Yoshihiro Akiyama: Manager Embezzled Almost $1M in Fight Money
by Chris Nelson on Aug 8, 2010 9:13 PM EDT
in MMA News
Email
Print
Last April, UFC middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama released an autobiography entitled Two Souls: Heel or Hero in Japan. One of the topics touched upon in the book was Akiyama's falling out with a longtime friend and business manager in 2008.
This past Tuesday, Akiyama posted about the subject on his blog, and the excellent Korean site Got MMA? has provided this translation:
It is embarrassing to share this personal story but all of my fight money, the money I've been saving from beginning of my MMA career, is gone. I had a friend who I became acquainted with when I was practicing judo. We became close friends and I respected him very much as a person. But basically, he has embezzled all the money. That's hundreds and thousands of dollars. [Got MMA? says that the number mentioned in the book is closer to a million dollars.]
It's big money, I know!
It's been three years and that person is living a happy life as if nothing was wrong, and I think this is really unfair!
I've been seeking advice from some people to get my money back.
This time, I found a new attorney and, fortunately, it seems like there's going to be some new progress.
I really hope this doesn't happen to you!
It was after the 2008 incident when Akiyama (by his own admission) lost his focus and accepted a few odd match-ups in Dream, namely fights with pro wrestler Katsuyori Shibata and neophyte karateka Masanori Tonooka. Shortly thereafter, he signed on with the UFC.
Judging by the lifestyle depicted on his blog and the fact that he opened his own gym in Tokyo last spring, it would appear that Akiyama hasn't been financially crippled by the betrayal. Nonetheless, it's good to hear that the wrong may eventually be righted, and the story should serve as yet another cautionary tale for young fighters to be wary of those they entrust with their careers and funds.
26 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Was that meant to be facetious?
"I am a man who pisses largely and frequently, which they say is a sign of great mental activity" -Henry Miller-
well kinda
but it seems like fighters are in the same spot as other athletes, tons of musicians, actors, writers etc that have a hard time handling money and often get played like this.
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
Example: Shamrock, Ken.
My avatar has Bas Rutten and Terry Funk in it...therefore it's the manliest avatar on SB Nation.
It is based on them getting piles of money but not the responsibility to handle it.
Which makes me not feel bad at all about them.
Guillotine.
It isn’t only about the responsibility. These are people who have spent every working minute working on skills besides how to handle money. In fact, the only reason they have money is because they’ve spent all their time working a something that doesn’t involve money management. And because they are inexperienced with dealing with money and at the same time happen to have a shitload of money they are magnets to those that want to take it off their unsuspecting asses.
I read somewhere that a very high percentage of lottery winners run out of money by the two year mark.
Considering the amount of debt the average North American carries, it seems like very few of us can handle money in general.
GSP is an alien sent here to humiliate our men and mate with our women
I think it’s something like 90% of lottery winners that are out of money within 10 years. Lottery winners tend to try to retire to a life of leisure where as “normally” rich people keep making money instead of just spending it.
Close...the reasoning is basically this
Lottery winners get presented with two different payouts, the annual with less taxes taken out or the lump sum with around 50% taxed. Most will choose the annual but will do massive spending without any real concern for anything. They’ll buy cars/houses and not be able to afford the taxes/mortgages associated with such purchases. Couple with family coming out of the woodwork and you’ll see people broke or bankrupt.
This is how it was explained to me by one of the lawyers for the state of nj who did legal consulting for the lottery.
Follow me on twitter @thisredengine
Also please check out SBnation's Red Bulls blog @ www.onceametro.com
by Matthew Roth on Aug 11, 2010 7:58 PM EDT up reply actions
To bring it full circle, one of the most notorious financial flameouts is MC Hammer, who just started his own MMA management line…
If you're not watching Treme, you're a bad person.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Aug 8, 2010 11:29 PM EDT up reply actions
the problem with the types of people you mention is that lots of them go from no money to lots of money, and then they don’t like the idea of paying an actual accountant or someone to handle their money (it doesn’t help that those people are not exactly perfect), so they decide to let their “friends” handle it. When their friends come from the same line of thinking, the temptation is hard to ignore.
living costs in japan are really high
but those fight of the night awards should help
honestly why the **** would you allow anyone access to your cash. i don’t care who it is.. nobody except maybe a spouse should have that level of access. do promoters pay managers and then managers pay the fighters? i was under the impression that fighters gave check to fighters, and then fighters cut managers a check.
Embezzlement:
the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted…
…a financial advisor could embezzle funds from investors
A talent manager, also known as an artist manager or band manager, is an individual or company who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-day business affairs of an artist; advise and counsel talent concerning professional matters, long-term plans and personal decisions which may affect their career
Considering that part of a manager’s job is to handle everyday business matters such as finances, it’s not unreasonable to think that he’d be able to access Aki’s money. If what Yoshi says is true, then it’s very shitty and hopefully he can regain his losses in court, and potentially have the court expenses covered. For every person that tries to make something of themselves in this world, there are 5 more who try to leech off them.
Xtreme Couture (Vegas) & The Hit Pit (Spokane WA) REPRESENT
"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates
by ElliotMatheny on Aug 8, 2010 11:35 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
*sigh*
And I got bashed for the comment about how few decent managers there are in MMA. Akiyama got stolen from, Ken Pavia is in a lawsuit with the UFC over sharing documents which indicates a conflict of interest, and BE has done a great job covering Genet’s troubles. And this is all within the past month of news. I don’t expect an apology from anybody, my smugness is reward enough.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
There is only one legitimately excellent manager in MMA, and she has spent most of her career only representing one client. Fortunately for Frankie Edgar, she recently decided to double her client list.
Shari Spencer is the anti-Pavia.
I disagree.
She is clearly one of the best, but she also benefits from a very select and very profitable client list. There are two others who stand out in my head, and I’ll generously allow for an error 1-2 that I haven’t met yet. So… five good managers in all of MMA. What a scary fucking world we live in.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
by pdl on Aug 9, 2010 1:47 AM EDT up reply actions
Yep
That’s why I think it is hilarious when people bust on Jake Shields for using his dad as his manager. Jack Shields may not be the best agent in the world, but at least Jake can be 100% certain that his agent isn’t stealing from him or looking to advance his own career rather than Jake’s. How many fighters can say that?
For reference, what Akiyama actually posted on his blog was
金額はウン千万！！
千万 is literally the number 10 million, but it can also be used metaphorically to mean “a whole lot”, and the specific phrase “ウン千万” pretty much always means just “a shit-ton of cash”.
So the other site’s translation was just somewhat inaccurate.
Also, his last line was more like, “You all should make sure to manage your money personally so this doesn’t happen to you!”
"I want to tell me what you see, let's go ahead and see by in the fight, what you saw, in the ring." - Tito Ortiz
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Bloody Elbow
Related FanShots on Bloody Elbow
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
MMA Rankings
