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Trailer for Bobby Razak’s new documentary on the late TapouT visionary Charles “Mask” Lewis.

From the press release:

Acclaimed director and founder of TapouT Films, Bobby Razak is currently working to complete his latest film documentary, tentatively titled “Mask”, covering the life and passion of long-time personal friend and TapouT creator, Charles “Mask” Lewis. StreetMade, a media and apparel brand, teams up with Razak to co-produce the film in hopes to continue and expand upon the values and ideals for which Lewis was known.

“As fans of the sport of MMA, we thought this would be a great project to get involved with,” says Shane Teater, StreetMade founder. Mask built a great empire and helped a fringe sport grow exponentially in popularity, while sticking to who he really was. We see StreetMade in a similar way; we stand for something, like our motto says “Just Out Work ‘Em.”

From the land of the bizarre comes word from TMZ that TapouT co-founder Charles “Mask” Lewis’ sister Carla is suing Punkass and Skyskrape for allegedly stealing Mask’s cremated ashes and distributing them in small vials to “special people” at Lewis’ memorial service.

As the story goes, Carla had executive power over Lewis’ body and chose to have him cremated. Punkass and Skyskrape then asked to borrow the urn containing his ashes for the memorial service. She agreed, but demanded they return the ashes immediately following the service. I’ll let TMZ tell the creepy part.

Here’s where things get CRAZY – Carla says when she arrived to the memorial service, she noticed “various booths and tables” set up around the cathedral … one of which contained, “a large shoebox-size box containing several miniature vials that were on display.”

Carla says the vendor informed her, “each of the vials contained a small amount of the cremated remains of Mask, and were reserved for, and to be given to, ‘special people’ whose names were on a printed list.”

Carla believes somewhere between 50 to 100 vials were either “sold, given away, donated or otherwise distributed to several unknown persons.”

If that wasn’t enough, Carla claims that TapouT refuses to return the remaining ashes despite repeated requests. As such, she’s suing them for unspecified damages, claiming the situation has caused her “overwhelming and and severe emotional distress.”

Neither TapouT, Punkass or Skyskrape have given their side of the story yet, but it’s probably in their best interest to do so ASAP, because Carla’s version is quite disturbing.

On a completely unrelated note, TMZ also has an update on the Matt Hughes bar fight story. They’re hearing from Illinois State’s attorney that there was not enough evidence to prove Hughes committed battery and will not be charged in the incident. He got out of that one much easier than Maiquel Falcão who was just dropped from the UFC over legal issues stemming from his involvement in a bar fight that took place back in 2002, years before the UFC ever blew up.

Update: Skyskrape and Punkass have responded via Twitter:

Update II: Fighters Only has collected TapouT’s side of the story. Basically, the TapouT crew feels like they were much closer to Mask than he was to his sister in the past 10 years. In fact, Skyskrape claims Mask “couldn’t stand her.” They deny that they ever sold any of Mask’s ashes or mass distributed them, but did admit that they put a small amount in vials for themselves. They are returning the remaining ashes, but it remains to be seen if the sister will continue to pursue financial compensation for the ordeal.

Inside MMA airs on HDNet every Friday night at 9PM ET.

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In remembrance of Charles “Mask” Lewis’ untimely death two years ago, Bobby Razak produced this tribute video featuring an emotional Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone describing how Mask impacted his life and career.

If you’re wondering how TapouT has been doing without Mask, I suggest you read this interview BE’s Jonathon Snowden did with Authentic Brands Group CEO Jamie Salter. There is a lot of interesting stuff in it.

TapouT lost a pretty big wrongful termination lawsuit last week when a Los Angeles jury awarded Michelle Thomas $2.4 million in punitive damages and $840,000 in compensatory damages after she was fired in June 2008. Thomas alleged that she wasn’t paid commissions she was owed and wasn’t compensated for overtime hours that she was forced to work. Additionally, she alleged that former TapouT president Marc Kreiner intentionally inflicted emotional distress by going on “unprovoked rampages” and hurling insults at her and her co-workers.

Kreiner yelled and screamed at plaintiff, hurling insults and false accusations at her, in order to humiliate and frighten her into quitting to avoid paying her wages owed and to stop her from complaining about unpaid wages.

Kreiner frequently came onto the sales floor, where plaintiff was working, and went on unprovoked rampages, in which he would act violently and belligerently. He did so in the presence of the entire sales staff and directed such conduct at Thomas and, on occasion, other employees.

Kreiner called Thomas an ‘idiot’ and accused her of being ‘unqualified’ for her job, ‘incompetent’ as a salesperson, and ‘ignorant’ because she complained about defendants’ illegal activities.

Kreiner frequently became physically violent at work, throwing objects across the office and gesturing violently, in an effort to intimate and scare plaintiff Thomas.

Kreiner, frequently and in an extremely hostile and confrontational manner, accused plaintiff and other salespersons of not selling enough product or not watching enough ‘ultimate fighting’ on their own time, regardless of, and without any knowledge of, how much a given employee was selling and regardless of how much ultimate fighting a salesperson watched during his or her free time.

This specific case may be behind them, but that doesn’t mean TapouT is done dealing with wrongful termination suits. Hot on the heels of last week’s ruling comes news that another former employee has filed suit against TapouT (among others including Zuffa), alleging wrongful termination, intentional infliction of emotional distress and several other claims. And not surprisingly, former VP of Sales Lee Lemon’s allegations sound awfully similar to Ms. Thomas’.

Most of Lemon’s allegations are focused on former Tapout President Marc Kreiner, who Lemon claims abused the sales staff, allegedly calling them “f–kng worthless” and telling Lemon that he was “stupid, incompetent, and ignorant,” and that Kreiner could “hire a monkey to do his job.” Lemon also alleges that he was promised $400,000 per year in pay, but was never paid that amount. Instead, he argues, he was not paid the commissions he was owed, was berated constantly, falsely accused of firing employees without approval, blamed for salary cuts, and then directed to “defraud investors … by inflating the sales numbers and at the same time hiding accounts, to engage in thefts from licenses” before he was “constructively terminated” in May of 2010. (Under California law, constructive termination essentially requires the plaintiff to show that they resigned or quit because their working conditions were so intolerable that no reasonable person could be expected to endure them.)

To my understanding, Lemon’s case is different from Ms. Thomas’ in that he signed a settlement agreement when he left the company that would bar him from making future legal claims against TapouT in exchange for money, however Lemon claims that agreement is now null and void for several reasons. I assume that will be a point of contention when the two sides present their arguments.

I’m not gonna lie, these cases baffle me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not siding with TapouT or Mark Kreiner and I completely understand suing them for unpaid wages, but I don’t understand how a jury can award someone $2.4 million in punitive damages for essentially having to deal with an a–hole boss for eight months. Heck, I heard worse on the first day of my first job out of college and put up with it for almost two years, but never once did I think I was entitled to millions of dollars, or any money for that matter. He eventually got fired and that was good enough for me. When I think of “emotional distress” worthy of millions of dollars in compensation, I think of something life changing, an experience so damaging it adversely alters a person’s emotional state for at least a good part of their life. Being belittled, intimidated and threatened at work doesn’t fit that description if you ask me.

It only took a week for a jury to find Jeffrey David Kirby guilty of vehicular manslaughter in the high-speed accident that killed Charles “Mask” Lewis. Kirby faces a maximum of 13 years in state prison.

Full press release below.

December 8, 2010

SECOND-TIME DRUNKEN DRIVER CONVICTED OF KILLING ANOTHER MOTORIST BY SPLITTING VICTIM’S VEHICLE IN HALF IN HIGH SPEED CRASH

SANTA ANA – A second-time drunken was convicted today of killing a man and injuring his passenger after crashing his Porsche into the victim’s Ferrari, causing it to slam into a light pole and spilt in half. Jeffrey David Kirby, 53, Costa Mesa, was found guilty by a jury of one felony count of vehicular manslaughter by unlawful act with gross negligence while intoxicated and a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury was found true. He has a prior conviction for driving under the influence in 2002. Kirby faces a maximum sentence of 13 years in state prison at his sentencing Feb. 4, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-30, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.

At approximately 1:00 a.m. on March 11, 2009, Kirby was speeding in his 1977 Porsche with a 32-year-old female passenger, Lynn Marie Nabozny, alongside a 2004 Ferrari driven by 45-year-old Charles David Lewis, Jr., on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach. Kirby lost control of his car due to his unsafe speed and crashed into Lewis’ vehicle. Lewis lost control of his Ferrari, which crashed into a cement light pole and was torn in half. Kirby swerved and came to a stop on Jamboree Road for several seconds before accelerating and leaving the scene.

A Newport Beach Police officer, who had been passing northbound on Jamboree, observed the crash and immediately stopped to assist Lewis and called for back up. Lewis was trapped inside the front half of the Ferrari, which had to be dismantled in order to remove him. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Lewis’ 23-year-old passenger, Lacy Lynn White, was ejected from the car and landed on the nearby dirt embankment. White was transported to Western Medical Center to be treated for several bone fractures, lacerations and abrasions.

After leaving the scene, Kirby parked his Porsche, which had body damage consistent with having been involved in a crash, on Bison Avenue. Within minutes of the crash, a responding Newport Beach Police officer observed Kirby’s parked car and saw the defendant and Nabozny walking outside of the defendant’s vehicle. Kirby and Nabozny were both apprehended. When contacted by officers, the defendant was emitting an odor of alcohol, slurring his speech, and had bloodshot and watery eyes. He was arrested at the scene.

At approximately 3:00 a.m., two hours after the crash, Kirby had a blood alcohol level of .13 percent. Nabozny was arrested for public intoxication and later released.

Deputy District Attorney Jason Baez of the Vehicular Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.

The trial for Jeffrey Kirby, the driver of the Porsche that was involved in the accident that killed Tapout co-founder Charles “Mask” Lewis, began today. Kirby, who blew a .13 two hours after the crash, is on trial for one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while intoxicated and one count of driving under the influence causing bodily injury.

It appears the central argument is over who caused the crash that killed Lewis. The prosecution conceded that Lewis was racing Kirby at speeds in excess of 100 MPH, but argued that Kirby was the one who hit Lewis and caused his Ferrari to spin out of control into a light pole. The defense on the other hand claims that Lewis caused the collision when he approached Kirby from behind “at a speed that was absolutely frightful.” Defense attorney Mark Fredrick argued that Kirby was not responsible for the accident even though he was legally intoxicated.

In a rather puzzling statement, Frederick added that Kirby didn’t even know the accident occurred until hours later.

Kirby saw the Ferrari coming on fast in his rear-view mirror and attempted a quick lane change to get out of the way but instead started to spin, Fredrick claimed. Lewis was going so incredibly fast, Fredrick insisted, that he could not avoid the Porsche as he tried to blow by.

Fredrick also told the jury that Kirby did not know that he had collided with the Ferrari until hours later, believing that he had only struck a curb when he spun out.

Kirby, who stopped in his Porsche for three to five seconds after he came to a stop, did not see the crashed Ferrari, Fredrick said, even though the car was split in two and the concrete light standard was toppled.

Remarkably, this isn’t Kirby’s first DUI or even his second. He was convicted of his first in 1985 and his second in 2002. If he’s convicted on his third DUI charge and the vehicular manslaughter charge, he faces up to 19 years in state prison.

Image via Orange County Register

Two of MMA’s top apparel lines have been sold. News broke earlier today that TapouT and Silver Star have been acquired by Jamie Salter and his Toronto-based Authentic Brands Group LLC. With MMA still flourishing, Salter plans to expand the lines and believes they can double sales in the coming year.

Salter’s Toronto-based Authentic Brands Group LLC is betting the three labels — TapouT, Silver Star Casting Co. and Hitman Fight Gear — are ripe for expansion as mixed martial arts tightens its grip on the mainstream. J.C. Penney Co., Kohl’s Corp. and Macy’s Inc. already sell some of the gear, and the new owners and founders are looking to add sales both at home and overseas.

“These are some of the most exciting brands I’ve seen in years,” Salter said in a telephone interview. “The popularity of mixed martial arts and the UFC is soaring around the world. The last time I saw a sport with this much potential was 20 years ago with snowboarding.”

…

Last year, TapouT introduced a mid-tier brand, TapouT MPS, to supplement sales to department stores, and is weighing a discount line that could sell at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other mass chains, Caldwell said. TapouT’s Hitman brand already sells at Sears Holdings Corp.’s Kmart stores. Salter predicts he’ll double revenues in the next two years.

Salter believes they’re getting into “the right business at the right time.”

“This sport is still in its infancy,” ABG chairman and CEO Jamie Salter stated. “We strategically chose these acquisitions as our first big move because we’re getting into the right business at the right time. We’re looking forward to working with the best brands and the best athletes in the world as we transition these two companies into global lifestyle brands with our retail and licensing partners.”

The terms of the deal were not made public, but it does include TapouT and Silver Star sub-brands Tapout MPS, Hitman Fight Gear and Iron Star.

Interestingly, Dan “Punkass” Caldwell revealed there were many buyers interested in TapouT, but they ultimately went with ABG because Salter wanted them to stay involved in the company. Why anyone wouldn’t want Punkass, Skyscrape and in memory, Mask, to remain the faces of TapouT is beyond me. They not only represent the TapouT brand, they are the TapouT brand. Their continued involvement and support in the MMA community is a major reason they’re so successful and why the brand will continue to prosper.

Silver Star founder, Luke Burrett, added, “We’ve been fierce competitors with TapouT, and now that we’re under the same roof we’ll be unstoppable.”

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In this week’s edition of Fox Fight Game, Mike Straka is joined by Frankie Edgar and the TapouT crew to discuss all the fallout from UFC 103 and more.

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