MMA News and Discussion Thread

[Fitzy]

November 8th EliteXC Showtime card will have the EliteXC Lightweight title fight between Nick Diaz vs. Eddie Alvarez. I am looking forward to this, should be great.

[ZJ Penn]

"It would be (logical) for the fans, but the fans don't understand contracts or the way things have been put down on the back end in terms of the business aspect of it. Or the details between both of the fighters. So, it's not really that we want to rob the fans of something, it's just that I don't think it's possible.

"There's just some times it's better to keep your mouth shut and just not really talk too much about things. I'm not trying to make anybody look bad or talk about the details of it, but it's just not a fight that's going to happen in January. And I think that the feeling is actually mutual.

"There's a lot of factors that go into this one. It's not so simple."

Josh Barnett on why he doesn't want Fedor to kick his ass.

[crazedfan]

If the November 8th EliteXC show is indeed in Reno, I just may have to go, ESPECIALLY if Eddie Alvarez/Nick Diaz has been added. That fight alone would be worth seeing, and Lawler/Villasenor should be pretty good.

[crazedfan]

Double post, but whatever.

Gina Carano had trouble AGAIN making weight last night, but on her third try did hit 141 pounds.

And Ken Shamrock came in at 206.5 pounds. I don't know if Shamrock was trying to cut weight, or if he just came in that light. He came in around 220 if I remember correctly for his Cage Rage fight against Robert Berry, so what happened? If he is actually weighing in at 206 for heavyweight fights without cutting at all, just go back to light heavyweight, it makes no sense.

[Fitzy]

Meh, Gina Carano never makes 140. I thought they said her next fight would be at 145 since they are creating a 145 title?

[Vendetta]

So what's the odds Kimbo knocks Shamrock out in the first round?

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

My prediction is a very boring fight with Kimbo winning by either KO or TKO late in the first round.

Are enough people going to be around to warrant a live thread?

[KCC]

R.I.P. EliteXC.

An undisclosed injury has forced Ken Shamrock out of his "EliteXC: Heat" main event bout with Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson just hours before the heavyweight clash was set to air on network television.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has confirmed with EliteXC officials that Shamrock suffered an in jury within the past 24 hours and will not be able to compete in tonight's main event.

EliteXC officials are scrambling for a last-second replacement to fill in for Shamrock against undefeated Ferguson.

The Shamrock-Ferguson fight was set to headline the third installment of CBS' "Saturday Night Fight" series. Tonight's event takes place at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla.

The 44-year-old Shamrock, who has not registered a win since 2004, last appeared in action in a March Cage Rage event. Shamrock suffered a first-round knockout in that affair to Robert "Buzz" Berry.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/12936/ken-shamro...e-to-injury.mma

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

A replacement?

Arlovski would do nicely.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

The full situation, according to Meltzer:

Shamrock suffered a cut in training, and although he still wants to fight, the Florida commission doctor is holding things up. The fight's been on and off a few times. Frank Shamrock volunteered to take the fight, but because he hadn't been training, the commissioner said no to him as well.

Should be an interesting night.

[tristy]

If Shamrock doesn't fight tonight, then off EliteXC goes from my DVD-R tonight.

[KCC]

The full situation, according to Meltzer:

Shamrock suffered a cut in training, and although he still wants to fight, the Florida commission doctor is holding things up. The fight's been on and off a few times. Frank Shamrock volunteered to take the fight, but because he hadn't been training, the commissioner said no to him as well.

Should be an interesting night.

My god. What a bad ass.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Frank Shamrock could beat Kimbo any day. I'll say that conclusively.

I've started this thread for tonight's show - anything that's on the CBS broadcast IN THIS THREAD needs to go into spoilers, but let's see if we can keep it all in the other thread and maybe entice some other people to watch. Gonna be a great night.

[Captain Kirk]

Spoiler: Click here to view

So enjoy the replacment fight? Think that's Kimbo Slice pretty much finished.

Edited October 5, 2008 by Mr. Potato Head
Spoilers, baby, spoilers!

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

48-hour spoiler rule.

[Gene Kiniski]

So I came across this on Sherdog. I have to say, this could be big:

Seth Petruzelli, who stopped Kimbo Slice on Saturday in Sunrise, Fla., said in an interview Monday that EliteXC officials had paid him to stand with Slice instead of taking him to the ground.

“My original plan was to throw out push kicks -- they’re called ‘teeps,’” Petruzelli said when asked about his strategy during the Monsters in the Morning Show on 104.1 FM in Orlando, Fla. “Throw out push kicks, have him think that I’m going to throw them to try to rush in more and then shoot in on him obviously.”

Petruzelli was then asked whether he wanted to avoid Slice’s standup, and he noted his training with professional boxers as evidence in his confidence.

“I knew I would do all right, actually, standing up with him, but the promoters kind of hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him. They didn’t want me to take him down -- let’s just put it that way. It was worth my while to try to stand up and punch with him.”

Petruzelli, a 28-year-old from Fort Myers, Fla., accepted the matchup on extremely short notice. He was supposed to fight on the undercard, but Slice’s scheduled opponent, Ken Shamrock, was cut over his left eye and medically disqualified from competing just hours before the event.

EliteXC officials scrambled for a replacement, and Petruzelli took the fight. Compared to Slice -- who, while popular, had only three professional bouts going into Saturday and was known strictly as a puncher -- Petruzelli was the more experienced and well-rounded competitor.

In the opening seconds, Petruzelli dropped Slice with a short right hand and then finished him off with strikes on the ground.

“Obviously we didn’t pay [Petruzelli] to stand,” EliteXC Head of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen told Sherdog.com on Monday when informed of Petruzelli’s comments. “Kimbo had trained for months to fight a guy who’s fighting on the ground. We don’t care if people stand or take people down or what. It doesn’t matter to us. All we want is an exciting fight.”

Petruzelli had not returned calls from Sherdog.com at the time of this report. However, in a follow-up interview with FiveOuncesOfPain.com, he suggested that his statements during the radio interview had been twisted and he denied that EliteXC had tried to influence his strategy with money.

“What was meant to be said was that I wanted to keep the fight standing for myself because I knew that was what the crowd, the promoters, and everyone wanted to see because that’s more exciting than just taking someone to the ground,” Petruzelli told FiveOuncesOfPain.com. “That was my thing only. I wanted to keep it exciting, so I decided to keep it standing. It had nothing to do with anybody else. That was all me.”

According to the Florida State Athletic Commission, Petruzelli was paid $50,000 for his win over Slice, which included a $15,000 win bonus. During the 104.1 FM interview Monday, he said he was paid in the “six-figure range,” though it is common for fighters to be paid additional compensation that is not reported through athletic commissions.

If that is the case then this is the worse thing that could get out for EliteXC. In the bottom it says he later denies saying it, but either way the words are in the air.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

EliteXC finished with a 2.7 rating and 4.56 million viewers, beating college football and the MLB Playoffs in the young male demos, so CBS was very happy.

[IAceI]

Haha I love that quote just for "so CBS was very happy" - it just sounds hilarious.

Either way they seem a bit screwed with Kimbo being beaten by some nobody because they don't really have an angle to use now. I don't think the casual fans have massively ate up Robbie Lawler and the like, lets face it - EliteXC was just black people hooting and hollering for Kimbo it seemed and people tuned in for the anomaly that he was. With him gone to Petruzelli then I think trying to build him back up may be in vain. However Kimbo may have been enough of a draw for EliteXC to build up a bit of a following that they can still survive without the gimmick.

I hope they hang around with TV appearances, the world needs more MMA. They just need educated MMA as opposed to Kimbo Slice hanging around but you can't really have one or the other.

But.. as long as CBS was very happy that's the main thing

[Thrilla]

Given that CBS are the only thing that could conceivibly keep EliteXC around on television and make them a solid force in MMA, I'd say making sure CBS were happy with the show was the main priority from the company's point of view.

Losing to Petruzelli isn't the end of Kimbo as a draw, Kimbo is the modern Tank Abbott and people continued to follow Tank long after he was exposed as a poor fighter. Kimbo has that aura around him that will draw as long as he is put in their against freaks and cans, much in the same way that a lot of guys in Japan became big draws by being kept away from dangerous opponents. If and when he is actually ready to fight legit fighters they can make another run with him but if Petruzelli can catch him and beat him, that day is a long way away.

The big thing for Elite now is finding another big draw. Gina is the obvious choice, but if they put her up against Cyborg, Cyborg will win. Obviously how the match plays out is the big difference maker in whether Gina will continue as a draw after that match but Cyborg steamrolls through her, it could be all over. I don't think Cyborg would work as a centerpiece of the promotion and doesn't bring in big ratings, whether some of Gina's popularity would transfer over with a decisive victory I don't know, MMA doesn't seem to work that way. Outside of that, I think there only real choice is Tito but he looked poor in his last few fights and has a big back operation coming up, so isn't an immediate replacement as the main guy. Jake Shields doesn't put asses in seats, Arlovski is an Afflication/Golden Boy guy and despite his rep is not a major draw. It'll be interesting to see what they go with to try and fill the void, because right now I'm out of options.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

It's official...Fedor vs. Arlovski for the WAMMA Heavyweight Title on an all-MMA Affliction show at some point in January (quite possibly 1/24 in Anaheim).