Archive for the 'Elite XC' Category

EliteXC: Funeral for a Friend (Kimbo Lies Bleeding)

Posted by Dave Walsh on 22nd October 2008

Today, we the MMA fans, media and those involved with the industry mull over the death of one of our own — today we remember the ProElite family. Now, I know what you are thinking, you are thinking of Gary Shaw standing firm, signing fighters directly to himself as opposed to the company, or pushing millions of dollars into creating stars. Maybe you are thinking about Kimbo Slice and his impressive career that began and will most likely die in an EliteXC branded cage. Or maybe you are thinking about a company that dared to dream in a hostile world that really didn’t need ProElite. There is no doubt in my mind that upon reflection, we could find some good to go with the bad that was ProElite.

ProElite seemed cursed from the very start, as the company launched attempting to be immediate, direct competition to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. UFC, the established juggernaut and company single-handedly responsible for launching the MMA revolution in the United States had been untouchable for a long time. The EliteXC concept was, in and of itself, a sound one. There was substantial risk involved in launching a brand new Mixed Martial Arts brand and immediately taking it national. An agreement between the newly founded and mind-bogglingly public company, ProElite Holdings, and Showtime garnered a new promotion; EliteXC. The first event also mind-bogglingly held in MMA hotbed Mississippi, featuring Renzo Gracie vs. Frank Shamrock as their big draw.

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Posted in Dave Walsh, Elite XC, Kimbo Slice | 1 Comment »

EliteXC Disappears Into the Ether

Posted by Alan Conceicao on 20th October 2008

As Josh Gross details in his SI news piece , EXC is apparently all done. From a personal perspective, I’m somewhat surprised that the talk with Showtime Sports proved fruitless given the talk in the last week or so. The combination of the lack of brand awareness (thus justifying the continued existence of EXC in particular) with the poor financial states of both the company and the markets were enough to ultimately bury it, however. It doesn’t necessarily prove that MMA on CBS or Showtime are dead, but it seems likely that its definitely hit a speed bump. If there any consolation to the independent fighters in the sport, EXC was never able to relate itself as a strong brand (in part, because of the style of promotion it chose), which would seem to make any resulting replacement startup from Showtime or CBS fairly painless when it comes to replacing it should they choose to soldier on.

Another interesting aspect to think about is the talk of Strikeforce getting live fights on NBC. As far as replacements go, its tough to think of a better promoter that could come along to snatch up some of the mid and high level talents once promoted by the organization. Time will only tell.

Posted in Elite XC | No Comments »

EliteXC: And now for a few words

Posted by Alan Conceicao on 8th October 2008

After a few days of shock, surprise, and then apparent rage, it seems that to review the event virtually everyone on the internet who would read this has already watched would seem to be senseless. However, the reaction to the event and the aftermath are clearly very strong and omnipresent. Maybe that will change after yet another “world changing” episode of TUF tonight, who knows? But for now, its worth noting what’s happened in the aftermath.

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Posted in Alan Conceicao, Elite XC | No Comments »

EliteXC/Kimbo/Seth Petruzelli/There are no words (Yet)

Posted by Dave Walsh on 4th October 2008

Posted in Elite XC, Kimbo Slice | 4 Comments »

Exclusive Ken Shamrock Interview: On Kimbo, Wrestling Deaths, and his long history as a top star in the world of MMA.

Posted by Jonathan Snowden on 3rd October 2008

Exclusive interview with the biggest star in the history of the sport.

Posted in Elite XC, Interviews, Ken Shamrock | No Comments »

Exclusive Gina Carano Interview: on Sounding Sexy, Talking Sh*t, and cutting weight

Posted by Jonathan Snowden on 25th September 2008

We talk with the sport’s brightest star about sex, talking trash, and even her period. Oh yeah, and fighting.

Posted in Elite XC, Gina Carano, Interviews | No Comments »

Surprise! Affliction and EXC Cohabitate

Posted by Alan Conceicao on 24th September 2008

In a move that has to be considered stunning at the least, its been announced that Affliction is loaning out Roy Nelson and Andrei Arlovski to EliteXC for the October 4th event roughly two weeks away. Its a move that pleases Arlovski by giving him a fight and a lot of money, it gives EXC a fight for hardcore fans, it provides CBS one of the top heavyweights in the world and a recognizable name for UFC fans, and so, so much more. How much more? Well, depends how much speculation you want to put in to all this.

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Posted in Affliction, Alan Conceicao, CBS, Elite XC | No Comments »

Kimbo Versus Shamrock: Sport or Spectacle?

Posted by Jonathan Snowden on 28th August 2008

Sport or Spectacle? Total MMA’s Jonathan Snowden and Kendall Shields argue it out.

Posted in Elite XC, Jonathan Snowden, Ken Shamrock, Kendall Shields, Kimbo Slice | No Comments »

Treading Water in 2008: An Impending North American MMA Implosion?

Posted by Dave Walsh on 28th August 2008

This right now is a pivotal point in history for the fledgling sport of Mixed Martial Arts. In the past few months we have seen one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s self-proclaimed rivals, the IFL crumble to the ground, with EliteXC looking like it might follow. Both are publicly held companies, and if anything, there are lessons to be found in each one, as every aspect of their business plans are available for us to view. There is still no word if Zuffa has outright purchased the IFL or if they have simply bought out a few fighter contracts and licensed some footage to use for highlights for said fighters. The IFL announced earlier today that they are 35.7 million dollars in the hole, with a grand total of 4 remaining employees right now. It is safe to say that the International Fight League was an interesting approach to capitalizing on the MMA boom, but an untimely failure.
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Posted in Business, Dave Walsh, Elite XC, IFL, MMA, Strikeforce | 4 Comments »