One of my most significant journalistic and legal efforts involved the forced bankruptcy of Xyience, Incorporated. Xyience was once the primary "middle of the mat" sponsor of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). I was sued for defamation for $25 million by the company for writing the truth about their shady, murky history of fraud and deceptive practices. The UFC's most significant stakeholders and their tight circle of wealthy friends knew the writing was on the wall for Xyience to fall apart, so they pounced and took a chief lien position over the company by way of a $15 million loan. Over 350 preliminary shareholders and many creditors were gutted when Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta's holding company Fertitta Enterprises took over, defaulted on their loan and tanked Xyience into a forced bankruptcy. Most of the $15 million influx of cash went directly to feed Xyience's substantial sponsorship fees due to the UFC. Harley Davidson even outbid Xyience's last official middle of the mat package to replace Xyience there, even though the UFC owning Fertittas were about to bankrupt the company with that big deal. The UFC also based massive loans designed to buy PRIDE and generate ownership dividends on the strength of their business and their healthy sponsorship agreements. Dallas Maverick's Owner and Shark Tank host Mark Cuban admitted to me personally that he later invested in that same "senior secured credit facility" loan the UFC took out that would have relied on strong sponsors to sustain. Cuban also put an email in writing where he admitted to following my case when Xyience sued me and I defended myself for over six years from district court through the ultimate bankruptcy.
This conversation between myself and Adam Frank and Kirk Sanford absolutely contradicted the idea of Xyience suing me for defamation based on the content of my Web-sites. Yet, it was ultimately deemed to be a settlement conference and therefore could not be used as an exhibit in the case. I am piecing together the Xyience story for a journey beyond www.xyiencesucks.com and all the content out there on the rest of the interwebs. In the wake of the settlement of one of the two biggest UFC class action cases, this story needs to be told.
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