Tofiq Musaev has taken to Twitter to state he has been paid by Rizin and plans to continue fighting in Japan. It represents a remarkable turnaround for the fighter who was quoted in the Azerbaijan media this week as saying he would be leaving the promotion.
Musaev also suggested that the reports about him leaving Rizin had been ‘exaggerated’:
Recently, There have been increased the rumours regarding me and my future with @rizin_PR majority of which exaggerated. I have received all the amount and hope for the further cooperation. Hope to be back soon to my 2nd home 🇯🇵
— Tofiq Musayev (@Tofiq__Musayev) June 24, 2020
On Tuesday a story appeared in the Azerbaijan media in which Musaev stated very clearly that he had decided to leave Rizin because he had not been paid for winning the lightweight Grand Prix last October. The outlet in question is called 1News and has interviewed Musaev and his trainer, Ruslan Efendiyev, on numerous occasions in the past.
In January Musaev and Efendiev gave a detailed interview with 1News in which the fighter talked about his training camp and revealed he had broken his arm during the semi final. They also spoke about the possibility of signing with the UFC.
Tuesday’s article has not been amended or removed and can be read in its entirety here. A Rizin press conference has been booked for Friday and more details are likely to be discussed.
Either the 1News story was ‘exaggerated’ or the promotion has reached out to the fighter in the last 48 hours. But it appears that Musaev will remain on the Rizin roster for the time being.
