In probably the biggest news item on Monday, EliteXC is officially done, as the company will file for bankruptcy come Friday.
EliteXC, which aired three shows on CBS, was trying to get a major deal with the broadcast network. While CBS was very happy with the ratings the promotion brought them, and with the working relationship the two sides had, things started going south after the last EliteXC TV event, the main event of which was scheduled to be Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice. Unfortunately, Shamrock had to pull out of the match in the last minute due to an accidental cut in training/warm-up. This caused panic backstage, as EliteXC had no choice but to find a replacement in the last minute, since they couldn’t afford not to showcase their biggest star — Kimbo Slice. While Frank Shamrock, a commentator for the promotion, was one of the options, the company decided to go with Seth Petruzelli, a decision that now seems to have done them in. Although many weren’t shocked when Petruzelli — a mid-level fighter that UFC felt had no future, and someone who was originally scheduled for the undercard of the event — was able to knock out Kimbo in seconds, it was his after-show comments that killed everything.
Petruzelli had a slip where he mentioned that he got extra money from EliteXC to keep the fight standing. As accusations of foul play and match-fixing started a brewing, Seth tried to back up claiming he was told there’s a knockout bonus (which there is) and he meant that standing up with Kimbo and possibly knocking him out would have gotten him more money (logically true). However, there was enough noise coming out of it that the Florida Boxing Commission wanted to investigate further. Apparently, when CBS found out about this, they pulled out of the talks, which they were already well-invested in.
The November 8th event in Reno, NV, has not been canceled as of yet, but we’re awaiting word on this shortly. All fighters originally scheduled for that event were told that the show is off. It’ll also be interesting to see whether CBS picks up Affliction or another group, and how UFC and Affliction in general will react to this when it comes to picking up some fighters’ contracts. We’ll keep you updated.
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |