Also noted in Geraghty’s official complaint is that Grygelko plans to promote another boxing event in Minnesota on June 25th. Geraghty is seeking to have the event postponed or cancelled until Grygelko is able to settle his debt, as Geraghty wishes to avoid having a repeat situation with another fighter. He also requests that the commission use Grygelko’s bond so that he can be paid immediately. As of today, a full two months have transpired since the April 15th fight took place.

Update (June 19th): The Minnesota commission has issued a statement confirming that Grygelko’s promoter’s licence has been suspended indefinitely and a request has been put in to use funds from the bond for Grygelko’s planned April 25th boxing event to pay Geraghty.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)