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An Open Letter From Brett Rogers
Brett Rogers and Team Bision today issued an open letter all about the EliteXC/ Kimbo Slice situation. The letter was released over on Rogers website but has since been taken down. No worries though… you can view the letter in all it’s entirety right here:
An Open letter to all
On behalf of Brett Rogers, Team Bison and everyone representing our camp: we would like to clarify a few issues that may be mis- interrupted by the press and the many many message boards.
First we would like to start out by once again thanking Gary Shaw and Elite XC. Elite is our home and it is where we hope to be for a long time. They treat their fighters great. More then the day to day treatment of the fighters they are interested in developing fighters and making long term commitments to their fighters. Unlike other promotions who have a tradition of “one and done” and cancelling contracts without notice; Elite is standing by their fighters. We are proud to be with the organization that brought back Yves, Sammy and Phil when others wrote them off. We were proud to be part of an organization that gave James Thompson a chance at redemption (and in our mind earned another chance on Saturday!). Elite gave us an amazing opportunity to bring aboard great sponsors who could really get their money’s worth.
We really believe in Elite and hope to bring more of our fighters up through their ranks. We do not want anyone to think for a second we are ungrateful, angry or otherwise disappointed with Gary Shaw, Elite, Showtime or CBS. And no; we have not been forced or threatened to say this and anyone who thinks we could be does not know Team Bison. Simply put; we will always speak our minds and will not be intimidated; which brings us to the Kimbo situation.
Brett had won 6 fight before coming to Elite. He struggled on the local circuit to find fights. He was pretty much avoided from day 1. The guys he fought simply provided zero competition and he put them all away early. When he fought for the regional title he fought a guy who was 10-1 and suppose to be this great striker. Brett KO’d him in under 10 seconds. We went to Hawaii where despite changing the rules as we stepped through the ropes and again during the fight; Brett KO’d his opponent. Finally we got to go BIG and face serious competition in Elite XC in Texas. The main event on that show was Kimbo Slice vs Bo Cantrall. Bo is a sub .500 fighter who was on a 4 fight losing streak when he got the call to come to Elite. On that show Brett faced Ralph Kelly who a decent up and comer with a good amateur record. Brett had a tougher opponent but got less money and a on the Under Card.
Next stop Miami where Kimbo is again the main event and blown up huge. His opponent; the venerable Tank Abbot. I believe the last time Tank won a democrat was in the White House and gas was $1.50 a gallon. Brett took on Pride veteran James Thompson for way less money and way down on the card. Brett puts him away in the 1st half of the 1st round.
CBS show. Kimbo gets the same James Thompson Brett had just KO’d. James coming in losing 3 of his last 4 and his last two straight by KO. Brett gets the opening spot against Jon Murphy. Murphy a 9-2 fighter with great Jujitsu who had impressively KO’d Dave Huckabee. Again the tougher fight for less money. 3 times running – tougher guys for less money. Not a great pattern!
And you know we would be fine with that as well; however Kimbo is not only getting the softer spots and the heavier cheddar (as they say) he is also being pushed as the monster; best fighter in the organization. As a fighter Brett is expected to want to fight the best. Our Team has a focus to be the best. Elite is our home and we are told KIMBO is the best. Now why would Brett want to fight anyone else? Every interview Brett has done since before the Kelly fight has started and ended with a Kimbo question. It is only natural he would like to answer the Kimbo question once and for all.
On a personal note: we like Kimbo very much. We have nothing but respect for him, Bas and the love and support his crew shows him. We could do with out the silliness to be sure; but hey it is the fight game and some times people just have to act that way; even if they don’t. But this isn’t about hating the man or his accomplishments. This is about being the best. We respect Kimbo does this to feed his kids, care for his family. Brett has a family too.
Fighting is about challenging yourself; testing the limits. It is about courage and strength and honor. There is no honor is fighting down a tier. Elite is saying this man is the best – We are Elite! Brett has earned the opportunity to fight the best. Everyone he has fought got dusted in the first round. It is time to see how he does at the top of card against the man they are pushing as the standard bearer.
If they believe that Kimbo is not ready for Brett; that Brett is too dangerous for Kimbo – We can accept that. Frankly there are a lot of people Brett shouldn’t be allowed to fight and maybe Kimbo is one of those people. We are fine with that decision. All we ask then is that we be allowed to be in that spot with all it’s benefits and responsibilities and take any and all comers without reservations.
This letter would not be complete without mentioning the other forgotten man in all this, Antonio “Big Foot” Silva. Antonio is a certified, absolute all around warrior. He is one of the very best heavyweight fighters in the world. We have a world of respect for Antonio and ATT and would consider it a tremendous honor to compete with him. If it was a fight for the title; if was billed as the fight between the two best fighters in Elite; we would be overjoyed. However it does not seem right that Brett and Antonio should be fighting just to see who gets to be the number 2 man behind Kimbo.
I’m willing to bet that Antonio feels the same way. As true warriors we want to fight the best and right now everything; judging by the money, the publicity and the billboards; that is Kimbo. Has Kimbo earned that spot? We are not convinced. So we are calling Kimbo out. If this is a challenge he does not feel ready to accept; that is cool. That we can understand. But it is somewhat unreasonable to ask everyone to play second fiddle – to fight tougher opponents for less money while another fighter makes bank on the also rans. Brett has fought three very tough heavy weights with legitimate skills. The result in every one of those fights was a first round KO. No decisions, no controversy just straight up cart them off wins. Yet every interview and every place he goes he hears Kimbo this, Kimbo that. Hell, if we were not asking to fight Kimbo, Gary would be ashamed of us and would be wondering what type of wimps he had fighting for him. If Kimbo is the badest man on the planet; then lets do this thing. All due respect…step up or step aside.
Thank You
Brett Rogers, Mike Reilly, and Team Bison
EliteXC: Kimbo Slice Vs. James Thompson
Photo courtesy of Combatlifestyle.com. For more photos from this album: http://www.combatlifestyle.com/pics/view_album.php?id=882
Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson was the headlining event for EliteXC’s “Saturday Night Fights” Kimbo should of finished this fight in a matter of minutes instead James Thompson took him down quite a few times where Kimbo proved to be the weaker man. Even though Slice had been training with Bas Rutten he lacked the knowledge on basic hip escapes and instead was forced to take some punches and elbows from James Thompson.
The fight went into the third round where judging by the look on Kimbo’s face he was angry about what was happening. So Kimbo went out there and bust Thompson’s cauliflower ear. With the killer instinct he has he attacked it until blood was pouring out. The referee stopped the fight after a few more punches from Kimbo. Although I believe the stoppage was premature one or two more punches from Kimbo and Thompson would of been unconscious. James Thompson believed he had a fighting chance and gave the referee a little slap on the face to prove it.
Anyway Kimbo Slice retained his undefeated record and is rumored to be fighting Brett Rogers next. Brett Rogers is also undefeated at heavyweight and would like a shot at Kimbo to prove he isn’t really that good. Here is what Rogers said in the post-fight press conference:
A man is man. And what I saw in this man today, it was just garbage. I’m going to speak it real, it was garbage. You did tap. You did tap out, I saw it, I was right there.
Check out the post fight press conference highlights at CagePotato
EliteXC: Saturday Night Fights Analysis
Well In my opinion this event was awesome. There were some very good fights and a lot of drama surrounding a few of them. Kimbo Slice kept his unbeaten record as did Gina Carano. Robbie Lawler retained his championship due to a finger slipping in Scott Smith’s eye, the fight was ruled no contest.
It was without a doubt a milestone moment in the MMA world. Without a doubt the fight of the night would have to go to Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith. Although it ended like it did, the action and drama surround it was all amazing.
The event was said to have sold 8,033 tickets but rumors are going about of mass ticket giveaways to make it look good on TV.
Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson EliteXC Preview
Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson the headlining event for EliteXC on CBS tonight. The first ever main event to be broadcast on National Television. “Saturday Night Fights” will air tonight on CBS at 9PM EST.
Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson (2-0) will be taking on James “The Colossus” Thompson (14-8). There is big debate on whether this fight is even worthy of being a main event. For a start Kimbo has only ever been in 2 professional fights and hasn’t really proved himself to the MMA world as of yet. Secondly people believe that James Thompson was specifically chosen because of his weak chin.
Can Kimbo finish this fight as quick as his other two?
He definitely can! James Thompson has an incredibly weak chin. Combine that with Kimbo’s huge striking power and I think fans are going to be seeing a fight ending with a KO in the first round, maybe even the first two minutes.
Kimbo has been training with Bas Rutten
Thats right Kimbo is being trained by one of the greatest heavyweights in the MMA world, Bas Rutten (28-4-1). Both Bas and Kimbo seem to be getting on heres a quote from Kimbo about Bas:
“Bas is the man. You know what I’m saying? Can’t get a better trainer, a better coach a better adviser of the sport and of the game. I mean he explains everything to me why. And to my knowledge I can pick it up better. I can understand the cause and the effect of everything, and I wouldn’t want to change that.”
I see this fight going only one way…
…and that is in the favor of Kimbo Slice. He is too powerful for James Thompson. I believe a better opponent could of been picked for Kimbo but I guess you don’t want to show up your top guy the first time you get on national TV.
MMA Live predicts Kimbo will get a first round KO
EliteXC: Gina Carano Comes in Overweight
Tonight will be one of the biggest nights for Mixed Martial Arts publicity. The EliteXC will be debuting their show on CBS free of charge to the fans. EliteXC put some of their most popular fighters in the spotlight for this event including Kimbo Slice, Robbie Lawler and Gina Carano herself (above).
Unfortunately for Carano she came in overweight at yesterdays weigh-ins and will be forced to give up 12.5% of her fight purse to Kaitlin Young. Here are the official weigh-in results for all fighters:
MAIN CARD
Kimbo Slice (235.5) vs. James Thompson (257)
Robbie Lawler (184.5) vs. Scott Smith (184.5)*
Gina Carano (144.5) vs. Kaitlin Young (140.5)
Jon Murphy (260.5) vs. Brett Rogers (263.5)
Phil Baroni (185) vs. Joey Villasenor (184.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Carlton Haselrig (263) vs. Carlos Moreno (261)
Jim Bova (160.5) vs. Chris Liguori (161)
Matt Makowski (171) vs. Nick Serra (167)
Wilson Reis (140.5) vs. Justin Robbins (140.5)
James “Binky” Jones (154.5) vs. Calvin Kattar (155.5)
Zach Makovsky (135) vs. Andre Soares (134)
Mike Groves (154) vs. Joe Sampieri (155)
EliteXC on CBS: Betting Odds
Here are the latest odds from Bodog. Gina Carano, James Thompson and Kimbo Slice are all huge favorites in their fights.
Heavyweights:
Brett Rogers -280
Jon Murphy +220
Heavyweights:
Carlton Haselrig -200
Carlos Moreno +160
Women’s 140 lbs:
Gina Carano -350
Kaitlin Young +275
Middleweights:
Phil Baroni -105
Joey Villasenor -125
Heavyweights:
Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson -600
James Thompson +400
Middleweights:
Robbie Lawler -245
Scott Smith +195
Chuck Liddell Responds to Kimbo Slice
The media battle between heavyweight Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell still continues.
Recently Kimbo Slice released a video of him slating Chuck Liddell (above). He stated that Chuck Liddell was “only creating a monster”. That video can be found here.
Over the past weekend the injured Chuck Liddell struck back on “Rear Naked Radio” questioning Slice’s body of work.
“All I said is fight to someone real,” Liddell said. “The only guy he lost to in his street-fight things came into the UFC and lost. Fight a guy that is real and fight a guy… who has a few wins in MMA, and then talk about it.”
“Before he talks about fighting me, he might want to think about beating somebody that has a winning record,” Liddell said. “He’s an Internet sensation who beat up guys at Taco Bell. Come on. How hard is that to do?”
Second EliteXC on CBS set for July 26th
The Second EliteXC show on CBS has been set for July 26th. This will be the second of four shows confirmed to air through this year featuring EliteXC events. The last two dates are yet to be confirmed.
EliteXC’s first show on network television will feature their most popular fighters such as Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano and Robbie Lawler. All three of these top fighters recently signed new contracts with EliteXC to keep them there on a multi-year deal.
I guess…. Ignore last post for now
So it turns out that my last post should be ignored… At least for now. EliteXC has resigned Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano and Robbie Lawler.
“I am proud and very excited to announce that Kimbo, Gina and Robbie have all re-signed with us,’’
The terms of the long term contracts were not announced. So who knows Kimbo at UFC by 2009? 
“We’re extremely happy to get these deals done with Kimbo, Gina and Robbie,’’ Shaw said. “Fighters know EliteXC is the place to be and the organization to fight for, which is why we’ve always been able to sign or re-sign almost each and every one of our fighters.
The three fighters are EliteXC’s most popular fighters and will all be fighting in the first of four prime time MMA Events on CBS. Make sure to check it out May 31
Maybe: Kimbo Vs. Liddell
If Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson (3-0-0) was to fight some more notable opponents White would bring him to the UFC to fight Liddell.
“If Kimbo fought anybody that mattered, I would book that tomorrow,” White said.
“The fact is, Kimbo’s not there yet. He would get destroyed. I heard he just got knocked out by Forrest Griffin last week in a sparring match after a kick to the head.”
If Kimbo was to beat James Thompson May 31st it would be his most notable win to date. Not quite enough to get everybody talking about his skill but it’s a start. To really get some attention a win over Ricco Rodriguez would make him a talking point. Who knows maybe we will be seeing Kimbo Slice in the UFC by the end of 2008?