Reports of DREAM's fighter payment woes continue to surface

Add undefeated bantamweight Joseph Benavidez (9-0) to the list of fighters frustrated at Japanese-based promotion DREAM due to their painstakingly long delays in paying fighters.

After MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported currently unprocessed payments to Jimmy Ambriz and Todd Moore, Benavidez's management company issued a statement providing a further example of DREAM's payroll challenges.

Benavidez fought for the organization in July, but was not compensated for his services until September.

Jeff Meyer, President and CEO of MMA, Inc., shared the details of his dealings with DREAM with MMAjunkie.com

Our company manages undefeated bantamweight, Joseph Benavidez (8-0). In June 2008, Joseph signed a two fight deal with DREAM. He was to fight Kid Yamamoto at DREAM 5 on July 21, 2008.

Kid was subsequently injured and Joseph fought Junya Kudo instead. Per the terms of Joseph's contract, he was to be paid within two weeks of the bout via wire transfer. The transfer did not occur on time.

In the later part of August and early September, our company sent several demands for payment. DREAM provided no response to our demands whatsoever. Finally, about 30 days after the agreed due date, the payment was made with no explanation as to the delay.

Meyer said he and Benavidez terminated the two-fight deal with DREAM based on "the lack of timely payment." Benavidez has since signed with the WEC, and is scheduled to face Danny Martinez at "WEC 37: Torres vs. Tapia."

Benavidez, Ambriz and Moore are not the only fighters to claim issue with DREAM's payment practices. Lightweight Nick Diaz first brought attention to the issue when he went nearly five months without receiving his promised fight purse.

Mike Kogan, the U.S. representative for DREAM's parent company Fight Entertainment Group, recently told MMAjunkie.com the issues were due to simple oversights by the company's accounting department.

"In Nick Diaz's case, I don't know who, but obviously there's a lot of people that work for FEG in our accounting department," Kogan said. "And half of them don't even know what Nick Diaz looks like. They're just paper-pushers. Well somebody apparently filed his (account) as paid. So as far as our accounting was concerned, he was paid."

Based in California, MMA, Inc., also represents Dan Henderson, Urijah Faber, James Irvin, Scott Smith, Mark Munoz and Charlie Valencia, among others.

(Pictured: Nick Diaz)