Media reaction to Elite XC fallout (Michael Wilbon cheers)
By Zach Arnold | October 21, 2008
Official SEC filings regarding Pro Elite Inc.
Reading the second filing… it seems like Showtime isn’t interested in purchasing the EXC assets (yet).
Lance Pugmire of The LA Times has a great article on the collapse of Elite XC. T. Jay Thompson absolutely lights up Jeremy Lappen, while Gary Shaw now denies that he was recently a consultant to Elite XC… despite the fact that he was described as such when the same newspaper quoted him on the stand-up scandal a week ago.
Another LA Times article asks about the stand-up scandal and what role it played in the collapse of Elite XC.
- New York Newsday: Company behind Kimbo Slice folds (including comments from Kimbo Slice’s management team)
- Deadspin: The fact that Kimbo Slice lost is purely coincidental
- MMA Memories: Karma’s a bitch — Elite XC closes up shop
- Tim Leidecker: Where should Elite XC’s top fighters go?
- Bloody Elbow: What’s next for Kimbo, Gina, and Shields?
- AOL Fanhouse: Michael Wilbon claims vindication after Elite XC fails — “It’s a fraud! Go home!” (audio here)
- Kevin Iole (Yahoo Sports): Kimbo Slice will likely end up in Japan (and I agree with him — we could see him at the Dynamite!! K-1 show if he wants to accept the offer)
- Total MMA: Who will watch the watchmen? (a good article that should be read)
- NBC Sports: Anatomy of a collapse – Elite XC
- The Stockton Record: Local fighters left in limbo as Elite XC submits
- Unanimous Decision: And in 14 seconds… Elite XC collapses
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
TJ Thompson: “Seth [Petruzelli] was paid to stand up”
By Zach Arnold | October 21, 2008
MMA Weekly has an interview with Hawaiian MMA promoter TJ Thompson:
Almost as quickly as “Heat” was over, the Oct. 4 show was mired in controversy over comments Petruzelli made to an Orlando radio show. During his interview, Petruzelli implied that Elite XC officials had attempted to influence the outcome of the fight. Subsequent outcry from fans and media caused the Florida State Boxing Commission to open an investigation, another reason Thompson believes CBS pulled out of talks with Elite.
“I don’t have a smoking gun, (but) I’ve been around long enough, I’ve talked to enough people that were there, I won’t name names of executives in the company that I know—Seth was paid to stand up. I’m confident of that. If the commission wants to talk to me, I’ll tell them what I know.”
Anyone got the phone number of the Florida boxing commission? Someone in the media might want to give them a call or two.
Sam Caplan weighs in on the Petruzelli stand-up scandal:
Petruzelli’s comments on 104.1 FM in Orlando that he had financial incentive not to take Slice to the ground that led to such a public outcry that officials in Florida launched an investigation into the incident were just the tip of the iceberg, as there also appeared to be more to the story. For instance, separate sources informed Five Ounces of Pain last week that there was also a possibility that a deal had been struck preventing Petruzelli from using “Thai-style kicks on Slice, since he had not prepared for them leading up to the fight.”
I have a problem with this. As a writer, if you have information that not only can advance a story in the media with new details but also impact a current, on-going investigation, then start talking. By admitting this news item in the manner in which it was stated, it comes off as if you’re saying, “Well, if Elite XC hadn’t closed its doors, I might have not said anything about this.” Fightlinker raised this same type of media issue in regards to Dave Meltzer two weeks ago:
One question though: If Seth hadn’t opened this big old can of worms, would Meltzer and Alvarez have spoken up about all this?
On a media-related sidenote…
It’s easy for MMA web sites to trash Elite XC now that they are closing up shop, but yet there were a few noticeable MMA outlets that wouldn’t state their candid opinions about the organization when the company was still in business. Let me give a tip of the cap to sites like AOL Fanhouse (Michael David Smith), Yahoo Sports (Steve Cofield and crew), Bloody Elbow, MMA Convert, and Fightlinker (just to name a few sites) that told it like it was regarding Elite XC and didn’t hide their true feelings about the company during its existence in the MMA business.
Previous articles:
- Frank Shamrock vs. Ken Shamrock is coming soon
- US sports media weighs in on Elite XC scandal
- Video: Dana White explains the Elite XC scandal to the average person
- Jeremy Lappen says both ESPN & SI ‘misquoted’ him
- Reports: Kimbo/Petruzelli fight being ‘investigated’
- The Elite XC PR disaster continues, even with the wrong focus on the scandal
- Bad news for Elite XC — big media outlets focus on the Kimbo/Petruzelli stand-up scandal
- How about that good PR for Elite XC?
- We want real answers, not fanboy interviewing questions
- Report: Ken Shamrock was going to be ‘paid to stand with him as well’
- The PR spin on the Seth Petruzelli/Kimbo Slice situation
- Can Elite XC management be prosecuted for this?
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Boxing’s Jose Sulaiman & Bernard Hopkins talk about MMA
By Zach Arnold | October 21, 2008
First, we have the inspirational words of WBC boss Jose Sulaiman, who claims that MMA has sent boxing back ‘to the era of the caveman’ and that China is the sport’s last great hope.
Second, we have Bernard Hopkins claiming that boxers have been negatively influenced by ‘ultimate fighting’ in terms of how they throw punches.
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Enson Inoue arrested in Japan for possession of marijuana
By Zach Arnold | October 20, 2008
On the Japanese news wires today, a mainstream media report that 41-year old Enson Inoue (of Iwatsuki-ku, Saitama) was arrested by Tokyo Metropolitan Police on possession of marijuana. According to the report, police suspected Inoue of possession and he admitted as such to the authorities. The report claims that Inoue told police that he got the marijuana from an acquaintance a month ago and inhaled about 3 or 4 times in a month.
According to reports at both Mainichi Daily News and Nikkan Sports, a policeman busted Inoue at 3 PM JST on the 18th (Saturday) at a coin-parking machine in (Ikebukuro) Toshima city (Tokyo). During a car inspection, the policeman discovered marijuana cigarettes (up to 16.9 grams of marijuana) in the car’s sunroof, door compartment, and pocket(s) of Inoue’s clothing.
There are several factors to consider here in regards to what kind of punishment Inoue might receive. We know that Inoue has some relatively powerful connections in Japan, but there has been a movement lately to go after celebrities who are smoking pot (with Kid Yamamoto and crew being the highest-value targets according to Shukan Gendai in a recent police raid).
(Hat tip: NHB News.)
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Your ‘horrible media timing’ winner of this year (involving the Orlando Sentinel and Seth Petruzelli)
By Zach Arnold | October 20, 2008
Just as the news is breaking about the collapse of Elite XC (reportedly thanks to CBS not wanting to buy the company due to the ‘stand-up’ scandal involving Kimbo Slice & Seth Petruzelli), the Orlando Sentinel has a two-page article — set for publication on Tuesday — talking about Petruzelli becoming Elite XC’s ‘newest sensation’, all while needling Petruzelli for provocative photos of him that surfaced on the Internet. You have to read the article to believe it, considering the timing of what has happened in the last 24 hours.
Runner-up: The San Bernardino Sun has an article quoting King of the Cage matchmaker Shingo Kashiwagi claiming that KOTC fighters who put on a good show could appear for Elite XC on CBS. Of course.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Elite XC reportedly shuts down
By Zach Arnold | October 20, 2008
The company is reportedly out of the MMA business.
Update: ESPN, on their channel newsticker, announced the news of Elite XC shutting down. The crawler also says that EXC promoters are ‘still under investigation’ by the Florida Boxing Commission.
Reports: Sherdog | MMA Mania | Bloody Elbow | Sports Illustrated
Remember, Jeremy Lappen was only saying days ago how ‘excited’ he was for Elite XC’s future.
If you believe Dave Meltzer’s report, then the Elite XC ‘stand-up scandal’ involving Seth Petruzelli and Kimbo Slice supposedly stopped CBS in its tracks from purchasing Elite XC. To review the history of the ‘stand-up scandal,’ just click here and read all the stories.
Meltzer was adamant in a radio interview that both CBS and Showtime were thrilled with the third Elite XC show, but once the Petruzelli scandal hit, the corporation didn’t want to be involved in the stand-up scandal and all of the ‘fixed fight’ media coverage.
As for CBS’s future in MMA, Meltzer claims CBS will do one of two things:
1) Wash their hands of MMA
2) Go with Affliction
He claims that Affliction’s payroll is so high that they would need PPV and need 175,000-200,000 buys to break even with CBS, but CBS isn’t going to pay that kind of money for a show with Fedor headlining.
Adam Swift adds more credence to Meltzer’s report with this follow-up:
Multiple sources told MMAPayout.com in the week leading up to the 10/4 event that the deal was all but complete with the paper work already drafted. There were even preliminary conversations regarding the return of Gary Shaw to the equation. The deal ultimately collapsed under the weight of Standgate and possibly CBS’s financial condition.
Gary Shaw, the same person who told the LA Times that he didn’t find anything ethically wrong in encouraging fighters to stand-up during fights.
Company assets
In regards to questions about who gets the first rights to purchase or obtain Elite XC’s assets, the answer is… Showtime Networks Inc..
Quick reaction
This doesn’t surprise me, although I am happy to hear that CBS was not interested in bailing out Elite XC. Much in the same line that Fuji TV pulled the plug on PRIDE, CBS pulled the plug on Elite XC. As I asked in a previous post on this site, why would Viacom or any CBS shareholders go to bat for a scandal-tainted company? There was no value in them doing so, given how much PR damage they could suffer from it. It goes back to the question I asked in regards to how CBS would react to pressure from shareholders or from outside interests once the stand-up scandal grew legs — and the response became very clear, as we can now see. You can have shady people involved in an MMA promotion, but if that promotion can’t do business in a self-contained manner and has to rely on a corporate sugar-daddy that wants control, then that MMA promotion has no margin for error at all.
On a personal note, I find intriguing that (once again) several MMA web sites got caught with their pants down when it came to trying to avoid covering a scandal in the fight business. We know a ton of MMA web sites that refused to cover the PRIDE yakuza scandal, which led to the demise of that organization, and a few big MMA web sites that ignored the stand-up scandal only to watch Elite XC close its doors.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 22 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 90 card line-up
By Zach Arnold | October 20, 2008
- Welterweights: Josh Burkman vs. Pete Sell
- Lightweights: Hermes Franca vs. Marcus Aurelio
- Middleweights: Dan Miller vs. Matt Horwich
- Lightweights: Spencer Fisher vs. Shannon Gugerty
- Middleweights: Thales Leites vs. Drew McFedries
- Lightweights: Sean Sherk vs. Tyson Griffin
- Heavyweights: Fabricio Werdum vs. Junior dos Santos
- Lightweights: Rich Clementi vs. Gray Maynard
- Welterweights: Josh Koscheck vs. Thiago Alves
- Middleweights: Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 18 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Media: Hey, Michael Bisping is a really good fighter
By Zach Arnold | October 19, 2008
- The Telegraph (UK): Chris Leben admits Michael Bisping has qualities to become UFC champion
- The Sweet Science: Bisping closer to title shot with UFC 89 win
- The Sun (UK): Dan Hardy tipped for UFC 93
- The Sun (UK): Keith Jardine’s done messing around
- AOL Fanhouse: Did Bisping’s win at UFC 89 earn him a title shot?
- Neil Davidson (ESPN): What lies ahead for Bisping, Jardine and the UFC?
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Media reaction to UFC 89
By Zach Arnold | October 19, 2008
Interesting to note that a lot of the British newspapers that covered the heat-up for Bisping vs. Leben didn’t cover the UFC 89 event at all in their Sunday newspapers.
- The Canadian Press: England’s Michael Bisping wins decision over Chris Leben at UFC 89
- The Sun (UK): Michael Bisping – I’ve not earnt title shot
- Setanta Sports (UK): Bisping one step closer to title shot
- The Associated Press: Bisping moves one step closer to facing Anderson Silva
- The Lancashire Telegraph (UK): Bisping thwarts Crippler in UFC clash
- Eurosport: UFC 89 draws crowd of 9,515 to Birmingham, England
- The Boston Herald: Busy Dana White holds court (talks about Fedor, EXC, etc.)
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 35 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 89 (10/18) event results
By Zach Arnold | October 18, 2008
Reports: AOL Fanhouse | USA Today | Sherdog | MMA Junkie | MMA Mania
ESPN has been running result spoilers on their newsticker (on both ESPN & ESPN2 channels) for UFC 89, so you didn’t even need to be on your computer to find out who won what fights.
On the boxing side of things, Bernard Hopkins beat Kelly Pavlik by unanimous decision…
Topics: Boxing, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
K-1: Hey, maybe Yoshihiro Akiyama won’t fight on NYE for us
By Zach Arnold | October 18, 2008
I love how K-1 plays out any sort of bad news coming from their camp — they send out former PRIDE PR guy Sasahara to deliver it. Big fighter cancelation for a DREAM show or anything MMA-related? Have Sasahara deliver some bad news to the Japanese media. And make sure it happens a lot at the DEEP gym, too, and not a K-1 office.
If UFC was able to sign Akiyama, they could run a show in South Korea. Japan? Tougher call. Of course, both countries have problems in terms of dealing with local promoters and the mafia. We’ll see what UFC does next. If they sign Akiyama away from Japanese promoters, it would be a move reminiscent of the raids Vince McMahon made on the territories in the 1980s to make WWE the super-power it is now.
No Akiyama, unlikely any participation from Fedor… how the mighty have fallen fast in Japan.
Topics: All Topics, DREAM, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 9 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
MMA Junkie: Jeremy Lappen ‘excited’ about Elite XC’s future
By Zach Arnold | October 17, 2008
Unless I drop dead shortly, I have a strong feeling that Fight Opinion has a stronger future than whatever is in store for Elite XC.
In retrospect, Lappen said he also proud of both Petruzelli and Slice. While many fans and journalists have cried, “Foul,” over a possible bonus paid to Petruzelli to keep the fight standing, Lappen is proud of each of the fighters’ heart in stepping up on mere hours’ notice when original Slice opponent Ken Shamrock was forced off due to injury.
“We had a lot of difficulties with that show given the fact that we may have lost the main event a few hours before it started,” Lappen said. “And for Kimbo to step up, for Seth Petruzelli to step up, and for EliteXC to step up, I think a lot of organizations in that scenario would have protected their star and said, ‘Don’t fight. It’s too risky to go against somebody that you haven’t trained for.’ But everybody wanted to do it.
“We wanted to do it. We wanted to keep it for the fans, keep it for the television audience. We knew that although it was an unbelievably stacked card, that the fight was in Kimbo’s hometown. And those 8,000 fans had come and paid money to see Kimbo fight. Thankfully we were able to put it together and it was a great night.”
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Heat-up for UFC 89
By Zach Arnold | October 17, 2008
- The Telegraph (UK): Dan Hardy’s UFC dream is victory over Akihiro Gono
- Ben Fowlkes (SI): What to know, who to watch at UFC 89
- The LA Times: UFC 89 card to be televised tomorrow on Spike TV
- ESPN The Magazine: The real UFC — photographer Kevin Lynch’s five year journey behind the scenes of the UFC
- Bloody Elbow: ESPN’s E:60 to spotlight UFC Heavyweight Brock Lesnar
- ESPN: Keith Jardine, Brandon Vera meet at a crossroads
- Sportsnet (Joe Ferraro – Canada): UFC 89 preview — if Bisping goes toe-to-toe with Chris Leben, he will go to sleep
- Sam Caplan (CBS Sports): Jerry Millen looking to reality TV to build the next great MMA superstar
- Quick DFW: MMA champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira offers a workout with a punch
Topics: M-1, Media, MMA, UFC, UK, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |