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The PR spin on the Seth Petruzelli/Kimbo Slice situation
By Zach Arnold | October 6, 2008
Update: Elite XC comments on the situation.
I commend Sam Caplan for his reporting, but this title reflects a poor choice of words. “Petruzelli disputes reports he received a bribe to keep Slice fight a standup affair.” This is not so much a knock on Sam as it is on Petruzelli’s “they twisted my words” PR spin.
What Petruzelli’s really caught disputing are not so much ‘media reports’, but rather his own comments that were transcribed at various MMA media outlets and made available earlier in the day. By labeling it semantically as disputing reports, it essentially is creating a theme of “Seth vs. the media” when the theme really should be “Seth’s comments vs. Seth’s new comments.” If the theme is kept in tact of “Seth vs. the media,” then people are more inclinced to tune out the story. If it’s Seth’s own words vs. his new words, he’s in trouble.
Previous stories:
- Can Elite XC management be prosecuted for this?
- AOL Fanhouse: Seth Petruzelli on Elite XC: ‘They didn’t want me to take Kimbo Slice down’
- Bloody Elbow: What else has Elite XC been up to?
The reason this story matters is because bribery or conspiracy to commit bribery in relation to fixing a fight is a criminal offense in the States. A felony. Don’t lose sight of this. The outcome may have or have not been expected, but that doesn’t change Petruzelli’s initial statements.
There’s some irony to this situation, as one of the major stories in Japan right now revolves around Shukan Gendai’s recent report laying out allegations of match fixing in Sumo and Asashoryu having to defend himself in Tokyo District Court against those charges.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I LOVE YOU!
How ironic is the parallel stories in two of the biggest combat sports promoting countries?
Thanks for the super consistent reportage, I just wish followers of the site wouldn’t ride your themes (and on the contrary, completely bash your leads) as the bible. I like EliteXC and I am reading too many comments, and affiliated websites completely bashing the Kimbo machine.
However, as all of my friends who I suggested watch the show are now in love with Gina, that does not in any way guarantee viewership for the next show. It is very interesting to see where the promotion goes 🙂
Yes, if any individual promised money to Seth Petruzelli in exchange for not attempting takedowns (ie, manipulating a sporting event on which sportsbooks take bets), they could and should be prosecuted. If Petruzelli received and accepted such an offer, then he could and should be prosecuted as well.
This is a bigger story than anything else that happened last weekend. There needs to be an investigation of this by the proper authorities… and by that, I don’t mean that they should ask Petruzelli and he denies it (contradicting his own previous statements), and then they ask the EliteXC executive who was yelling at the referee (Jared Shaw) and he denies it, and they ask other EliteXC executives and they deny it, and then everyone just throws their hands up in the air and says, “Oh well, what are you gonna do?”
There should be a criminal investigation conducted by the police in Florida, because if Petruzelli’s original comments are accurate, then we’re talking about criminal acts being committed by both Petruzelli and whoever the EliteXC executive is that he made the “no takedowns” agreement with.
The police in the appropriate Florida county should interview Petruzelli and any EliteXC executive that could have potentially been involved.
Then, if anyone is later found to have lied to investigators, that itself is a crime for which they could be prosecuted.
In addition to a criminal investigation conducted by police to determine if any criminal charges are warranted, the Florida State Athletic Commission should also be conducting its own investigation.
If Petruzelli’s original statements are accurate, then the athletic commission should also be trying to determine who it is at EliteXC that Petruzelli had a “no takedowns” agreement with. If such an agreement existed, you would think that the Florida State Athletic Commission would no longer be willing to grant promoter’s licenses to any individuals involved, and you would think that they would no longer be willing to grand a fighters’ license to Petruzelli if he accepted the offer.
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