Fight to Win Pro owner Seth Daniels confirmed to the Jiu-Jitsu Times in a phone call that convicted dog fighter Dan Swift has been pulled from the F2W Pro 69 card in Cleveland, Ohio.

Daniels released the following statement concerning the situation and his decision:

“I did not find out about any of the charges that Dan Swift is facing until this past Sunday night, a few days after I had booked the match for him against Robert Henricksen. I was gathering information to figure out what to do when today’s article came out and I got about 100 emails and Facebook messages. I was under the impression based on what everyone was saying that Dan had done ten months in jail for these crimes and had already served his time. Dan and I were coming up with a plan for him to donate any and all earnings to a Cleveland Animal Hospital when I found out that he has not served any time for his charges and his case is still in appeals. Since he has not paid his debt to society as of yet and due to the serious nature of the crimes he is accused of, I am pulling him from the event and taking his place in fighting Robert Henricksen.

When picking competitors for Fight To Win Pro, I do go through people’s home pages on Facebook to see if anything alarming pops out. I do not have the time or resources to do a full criminal background check on the 400 applicants I get each show while I’m putting on events and traveling the country each week and raising my kids. I do the best I can, but sometimes sh** slips through the cracks.”

Last year, Swift was found guilty on multiple charges of animal cruelty related to dog fighting. He was sentenced to a minimum of ten months in prison and ordered to pay $54,000 in restitution. Prior to knowing about Swift’s conviction, Daniels and his promotion had received criticism for including Swift on the card. Tom DeBlass had also called Swift out on Facebook.