Undefeated lightweight prospect Manoel Sousa has filed a lawsuit against the Professional Fighters League after the promotion denied him a chance to compete at Dana White’s Contender Series in August, the fighter and his lawyer Marcelo Henrique Antunes da Palma told MMA Fighting.
Sousa signed to fight at the PFL Challenger Series earlier this year, hoping to earn a spot on the million-dollar season in 2023, but wasn’t offered a deal despite winning a split decision over Paulo Henrique on Feb. 17.
Sousa said he won a “bloody three-round fight” and was offered another match on PFL Challenger Series two weeks later, but had to turn down after testing positive for COVID-19. He believed to be a free agent, but later discovered he was still tied to PFL when an offer came from DWCS to fight on Aug. 15.
“They put me as a back-up, but that wasn’t my goal. I told them I would’t do it,” Sousa said. “I train really hard every single day, I live in the gym, and I’m chasing my dreams. My dream is to fight in the UFC and the [DWCS] offer came, but [PFL] wants to keep me locked. I thought I was free to fight anywhere else, but that wasn’t the case. They don’t want to let me go.”
PFL did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Sousa’s lawyer filed a lawsuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in which he claims the 26-year-old fighter is functional illiterate in Portuguese, and the PFL contract sent to him by his previous manager was in English, therefore he didn’t know what he was signing up for. Sousa expected to be a free agent if PFL chose not to sign him after what he thought was the only bout of his deal. Instead, Sousa’s suit cites the contract lasts three years.
According to the suit, signed by Sousa’s lawyer da Palma and sent to MMA Fighting by his team, PFL officials “informed [us] they would not release ‘Manumito’ in any way since he’s a prospect of the sport and should be revealed only by PFL, the defendant, for mere commercial whim.”
“After analyzing the contract,” the suit continued. “It was noticed that said instrument does not grant the plaintiff the possibility of termination, only allowing the event to do so, according to clause 17.4, thus, there was no alternative but to seek help from the justice to resolve such problem.”
A former SFT lightweight champion in his native Brazil and two-time Cage Fury FC veteran, “Manumito” has not competed since February 2023, and is unsure when he’ll be able to re-enter a cage to fight.