Elite XC is dead

Yup.

UFC is basically the only MMA game in town now.

Bye, Kimbo.

Now if only Dana White would open a women's division, Gina Carano could get a job ...

EliteXC on CBS thoughts

Well, that was a thumbs down show if I've ever seen one. We all got to see an MMA promotion die on live TV, and it wasn't pretty (even if it was pretty funny). Between the technical glitches, the WALKING~! and the brutal main event that utterly exposed Kimbo Slice as a goof, it was not EliteXC's best moment. It may have been their last moment. When you think back on pivotal moments in mixed martial arts, remember Ken Shamrock's eyebrow laceration. It killed an entire promotion.

On the plus side, last night's show was good for my hit count, generating nearly 600 hits in the afternoon and evening.

Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock cancelled?

There's word going around the MMA world right now that due to a cut suffered by Ken Shamrock, his fight with Kimbo Slice tonight is off.

Well, bye EliteXC. Nice knowing you.

UPDATE 5:59 p.m.: The fight is OFF. The commission doctor has ruled Ken unable to compete due to a cut over an eye. No replacement has been named yet.

UPDATE 6:18 p.m. The latest from Dave Meltzer's play-by-play on figurefouronline.com

Nothing has been said to the live crowd about the main event. This has changed six times in the last several hours, but as of this moment, the scheduled main event is not happening. Frank Shamrock is still at the announcers desk and at this moment is getting ready for a stand-up but as of 15 minutes ago was awaiting word if the commission would allow him to do the main event or if Slice would accept him as a new opponent. Petruzelli's match with Aaron LaRosa hasn't happened yet because Petruzelli is also a possible opponent for Slice.

UPDATE 6:31 p.m. Apparently, it's Kimbo vs. Seth Petruzelli (whodat? - ed.) in the main event.

UPDATE 9:16 p.m. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!! Kimbo got humiliated against a guy who hadn't fought in a year! Kimbo's done, Gus.

Saturday Night Fights ... and more fights

It's all fights all night long tonight with Elite XC's third (final?) CBS prime-time special featuring Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock in what may be a 9-second destruction of poor Ken. And UFC is countering on Spike TV by showing the recent Rampage Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin title fight PPV that sent poor Quinton for a time out.

Fortunately, staggered feeds and digital cable means I get to DVR both of them and don't have to choose one or the other.

And I have to say, I'm loving the fact that UFC is giving me all these PPV shows for free. It's saving me a bundle of money, and I can burn them to DVD before deleting them, saving me having to purchase the DVD as well.

One more thought on Elite XC's debut last night

Did no one at CBS or Elite XC have a run-time sheet for the event?

It was scheduled for a two hour block. It went 2 hours and 50 minutes. That's a BIG overtime run.

There were, what, five fights on the show?

One was a title fight - so it had the potential to go 25 minutes, plus at least 10 minutes ancillary time for interviews, intros, round breaks, etc. Let's be extra generous and say 40 minutes for the title fight in total.

There were 3 other matches that had the potential to go 15 minutes each. That's another 45 minutes, plus a minimum of 15 minutes of ancillary time.

Already, we're up to ONE HOUR AND FORTY MINUTES OF A TWO HOUR SHOW!

And THEN there's the women's fight: a maximum of 9 minutes, plus minimum 5 minutes ancillary time for ring intros, etc., so that's FOURTEEN MINUTES.

In other words, if every fight went the distance and Elite XC did NO backstage interviews, NO introduction of new fans to MMA, no highlight packages, personality profiles or ANYTHING ELSE, last night's card could have featured ONE HOUR AND FIFTY FOUR MINUTES of fight time with intros and round breaks - NOT COUNTING COMMERCIALS!

I ask again: DID ANYONE AT CBS OR ELITE XC PUT THE CARD TO A RUN-TIME? Or did they DELIBERATELY schedule the show for 2 hours knowing full well it was going to go 3?

Sure, this was the debut of Mixed Martial Arts in network primetime. But in this regard, CBS and Elite XC showed just how not-ready-for-primetime they were.

EDIT, 6:37 p.m.: Mauro Ranallo (one of the announcers on last night's show) just said on Wrestling Observer Live that the show went so long that his DVR cut out before the Kimbo Slice main event. So, yeah, really lousy time management on the part of Elite XC and CBS.

This just screams "pro-wrestling angle"

Kimbo Slice and Brett Rogers in altercation at EliteXC press conference | MMAjunkie.com

Elite XC debut on CBS

Thumbs in the middle.
Best fight: Gina Carano's fight
Worst fight: Kimbo's fight

Well, after the Gina Carano fight was done, I thought the Elite XC show was going to be a big thumbs up. Unfortunately, by the time it ended, it was a thumbs in the middle show due to the no-contest between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith and then Kimbo being totally exposed as a bad fighter (yes, we're all shocked ... ) in the main event. And there's no excuse for such terrible time management on such an important show. Running almost an hour overtime is inexcusable, particularly given that this was the kind of show a lot of MMA fans would just set on the DVR and watch later tonight or tomorrow.

In the end, this really did remind me of the old late 1980s AWA or early 1990s WCW trying to run a big show pretending they were major league when they so obviously were not. The announcers (Mauro, particularly) constantly referring to Pride and UFC didn't help matters any. It was entertaining (mostly) but in the end, it's not going to change anything in the MMA world.

This could be HUGE for MMA

There's talk today that EliteXC, probably the closest thing the UFC has to a rival in North America as far as MMA promotions go, is going to get a TV deal with CBS.

If this happens, this is huge for the sport of mixed martial arts. It's obviously great for EliteXC, which would go from being the distant second-place promotion in the U.S., to being a legitimate threat to the UFC overight.

It will be good for fighters, too, as a rising EliteXC is going to be trying to lure talent from UFC, and bidding wars are going to erupt for top talent.

It could even be good news for Dana White, the combative UFC president who has been acting more and more like Vince McMahon recently than ever before (and that's not a compliment). Dana has tried to get on HBO ... and failed. He tried to get on CBS ... and apparently failed.

Sure, Spike TV probably saved UFC from bankruptcy, but UFC needs to take the next step in growth, and Dana's reported insistence on maintaining total control over his product (including how it is broadcasted) has hindered that growth and kept him from signing those deals with HBO and CBS.


Maybe this will be the kick in the pants that Dana White needs to realize he's not the only game in town and that it's time to loosen up on the controls in order to take his company to the next level.

EDIT: More info on the pending deal here.

Thanks to Jason Genegabus, a columnist with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for the use of the great photo of the Elite XC title belt!