Adult performer Dick Delaware came to the outdoor arena at Soboba Casino Saturday ready to fight, but the trouble was his opponent left the premises only minutes before he got there.
Delaware, aka Aaron Brink, was scheduled to meet Todd Medina in a light heayweight fight in King of the Cage, ending his three-month retirement from professional fighting.
The first bout of the card started just after 4 p.m., but when Brink arrived late at 4:10, Medina was already gone, and no one seemed to know exactly why.
"Does anyone have Todd Medina's phone number?" Brink said at one point, as the promoters hastily informed him the fight was off. KOTC officials made a last-ditch effort to see if they could get another guy who was already there to face Brink, but there were no willing candidates.
Only two fights were contested Saturday in what was billed as a five-bout card that was a bonus for fans who attended the King of the Cage show last Saturday that was partially rained out.
"He backed out of the fight," Brink said with disgust. "I'm here. I showed up. He didn't want to fight me."
One of Brink's trainers, Ken Rose, said he wasn't shocked that Medina would pull out because of the conditions Saturday. It was windy, cool and the usual wild capacity crowd under the tent at Soboba Casino wasn't there because of it being a rescheduled show. About 1,200 people filled the venue that holds more than twice that many. The fight also was not for a title belt.
"He probably thought, what am I going to get out of this?" Rose said, "I'm not that surprised."
Medina, a 35-year-old veteran of both UFC and Pride who runs his own jiu jitsu school in Orange County, could not be reached for comment. Brink knows Medina having trained at his gym in Costa Mesa on occasion.
"I'm going to be going over there to get this settled," he said.
In the meantime, Brink may get to make his comeback as early as next weekend, as he is trying to finalize a fight against Eli Jocelyn at the next King of the Cage show, April 2 in Fresno, Calif.
The 31-year-old Brink (25-17-1) has lost his last three mixed-martial-arts battles - the last two by knockout - and has been defeated four times straight overall, including a K-1 qualifier contested under kick-boxing rules.
He has performed in over 500 sex scenes since December 2002.
