Mark Ecko, founder and famed designed of Ecko clothing, could be in a serious financial squeeze according to report in the New York Post. Ecko has also recently stepped up and started sponsoring several prominent MMA fighters including UFC heavyweight champion, Frank Mir, TUF 9 coach Michael Bisping, and "Ultimate Fighter" winner, Nate Diaz.
The story says sources have indicated that Ecko has hired investment bank, Peter J. Solomon, to help refinance at least $170 million in debt that are owed to 2 key business partners.
Because of this debt, Ecko may be forced to sell off pieces of his businesses to help financial woes and pay off creditors.
According to the report, Ecko owed over $100 million to Li & Fung, a global trading company that helps manufacture his products, and that the rough holiday season played a major part in the recent struggle.
Ecko has also now apparently defaulted on a $70 million loan from commercial lender, CIT, and as quoted in the story from the NY Post, Ecko is "scrambling to avoid bankruptcy so he doesn't lose every stitch of equity he's got."
Sources told the Post that Ecko's executives and business partners are in a scramble to sell off pieces of the business to rivals in exchange for immediate cash. Apparently, Ecko is also trying to lease out space in his huge 280,000-square-foot headquarters on West 23rd Street, in New York City.
How this could affect the MMA fighters that Ecko currently sponsors is not known. Independent sources indicated to MMA Insider on Friday that the financial struggles felt by Ecko could partially be a reason why the clothing giant fell out of the running for their bid for the Elite XC assets, of which they were rumored to be in contention for.
The NY Post contacted Ecko chief marketing officer, Michael Golden, who stated, "we're pretty confident that this isn't an issue that's life-threatening at all, in our case, we have more than enough assets to pay off that term loan, and we have more than enough time."
Stay tuned to MMA Insider for more information on this story as it becomes available.
Former Elite XC welterweight champ turned Strikeforce fighter Jake Shields is in Utah along with former Elite stablemates Thomas Denny and Conor Heun, filming the new MTV series "Bully Beat Down," hosted by the always-colorful Jason "Mayhem" Miller.
The concept of the show, originally reported by MMAInsider in October as an Elite XC-helmed venture produced by reality kingpin Mark Burnett, involves singling out town bullies to fight with professional fighters for cash.
Enter professional bullies Shields, Denny, and Heun.
Shields tells MMAInsider that former Elite executive Jeremy Lappen recruited them to appear on the show, and Shields was a part of its pilot in December.
"I get to be a good guy bully," he said. "It's pretty cool."
Shields will log two days on the show's set and will appear on two of its eight episodes, scheduled to debut sometime this summer.
Show contestants will have 2 rounds with the professional fighters--one 3-minute round of grappling and one 3-minute round of kickboxing with pads and headgear. Alas, Shields and co. are not allowed to elbow the lions-turned-lambs on the ground.
"That would be nice," he laughs.
As you can imagine, Shields is not losing sleep over the fights.
"I'm going to go run tonight," he said. "Just for fun. The guy I'm going up against is a good wrestler, so I better take it a little serious, but it's two 3-minute rounds. Nothing serious."
Former Elite XC bantamweight champion Wilson Reis is bound for Bellator Fighting Championships, the emerging MMA promotion announced in a press release on Monday.
The Brazilian grappling standout was first rumored to join Bellator at its public inception, but the release confirmed his exclusive participation.
Stranded by the fall of Pro Elite, Reis is the first of its former champions to make a formal break for another MMA organization.
Reis will be one of eight 145 lb. fighters in Bellator's featherweight division. He will compete in the first round of a multi-weight class tournament taking place on Apr. 4 in a located to be announced. ESPN Deportes, the Spanish arm of American sports channel ESPN, will broadcast the event as the first of twelve specials in 2009.
The promotion also promises superfights along with the tournament format.
"Wilson has unlimited potential at 145," said Bjorn Rebney, CEO of Bellator Fighting Championships. "He has a terrific grappling pedigree, an unbelievable work ethic and he's getting better every time he fights. He's exactly the kind of fighter we're looking to showcase at Bellator Fighting Championships."
Mostapha Al Turk, who makes his UFC debut against Cheick Kongo at UFC 92, spoke with MMAWeekly.com about the demise of ProElite and subsequently, Cage Rage.
"It's always sad to see any organization sort of come to their knees. But hey, you know, there's not one person or one organization that's bigger than the sport itself. And where as one door closes, another one opens for anybody," said the former Cage Rage British heavyweight titleholder. "I'm disappointed to see that happen for Cage Rage and EliteXC, but hey, life carries on.
"Cage Rage, they're a great bunch of guys. A very professional organization. I've got nothing bad to say about the guys that ran Cage Rage and the time I've had at Cage Rage, nothing bad what so ever really. It's all been positive," added Al Turk.
"It was the main show in the U.K., so it had a massive fan base. It was huge in the U.K."
It sounds as if Marc Ecko Enterprises may be the latest apparel company willing to try its hand and gamble its reputation on mixed martial arts. That is if our friends over at iGuillotine.com have all their ducks in a row...
Although they weren't able to confirm it with Marc Ecko Enterprises directly, iGuillotine says that Ecko is the leading bidder to purchase what's left of ProElite, Inc. and its EliteXC brand.
There have been strong rumors lately that ProElite's doors, already shuttered, could soon be re-opened if a sale for the company's assets goes through.
Ecko has been dabbling its toes in the MMA waters, creating MMA specific apparel and sponsoring UFC fighters such as Nate Diaz, Michael Bisping, and Matt Hughes. Of course, the sponsorship door to UFC fighters will surely be slammed shut if Ecko does takeover ProElite and its television contracts with CBS and Showtime. Just ask the guys at Affliction.
Other strong rumors place Terry Trebilcock's King of the Cage -- and an unidentified partner -- as one of the front-runners to take over ProElite. Of course, there's nothing saying that Trebilcock's partner couldn't be Ecko.
Although UFC president Dana White has recently made public comments that he would be willing to entertain the prospect of former EliteXC star Gina Carano competing in the Octagon, it's not the Ultimate Fighting Championship he's talking about.
White said that he's not ready to put women's fights in the UFC, but he would give Carano a run in the UFC's sister promotion, the WEC.
"I heard that," confirmed WEC vice president Peter Dropick on Monday.
There's still a hang-up in having Carano fight even in the WEC.
"First off, I don't know if anyone knows really what the contractual situation is with any fighter from those other organizations," he said, referring to ProElite-owned promotions like EliteXC. "I think until that is flushed out, we would... we really don't have anything at this point."
That's not to say that Dropick isn't interested. On the contrary, he's very interested in adding more talent - including Carano - to the WEC's roster of athletes. "We'd be open to having some of the better fighters and the most exciting fights. (Carano) is certainly a star and she certainly has drawing power. So, we'll see how that plays out."
For now, like many EliteXC fighters, Carano is in limbo, trying to figure out just what her contractual status is while ProElite keeps toying with the idea of whether it will continue on or not.
"The Fight Professor" Stephen Quadros, famous for his commentating skills for MMA events all over the world, will step out from behind the microphone to test his acting skills opposite Emmy nominated actor, Michael C. Hall this weekend on the Showtime hit series, "Dexter."
The episode entitled "About Last Night" will feature Quadros in a supporting role on the show.
According to the IMDB.com database, the former Pride, IFL and Elite XC announcer will play a character named "Speedball" so the episode should be interesting to say the least!
Tune in this weekend on Showtime when the "Fight Professor" meets "America's Favorite Serial Killer"!
With the advertisement of a ProElite garage sale hitting the wires last week, MMAInsider asked a few interested parties whether they planned to attend the Nov. 17 sale in Los Angeles.
Tom Atencio, VP of Affliction Entertainment, is not so hot on the idea. "It doesn't make sense," he said. "Do they really own the contracts of these fighters? It's my understanding that some of the guys are already out of the contracts. There's a bunch going on, I'm just trying to figure it out myself."
JD Penn, President of Rumble World Entertainment, one of the original companies to join the consortium of promoters, says he will send his lawyer to the Los Angeles meeting.
"I licensed the name," he said. "Other companies sold them. So if they're in breach of anything in Rumble World, then I get Rumble World back. We'll see what's available, what's for sale, if there is anything."
T.Jay Thompson, president of Hawaii's other big MMA promotion, ICON Sport, says he's sitting on the fence. After all, he's getting his ducks in a row to sue ProElite for non-payment of a five-year consulting deal he inked with the company last September.
"Yes (I'm going, but) I'm hearing rumors that ProElite is going to fight the auction," he said. "Would I show up to an auction? I guess, if it happened, but I understand my physical library (of fights) is mine."
Strikeforce executive Mike Afromowitz would not comment.
Terri Trebilcock, president of King of the Cage, was certain the auction would not happen.
UFC matchmaker Joe Silva was unavailable for comment, though UFC president Dana White has expressed interest in Elite properties Jake Shields and Robbie Lawler, so his presence would seem certain.
Former top middleweight contender, Scott Smith, spoke to MMAWeekly Radio recently about his pending free agency from Elite XC, who he might fight for next, when that might be, and the reality of the fighters left in limbo after the company's demise.
World Extreme Cagefighting vice president Peter Dropick was recently asked if the WEC had any interest in signing fighters from the now defunct EliteXC promotion... specifically K.J. Noons, Nick Diaz, and Wilson Reis.
"I know our matchmakers are look at any fighters that are available. I don't know their contractual situations. There are a handful of guys that make sense, and there are some that just wouldn't make sense," Dropick replied.
Although he couldn't really commit to any specific fighters due to EliteXC and its fighters still being mired in a web of legal entanglements, the VP did sound like he was interested in bringing some of the top EliteXC talent to the WEC.
"I don't know specifically if we've talked to anyone or legally if we can talk to anyone at this point, but absolutely we're keeping an eye on that situation. We want the best guys in the world and those guys that are available we've got a lot to offer them."
One of the biggest questions surrounding EliteXC's collapse has been what will happen to the female fighters. Gina Carano has developed a certain amount of star power, and EliteXC had also attracted a number of other top female fighters like Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, Sarah Kaufman, Tonya Evinger, Kelly Kobold, and others among them.
Unfortunately for the female EliteXC fighters and their fans, it doesn't appear that the UFC's sister promotion currently has any more interest in their services than does the UFC itself. Asked if there had been any discussion about bringing any of the female fighters into the WEC fold, Dropick simply replied, "No, there hasn't."
Nick Diaz on Thursday sent his official Notice of Breach of Contract to EliteXC. The letter is an attempt that many fighters are making to free themselves from the shackles of EliteXC's sinking ship. The promotion's parent company, ProElite, Inc., is expected to file bankruptcy any day now.
If the breach of contract doesn't go through, it is possible that the fighters under contract with EliteXC could get mired in the legal process when the bankruptcy court tries to find relief for ProElite's creditors.
Below is the letter that Diaz sent to EliteXC, as it was posted on his manager Cesar Gracie's website:
October 30, 2008 To EliteXC Live: 12100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 8000 Los Angeles, CA 90025 Attn: Jeremy Lappen
Re: Notice of Breach - Unarmed Combatant Promotional Agreement between Nick Diaz and EliteXC Live, Inc.
Dear Sir:
Pursuant to Article 43 of the Unarmed Combatant Promotional Agreement between Nick Diaz and EliteXC Live, Inc. (“Agreement”), Nick Diaz hereby provides written notice of material breach of the Agreement. It has come to the attention of Mr. Diaz that EliteXC Live Inc. has declared the intent to file for bankruptcy and is no longer able to fulfill its obligations under the contract and has breached its representations and warranties pursuant to Article 47 of the Agreement.
Pursuant to Article 43 of the Agreement, EliteXC Live Inc. has thirty (30) days to cure such material breach by posting a bond or other form of escrow in such an amount as set forth in the Agreement that must be payable to Mr. Diaz upon completion of each contemplated Bout set forth in the Agreement and any extensions thereof, and, specifically to evidence EliteXC Live Inc.’s ability to fulfill its obligations under Article 47. If EliteXC Live Inc. fails to cure such material breach in the manner set forth above within thirty (30) days of receipt this written notice, then in Accordance with Article 43, the Agreement and any extensions thereof will be terminated.
The last ever Elite XC middleweight champion, Robbie Lawler, recently updated his blog on his personal website, Robbie-Lawler.com, where he talked about the recent demise of the company and he had good things to say about his time with the promotion.
"As everyone knows Elite XC is no longer around. I enjoyed my time working for them and I was treated really well. Thank you to everyone at Pro Elite for the opportunity to fight in front of millions of fans."
The internet started buzzing over the weekend when Lawler was spotteed at UFC 90 and speculation began running that he may sign with the promotion where he basically started his career.
While Lawler did not confirm or deny anything, he believes his future is very bright.
"Last week I spent at the UFC with Matt Hughes. The atmosphere was awesome as usual. I spent time talking to Monte Cox about what my options are. I also had a brief conversation with the very busy prez of the UFC. All that said I think I will be just fine. I will blog when I sign with an organization. Until then I will keep myself in good shape."
Along with Elite XC welterweight champion Jake Shields, Lawler is one of the top prospects that will be rumored to end up with the UFC at the end of the day.
UFC President Dana White presents his fourth blog for the UFC 90 weekend. In this edition, Dana heads over to the UFC 90 press conference and talks with the media in attendance about the downfall of ProElite and EliteXC, and then does ESPN radio with Steve Cofield.
He really layed into EliteXC again, saying, "Guys that (expletive) fix fights shouldn't be in the business... I don't need scumbags like that blowing it for everybody."
MMA Live from ESPN hits with the latest episode featuring special guest analyst, Stephan Bonnar. The crew talks Elite XC and UFC 90 coming up this weekend.
UFC President Dana White presents his second blog for the UFC 90 weekend. In this edition, Dana talks about the downfall of ProElite and EliteXC as well as a beef with radio host and former Yamma announcer, Scott Farrell.
"Obviously today is a great day in MMA, ProElite is dead... so today is a good day," says White in this latest edition of his UFC 90 video blog.
MMAWeekly.com talked with EliteXC consultant T.Jay Thompson on Monday night about the fallout from ProElite (EliteXC) closing its doors. Thompson was the founder of SuperBrawl, which later morphed into ICON Sport. He sold ICON to ProElite and now it is mired in the mess of the EliteXC meltdown.
Thompson was around at the final EliteXC show, "Heat," where Ken Shamrock withdrew from the main event at the last minute and UFC dropout Seth Petruzelli was tabbed to fight Kimbo Slice at the last minute.
Unless you were under a rock, you know Petruzelli KO'd Kimbo and then a firestorm ensued when he went on a Florida-based radio show talking about how he was influenced to keep the fight standing against Kimbo.
Thompson relayed his insights on the issue, and let's just say they offer no relief to the parties involved that have been trying to say that nothing of the sort happened:
"I was there cageside and watched the whole thing happen," Thompson told MMAWeekly.com. "Watching Jared Shaw jumping up and down and screaming as a representative of the company, I think was disgusting and embarrassing."He continued, "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."
EliteXC executive JT Steele informed the Nevada State Atheltic Commission on Tuesday of "the unfortunate confirmation that the November 8, 2008 EliteXC event will be canceled. It is with great regret that I must also inform you that ProElite, Inc. will be closing our operation today."
There had been some speculation that ProElite may run out the week, but it looks like that's not going to happen, not that it made any difference to the parties involved anyway.
It's a little early to tell how the closing of ProElite will effect the various fighters and promotions involved, most of them are spending a considerable amount of time today - and probably in the coming days - either on the phone with or in the offices of their lawyers trying to determine what their options are.
King of the Cage and Cage Rage have both gone on record to MMAWeekly saying that they will persevere, although it is unclear in what form or fashion.
Jake Shields told MMAWeekly on Tuesday that he is hoping to be set free from his contract and not be a part of the liquidation of ProElite's assets, as he'd like to fight against as soon as possible and has his sights set on the UFC.
Despite the downfall of ProElite and EliteXC, King of the Cage, via the following press release on their website on Tuesday, says that it will continue operations as normal, despite being a subsidiary of ProElite:
King of the Cage, Inc. (KOTC) is fully aware of the reports surrounding the financial difficulties of ProElite, Inc. (PE) and the reports that PE has filed or may soon file a bankruptcy case. KOTC is currently reviewing and investigating the situation and has determined that no bankruptcy case has yet been filed by PE . Although KOTC is a wholly owned subsidiary of PE, it has maintained its own independent operational structure since its acquisition by PE. While there may be some short term impact on KOTC's operations, KOTC intends to fulfill all of its existing obligations and to conduct all of its scheduled events. KOTC further intends to resume normal business operations as quickly as possible and to continue to grow its brand as it has for the past 10 years.We will provide further updates as more information becomes available.
To all of the people who are now out of a job due to ProElite, Inc. (EliteXC, King of the Cage, ICON Sport, Cage Rage, etc.) closing its doors, it's surely not a humorous subject. The bungling of the way the company was run, driving it into bankruptcy, affects a huge chunk of MMA history, as well as its future.
There are now hundreds of fighters looking for work. But British fighter James Thompson, who suffered a controversial loss at the hands of Kimbo Slice when they met in the first CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights, tried to inject a little humor into the situation.
For people using the Facebook social networking site, there is a feature called "What are you doing right now?" that lets you send out a blast to all of your Facebook friends, basically just telling them whatever you want at that moment.
Thompson on Tuesday morning sent out the following "What are you doing right now?" blast:
"James Thompson is out of a job (will fight for food)."
Here's hoping that Thompson and the other fighters that were under contract through ProElite's various entities are able to break free and find work sooner rather than later.
Frank Shamrock was close to the Seth Petruzelli and Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson situation being Ken Shamrock's adoptive brother, offering to step in for Ken after a cut forced him out of the scheduled main event on CBS on Oct. 4 and being one of the broadcasters who called the action that night. Shamrock gave his opinon on Petruzelli's original comments alleging EliteXC paid him to stand with "Kimbo Slice."
"I've had promoters tell me all kinds of crazy stuff. But you don't listen to the promoters. You listen to your coach. You listen to your trainer because the promoter is out for the promoter," acknowledged Shamrock. "Did something weird happen? I doubt it. But it makes a great story and it makes great news."
At this point, it doesn't matter what actually transpired. Public perception is all that matters. And the public perception is that EliteXC paid Seth Petruzelli to fight a certain way. "People are always going to believe what they want to believe about a sport that's so sexy and dangerous, that walks the line in society," said Shamrock. "We're always going to have people that are butting up against the back of the sport for their own reasons. The truth is, when there's a lot of money involved all kinds of weird stuff happens."
Shamrock continued, "I know for a fact that the commissions and most of these promoters are good guys looking after their guys. And you know what? There's always bad business inside of business. I just don't think bad business happened here. I think, you know, uneducated encouragement happened here. I think zealous promotion happened here, but we're in the business of that. It's like we're doing sports entertainment. We're not doing sports."
Frank Shamrock offered to step up and fight Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson when adoptive brother Ken Shamrock was forced out of the bout due to a cut received the day of the event. Frank thinks EliteXC made a mistake making him the replacement and going with Seth Petruzelli instead.
"I thought the best decision of the night was to let me fight Kimbo which was definitely on the table," said the former UFC middleweight titleholder. "I think at the end of the day Kimbo got a little bit exposed. CBS threw MMA out there and that's what happens. That's what mixed martial arts is. I don't think network television gets it yet, but this is going to happen again. Weird, crazy stuff is going to happen again."
According to Frank, he thought he could be the replacement up until the moments before the broadcast began live on CBS. "Until an hour before the show I thought I was going to fight Kimbo as the main event," stated the San Jose resident. "I had hung my suit up and had the boys getting me shorts and mouth piece and stuff. I was going to pick one of two outfits and it was going to be a heck of a night either way."
EliteXC head of fight operations Jeremy Lappen previously stated that Frank Shamrock stepping in on such short notice was unrealistic and cited the inability to get Shamrock medically cleared in such a short time frame prevented the match up from happening. Frank Shamrock disagreed. "I got myself cleared, and I got everything ready to fight. But no one gave me the okay. No one gave me the lets do this thing."
"I actually called Armando (Garcia). He expressed concerned about my arm. I had my assistant call my doctor and had that cleared. All my medical stuff was still current," added the mixed martial arts veteran. "I had been medically cleared to fight, so it was just somebody making the decision. I think it was probably a pretty hefty decision to be made which is why it didn't get done."
The hold up was most likely the payout EliteXC would have had to give Frank to step in for the older Shamrock.
Frank Shamrock was a candidate to step in for adoptive brother Ken Shamrock on the EliteXC "Heat" CBS card on October 4, from the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. Ken was forced out of the main event against Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson due to a cut sustained the day of the scheduled bout.
Frank addressed the bizarre circumstances surrounding the cut and whether or not he thought the laceration was legitimately derived. "I came down on him pretty hard, but things do happen before fights," said the former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight titleholder. "If it were me, I would have had some superglue and some make-up, and I would have been out there fighting. But he's old and he's crusty. And I don't know if his cajones are hanging like they used to."
Calling his older brother's manhood into question aside, Frank didn't feel the cut was obtained by anything other than improper preparation, something that caused him to leave the Lion's Den with only a pair of boxing gloves in 1997.
"I don't think Ken is that sophisticated that there's some sinister play involved," commented the younger Shamrock. "I know he needed the money. I know this was a big moment for him. I just think he's a knucklehead like he's been forever. I think he was, you know, fighting the day of his fight as a warm-up. And that's just, it's just so old school. It's so yesterday that he's doing that."
Seth Petruzelli, who was originally supposed to fight on the undercard, ended up being Kimbo's opponent, knocking out the hyped street fighter turned mixed martial artist's in just 14 seconds.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The success of "The Ultimate Fighter" has spawned a hand full of knock-offs attempting to capitalize on the mixed martial arts craze. Some have been decent, others shamefully bad.
With its cable and network television roots, EliteXC has proven itself accessible to mainstream tastemakers. EliteXC CEO Chuck Champion recently told MMAInsider the company is attempting to capitalize on those connections once again with an MMA-themed reality show.
A pilot for the show is complete, and Doug DeLuca, Elite's former executive chairman, is helping it get seen around town. Reality kingpin Mark Burnett has also taken an active involvement with development.
"I've said it before in other industries," Champion said. "If the shoe fits, steal it. The UFC has figured out 'I've gotta have a way for these guys to start getting an audience following' in order to take them into a pay per view environment."
The premise of the untitled show as Champion tells it:
"It's a concept of you roll into town, some kid's been picked on all his life, and somebody picked on him. So let's put the guy who picked on him in the ring with someone who knows how to fight, see how he enjoys that."
Apparently, an EliteXC fighter will square off with the bully to determine the size of a cash prize that goes to the bullied.
"You can make money the longer you're in the ring. If you go into the ring, you're given so much, and you lose so much if you get taken down. So hypothetically, if I give you 10,000 bucks, you lose a thousand bucks every time you get taken down, you don't want to get taken down, do you? And you can make money for every fifteen seconds you can last standing with this professional fighter. You make money.
"So naturally, these professional fighters are selected very carefully, and the contestants are grilled to make sure that they're physically fit. The attendants are on to make sure no one gets hurt...seriously. I've seen the first couple episodes and it's a lot of fun.
"It's the dream we've all had. Who of us have not either picked on someone, or been picked on. I think it's something that will naturally burn deep in people, and Mark's done a fantastic job with production values. It's a very unique concept."
If the show gets picked up, it will not likely go into production until 2009. At that point, local bullies may want to relocate, or get ready for an ass-kicking.
Despite being adoptive brothers, Ken and Frank Shamrock have made no bones about the fact that they just don't seem to get along. Prior to what was supposed to be a fight between Ken and Internet legend Kimbo Slice at EliteXC's recent event on CBS Televsion, Ken and Frank sat down for a brief interview together. Although it didn't last long, it was a pretty emotional couple of minutes with the brothers talking about the family business... and each other.
In a brief news update on Caesar Gracie's website, he posted an update on the status of some of his fighters and what they have going on.
As we posted here in the MMAInsiderBLOG, Jake Shields opened up his new academy over the weekend. It is a new GracieFighter Academy located in Berkley, Calif.
Nick Diaz has been confirmed to fight Eddie Alvarez on the Nov. 8 EliteXC fight card in Reno, Nev., and now he's also been paid for his fight for Dream… which took place FIVE MONTHS ago! According to Gracie, Diaz has agreed to return to Japan, but leaves the door for speculation wide open as he says, "At this point it is unclear for which organization" that Diaz will fight for in Japan.
It has been oft rumored that Nick's brother, Nate Diaz, will be fighting on the Dec. 13 Ultimate Fighter Finale on Spike TV. The update indicates that Nate is still waiting to hear if he will actually be added to the card or not.
Another GracieFighter team member, Damien Douglas, is expecting to return to ShoXC on the November card. Douglas is 3-1 in MMA thus far, winning his most recent ShoXC outing, defeating Joe Schilling in September.
UFC president Dana White, in a video interview that appears on YouTube.com, commented on the recent EliteXC controversy surrounding Seth Petruzelli and his knockout of Kimbo Slice. White explains what he believes to be the alleged illegality of the situation.
WARNING: A word of caution, in typical Dana White fashion, there is is some rather harsh language, laced with expletives throughout the video.
The ever-evolving story between EliteXC and the controversy surrounding the Seth Petruzelli-Kimbo Slice fight keeps growing with major media outlets picking up on the alleged payoff story more and more each day.
The other problem with the entire situation is the ever-changing story that continues to flow from both the fighter and the promotion.
Originally, on Monday, Petruzelli appeared on a local Orlando radio station making the following statement:
"The promoters kind of hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him," Petruzelli said on "The Monsters in Orlando" show. "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."
Since that time, Petruzelli has recanted that statement saying that his comments were misconstrued.
"All it was, was a knockout bonus that I just didn't say it was a knockout bonus," said Petruzelli while appearing on MMAWeekly Radio on Tuesday. "The UFC offers that, they offer submission bonus, they offer for fight of the night, and all I was saying was that I wanted to take the knockout bonus and not take him down.
"So it kind of got misconstrued as me saying that they wanted me to just stand up to get it, but that was just all me saying I wanted to try to get the knockout bonus."
EliteXC Head of Fight Operations, Jeremy Lappen, categorically denied the original report and released a definitive statement from the promotion about the situation with Petruzelli.
"Seth Petruzelli was offered a fee to fight Kimbo Slice, plus a knockout bonus, a common practice throughout the industry. EliteXC organizes and promotes fights. We have not... do not... and will not suggest or dictate fighters' strategies or tactics. How the fighters perform in the cage is at the sole discretion of the athletes involved."
So Petruzelli and Lappen both agree that it was a knockout bonus that prompted him to stay standing with Kimbo Slice in the main event of CBS Saturday Night Fights, right?
"We offered Seth Petruzelli a knockout bonus, a submission bonus and fight of the night bonus. If we were trying to influence the fight, why would we do that?" said Lappen in an interview with Franklin McNeil of ESPN.com on Thursday.
When asked directly on Tuesday if EliteXC offers submission bonuses, Lappen responded by saying, "We have given submission bonuses, but our bonuses that we tend to give are knockout bonuses."
So which story is true? Was Petruzelli offered a higher bonus for a knockout? Was he offered a submission bonus at all? The answer may never be known for sure, although after the onslaught of controversy, the state of Florida is now opening an investigation into the whole situation.
Ken Shamrock on Thursday issued an open letter explaining the occurences at the recent CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights in Florida that kept him out of the scheduled main event with Kimbo Slice. He also apologized to his fans:
The scheduled bout with Kimbo on the EliteXC/CBS Saturday Night Fight card was a great opportunity, and it is unfortunate that I was unable to face Kimbo as planned. I want to apologize to all of my fans, and to the EliteXC and CBS executives who worked so hard to put this fight together. I also want to apologize to Kimbo, Bas Rutten and their entire camp for what happened. I recognize that I put them in a very bad situation, particularly Kimbo. It's difficult to walk into the ring after training for one opponent only to find out hours before the fight that you have to face some you don't know or have never seen fight.
Over the years there have been many great times as well as disappointing times and I know Saturday the fans were as disappointed as I was. I was worked up so I decided to train with my partners in order to stay focused on the fight. I was just doing a light roll to check holds when I got caught by a head butt. It was a freak accident and I didn't think anything of it until I saw drops of blood. It appeared to be a deep laceration so I had my physician look at it and we immediately went to the emergency room. When they said the cut would require stitches, my heart sank because I knew that the Florida Boxing Commission would not let me fight. I was disappointed because I knew this was an opportunity to give the fans, my friends, and my family something to cheer about. It has been a hard couple of years for me, and for my fans. I have suffered some disappointing losses. I definitely regret my decision to train on the day of the fight.
I promise that I will make this up to all my fans. I know that there is nothing I can do about what occurred, but I plan to get back into the ring soon. I would like it to be against Kimbo Slice. Hopefully EliteXC/CBS will still be able to put a fight together. It's is the right thing to do. The fans want it and I want it.
The Grand Opening of EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields' new gym (with partner Jason Manley) is Saturday at noon in Berkeley, Calif.
The Shields-Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy is located at 2438 Durant Ave. (1/2 block off Telegraph and one block from The University of California Berkeley). It will offer Gracie BJJ taught by black belt instructors.
There will also be classes in boxing, kickboxing, submission wrestling and MMA. Jake will teach submission wrestling and MMA classes. There will be classes for all levels, from beginners to advance and professionals.
Shields is a Cesar Gracie BJJ Black Belt and consensus top five MMA fighter, who hasn't lost a fight since 2004.
Jason Manly will manage the day to day operations of the gym and will also teach submission wrestling classes. He is a University Of California Berkeley graduate.
While at UC Berkeley, he excelled in track, winning MVP honors. He ranks No. 7 on the men's top 10 all-time list in the 100 meters. Manley also excelled on the mat, training and competing under Cesar Gracie.
The latest episode (#22) of MMA Live from ESPN features Jon Anik, Kenny Florian, and Franklin McNeil focusing on the Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock debacle that occurred at the recent CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights in Florida.
EliteXC star Gina Carano and UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture are part of an impressive cast of actors that take part in the upcoming release of Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3. Above is a pre-release look at the women and men that portray various characters in the game slated for release on October 28. (Courtesy of GameTrailers.com)
With debt piling up, EliteXC has to hope that the recent ratings success of its CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights is enough to pull it out of a tailspin. A report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday detailed how the promotion was able to pull of the Oct. 4 event in Florida... with a lot of help from CBS:
"Effective October 3, 2008, ProElite, Inc. (the "Company") entered into an amendment (the "Amendment") to a license agreement with CBS Entertainment ("CBS") originally dated January 10, 2008, as revised and dated February 21, 2008 (the "Agreement") in connection with the production and licensing of live world-class mixed martial arts fight programs.
Previously, CBS ordered an additional event under the Agreement from the Company scheduled to be presented on October 4, 2008, at The BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida (the "Sunrise Event"). The Company advised CBS that it was unable to deliver the Sunrise Event ordered by CBS for October 2008 under the current terms of the Agreement.
Accordingly, the Company and CBS agreed to amend the Agreement whereby CBS would assume all expenses for the event and receive all revenue from the event. CBS advanced the estimated event costs according to an agreed upon budget in order for the Company to pay expenses related to the event. Additionally, the Company and CBS waived mutual exclusivity under the Agreement for the Sunrise Event."
The question now is if it was enough. It would appear so, according to one network executive. After the initial ratings came out CBS executive Kelly Kahl told MMAWeekly.com, "Our contract calls for four shows. We've said all along we're planning to do four shows, and there's nothing in these numbers that would suggest we won't."
When Ken Shamrock was forced out of the EliteXC on CBS main event against Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson due to a cut just hours before the two were scheduled to fight, another Shamrock offered to step in as a last minute replacement.
EliteXC Head of Fight Operations, Jeremy Lappen, told MMAWeekly Radio that Frank Shamrock offered to step out of the broadcasters' booth to step in for adoptive brother Ken.
"He did offer himself up," said Lappen. But it wasn't feasible to get Frank Shamrock cleared with the commission on such short notice.
Before Jake Shields and Paul Daley went to battle last Saturday night, the two welterweights almost came to blows after they weighed in according the EliteXC champion during a recent appearance on MMAWeekly Radio.
Shields said the two fighters were squaring off following the weigh-ins and Daley kept saying "I'm going to knock you out" and eventually the two ended up with a pushing and shoving match in front of the media and crowd in attendance.
Shortly after the ruckus on stage, members of the media noted that the curtains behind the main staging area were flying and noise could be heard from the back.
Sure enough, Shields and Daley were going after each other, trying to get their fight going a day early.
According to Shields the fighters were never able to actually get at one another, but the California native says that a few water bottles were thrown between the two and although his teammate, Nate Diaz (who has water bottle chucking experience) wasn't there, he held his own and now has his "water bottle" story.
Another interesting note from the actual fight is that Shields says Daley was attempting to eye gouge him during takedown attempts.
Shields explained that Daley put his finger in his eye when he was shooting in for a takedown and that the referee issued a warning for the initial offense, but Daley committed the foul a second time during the bout.
In the end the champ suffered only a severe case of red-eye, but a dangerous foul nonetheless.
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