Quote of the Week – Jay Larkin
By Zach Arnold | September 19, 2008
In an interview/article with Sherdog:
With numerous signs seemingly pointed toward some sort of UFC acquisition [of the IFL assets], Larkin, who joined the IFL in March in the hopes of turning it around, said he’s still not sure if MMA is much more than a one-horse town.
“You don’t always know what you got till it’s gone. There’s a lot of lessons to be learned,” said Larkin, a longtime boxing programming executive with Showtime. “One of the things I tried to do was do it in a more professional manner. The bottom line is, I feel MMA is a one-organization industry. I think UFC has done a spectacular job of branding, and UFC has become synonymous with MMA. And there’s a couple of hangers-on now. Wall Street’s having a hard time right now. I’d like to see MMA flourish but I’m very skeptical.”
Topics: IFL, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Update on MMA Payout web site
By Zach Arnold | September 19, 2008
Dear Readers,
The stock market wasn’t the only victim of a crash this week. As many of you know from personal experience, MMAPayout.com has been down for much of the week. The outage was the result of a server switch gone awry and I offer my apologies to our loyal readers for the inconvenience. As you can see, we’re still recovering, but please bear with us as we return to our white on black roots while the old, new site is recovered.
My thanks to those who emailed and called to check on the status of the site. Your support is vital to our success and your affection for the site is heartening to say the least.
So things should be back to normal soon enough. In the meantime, thanks again for your patience and support.
Sincerely,
Adam Swift
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Match order for DREAM 9/23 Saitama card line-up
By Zach Arnold | September 19, 2008
- Middleweight GP 2008 Reserve Match: Yoon Dong-Sik vs. Andrews Nakahara
- Middleweight GP 2008 Tournament: Melvin Manhoef vs. Gegard Mousasi
- Middleweight GP 2008 Tournament: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Zelg Galesic
- Lightweights: K-taro Nakamura vs. Adriano Martins
- Heavyweights: Sergey Kharitonov vs. Mighty Mo
- Featherweights: Hideo Tokoro vs. Atsushi Yamamoto
- Middleweights: Minowaman vs. Masakatsu Funaki
- Welterweights: Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
- Middleweights: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Masanori Tonooka
- Lightweights: Shin’ya Aoki vs. Todd Moore
- Heavyweights: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Alistair Overeem
- Middleweight GP 2008 finals
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Showtime gives EXC $1 million USD; EXC fails to get $3.5 million USD in financing
By Zach Arnold | September 18, 2008
There are two new SEC filings by Pro Elite (form 8k & form SC 13D) that discuss the financial details regarding the company getting a Senior Secured Note with Showtime for $1 million USD. That money was issued on September 11th.
On September 10, 2008, ProElite, Inc. (the “Company”) entered into a Senior Secured Note (“Note”) payable to Showtime Networks, Inc. (“Showtime”) and a first amendment to the security agreement dated June 18, 2008 with Showtime (“Amendment No. 1 to Security Agreement”), copies of which agreements are attached hereto as Exhibits 2.6 to 2.7 and incorporated herein by reference. The Company received the note proceeds of $1,000,000 (one million) on September 11, 2008. The note bears interest at ten percent (10.0%) per annum, payable at maturity, and matures on June 18, 2009. The Note is secured by a first priority interest in the assets of the Company. The Note and accrued interest may be repaid, in whole or in part, without penalty at anytime prior to maturity. Mandatory repayment of the Note will be made from any license fees due to the Company under the Exclusive Distribution Agreement dated November 16, 2006 between the Company and Showtime.
However, if you read the rest of the 8k filing, you will see the following:
The Company previously reported in its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q (and an immediately preceding current report on Form 8-K) that the Company was actively negotiating to consummate a financing of approximately $3.5 million in secured debt (with a funded amount of $3.0 million after an original issue discount of $0.5 million) and believed a successful closing was reasonably likely, but there was no assurance that it would be successful in doing so at all or on a timely basis. Such reports further stated, among other things, that any failure to obtain the needed financing in the immediate future would also have a material adverse effect on the Company’s liquidity and capital resources and ability to continue as a going concern.
The Company no longer believes that a successful closing of the $3.5 million secured debt (with a funded amount of $3.0 million) will occur. Although the Company has received $1 million pursuant to the Note, such funds are less than the $3.0 million needed to avoid the consequences described in the preceding paragraph and in the Company’s prior reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The $1 million funding defers such consequences only for a brief period of time while the Company continues to evaluate its options on how to respond to its severe liquidity problem.
In other words, the financial end game is very near here for Elite XC. Will Showtime/CBS pull the trigger and purchase the assets of Pro Elite if the company financially fails soon? If CBS network executives do buy the assets and run their own MMA organization, it will be fascinating to see who they hire and who they would keep on-board to run the operations.
During the Japanese MMA boom period a few years ago, it was the TV network executives and chief producers (think: Kunio Kiyohara of Fuji TV) who controlled a lot of the shots for PRIDE & K-1’s matchmaking. How would the landscape look with an American TV executive calling the shots in terms of booking?
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, Zach Arnold | 16 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Report: Over 9,000 fans in attendance at UFC Omaha event
By Zach Arnold | September 18, 2008
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Quote of the Day – Female MMA fans
By Zach Arnold | September 18, 2008
The brawlers are bare-foot and bare-chested. Joanne laughs and says, “The guys are hot!” Chris Kiehl, who works out as the same gym as Houston says, “I think girls like to watch guys get animalistic.”
Besides watching the half dressed men duke it out, one woman is taking notes. She says if her boyfriend gets out of line, “If he gets out of line, I’ll put him in arm bar.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Quick thought on new season of TUF (Mir/Nogueira)
By Zach Arnold | September 17, 2008
I’m liking this show so far. Frank Mir is, of course, a good talker. The whole weight-cutting storyline with Jason Guida was interesting TV to watch. He showed up at 217 pounds and tried to cut down to 206 pounds in a matter of a couple of hours?
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
SI interview with Juanito Ibarra
By Zach Arnold | September 17, 2008
It doesn’t sound like he’s giving up yet on the MMA business.
SI.com: You worked to find champion fighters and create champion fighters. Do you think that opportunity will present itself again?
Ibarra: I’ll be honest, I doubted it for a while. I wish these young kids out there and these fans really know the passion that burns inside me. I respect the MMA guys unbelievably because they all respect each other. How hard they have to train, I love it. The phone calls I’ve gotten and the people that want me to work with them, I know that there’s a champion in that handful. And if it all works out, you’ll see me help create another champion.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 10 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Thomas Hauser is back at it again
By Zach Arnold | September 17, 2008
Two months ago, I wrote an article about Thomas Hauser’s continuing crusade against Mixed Martial Arts. So, Hauser’s ESPN article on Tuesday featuring tons of handwringing about the potential of MMA being legalized in New York state should come as no surprise.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
IFL files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
By Zach Arnold | September 16, 2008
Topics: IFL, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Another publicly-traded company gets involved in MMA
By Zach Arnold | September 15, 2008
Topics: Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Russian Top Team boss dies in plane crash
By Zach Arnold | September 15, 2008
Vladimir Pogodin, who was the boss of the Russian Top Team army of MMA fighters that had great influence on the Japanese MMA scene in the late 1990s and early part of this decade, has reportedly died in a plane crash in Russia. RTT once held a stable of fighters that included Fedor, Sergey Kharitonov, and Mikhail Ilioukhine. It was a top force for the RINGS promotion before becoming a powerful force in PRIDE.
The news of Pogodin’s death is a big story in Japanese media circles because of Pogodin’s connection with Fedor. In addition, Pogodin was responsible for helping broker a deal to set up the famous Akira Maeda/Aleksandr Karelin RINGS fight a decade ago.
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | No Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
UFC 9/17 Omaha card line-up
By Zach Arnold | September 15, 2008
TV fights
- Lightweights: Nate Diaz vs. Josh Neer
- Lightweights: Clay Guida vs. Mac Danzig
- Middleweights: Ed Herman vs. Alan Belcher
- Light Heavyweights: Houston Alexander vs. Eric Schafer
Dark matches
- Middleweights: Alessio Sakara vs. Joe Vedepo
- Middleweights: Wilson Gouveia vs. Ryan Jensen
- Lightweights: Joe Lauzon vs. Kyle Bradley
- Light Heavyweights: Jason Britz vs. Brad Morris
- Middleweights: Drew McFedries vs. Mike Massenzio
- Middleweights: Dan Miller vs. Rob Kimmons
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |