Well, it has finally happened. ProElite/EliteXC has closed up shop. The struggling promotion had lost upwards of $55 million, but in the end it seems an unlikely nemesis drove in the final nail. Showtime was working on a deal to purchase a majority stake in the company, which would have alleviated the financial concerns. According to MMA Junkie, Showtime changed their mind after the Seth Petruzelli controversy surfaced. So not only did Seth Petruzelli take out their biggest draw Kimbo Slice, he also managed to put ProElite/EliteXC out of business. Ken Shamrock also deserves some blame, because if it was not for his suspicious cut, Petruzelli would have never been in the main event. Although, booking Shamrock to headline a major show probably was not the best idea. He is not the most reliable fighter, as EliteXc found out.
The real culprits of EliteXC's demise are the executives who ran it into the ground. Yes, the controversy surrounding the Petruzelli incident probably was the last straw for Showtime. No, it was not the ultimate reason they died. As I have pointed out numerous times, EliteXC repeatedly made stupid mistakes. They never grasped what fans wanted. Instead they gave viewers a shoddy product that could never compare to the UFC.
Their biggest problem was they never understood how to form a fight card. Their top fighters routinely fought mediocre competition (Silva vs Eilers for the Heavyweight Title, Diaz vs Denny), which goes against the UFC branded philosophy of no easy fights. Like it or not, MMA formed with the UFC's influence. You cannot expect to pass off less than stellar match-ups and get away with it. Fans flocked to the sport because for many reasons, but one of the biggest is the notion that every fight matters. Any one can win on any given night. EliteXC broke the rule and paid the price.
The death of EliteXC should start a bidding war between the UFC and Affliction for the services of the defunct promotion's top fighters (also throw WEC in there under the UFC banner). This is part of the reason I was always hard on EliteXC. They had quite a bit of talent. They just never used it properly. Here is a list of some of the notable names who now find themselves without an employer:
Jake Shields
Nick Diaz
Robbie Lawler
Antonio Silva
Gina Carano
Kimbo Slice
Eddie Alvarez
Rafael Feijao
Wilson Reis
KJ Noons
Murilo Rua
Brett Rogers
The most intriguing names are Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, Antonio Silva, Eddie Alvarez, Gina Carano, and of course Kimbo Slice. Diaz was already in talks to fight in Japan. It seems that will be his first stop. On GracieFighter.com, they claim Jake Shields going to the UFC is a "real possibility". The other four could conceivably land just about any where. Silva would be a solid addition to any promotion's lineup. He has some talent and it would be nice to see him face quality competition. Alvarez will not have trouble finding work, either. Carano and Kimbo are the toughest to predict. Women's MMA is still in its infancy and most promotions are not serious about it, most notably the UFC where Dana White basically treats it as a joke. Hopefully Affliction is not as closed minded and goes after her.
Last is Kimbo Slice. I find it hard to believe he will accept a low salary and fight for a small promotion. He could go to Japan, where they love novelty fighters. Affliction might be interested in his drawing power, as they get ready for their second PPV. Even the UFC is a possibility. Dana White has badmouthed him in the past, but it would not be the first time he changed his opinion when the wind blew in the other direction.
Another name not on the list is Tito Ortiz. He gushed at EliteXC's final CBS event that he was a week away from signing. I never believed it. EliteXC was in enough money trouble without adding his salary to the mix. Now he finds himself caught between the UFC, where he is hated, and Affliction, who have shown mild interest in his services. EliteXC's death hurts him more than the others because now there is a large market of free agent fighters. Affliction has more options and could decide to sign a few fighters for the price of Ortiz's salary. That would be the sensible and logical thing to do. I'd much rather have Alvarez, Rogers, and Reis than Tito. Even with those three, you would probably still save money.
EliteXC's Death
Hopkins drops fighting words before Pavlik bout
Bernard Hopkins has tried everything short of hypnosis on Kelly Pavlik and, for all we know, he may have even hired someone to try that.
This is the guy nicknamed “The Executioner,” who speaks incessantly of his days in a Pennsylvania prison, who often wears an executioner’s mask to the ring, and who frequently uses prefight news conferences and interviews as an opportunity to strike fear into his opponent’s heart.
Hopkins, who will meet Pavlik on Saturday in a non-title light heavyweight fight at Atlantic City, N.J.’s Boardwalk Hall on HBO Pay-Per-View, has been all but killing Pavlik with kindness.
The death stare that Hopkins has been known for throughout his 20-year career has been absent. Hopkins has stared largely off in the distance rather than attempting to bore a hole through Pavlik.
Hopkins praised Pavlik’s skills, spoken admiringly of Pavlik’s heart and generally has responded as if Pavlik deserved to be a heavy favorite.
The wily Hopkins, though, has never entered a fight he didn’t believe he couldn’t win. And if his strategy has been to somehow lull Pavlik into a false sense of security, well, Team Pavlik insists it has too much respect for Hopkins and his accomplishments to fall for that.
“Kelly has been prepared very well for this fight, in all areas, and when I say that, I mean physically as well as mentally,” promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank said. “He knows what Hopkins has accomplished. Look at what the guys has done, how long he was (middleweight) champion and all the defenses he has had and he’s still up there now, at his age. Nobody is fooling anybody here. Kelly knows he’s got his hands full. And he’s been prepared for anything that may happen.”
That Hopkins is still fighting now, at 43, is testament to his fanatical conditioning and to a significantly better than expected performance against Antonio Tarver in 2006. He had promised his late mother, Shirley, that he wouldn’t fight past 40 and, even though he was five months past his 41st birthday when the Tarver fight occurred, he had vowed it would be his last.
But then he went out and routed Tarver so easily, and looked so good in doing so, he realized that he still had the capacity to defeat world-class talent and make big money in the process.
So, since he’s fought Tarver, he’s beaten Winky Wright and lost to Joe Calzaghe. The penurious Hopkins, who carries a Costco card in his wallet, has a simple explanation for why he’s still at it after all these years: The money.
Or, as he prefers to call it, back pay.
Hopkins once used to rage against the system, feeling he was being cheated out of monies due to him. Now, Hopkins is one of the game’s top earners and he hasn’t been cleanly beaten yet even though he’s nearly at the midpoint between the legal drinking age (21) and the retirement age (65). He’ll hit that when he turns 44 in two months.
“My motivation is back pay,” Hopkins said. “And I’m a late bloomer and I’m a late start in everything in boxing. As you look at my history for years, the last five years have been a blessing for Bernard Hopkins and my family and it reflects that I’ve done well.
I’ve done well in the ring and I’ve done well financially and dealing with (Golden Boy Promotions CEO) Richard Schaefer, who comes from the banking industry. I’ve made some great investments.
“But in saying that, I am a late bloomer. Whether history reflects whether it was worth it or not, I can tell you it was for the years that I didn’t get the chance to shine. And you wrote about it many years and, you know, some believe that my decisions were going in the wrong direction and it bought me time. It bought me time to be here at 40-plus years old, still doing what I do at my best.”
What Hopkins has been best at over the years has been finding what his opponent has been best at and taking it away. Pavlik is 34-0 with 30 knockouts, but he’s still a young fighter on the rise and getting better.
Clearly, his power and his right hands are his drawing cards and Hopkins knows that if he neutralizes the right, the chances of a victory increase exponentially.
In 2001, he was such an underdog when he was fighting in Don King’s Middleweight Championship Series that King had Felix Trinidad’s name engraved on the Sugar Ray Robinson Trophy as the series champion before the final bout.
Hopkins, though, broke down film of the then-unbeaten Trinidad and quickly figured out that Trinidad wasn’t so fearful without that left hook. Hopkins neutralized the left hook, turned Trinidad into a puppy and stopped him in the 12th round.
He’s not predicting a stoppage of Pavlik, but he is cautioning anyone expecting Pavlik to walk right through him to remember the lessons of the past.
“Kelly Pavlik is the perfect opponent for me … because he comes forward, he comes to fight, and look – he wants to knock Bernard Hopkins out,” Hopkins said. “At least that’s what he says. But he’s going to find it difficult and that’s going to change the fight. I guarantee you, that’s going to change the fight. Tito tried to walk me down. Tito had one bullet in the chamber and that was a left hook. If Kelly Pavlik thinks he’s going to beat Bernard Hopkins because he has a right hand, he’s a damn fool.”
Pavlik is hardly a trash talker and he hasn’t predicted a knockout. Prodded about Hopkins’ claims, he said, “I haven’t in one fight ever predicted a KO. I go in there to win. If the knockout comes, that’s great.”
Hopkins clearly wants him to try for it, though. There are some defensive coordinators who blitz all the time. But then there are situations that call for a prevent defense. Hopkins is the master of knowing when to blitz and knowing when to play the prevent.
Nobody in this area has ever been better at it.
“You’ve got an offensive guy and you’ve got a defensive guy (in this fight),” Hopkins said. “That’s the perfect match. That’s the perfect match. You’ve got a guy that comes forward and you’ve got a guy that specializes in guys coming forward so he can let them punch so he can punch. That’s what – that’s been my game. So there will be no strategy put out there for people to hear (who may be) listening. But there will be a fight where you know the Mack truck is coming and can Bernard Hopkins derail the Mack truck? I say I will flatten the tires. It will slow up, and then it will conk out.”
