Official Statement. pic.twitter.com/jfV1oG8Coo
— BYB Extreme Bare Knuckle Fighting Series (@bybextreme)
November 19, 2021
A week before its first “Triad Combat” show, Triller Fight Club is
facing a challenge in court based on the allegedly stolen design of
its three-sided ring.
On Thursday, BYB Extreme Fighting Series, helmed in part by
Dhafir
Harris – also known as Dada 5000 – sent out a release
announcing that it had filed a lawsuit against Triller, Triller
Fight Club, Fite.TV and the owner of Triller, Ryan Kavanaugh. The
claim, which was filed on Thursday in federal court in Florida, is
that Triller, by using a three-sided ring design to stage its new
series of fights under the “Triad Combat” banner, infringed on the
intellectual property rights held by BYB. The BYB promoter, Mike
Vazquez, alleged that Triller ignored any request to rectify the
situation, which prompted the suit.
“We have, since 2015, invested a significant amount of capital into
BYB and our Triangle ring design, the Trigon,” Vazquez wrote in the
release. “Upon seeing Triller’s blatant copy of our patented ring
design, we made our best efforts to communicate and solve the
situation amicably. Unfortunately, we were rebuffed. Incredibly,
Triller and Hollywood exec Ryan Kavanaugh believe they can roll
over us and our intellectual property rights. We are here today to
demonstrate that we won’t sit by quietly and let that happen. It’s
a combat sport, and we are ready for the fight.”
By suing the various parties including Fite.TV, the bare-knuckle
boxing organization recognizes the relationship it holds with
Fite.TV. The broadcasting service has aired several BYB shows in
the past, both using its triangular cage design as well as its
three-sided ring titled the “Trigon.” On those broadcasts, per BYB,
Fite.TV noted the uniqueness of the BYB ring and even allegedly
referenced the ring being patented.
Per the release, a BYB executive met with Triller head Kavanaugh to
discuss a potential partnership with Triller and BYB. This included
possible co-promoted Triller Fight Club events using the
three-sided ring. The arrangement ultimately did not come to
fruition, and a few months later, Triller announced its Triad
Combat card using a ring with three sides.
Triller Fight Club is still intending on putting on its
inaugural Triad Combat event on Nov. 27 at the Globe Life
Stadium in Arlington, TX. In addition to several mixed-rules
matches pitting boxers against MMA fighters, the metal band
Metallica will put on a concert during the course of the evening.
Headlining the show at the moment is nine-round heavyweight tilt
pitting the legendary Frank Mir
against former heavyweight boxing title challenger Kubrat Pulev.
Other MMA fighters on the billing include Mike Perry,
Matt
Mitrione and Albert
Tumenov.