Mr. Steven Straus

If you missed what BJ's lawyer, Steven Straus said, Jeff Cain provided the recap below this story.
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MMAWeekly Radio talked with Steven Straus, BJ Penn's lawyer, on the radio show Friday.Straus spoke freely about losing the injunction hearing to get the UFC 50 bout between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre to not be for the title.
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Straus started by saying, "Let me begin with the complaint that was filed.
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About the injunction, Straus said, "Whenever you ask a court for an injunction, it's an extraordinary relief and it requires the court to balance the interest of the parties and then make a determination."He continued, "It was clear from the hearing that the court had some difficulty based on the arguments that were made by Zuffa."

According to Mr. Straus, Zuffa's original argument was, "The reason that they stripped BJ Penn of his title, his World Welterweight Title, was because he walked away from a deal that they had in place and violated his contract.When they come into court, they've got a new set of lawyers and that's not what they argue."

"What they argue, to our surprise and really to the disappointment and sadness of not just BJ Penn but I think of all MMA fans, they argue that this is really a make believe belt.They argue, for the first time, that their title is only available to fighters that are under contract with Zuffa.That was never disclosed to BJ Penn in his negotiations for the contract in the first place, and to my knowledge, that's never been disclosed to any MMA fan; people that buy the videos, people that attend the UFC events", said Steven.

Straus went on to say, "So essentially, they've trashed their own belt and the court didn't feel it could stop them from doing it on the record that it had.The court however did make some comments that I think are very instructive.One of which is that it believed that Mr. Penn may be able to show that they wrongfully stripped him of his title and it admonished the other side that they better try to resolve this or they could end up with potentially two titles.They could end up with other relief against them."

What is the next coarse of action for the Penn legal team?Straus said, "Our next step is to pursue a fraud action in this case that arose based on the arguments they presented.
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Mr. Straus elaborated on the position of Zuffa.He commented, "The basis of their claim for stripping him of the title in affidavits that were filed by Dana White, is that BJ Penn walked away from a deal that they had set up with Pride.BJ Penn and his manager, JD Penn, will tell you and they told the court, we never heard about any Pride deal.They never brought us a Pride deal.As their attorney at the time, I never saw a Pride deal and they consider that an out and out lie."

Steven continued, "What they're basically doing is first coming up with an excuse for stripping him of his title and then when they come into court, they say no, the real reason we stripped him of his title is because titles are only available for fighters that we have under contract.They never told BJ that."

Steven Straus was asked about the rumor that when a UFC fighter wins a title, his contract is automatically extended.Steven said that BJ was not under contract with the UFC.He stated, "They never offered another contract.
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Steven was further questioned about UFC fighters who win titles contracts being extended for three more fights.He said this is true but, "There was also a provision and this was discussed in court so I don't believe we're violating any exclusivity here.They claim that this is a confidential agreement.We would like them to put it out there for the fans to look at it themselves but we still respect their confidentiality until the court rules otherwise, but his is something they did argue in court."

So, was BJ Penn under contract or not?Straus said the term of the contract provided for, if a fighter becomes champion within a year of his first fight on the contract, then the contract automatically rolls over for another year.
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Straus went on to say, "That's not what happened.
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Straus added, "Zuffa put themselves in a box saying they've got a make believe title now.
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Continuing to hammer home his point, Straus stated, "Your title has to mean something.
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Straus said, "What we're going to try to do is two things: 1.
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When asked about the time frame for when this whole law suit will be over, Straus said it could be awhile.Fortunately, he thinks that a jury trial should be able to begin within a year to fourteen months of the lawsuit's filing.Straus stated, "We can't force them to do the right thing.

That power falls on the city of San Diego. and it was San Diego city officials who allowed Sunroad to construct the building at its current height, a point that the developer's lawyer Steven Straus emphasized repeatedly today.

48 hours after a judge ruled in favor of the UFC and Zuffa, for the first time since the decision was announced, BJ Penn's attorney Steven Straus will speak exclusively with MMAWeekly Radio today.

Straus will discuss what went on in court and what Penn's next move will be legally in the case.
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Straus will discuss those comments as well as the situation further today on MMAWeekly Radio with hosts Ryan Bennett and Frank Trigg at 9am Pacific/12 Noon Eastern at www.mmaweeklyradio.com