The Nevada State Athletic Commission Wednesday released the agenda for a Nov. 4 tele-meeting to discuss current business.
Two items on the agenda stood out:
1) A request from Houston Alexander for a fight license (all fighters over 35 must do so when their previous license runs out).
2) A request from Zuffa, LLC to hold an MMA event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Feb. 6.
Alexander (14-4-1) reportedly announced he'd be fighting Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson at UFC 107 on his Nebraska radio show, and subsequently sealed his lips when the inevitable media calls came in.
UFC president Dana White declined to confirm the match-up at a press conference for UFC 104 last week.
Last month, Alexander secured a future in the UFC--for the meantime--with a victory over Sherman Pendergarst at Adrenaline IV, which is promoted by his manager Monte Cox.
Slice is currently in Miami and commuting to American Top Team for his next fight. He has been mum about his next opponent in media appearances.
Although he was eliminated from The Ultimate Fighter competition with a loss to Roy Nelson last week, it's not over until it's over, and Kimbo Slice makes a bid this week to step in for his ill teammate, Marcus Jones.
Kimbo Slice was eliminated in his first bout on Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, losing to former IFL champion Roy Nelson. But it's being hinted that he could be returning sooner rather than later...
During a media conference call on Monday, Kimbo Slice, having participated as a fighter on Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's team on the current season of The Ultimate Fighter, was questioned about his coaches decision to walk away from the UFC to pursue a career in acting. Rampage has landed a role on the remake of the popular 1980s series The A-Team.
"He’s not walking away from the UFC," said Kimbo. "Rampage, he’s chasing his career right now.
"Fighting was his job; that was his thing. That was his bread and butter. Rampage, he’s an actor as well. He’s a good actor. Right now, he’s just putting fighting on hold."
It's a little difficult to say whether that's accurate or not. Rampage hasn't said as much. So far, he's just declared that he is done fighting. Done with the arguing and name-calling and criticism from both his bosses and a faction of fight fans that have put him down.
Instead, he's headed to the welcoming arms of Hollywood where no such drama exists... right?
"I feel like my second career could be in jeopardy.. so I'm done fighting. I've been getting negative reviews from the dumb ass fans that don't pay my bills or put my kids though college," he said in a recent blog post announcing his decision.
"I still feel the UFC is a great organization and I felt like I was very loyal to them, but they didn't respect my loyalty, but I wish the UFC the best. I did a lot of things for them. I wish no bad blood between us, but I have kids and a family back in Memphis to provide for and that's all that matters to me."
From where he sits, Kimbo doesn't blame Rampage at all. In fact, were he in the same shows, he would do pretty much the same thing. And with the type of noteriaty that Kimbo has built up, it's not at all a stretch to think he might wind up with exactly the same choices to make.
"If I had an opportunity to be a star in a movie or whatever, or make some good money or whatever, I would definitely put my fights on hold for a minute and do that, pursue my career," he said on Monday. "I would probably still do my fight in December, but I would have done them both."
It's being billed as the biggest fight in Ultimate Fighter's 10-season run... and it probably will be. This Wednesday night, former YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice meets his first test in a UFC-related bout, facing former IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson in the Octagon on The Ultimate Fighter: The Heavyweights...
Kimbo Slice is in-studio to talk about the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. In addition, a breakdown of UFC Fight Night 19 and all the latest news from around the world of Mixed Martial Arts.
UFC president Dana White is always out there pushing his product, marketing the brand. But when it comes to the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, he went to great lengths to make it clear that he really does believe that the next season will be the best they've ever done... and he's not just selling his product.
"I don't want to sound like a promoter and like I'm trying to sell you guys on (The Ultimate Fighter) Season 10. (But) it's the best television we've ever done," he stated emphatically to small group of reporters over UFC 100 weekend.
"From the second it starts until the second we end... Andrea, she's the producer, she said to me at the end of this thing, I honestly don't know what they're gonna do. There's so many things, there's so many stories; she says we could have a 10-disk DVD set on this thing, there's just so many story lines and so much crazy (expletive) going on.
"When I say crazy (expletive), I'm not talking about guys (urinating) in fruit and stuff like that. I'm talking real television. I'm talking real good stuff."
Season 10 is dubbed "The Heavyweights" featuring 16 men in the UFC's heaviest weight class, including the controversial Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, former IFL champion Roy Nelson, several former professional football players, colorful UFC veteran Wes Sims, among a wide assortment of personalities and skill levels.
The coaches for Season 10 are no less interesting. Former UFC light heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson have a healthy disdain for each other that will carry over into a December showdown following the end of the season's run on Spike TV.
Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship will officially reveal the full cast of the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, dubbed "The Heavyweights," on Friday, July 10 at the UFC Fan Expo.
According to representatives of Spike TV all 16 fighters will be available for autographs from 11 a.m. until noon at UFC Fan Expo Booth #149 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Aside from a load of rumored participants, the only fighter officially revealed thus far has been Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson.
Ultimate Fighter season nine is now in the books, but the UFC and Spike TV is already hitting the circuit to promote season 10, dubbed "The Ultimate Fighter: The Heavyweights," featuring Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson and 15 other heavyweight fighters. Here's the first promotional spot from Spike.
Will this be the biggest Ultimate Fighter season ever? Will Kimbo prove himself? We'll find out on September 16.
The Carmichael Dave Show talks with UFC president Dana White about bringing Kimbo Slice on for The Ultimate Fighter: The Heavyweights and what it took to secure him for the show. You might be surprised!
(Courtesy of Steve Cofield of ESPN Radio 1100 and Cagewriter.com)
UFC president Dana White's first time doing a WEC video blog. Includes a teaser about a "big deal" in L.A. that could change the UFC and MMA forever, plus a little bonus interview with Kimbo Slice as he heads into The Ultimate Fighter taping.
Kimbo Slice was sent reeling and EliteXC shuttered its doors after he was KO'd by Seth Petruzelli. Now, Kimbo will emerge with a shot at the UFC as one of the 16 heavyweight competitors on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter: The Heavyweights.
Does Kimbo have what it takes to be The Ultimate Fighter and emerge in the UFC's heavyweight division or will he be shut down in a ratings bonanza on Spike TV?
Icy Mike, a.k.a. Mike Imber, says details of Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson's new deal with Strikeforce continue to hold the fighter back from a possible May booking.
Communicating with MMAInsider via text, Slice's manager said things were still being ironed out with the San Jose-based promotion.
"It's really tough to say at this point," wrote Imber. "We've gotta sort out details before any (fights)."
Ferguson's contract was one of forty-two picked up from ProElite by Strikeforce, which begins its new relationship with Showtime on April 11 with "Shamrock vs. Diaz."
After the buyout, reports surfaced that Imber was looking for a fight overseas, but nothing materialized.
Last month, CEO Scott Coker told MMAInsider he believed Slice and Carano were under the Strikeforce banner and a "business remedy or legal remedy" would come out of the transfer. Negotiations with Ferguson's lawyer were ongoing, he noted.
Along with Gina Carano, Ferguson remains as one of the most bankable assets not locked down by the expanding promotion.
Possibly known forever as "the guy who knocked out Kimbo," Seth Petruzelli is currently tending his gym, Jungle MMA, in Orlando, Fl., waiting for a fight.
The pink-haired fighter says three options--all taking place in March--that are on the table for his fighting future: a yet to be announced Strikeforce show in March; an unnamed event in gambling haven Macau, China; a rematch with Kimbo Slice in Tampa, Fla.
Petruzelli maintains that he's agreed to the rematch, and is awaiting word from Slice's camp. It's a fight he feels is needed to sustain the jolt in momentum created by the 14 second knockout at Elite XC's final dance on Oct. 4.
"I just need to prove more my second time around, if I fight him, or I fight anybody else," Petruzelli said. "I need to do the exact same thing...just to prove it wasn't a fluke. That's been my main driving goal, to train my ass off."
The K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final taking place at the Yokohama Arena in Tokyo Japan will be broadcast live on HDNet to fans in North America.
Joining the broadcast team of Michael "The Voice" Schiavello, four-time K-1 World Grand Prix Champion Ernesto Hoost, and FEG USA's Mike Kogan, will be Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson. Kimbo was invited by FEG and HDNet to be a guest commentator for K-1's US debut.
The K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final, an 8-man kickboxing tournament for the K-1 Grand Prix crown, features the world's best heavyweight strikers including Moroccan/Dutch Bad Boy Badr Hari; legendary triple K-1 World Champion Peter Aerts; French monster Jerome LeBanner; Russian wonder Ruslan Karaev; and two-time former champion Remy Bonjasky.
The broadcast also includes super fights featuring New Zealand's "Sugar" Ray Sefo vs. seven-foot-plus giant Hong Mann Choi; and Australia's Paul Slowinski vs. Dutch demon Melvin Maenhoff.
His mixed martial arts career may have been cut off at the legs with the apparent demise of EliteXC, but Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson will still manage to grace a television screen near you... and soon.
No, Kimbo hasn't yet struck a deal to appear on Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter." That may be - as UFC president Dana White says - Kimbo's only entrance into the Octagon, but it's not his only route to TV.
If you have kids under the age of 15 in your household - or if you just like to indulge in a little Sponge Bob when nobody's watching - you probably already know that Kimbo makes his official acting debut in Nickelodeon's "Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh."
Kimbo portrays "Bludge" in the holiday special, a bully character that you don't know whether he's going to "smash somebody or if he's going to give you a hug and a kiss." Bludge actually helps Drake and Josh keep a promise they made to a family of foster children.
UFC President Dana White talks to famed sports talk show host, Jim Rome, about the upcoming UFC 91 event, as well as Kimbo Slice, and the sport of MMA in comparison to the sport of boxing.
ESPN First Take sat down with UFC president Dana White to break down UFC 91, where UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture will defend against Brock Lesnar. They talk about the UFC's expectations for 1.2 million pay-per-view buys, Brock Lesnar's moodiness, ESPN's coverage of the UFC, Kimbo Slice, steroids, and more.
Taking their cue from UFC President Dana White, who recently said Kimbo Slice was more than welcome to be a loser on "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show, Spike TV recently released a list of TUF fighters they believe should be the first to introduce Slice to the UFC--or at least its leather glove as it smashes his face.
Here are the former reality show contestants that could put a beating on the bearded one:
1) Michael Bisping 2) Matt Serra 3) Nate Diaz 4) Rashad Evans 5) Amir Sadollah
Commentary on the list pulls no punches, so check it out if you want an entertaining read. It's not hard to tell where Spike's allegiances lie. But then again, they're pretty much spot on. And watching Nate Diaz submit Slice--that would be pure entertainment.
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."
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.
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 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.
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.
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