On Thursday November the 3rd K-1 legend Ray Sefo informed the ROK match maker that he will not be coming to Sweden and fight Jörgen Kruth. The reason for this is according to Ray Sefo a big TV-Deal in the United States



“I’m truly sorry for pulling out from the event. I made it because it offered a lot more opportunity in the future for me and my family…. This TV show has been in the works for the last 10 months and the shooting dates just got finalized, it’s not a one day gig it’s a 3 month shooting and the director and producers are looking to do 3 to 5 seasons if everything goes according to plan. – you gotta understand if you were in my shoes you would make the same decision or anyone else for that matter. – Ray.”

Two weeks ago Rumble Of The Kings did get informed by Ray’s manager that Ray Sefo intended to pull out of the fight but the event producer and match maker ( Kasra Ashhami ) did still believe that Ray would honor their agreement and come to Sweden and fight.

“Two weeks ago Ray Sefo’s appointed manager Mike informed me that he ( Ray Sefo ) intended to withdraw from the match against Kruth. Ray’s manager did not fully know why Sefo wanted to withdraw but he supposed that it had something to do with a TV / movie deal. We then informed Ray Sefo that we have an agreement that he will be violating by not showing up at the event and that too much money has been spent from our side on marketing this fight for him to withdraw now. I honestly believed that Sefo would consider this and honor our agreement and fight at the event. I have known him for several years and the old Ray I know has always been a man of his word, but I guess that the current global economical situation has left scars with many.“

Ray Sefo is out and gone from the Nov 26th ROK card but the event is not falling with the K-1 legend, Kasra Ashhami explains why.

“The rest of the event card will not be affected by this, all other fights are still going ahead as planned and we still have one of the strongest line ups that ROK has ever presented. Now when Rays has confirmed his no show, we will choose among one of the accessible options and replace Sefo. The opponents available are all experienced MMA grapplers which is really not fair to Kruth who has been preparing for a striker such as Ray, but Kruth has accepted these state of affairs and will prepare for a new challenge. This is of course not an satisfactory situation that Ray Sefo has put us in considering all the extra costs and efforts this causes, but we will solve this matter in the best way possible. How ROK will proceed with Ray’s case is an issue and decision which will be made within the company board after the event. A law suit would be most fair due to our loss but at the same time, this is a guy we used to love so it won’t be an easy call to make.“

Now with 20 days to the event Jörgen Kruth will have to change his game plan to fight a wrestler and a much more experienced MMA fighter than Ray. Many fighters would say no to this kind of late change but Kruth has accepted the situation and will now leave for a training camp in the United States to make the fight preparations adjustment needed.

Who Ray Sefo’s replacement fighter is will be revealed with in a few days according to Kasra Ashhami and he recommends all fans to stay tuned at the official Rumble of the kings website www.rumbleofthekings.com and ROK’s facebook fan page for more information.

Written by: Daniel Hol
2011-11-04