Full Contact Talk: MMA discussion

What a week it has been. And unfortunately this week belongs almost exclusively to EliteXC. Why? Well, let’s just say that things smell more than fishy over at EliteXC in light of controversial statements and events following last weeks “Heat” event in Florida. The world is still rumbling over the devastation of EliteXC star, Kimbo Slice by UFC reject Seth Petruzelli. Or rather a massive percentage of the mixed-martial arts community is exclaiming, “See, I told you so.”

Kimbo Slice certainly hogged the spotlight leading up to last Saturday’s EliteXC “Heat” event and kept a stranglehold on media attention immediately afterward. But quickly the focus shifted to EliteXC’s leadership. And especially Jared Shaw. Inside rumors of corruption have exploded not only threatening to destroy the tiny thread of legitimacy EliteXC holds in the sports world, but legal action on behalf of the Florida State Athletic Commission and potentially the FBI now haunt the MMA organization in the wake of successful television ratings minced with massive fan backlash.

Last week’s Kimbo Slice bout was born from controversy in the first place. Whether it be Kimbo’s extremely questionable fight record or the fact that he was poised for a certain win over an extremely aged Ken Shamrock. But this is yet another layer of the controversy. EliteXC collects the heads of former UFC fighters far beyond their prime and markets their losses as a prize for the organization. Simply refer to the marketing of Kimbo Slice destroying a so-called veteran of the UFC in that of David “Tank” Abbot.

But reality showed us a brawler from the early age of MMA who was nearly a decade beyond his days of being a threat in the sport. Tank’s game was always one of a puncher’s chance. And in his old age, he was a prime opponent for Kimbo Slice. When Ken Shamrock became the next former UFC fighter on the list to face Kimbo, a massive majority of MMA analysts rolled their eyes. Shamrock had dropped his last five fights and was criticized for not retiring from the sport of MMA. 

Hours before last week’s big fight, Ken Shamrock suffered an eye cut from an unintentional headbutt during a  pre-fight workout. What followed was a storm of confusion leading up to a main event meltdown that found an MMA organization’s cash cow possibly at the slaughterhouse.

Kimbo Slice for most fans and analysts was exposed as a lackluster and over-hyped brawler when he lost in a mere 14 seconds to a much lighter Seth Petruzelli who took the fight at the last minute and rose from the depths of the undercard suddenly to the main event. Within 48 hours of Petruzelli’s sudden victory, a web of conspiracy was spun. Partially based on Petruzelli’s own words during a radio interview. But the criticism of EliteXC, Kimbo Slice and Jared Shaw soon found its way to the front page of sports sections around the world.

Suspicion, accusation and an eventual investigation have become the current identity of a struggling MMA organization in the pits of a near $60 million debt and a peak of unpopularity that makes its outstanding ratings on CBS both a partial success for the sport of MMA as well as a simultaneous mockery and moral anchor. 

Below, I’ll attempt to summarize the current mess that is otherwise known as EliteXC.

The Evidence:

November 12, 2007: Bo Cantrell gets hit on the shoulder during the opening round against Kimbo Slice and actually starts tapping out as he falls down in a clumsy tripping fashion. Not visibly injured, Cantrell simply gives up and thus Kimbo wins his first fight for EliteXC. Quiet rumors follow claiming that EliteXC and Gary Shaw paid Cantrell to take a dive in order to promote Kimbo Slice and build the novice fighter from Youtube.com into a headliner.  Review the fight for yourself below:

 
May 31, 2008: Referee Dan Miragliotta receives widespread criticism for seemingly controlling the fight between Kimbo Slice and James Thompson in a way that was favorable to Kimbo. Miragliotta didn’t stop the fight when Kimbo laid on his back for nearly 2 minutes taking elbows to the head with no intelligent defense. By standard MMA rules (ironically first used by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission) a fight should be stopped when a fighter shows no intelligent defense. Then others pointed out that Kimbo Slice actually tapped out during a guillotine choke in the first round. This was criticized by Brett Rogers (a fellow EliteXC heavyweight) who called Kimbo’s performance garbage during the post-fight press conference leading to a near riot by Kimbo’s large personal entourage. In many eyes, Kimbo was being protected during the fight. It seemed each time Kimbo was in trouble, it was overlooked. But as soon as Thompson’s cauliflower ear was busted by what Kimbo later called a part of his game plan, the fight was immediately stopped and yet another main event victory has awarded to Kimbo Slice. Ironically, a large majority of spectators had Thompson winning the fight by two rounds and possibly a third when the fight was suddenly stopped. Videos of the press conference and fight below:

The tapout controversy:

The actual fight between Kimbo and Thompson:

October 4, 2008: Kimbo gets legitimately KO’d against Seth Petruzelli but EliteXC vice-president Jared Shaw jumps up from his seat in clear site of the the live television broadcast and begins screaming at the referee. It has been widely reported by people in close proximity to Shaw during the fight that Shaw was protesting the referee not to stop the fight. Shaw then follows by stating publicly that Petruzelli won the fight by illegal blows to the back of the head. He even mentions the illegal blows in a post-fight interview with Ariel from MMARated.com and ironically claims that all he wants is “fair mixed-martial-arts.” 

The 14-Second Fight between Kimbo and Petruzelli:

The MMARated Interview with Jared Shaw:

October 5, 2008: During a radio interview with Monsters in the Morning Seth Petruzelli claims he was paid to keep the fight on its feet and not take Kimbo Slice down where Kimbo had extremely low odds of winning a fight. This statement stirred up a lot of controversy. After all, if true, this is a form of fight-rigging and it is illegal.  But hours later following a backlash and frenzy within the media, Petruzelli recants his statement.

Seth Petruzelli’s original statement on the Monsters in the Morning radio show:

“My original plan was to throw a lot of push kicks, they’re called teeps … have him think that I’m going to throw ‘em to try to rush in more, and then shoot in on him, obviously … I knew I would do alright standing up with him. The promoters kinda 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 and stand up and punch with him.”

October 6, 2008: Jared Shaw personally calls Ariel of MMARated.com to make a public apology for his statements and behavior following the Kimbo Slice debacle.

Jared Shaw’s apology to MMARated.com:

“I watched the tape back today. While I think that the ref may have missed the (blow to the back of the head) call, my reactions at ringside – I saw them myself – were inappropriate and inexcusable. I apologize to the MMA community and the fans and most of all Seth Petruzelli as although my reactions can not change a referee’s decision, they were inappropriate at the time and over a heated and tense mixed martial arts event. Again, I apologize to the community. I am all for fair mixed martial arts fighting and I am very happy to represent Seth Petruzelli.”

October 7, 2008: During an interview with FiveOuncesOfPain.com, Seth Petruzelli suddenly back-peddles on his original statement regarding EliteXC’s bribe which supposedly asked him to stand and punch with Kimbo Slice. Suddenly what was originally criticized as something reminiscent of the old days of Mafia-influenced boxing became even more suspicious as the EliteXC brass as well as people associated with the organization scrambled to cover their backs in a public relations attempt that was nearly laughable. Jared Shaw then turned up the heat of denial in an interview with Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.com.

Jared Shaw’s statement to MMAWeekly.com:

“Absolutely not,” Shaw answered to questions if the allegations [of the bribe] were true. “Whether that was something Seth was taken out of context or Seth was trying to say something different, I don’t know. What I can tell you, I was in the locker room with Seth with the contract; that did not happen.

October 10, 2008: UFC President Dana White reacts strongly to the allegations of corruption over at EliteXC. I have criticized White in the past for various comments and behavior that I found a bit unprofessional but the fact is that mixed-martial-arts would not exist in the United States if not for White’s personal battle to keep the sport alive amidst political persecution and financial loss.

Dana White built the sport of MMA up into a marketable and legal format and thus launched MMA into the massive success it is today. One thing is for certain. With White you get the “no bullshit” commentary more times than not. He’s a passionate promoter that often speaks from unfiltered emotion. White’s reaction and opinion of the recent EliteXC crisis is all too true and understandable when considering that EliteXC dumped a lowbrow version of an otherwise respectable sport — which the UFC struggled to brand for over a decade — into the laps of middle America via free television.

The CBS deal with EliteXC is an unfortunate event that has most definitely sent MMA back a few years with regard to legitimacy and public relations with the mainstream. And it is a sad situation as well when considering that there are several extremely talented and marketable fighters currently on the EliteXC roster. Gina Carrano, Antonio Silva, Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler immediately come to mind. Watch the video of Dana White below. I agree 110% with White’s assessment. As does 99% of the mixed-martial-arts community.

The Dana White EliteXC Criticism Video:

The mainstream press responds negatively to EliteXC

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports hits the nail on the head when he rips the last week’s EliteXC event apart in a recent article.

A quote from Wetzel:

“Not that CBS didn’t keep up with the Slice willing to fight, “anyone, anywhere, at anytime.” This was a 100 percent true statement if “anyone, anywhere, at anytime” means “no one any good, anywhere, ever.”

Lance Pugmire of Los Angeles Times continues the conspiracies of fight-rigging at EliteXC when he reported that former EliteXC president turned consultant Gary Shaw encourages so-called entertaining stand-up fights.

A quote from Pugmire:

“Shaw said he has urged MMA fighters in the past to maximize the action, to avoid an abundance of yawn-inspiring wrestling.”

Did I mention that Dan Wetzel hit the nail on the head? Oh yeah, I did. But Wetzel hit the nail a second time in a yet a second article he wrote about EliteXC. Let’s not forget CBS’ role in this MMA fiasco. Wetzel certainly holds no punches on the matter.

Another quote from Dan Wetzel:

“Then there’s CBS, which gave up any pretense of journalism in favor of unseemly propaganda. The network previously embarrassed itself by comparing Kimbo to great sports figures such as Tiger Woods. This time, Gus Johnson’s declaration that Petruzelli’s triumph was “the most incredible victory in the history of mixed martial arts” was laughably ridiculous.”

Other interesting EliteXC facts this week

Kimbo Slice was paid a whopping half of a million dollars to get destroyed in 14 seconds on national television. This is quite astounding on too many levels to even mention. But what’s more astounding is that EliteXC’s equally popular Gina Carrano who is often called the face of women’s MMA got a lousy $25,000 for her win last saturday night. The official payouts are listed on Sherdog.com.

Kimbo Slice actually made more than $500,000 for his troubles. Kimbo was paid an additional undisclosed fee for accepting the last-minute fight with Seth Petruzelli. But of course this extra payment of encouragement was never mentioned on air by commentators at CBS whom chose another route of description entirely by suggesting Kimbo was a brave warrior for stepping into the fight.

According to Yahoo! Sports’ Dan Wetzel:

“We made it up to him,” said Jeremy Lappen, EliteXC’s head of fight operations. He wouldn’t disclose the amount.

And Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel continues:

“The worst was Johnson [CBS Commentator] repeating the party line that Slice didn’t hesitate to switch opponents from an injured Ken Shamrock. That was simply a lie. Slice demanded a cash bonus on top of his $500,000 payout just to get in the cage with Petruzelli, according to Lappen.”

Death threats aimed at Seth Petruzelli round out this week’s edition of the EliteXC soap opera. According to an interview with ProMMA.info, Petruzelli was threatened with violence by thugs. 

Pro MMA: “You said you had some death threats, but was it the locals because I know you are from Florida too?”

Seth: “Yeah, I’m from Florida but not from south Florida. It was mainly the Kimbo fans down there that was doing it.”

Pro MMA: ”Having to worry about some gangsters doing some shady stuff to you when you’re trying to celebrate your win, man that’s no fun.”

Seth: ”Yeah it kind of sucks and kind of takes the fun out of it. The first thing I said to the athletic commissioner when he came in the ring and told me to calm down was, “You gotta get me outta here, you gotta get me outta here. I’m scared.” I was just waiting for something to get thrown in the ring.”

FiveOuncesOfPain.com revealed another set of thugs that were not so happy with Seth Petruzelli during a recent interview.

Sam Caplan: ”Can you talk about the aftermath? That was a pretty crazy scene around the cage with Kimbo’s crew. At any point were you concerned for your safety?”

Seth Petruzelli: ”Oh yeah, 100 percent. Afterwards, and I didn’t know it at the time, buy my wife had got threatened a few times. My corner had got threatened a few times. I had stuff thrown at me from the crowd. As soon as I had got done circling and screaming, the athletic commission told me I had to calm down because the crowd was getting crazy. So I calmed down and said listen, “You’ve got to get me out of here.” And I kind of started to get worried about my well-being at that point.”

Sam Caplan: ”Did the threats against your wife and your corner come from Kimbo’s fans or his corner?”

Seth Petruzelli: ”It was some of his posse that was around the cage. Not all of them were like that but there were a few that were talking some crap that I wasn’t very happy about.”

Sam Caplan: ”Do you have any idea what they possibly could have been mad at you about aside from doing your job?”

Seth Petruzelli: ”I have no idea. I heard this one kid, he kept saying “You cheated! You cheated! You cheated!” And I’m like, how the hell did I cheat!? I mean, what are you talking about!?”

A new battle for EliteXC in a courtroom instead of a cage?

Lee Russakoff of Comcast.net reports via ESPN.com that the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation has opened a preliminary investigation into whether there is any evidence that ProElite tried to influence the fight between Kimbo Slice and Seth Petruzelli. 

A silver lining?

Well, not all was bad for EliteXC last week I guess. EliteXC “Heat,” was the number one program on both broadcast and cable Saturday among male adults. According to Nielsen ratings for Oct. 4, EliteXC was the highest rated program for adults 18-34, men 18-34 and tied in men 18-49. EliteXC beat out other events such as the MLB playoffs, college football games and a Spike TV replay of UFC 86.  The broadcast drew 4.56 million total viewers for CBS.

An unfair fight at EliteXC Heat?

Oops, the controversy is not over yet. I failed to talk about a disgruntle Roy Nelson. The co-promoted fight between Affliction and EliteXC featuring former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski and IFL standout Roy Nelson was stood up by the referee in what the ref claimed as lack of action and Nelson claimed was a form of robbery stopping him from getting mount on Arlovski and eventually leading to his own knockout. In an interview with MMAWeekly.com Nelson stated that he was fighting more than one person last Saturday night. 

Roy Nelson stated:

“I felt like I was fighting two people,” Nelson said about the referees last Saturday night. “I would fight for Elite, it all depends where we’re fighting at and who’s the ref. If we were fighting in Vegas, and I know the refs and they actually know what a Kimura is, that kind of makes for a big difference. Cause the reason they’re telling me to work for a better position and you’ve got someone in a submission, usually they have to get out.”

Push comes to shove

Since this is a special yet unintentional “This Week in MMA” column built exclusively around EliteXC, who am I as a thorough journalist to overlook last night’s embarrassing display of sportsmanship at the hands of Jason Guida during his ShoXC debut on Showtime against Mamed Khalidov. Many FCT readers may recall Jason Guida as the older brother of the UFC’s Clay Guida who entered this season’s The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV not to even make it into the cage due to his inability to cut weight. Guida then proceeded to argue and insult a Nevada State Athletic Commissioner against the advice of Frank Mir when he was not allowed to fight. Jason Guida continued his general immaturity last night following the stoppage of the fight when he failed to intelligently defend himself during a barrage of punches. Guida shoved the referee and later shoved the cameraman before storming out of the cage. One would guess that Jason Guida’s days in professional MMA might numbered. But who knows? EliteXC does like controversy. And in complete fairness to EliteXC, this is the one incident this week that was not its fault. 

Watch the full video of the Jason Guida fight here.

Waiting for the exit music?

In the end, EliteXC has lost a lot of respect within the greater sports industry much less amongst most educated fans of MMA. Elite’s roll of the dice to stir controversy and place all of its eggs in one over-hyped basket has most certainly backfired in light of recent events. The future is unknown.

And as I stated previously, I am in total agreement with Dana White of the UFC on how EliteXC is more than often a cheap spectacle involved in the MMA game for a quick buck recklessly vandalizing a decade of struggle amongst MMA athletes to earn the respect of the mainstream sports world. 

Respect will never come the way of MMA as long as organizations such as EliteXC toy with the reality of combat sports on free national television. MMA is not professional wrestling. It is not a staged event although the sport once crawled from under the shadows of similar comparison. But that was nearly ten years ago now.

MMA is one of the most exciting sports in the world because of its many intricacies. To create a paper champion through rigged fights and a single dimension of the sport is not only an embarrassment but apparently a crime at some levels. 

I have taken heat in some circles for my outright criticism of Kimbo Slice, the Shaws and EliteXC from day one. I have been accused of bias and even being a crony for the UFC. But in reality, I have equally criticized the UFC and other organizations when it was deserved. It is safe to say that the UFC built MMA into the popular and respected sport it became by 2005 only to be challenged now by CBS and EliteXC as the two companies pawn a freakshow mislabeled as MMA to a new and greater MMA audience. 

It is unfortunate that the talented and deserving fighters on the EliteXC roster have had to work as the opening act for a complete and utter farce. In fact, I have previously called EliteXC and the Kimbo Slice era one of organized sports biggest charades in history. And It is not the fault of Kimbo Slice. Sure, he’s taking the paychecks but do you blame him? Ultimately it is Gary and Jared Shaw who have vandalized the image of modern MMA while riding the coattails of Dana White. It is in some ways brilliant just as it is dumb. But it may also prove to be criminal at some point in the future. Only time will tell.

In the meanwhile, allow me to roll the exit music for this week’s column. I have found the perfect song and the perfect artist to encapsulate the week’s events. Without further ado, take in a couple minutes of Milli Vanilli as the perfect metaphor for EliteXC and the Kimbo Slice mirage. As someone once said, no press is bad press.