Courtesy of With Leather:

Mixed martial arts promotional brand EliteXC and its parent company ProElite have folded, according to an SI.com report. EliteXC, which produced the first-ever MMA fights on network TV, reportedly lost $60 million in its 22 months of existence, which isn’t much of a resumé builder unless you’re looking for work in the Bush Administration.

This news, of course, comes just two weeks after Kimbo Slice’s embarrassingly disastrous loss to no-name fill-in Seth Petruzelli. Though the company’s failure is unrelated to what ultimately became EliteXC’s final fight, it’s hard not to see a symbolic connection between the way EliteXC pushed the overrated Slice to stardom instead of focusing on creating entertaining fights between talented fighters.

Of course, this also means that women’s MMA star Gina Carano is now out of a job. (Unless you count American Gladiators as a job. And I don’t.) Just this once, I’m going to say that I hope she finds a deal in a better fighting league, instead of, say, posing naked for money. I’m trying to do this thing where I’m less pig-headed. Also, I’m trying to impress Gina. Do whatever you want, girlfriend! Sky’s the limit! Call me!



edit: Linky goodness- http://withleather.uproxx.com/?p=10841

its because they had about two good fighters in the lot of them and they hyped kimbo so much and he just went and lost to a nobody. Really though kimbo is a nobody in the world of mma as well, hes a street fighter with very little technique.

Not only that but no one was watching Elite any way.

Not sure what they did (or didn't do) to accumulate a debt of 60 millions in their short period of life...David Marshall and
Doug DeLuca were never fit to manage that Company.

Remind me to put an obituary for them...

My only concern? Gina Carano...when and how can I see her in action again!!!

Hope Dana White will open up the UFC to female fighters (wishful thinking!)

there will be another company that will cash in and pick her up i am sure. It's a shame since they had some decent talent on their roster.

Affliction will absolutely scoop her up. And Santos. They'd be stupid not to.

edit - Linky goodness: http://mmajunkie.com/news/13072/affliction-one-of-many-interested-in-elitexcs-talent-pool.mma

I'm wondering where all their fighters are going to go now. I was looking forward to seeing Nick Diaz Vs. Eddie Alvarez and Robbie Lawler Vs. Joey Villasenior.

Affliction would benefit from picking up some of the fighters' contracts. That is if EliteXC doesn't screw them over. Hopefully Affliction will add a Womens division. I'd pay to see Gina Carano Vs. Cyborg on PPV, 4sure!

I wouldn't be suprised if Diaz & Alvarez go to Japan and fight in DREAM. Diaz got along with the promoters when he represented EliteXC during DREAM's Welterweight Grand Prix.

Kimbo, IF he tries to continue fighting would also most likely go to DREAM. The japanese really do love big scary lookin black dudes. Hell they gave Bob Sapp way more chances than he shouldve got.

And a Bob Sapp/Kimbo Slice match up would be HILARIOUS.

kimbo will die in DREAM, cro cop via left foot to the head

...more than a "Shamrock/Kimbo"???

LOL

Even more hilarious than what Shamrock did that caused him to not fight Kimbo

Amen to that

:GETTING SIX STITCHES IN EYE:

there isnt a big enough market for womans mma in the mainstream yet, but I'm sure once people start coming around you will see girls in the ufc.

AFTER his balls have fully recovered, though.

Zing!

Hopefully Affliction can slide into CBS' MMA slot and bring their "Fighting Fedor" program with them.

It really is a natural fit and CBS will have the top fighter in the world, along with the credibility that goes with that.

Very good point. Plus there are a lot of expectations for the Emelianenko vs. Arlovski fight on Jan. 24 that will also feature Lindland, Nogueira and Sobral. I also think that the only way for an Org "other than UFC" to survive is to capitalize on PPV...I'd love to see Affliction's new strategy on that...

I dunno. Without the mass telvision coverge, I don't know how enough people will know that there is a PPV. Affliction's first PPV had a bunch of buys, but there is no guarantee their next event will.

They really need more exposure to mass audiences. Hopefully something can be hammered out with CBS. Apparently CBS haven't soured on MMA, only on Pro Elite. CBS was in a position to buy the company and chose not to, which is why Elite went belly up.

Do you post on Sherdog at all?

I think that the correct answer should be a balanced network/PPV strategy (hence Spike/PPV for the UFC) but what’s very significant is to mimic the marketing powerhouse approach from the UFC. If you think about it, these guys steadily grossed $200+ Mil on PPV every year since 2006. That's a very good chunk of money. Elite failed with Showtime dramatically, making them lose money on every show plus their website also failed to deliver what was expected to be a "must stop" for MMA junkies. I'll tell you an inside tip (I'm going to hell) CBS is starting their own MMA company and I personally think that they used Elite as a test run. I don't think it's fair but Welcome to the ****ed up world!
Another thing that Elite should've learned is to keep their fighters under strict NDAs like the UFC does. If you remember, Petruzelli made some outrageous comments on Radio after the fight that I believe contributed to adding more fire to the already delicate situation.

We'll see what happens! but whatever it is, the new emerging players are certainly going to learn from Elite's failures!

I usually don't have the time to post at all but I'll take a look at Sherdog!

Thanks mate

I think you'd like Sherdog. There are a lot of fighters that lurk on there. Occassionally they'll post but not as often as they once did. Bas Rutten for example has thousands of posts there, but he rarely posts now.

As for your comments about Elite XC/CBS, apparently CBS was set to purchase the company but like you said, Seth Petruzelli's comments regarding being asked/told to stand with Kimbo and the subsequent investigation is what made CBS back out of the deal. Elite XC simply had no credibility after this last show, so why would CBS want to buy them out of their mess, when they could just start with new MMA programming.

I thought Elite XC was starting to take form, having better shows, ironing out the kinks in their prestentation, but the money dried up, even though the ratings kept increasing.

I'm confident CBS will air MMA - it just won't be Elite XC.