Quote of the Day 2: Many Fighters Lose Out

by Nick Thomas on Oct 21, 2008 10:28 AM EDT in News Comment 19 comments

"As Icon's ex-promoter, I've had fighters calling me all day about the EliteXC situation. I Just wanted to say that as everyone here is dancing on the EliteXC's grave, I think its important to remember that a shitload of good fighters (and great people) just saw their contracts disappear into the ether. I mostly dealt with the Hawaii talent, so Icon champs like Kala Kolohe and Mark Oshiro, as well as up-and-comers Poai Suganuma (BJ Penn's LHW), Koa Ramos, Kaleo Kwan - to name a few - just lost big time. 20x this many mainland guys are going thru the same thing. Really sucks for all of them.

Not all of them are UFC material, but the EliteXC model allowed them to earn much better paychecks than living in the local shows. It's too bad that most of them have to go back to the tiny paychecks of the local shows."

It’s safe to say that EliteXC and I rarely saw eye-to-eye on marketing. We did things a lot differently than them at Icon. I was frequently outvoted in the committee process, but I just thought that was part of the deal of going from the 2-man admin of Icon to the corporate structure of ProElite. I brought Mousasi, Aoki, Hunt, and a number of other legit guys (all at a fair market price) to the matchmaking team back Oct/Nov 2007, but my talent selections didn't match their agenda.

No disrespect to them cuz they are all nice guys and gals...we just saw things differently.

Guys like Lawler, Diaz, Shields, Bigfoot, Feijao, and Herman will all land on their feet when the dust clears, but many others will suffer. I hope everything turns out okay for the rest, including nearly all of the staff at Elite.

Would've been awesome if TJay and I coulda had a crack at steering the ship, but certain people - and their methods - were already in place when we arrived. It was clear from day one it was 'their' show, and we were there just to help out on request. Unfortunately there was nothing we could do but go along with it.

Such a wasted opportunity, eh?

-- Patrick Freitas, Ex-Director of Promotions for Icon

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That’s EXACTLY what I am saying.

Those that only focus on EliteXC’s negatives and fail to see all the good they did for MMA and all the fighters, promoters, and employers are complete nuts.

I can see in the very future many people changing their stance how this was bad for MMA, jet they failed to realize it when they had a chance to do something about it.

by MMASuPreMaCy on Oct 21, 2008 10:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What chance did any of us have to do something about it?

Come on…I get that you’re EXC’s biggest fan and all. But it’s not like they didn’t do this to themselves.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Oct 21, 2008 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly, this was happening, there was nothing anyone else could do short of just handing over money to Elite.

They are the one’s who signed a shitty deal with CBS.

They are the one’s who never had a PPV.

They are the one’s that let the Petruzelli scandal have a life of it’s own by not coaching him on what to say, and by letting Lappen tell 5 different stories in 5 days.

They are the one’s that had a shitty business model from day 1 and bit off more than they can chew.

it sucks for the fighters, and they’ll probably me making a little less cash in the new orgs they end up with, but that was part of the problem. Elite was paying too much for the level of product they were producing. If revenues are less than expenses, with no hope or plan of that model reversing, the product is going to fail. There’s nothing anyone can do about it.

by Phildo on Oct 21, 2008 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I understand that.

But being happy about it and wanting them to fail because Kimbo fought for them is a stupid reason, for some of those that were just hating.

by MMASuPreMaCy on Oct 21, 2008 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

One door closes, another door open.

MMA will be on network television eventually. It could be Affliction or it could be the UFC. All I know is that EliteXC is bad for MMA. No two ways about it.

by cyph on Oct 21, 2008 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

There’s a difference about being happy about it and trying to find a positive spin to it.

It’s over. Before there was a difference between saying that they were going to fail and hoping that they were going to fail.

There’s no point now in being a pessimist and proclaiming this as the worst thing that ever happened to MMA.

Yes, it sucks that a bunch of people lost their jobs, but there are good things. A bunch of corrupt idiots are out of the MMA business, for now anyway. And there is a big opening in the MMA world for someone else to move into the spot that Elite occupied, it may be 1 company, it may be several regional companies, but now that Elite is out of the way, maybe someone competent can step up to the plate.

by Phildo on Oct 21, 2008 11:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Relax. I think in most cases, these Proelite orgs, will return to their roots and run again as independent entities. The only thing I really see being gone for good, is EXC and the ProElite umbrella. Using Icon as an example, does anyone really think they won’t emerge again, or at least som of the other Hawaii shows will step up to replace them? If McDonalds goes out of business, do you stop eating? No, you just go someplace else, or another chain pops up and takes their place.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Oct 21, 2008 11:14 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You’re generalizing far too much here. I can only speak for myself, but I had no desire to see EliteXC go down until the rumors of them influencing bout outcomes surfaced. I felt something fishy was going on, and given recent evidence I have no reason to change my opinion that something in EliteXC wasn’t quite on the level.

ProElite did some good for mma, but it’s a lot to ask fans to overlook their shortcomings. EliteXC was their main show, and it would seem they paid their fighters to stand up. That’s not mma and they deserve a great deal of criticism for that. Jared Shaw, one of EliteXC’s executives, openly rooted for certain fighters on camera. Shaw’s behavior is unprofessional to an extreme degree and deserves criticism. Gina Carano failed to make wait twice that I can remember, and there were questions if she actually made it this past time. EliteXC never moved to punish her for that, which I found funny since they created 140lbs special for her. Plus there was the promotion of Kimbo as a top heavyweight, which is an argument so familiar it doesn’t need repeating.

A UFC monopoly isn’t ideal, but ProElite had a lot of issues. It’s irresponsible to ignore all the stupid and corrupt things they did because they provided competition for the UFC. Sure this may hurt in the short term, but in the long run mma will be better off. It’s to bad that ProElite had to run a bunch of quality regional shows into the ground along with EliteXC.

by Andy R on Oct 21, 2008 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Extremely well said Andy R

I couldn’t agree more. I 100% agree with every part of your post.

" Tell me something Steve, How does a guy from Puerto Rico loose a ball in the Sun? "

by aaronb on Oct 21, 2008 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lets take this to the extreme.

If there’s an evil bastard out there who has hired an army to do his bidding and then that said evil bastard is removed from the face of the earth, should we applaud for all the job oppurtunities he offered his minions.

by SamCupitt on Oct 21, 2008 10:48 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

So you are saying thousands should suffer so that two scumbags can suffer?

by MMASuPreMaCy on Oct 21, 2008 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Enron, Wamu, Bears Stearns, etc.

Dude, it’s the two scumbags that made everyone suffered. I think you’re a little naive about how the world works.

by cyph on Oct 21, 2008 11:06 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m just saying if you get into bed with a shady looking chick and you wake up in the morning to find she is Jared Shaw then you’re going to have to deal with the consequences.

by SamCupitt on Oct 21, 2008 12:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

We have a winner.

by LiuLang on Oct 21, 2008 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’ve always said that competition would only make MMA stronger, and that EliteXC and Affliction in a way kept Zuffa honest. Heck, we got a lot of free shows because of that, and the quality of the product was head and shoulders above the rest. Good stuff.

But EliteXC’s demise can only be good for MMA in the long term. I wanted EliteXC to succeed, but I started to turn on the promotion once all the shady stuff started coming about. The Stand gate thing was the last straw for me. I guess it comes down to the growth of MMA vs the purity of it. I want MMA to grow and be the biggest sport on the planet, but not at the expense of its integrity. I know realistically I may not get it both ways, but I want to believe I can.

It sucks for a lot of those fighters because there aren’t too many options for mid-tier fighters out there, and it’s not their fault this happened. Hopefully they can work their way on the local circuits before another promotion rises up. Maybe CBS/Affliction would be ideal. Maybe not. The future is uncertain for sure and I am sympathetic to the fighters and their families.

by pud333 on Oct 21, 2008 12:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs