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Dana White Speaks his Mind on EliteXC’s “Scumbag Promoters”
Dana White speaking his mind on the actions of the EliteXC promoters at EliteXC HEAT. The promoters paid fighter Seth Petruzelli extra money for him to stay standing against Kimbo Slice. Plans backfired and the EliteXC is currently under investigation by the Florida State Athletic Commission for fight fixing.
EliteXC Disgusts UFC President Dana White
“It disgusts me. I’ve been busting my (expletive) for 10 years flying all over the planet to show everybody what a great sport this is and what amazing people are involved in it. Then CBS throws this guy who fights at people’s barbecues on the main event because they’re trying to compete with us, and he gets knocked out in (14) seconds by a guy who didn’t win ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and couldn’t fight in the UFC. Then the guy turns around the next day and says, ‘The promoters actually paid me to not go to the ground with this guy. They paid me to stand up,’ which I’m pretty sure is illegal…. (Slice is) a joke. It was bound to happen. These guys have lost $60 million trying to get this thing off the ground. They’re building their promotion around a guy who can’t fight. It’s kind of (expletive) stupid, isn’t it? You’re in the fight business and you’re building your business around a guy who can’t fight…. When dirty people go out and do stuff like that, it hurts. Promoters have a bad rap as it is because of the last 100 years of boxing. We actually started to turn that around and were doing the right things and then you have these guys coming out and doing (expletive) like that. It hurts us.”
The recent EliteXC Heat and all the controversy around it caused Dana White to come out with some comments in the Boston Herald. It has become apparent that the EliteXC have been trying to influence the outcomes of some of their fights by paying Seth Petruzelli to stay standing in the Kimbo fight. Unfortunately for the EliteXC it didn’t quite work out the way they wanted it to. Kimbo was KO’d in 14 seconds.
When Will EliteXC get Knocked Out?
It is clear that right now the EliteXC is currently one of the major players in the world of MMA organizations. They don’t sell PPV’s but they do have a recognizable brand along with a fairly decent stable of fighters. Only problem for them now is the fact that their most well known fighter Kimbo Slice was knocked out in fourteen seconds by an Ultimate Fighter 2 contestant known as Seth Petruzelli.
Now while Kimbo isn’t the only fighter in the EliteXC he was carrying the weight of a whole organization round with him and now all that weight has been passed on to Gina Carano. Carano can obviously be credited with the title of “most popular female fighter in North America,” she won her last fight and is still undefeated. Carano right now is the bigest name that the EliteXC has left, they need to get her fighting in every event to keep the numbers up and hopefully she wont get beat in such a dramatic fashion like Kimbo.
So with the bigest name gone and the whole organization resting on Gina Carano can the EliteXC rebound? It would take alot! They need to really start farming their own material and find a fighter with qualaties like Anderson Silva which is fairly impossible but it could be the only way. Another option for them is to sign a big name from another sport like the UFC did with Brock Lesnar. Kurt Angle is currently looking at joining MMA, the EliteXC should try and grab him before the UFC do.
What if they can’t find the fighters? If the EliteXC can’t find the fighters they are simply going to go broke. They are already $60 million under and much more in a struggling economy could be bye bye for the EliteXC. I personally hope they can rebound or Affliction can gain more power. Choice is always a great thing for a fan and if the UFC is always top of the pile we won’t get much of it.
EliteXC Wanted Seth Petruzelli to Stay Standing
Seth Petruzelli called into Monsters Radio this morning to talk about his recent victory over Kimbo Slice. During the interview Seth confirms that he was paid extra to stay standing against Kimbo Slice by the EliteXC promoters.
SP: Not really, but I train with lots of undefeated pro boxers, a couple guys have a belt, and my style kinda throws them off a bit, I have kind of an awkward style. So, I knew I would do alright standing up with him. THE PROMOTERS KINDA HINTED TO ME, AND THEY GAVE ME THE MONEY TO STAND AND TRADE WITH HIM. THEY DIDN’T WANT ME TO TAKE HIM DOWN. LETS JUST PUT IT THAT WAY.
M: Ahhh.. ok.
SP: It was worth my while to try and stand up and punch with him.”
So if the promoters paid Seth to stay on his feet they were obviously looking for a huge Kimbo KO to promote him even further. This raises even more questions for me though, mainly about the Ken Shamrock predicament. I was thinking something weird was going down when Shamrock annonced in dramatic fashion like you would see in the WWE that he would not be able to fight. So here is my question, was Ken Shamrock paid to get out of the fight? Just think about it for a little. Ken Shamrock was insisting for such a long time that he would take Kimbo down and break his leg. The EliteXC realize that if Kimbo was down he would struggle and look pathetic so they needed a standing battle. In my mind I believe the EliteXC paid Ken a significant amount of money to open up a cut above his eye which would make the atletic comission stop him from fighting. Now think about what the EliteXC kept excenuating throughout the night… “Kimbo will fight anyone, anytime.” What an amazing slogan to get out there to the 4.5 million watching at home.
What I said above is obviously not concrete but just some speculation. The EliteXC seem to be focusing on making the great storylines. Somebody should really tell them that this is not the WWE but really mixed martial arts, you bring the fighters and the drama will create it’s self.
EliteXC: HEAT Live Gate Numbers
Saturday’s “EliteXC: Heat” event at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., drew a total attendance of 9.414 (7,723 paid) for a live gate of $826,433.
The numbers above are quite a rebound for EliteXC since the last event, “Unfinished Business” which had only 2871 paid attendants. Even though the numbers above are a lot higher they are still far short of what the BankAtlantic Center can hold which is somewhere around 22,000 depending on the event. The numbers also have nothing on what the UFC is currently achieving at their events. UFC 88 alone had appx. 14,000 paid attendees.
Game Over for Kimbo Slice
Kimbo Slice the so called “best street-fighter in the world” was just defeated in only 14 seconds by replacement fighter Seth Petruzelli. Kimbo advanced fast and Petruzelli retreated then he landed a big shot knocking Kimbo to the ground. Petruzelli then dived onto Kimbo delivering many shots in such a short time, Kimbo’s eye was opened up and only 14 seconds in the fight came to an end.
We will bring you more on the event and full analysis tomorrow morning.
EliteXC: HEAT Quick Results Live
ELITE XC “HEAT” QUICK RESULTS:
Seth Petruzelli defeats Kimbo Slice in 14 seconds (T)KO
Elite XC Welterweight Champion Jake Shields defeats Paul “Semtex” Daley via submission (armbar) round 2
Andrei Arlovski defeats Roy Nelson via technical knockout at 3:14 of round two
Gina “Conviction” Carano defeats Kelly Kobald via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Benji Radach defeats Murilo “Ninja” Rua via (T)KO
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos defeats Yoko Takahashi via unanimous decision
Conor Huen defeats James Edson Berto via technical knockout at 2:18 of round two
Mickey Gomez defeats Lorenzo Borgomeo via submission (armbar) at 4:06 of round two
Bryan Hamade defeats David Gomez via submission (guillotine) at 2:03 of round one
Nicolae Curry defeats Jorge Boechat via submission in round one
EliteXC: HEAT Weigh-in Results
Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson (234.5) vs. Ken Shamrock (206.5)
Jake Shields (169.7) vs. Paul “Semtex” Daley (170)
Andre “The Pitbull” Arlovski (240.7) vs. Roy “Big Country” Nelson (262.7)
Gina “Conviction” Carano (141) vs. Kelly Kobald (141)
Murilo “Ninja” Rua (185) vs. Benji Radach (185)
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (148.5) vs. Yoko Takahashi (148.5)
James Edson Berto (157.7) vs. Conor Huen (160.7)
Seth Petruzelli (205.5) vs. Aaron Rosa (204.7)
Lorenzo Borgomeo (170.2) vs. Mickey Gomez (170.2)
David Gomez (138.7) vs. Bryan Hamade (138.75)
Jorge Boechat (159.5) vs. Nicolae Curry (161.2)
Above are the weigh-in results for tomorrow nights EliteXC: HEAT. Every fighter made weight but Gina Carano did have to try three times with an end result of removing all her clothes.
Roy Nelson Puts Himself Ahead of Arlovski
“I put myself ahead of Arlovski for the pure fact that I bring a more complete package. He’s great at what he does. He’s a phenomenal striker, but lax at grappling…. My physique works for me. I consider myself like 75 percent of the Americans out there. I give 100 percent. And I like food…. I’m looking for that big endorsement, like Taco Bell, Pizza Hut or McDonald’s. Maybe after this fight, I’ll do a cookbook.”
Roy Nelson believes that this fight is not going to be one way traffic tomorrow night against Andrei Arlovski at the BankAtlantic Center in the Sunshine State of Florida. Nelson is not only looking at winning the fight he is also trying to come away with some big named food company to sponsor him. Best of luck to you Mr. Nelson. Remember to check out the fight tomorrow on CBS. Or if you are unable to watch come back to MMA-Live after the event for all the results from EliteXC: HEAT.
EliteXC Releases Extra Tickets for “Heat”
There has been such a great demand for tomorrows EliteXC event at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. Tomorrows event will feature Kimbo Slice against Ken Shamrock in the main event. Kimbo Slice has been gaining some popularity of late and it could be safe to say that he is the most well known mixed martial arts fighter in North America right now.
>“We’re pleased to announce that we have just opened up some sections and made more $30 tickets available,’’ said Jeremy Lappen, Head of Fight Operations for EliteXC. “Not that we didn’t expect it, but the response to this fight card has been amazing. Thank you, South Florida.”
As the quote above states you will be able to get the extra tickets at $30 each although it is a bit of short notice for those who would have to travel to the event. So if you are living out near the Sunshine State and want to catch some live MMA action tomorrow night buy yourself a ticket and head down to the BankAtlantic Center.
Also please vote in the poll below. Give us your views on who will win in tomorrow nights main event in Florida. Kimbo or Shamrock?
Who will win?
- Kimbo Slice (62%, 28 Votes)
- Ken Shamrock (38%, 17 Votes)
Total Voters: 45
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