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Wallid Ismail sues Elite XC
By Zach Arnold | January 13, 2007
Message from Denis Martins.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTIST, WALLID ISMAIL, FILES A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE PROMOTERS OF ELITE XC
Wallid Ismail, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion, and Mixed Martial Arts World Champion, known and respected around the world for being the first person to defeat three members of the legendary Gracie family, the first family of Mixed Martial Arts, has filed a lawsuit in Federal Court, Newark – New Jersey against the promoters of Pro-Elite Inc – Elite XC – whose mixed martial arts event is scheduled to be shown on SHOWTIME on February 10, 2007. Ismail claims that Pro-Elite raised $10,000,000 and secured the ShowTime event based on his efforts and reputation, with an event known as Jungle Fight Championship and then “squeezed him out.” He is claiming, in part, an ownership interest in Pro-Elite.
The defendants include DOUGLAS DELUCA, a co-executive producer for ABC’s high profile, late-night vehicle, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’, CURT BRENDLINGER, a television executive, whose clients have included NBC Sports, Chrysler Motors, Anheuser-Busch and the Los Angeles Times, DAVID MARSHAL, a co-founder of Youbet.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBET), the largest legal online gaming company in the U.S. and ERIC PULIER, a member of SANTA MONICA CAPITAL PARTNERS, the company that helped put the private placement together. GARY SHAW, a member of Pro-Elite was not named as a defendant but is mentioned in the complaint as is SHOWTIME. Ismail’s lawyer ROBERT HANTMAN, who is in California, taking the deposition of STEVEN SEAGAL, says that he and his client are prepared to resolve the case in the court room not the ring.
Topics: All Topics, Brazil, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 28 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Another reason I’m not so hot about EXC.
eh I dont think this is going to affect anything.
Why are comments closed for the “5 good reasons UFC will not buy PRIDE” article? I would have liked to comment on that.
As well as ALOT of other people…hmm…makes ya think huh?
Do you have to ask ivan? Probably because his first reason has to do with his claim to fame about pride yakuza problems which has never been found to be linked to pride by any police investigation, by saying so makes his first point false, and idiotic, since police in japan are not investigating pride, why would american fbi start to be concerned. You know how laughable that is, that ufc would be concerned buying pride because of fbi investigation.
I ask people who visit this forum to ask the same thing I ask zach always, just be an unbiased person, who reports news, who reports stories equally, when k-1 is under investigation you never hear zach conspiracy theories, only rare glimpses of it, which is ironic since ishii has an actual police investigation going on. As I said zach should rename the website from fightopinion, to fight inquirer.
I would’ve liked to comment on that article too, Ivan, but i think if it were open it’d mainly attract the usual bunch of haters and flamers, stating “Pride never die” and throwing around insults.
Hmm, i wonder what Wallid exactly means with them getting the contract based on his reputation and work. Did he work as a middleman, or did they show Showtime footage of Jungle Fight? I hope that we’ll get to know a bit more over the next few weeks. But it’s interesting too see just how many problems most of these upstart promotions have, it’s really 2001 all over again…
please send me e mail and I will send you entire complaint.
This site should have one or two independent(non-article-writing) editors to simply delete flame-posts when things get out of hand, rather than resorting to closing comments for select topics from the get go. Until then, there’s always email, people!
(I thought the “5 reasons” bit was pretty good, by the way. Made me think one or two things over)
ANYWAY, did I just see Steven Seagal’s name in ALL CAPS on fightopinion.com? :S
Does JF have any connection with ROTR?
Why any true MMA fan would support Gary Shaw and Elite MMA is beyond me. This is already the second shady dealing reported about him, and his first show hasn’t even happened yet. The first is him using Frank Shamrock, despite Frank having a contract with Strikeforce already. The guy is fishy. The fact that guys like Renzo Gracie and JD Penn associate themselves with a businessman like this also says a lot about their real motives for the sport of MMA.
This guy reeks of boxing garbage. Please keep him out of the sport.
I loved the 5 reasons too. Great article Zach!
MMACritic: What are you basing your rather drastic conclusions on?
Question/Comment on the “5 Reasons” articles since the comments were non-sensically closed:
(For anyone with good insider knowledge): While PRIDE’s organized crime ties are publicly known b/c they were outed, how much of the rest of the fight industry is tied into organized crime that we just don’t know about? And what is/would be its overall effect in North America?
I mean boxing is well known to be tied into organized crime and imho I don’t really feel that mafia ties really effects anyone’s (general public) opinion on the sport in (North) America. Mafia and org crime has been so glamorized by media that many people actually like the mafia (if they’ve never had actual experience with them) and generally seem to not give a damn who’s behind what.
What am I NOT basing my opinion on.
He uses Shamrock when he is already signed to another fight.
He screws over Wallid.
He sounded like a used cars salesman on Beatdown Radio. He talked about bringing in the best fighters, and unifying the sport, but has no way of doing this due to the contract currently in place in MMA. Then he goes out and gives us Shamrock/Renzo, which is hardly putting on the best competition in MMA. Especially ater seeing Renzo/Newton 2 in the IFL, Renzo is hardly anything to watch at this point.
He is from boxing. He can sugarcoat it any way he wants, and he might be better then Don King…. but he still comes from a shady business.
If it smells like crap…. And looks like crap…. And it tastes like crap….. It is most definitely crap.
MMA Critic you aren’t a real MMA fan. You’re a UFC mark. Who gave you authority to tell MMA fans what they can or can’t watch.
Since when is Wallid Ismail a trustworthy individual himself?
I wouldnt say the Shamrock/Baroni fight was a done deal. If it was Strikeforce would have been able to prevent EXC from having SHmrock fight…BUT they havent. Which IMO means that UNLIKE the rumors that it was a done deal, Im thinking it was ONLY a verbal agreement even if it was that. So honestly u cant put EXC into the wrong on that one. More of blame should go on Frank who knows what fights he has coming up and for whom. I do agree with the lame Shamrock/.Gracie matchuip…that IMO doesnt have anyones intrest BUT lots of my friends are more psyched about the rest of the card with Louiseu, Silva and Bennett its not a bad card at all. NOT GREAT but its a start.
is showtime buying pride?
MMA Critic… So as I feared, you’re basing it on nothing at all. I was HOPING you had some actual dirt on the guy from his boxing background, which is why I asked.
Shamrock vs. Gracie was set for WF long before Shamrock vs. Baroni for Strikeforce, and all that happened was that EXC basically took over the fight, which was always scheduled to happen in jan/feb anyway. If Shamrock’s contract with Strikeforce truly prohibits him from fighting elsewhere first, Shamrock – Gracie simply won’t happen, and REGARDLESS, EXC are not the ones to blame for that mess, as it’s either a Shamrock contract breach or, in all likelyhood, and definitely at least partially, a Strikeforce F-up.
As for Ismail/EXC, you’re gonna draw conclusions based on one man’s accusation? We don’t even know what it’s about; nevermind if the accusations are even based on truth. You might as well call all Ismail-fans morons for supporting a guy who tries to suck money whenever he has the chance. That’d be the (equally groundless) stance to take a.t.m. Not to mention the accusation specifically lists Shaw as a non-defendant.
What are you NOT basing your opinion on? Facts, my friend.
Okay lets see why EXC is already shady:
1. Sharking Frank Shamrock from Strikeforce, at best on a technicality, at worst by outright breaking his contract. Don’t pretend this doesn’t reek, and honestly it’s exactly the kind of behavior i’d expect from a boxing company.
2. Bringing the failed WFA’s president into the fold right after he ran the company into the ground.
3. Being sued by the promoter of Jungle Fight, a respected organization that’s run events in south america for years and recently did it’s first show in Europe.
These are three major reasons why EXC is in the ‘Shady’ book right now as far as i’m concerned
Why is it that so many people accuse any moves by any non-UFC org to be “shady”?
1. UFC bought out a company to block other upstart org’s from getting tv time.
2. UFC bought out a struggling company in order to get selected fighter’s contracts – presumably they get the contracts that the fighters signed with the WFA and these fighters are not free to negotiate or fight elsewhere whether they want to or not.
3. UFC made a lot of shady moves in getting legitimized in Nevada
a. By blocking its original owners attempt to get licensed and then person’s with influence with he NSAC (Ferittas (sp)) bought up the company for cents on the dollar and then got licensed.
b. Former NSAC director is now one of their senior management
This is what business in MMA is like – eat or be eaten. So don’t turn a blind eye to everything that Zuffa has done to give itself a foothold and then “poo-poo” another organization that makes similar moves!
1. Again, Shamrock vs. Gracie was set before EXC was even created. How is this so difficult to understand? Oh, I forgot, Strikeforce are the small guys, so we must feel sorry for them and believe everything they say against the evil Showtime corporation…
2. There are two sides to that story, and even if it was Lappen’s fault, he’s brought into a different company in a different position, and he’s obviously not useless. Not to mention, what exactly was shady about WFA in the first place? All I saw was money not being paid and everyone being honest about it. There’s nothing shady about screwing things up. EXC hiring him is “shady” only if you decide to not think anything over at all.
3. Jungle Fight, closely associated with lunatic Antonio Inoki, which, if put under the same (ridiculous) spotlight as EXC means JF are proven criminals. *sigh*
AND by the same token UFC is the mafia since it’s owned by two casino-brothers and run by a boxing-mark. Good gawd that’s shady.
Sheesh, get some proof or at least serious indications already.
Lookie here for instance. All it took was one search and half a scroll down the first page…
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/11/25/Sports/Lacy_bout_drew_15_000.shtml
But seriously, for all the bashing boxing writers get from the MMA-community for their unfair bashing of “our” sport, it’s hilarious to see some of the very own people on “our” side be just as unfairly judgmental the other way.
3. Being sued by the promoter of Jungle Fight, a respected organization that’s run events in south america for years and recently did it’s first show in Europe.
Jungle Fight also has put on a few works and paid fighters to take dives, so as enjoyable as some of their shows have been, I wouldn’t call them “respected”.
In the three months that EliteXC has been in existance they’re embroiled in a contract dispute over their headline fighter and are being sued by someone who is claiming he was pushed out of the organization. Are we not supposed to question this? Are we not supposed to say ‘Hey, why is EliteXC hiring the president of WFA, the largest bellyflop of an MMA organization ever?’ or ‘Hey, Bill Goldberg and Mario Lopez seems like an odd announcing team’
Yeah, the UFC has been involved in tons of stuff. Past the stuff we know about, the amount of skeletons and dirty laundry in their closet must be impressive indeed. Yeah, I do cut the UFC slack because the quality of their end product is above and beyond everyone else. I’ll also be the first to say that EliteXC’s show is good. But at this point there is no product to judge. So I judge them based on the news.
Bill Goldberg did a great job announcing on the WFA show. I personally have seen him at a number of UFC shows. Mario Lopez has every bit the legitimacy as Joe Rogan does to be a UFC announcer. Why don’t you let EXC run 3 or 4 shows before shitting on them? How long have you been MMA fans? Do you remember UFC’s shows in 2001 and 2002 up until Tito/Shamrock? Maybe you don’t, or maybe you weren’t into MMA back then.
“In the three months that EliteXC has been in existance they’re embroiled in a contract dispute over their headline fighter”
– BEEEEP. That’s the buzzer for “wrong answer”. STRIKEFORCE have CLAIMED there’s a contract dispute, and everything from the fight still being on to Strikeforce changing their show dates indicates nothing has been done wrong. THIS IS WHAT WE KNOW. How on earth does this put EXC in a bad light? If anything, it(looks like)’s Strikeforce who have acted like babies, and/or Shamrock who’s word can’t be trusted. Then again, Shamrock has never said he wouldn’t take the Baroni fight, so perhaps he’s just being naive in signing for two fights in two months. Either way, why didn’t Strikeforce complain earlier when this fight has been set since fall ’06?
“and are being sued by someone who is claiming he was pushed out of the organization.”
– Yes, one claim by one man, which even if based on truth may not mean anything at all, since we do not know the details or how incriminating the accusations are.
“Are we not supposed to question this? Are we not supposed to say ‘Hey, why is EliteXC hiring the president of WFA, the largest bellyflop of an MMA organization ever?”
– Who are you to decide that because a man failed at running one company he is not qualified for a different job in another? There were plenty aspects of WFA that were universally praised. Why would you even question this without having anything to point to that makes it seem like a bad/weird decision? ‘Dude, that guy was the captain when Team X ended bottom of the league, so Team Y signing him to be their youth scout is nuts!’ …
“’ or ‘Hey, Bill Goldberg and Mario Lopez seems like an odd announcing team’”
– Go ahead! But how on earth does personal preference in announcers make grounds for arguing that a company is making questionable decisions? Goldberg and Lopez aren’t exactly two random people from the street with zero MMA-knowledge.
“But at this point there is no product to judge. So I judge them based on the news.”
– So you judge an announce team you haven’t heard yet and an employee you haven’t seen in action? And if you can’t judge a product until you’ve seen the end result, how come you’ll take a lawsuit at face value based on one man’s claims? Or decide EXC have stolen a fighter illegally when there to this point has been nothing pointing in that direction?
I mean, if there were ten lawsuits filed and heaps of contract-breach claims from other promotions, sure, the amount of accusations in themselves would accumulate to a reason for suspision, but what we have seen so far really is nothing at all, not LEAST since it is a new promotion, and we know no one gets off to an easy start in a business like this.
Oh, calling me on my old school cred are you? I can’t even beleive i’m responding, but I’ve been an MMA fan since they mass released their first 10 events on VHS back around ’97. I thought it was insane that Joe Rogan was hired to do commentary, but he EARNED my approval over time.
There’s something called ‘attacking the argument, not the person’.
As a side note, I am an idiot because i confused Mario Lopez with Carlos Mencia … don’t ask me how i did it but there it is. As for Goldberg doing a good job on the WFA show, i respectfully disagree, but that’s a point of opinion.
JTHue : Cesar Gracie LEFT World Fighter because of the whole situation between Frank and Royce saying Shamrock ‘backed out for some reason or another’. I encourage you to find any scrap of information anywhere on the internet saying EliteXC was involved with or bought any contracts from The World Fighter. Because it doesn’t exist: that idea is a hypothesis without any proven fact. November 20th was when Cesar dropped The World Fighter and EliteXC announced the fight on Dec 14th. However the contract for Baroni vs Shamrock that Strikeforce signed was announced on December 8th. The whole stink about a contract dispute was made public on December 18th. Note that’s when it went public. I’m sure the day Strikeforce got wind of it they were working in the background trying to sort things out. That’s a contract dispute. I don’t claim to know the truth behind it, but that doesn’t change what it is.
Past that point, yes I am giving them a hard time because honestly I don’t see why I shouldn’t. When this was announced and Penn was attached, I was very excited to see what would come of it. Should I have held back on my excitement for it because i hadn’t seen it yet? That’s dumb. PEOPLE JUDGE THINGS BASED ON WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT THEM. I don’t pretend to know more than what i read on the internet. However, considering I run a website that tries to link every single MMA article out there, I’d say I know enough to be allowed my opinions.
“PEOPLE JUDGE THINGS BASED ON WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT THEM.”
And again, you don’t appear to KNOW anything negative, except for a subjective dislike of Goldberg. Yes, of course you have every right in the world to not like EXC. The argument here is accusations about the company BEING “shady”, as you’ll notice Mr. MMA Critic started out, and you followed up on. I absolutely commend you for sticking around in the discussion, by the way.
Regarding your pointing out of dates – fine, I was probably wrong, and am perfectly fine with withdrawing that part. I never said they had taken over the contract though. The deal is that it’s the same fight, the same matchmaker, and EXC got the Showtime deal WF was banking on getting in order to put the fight on in the first place. There’s obviously a connection of some sort. But anyway, we can disregard that whole point, and then what is left is…
STRIKEFORCE have CLAIMED there’s a contract dispute, and everything from the fight still being on to Strikeforce changing their show dates indicates nothing has been done wrong. THIS IS WHAT WE KNOW. How on earth does this put EXC in a bad light? If anything, it(looks like)’s Strikeforce who have acted like babies, and/or Shamrock who’s word can’t be trusted. Then again, Shamrock has never said he wouldn’t take the Baroni fight, so perhaps he’s just being naive in signing for two fights in two months.
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