EliteXC Cleared in "StandGate" Fight Fixing Scandal

by Kid Nate on Oct 23, 2008 7:32 PM EDT in News Comment 38 comments

A preliminary investigation launched by the Florida State Boxing Commission into the circumstances surrounding a last-minute Oct. 4 matchup between Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and Seth Petruzelli at EliteXC “Heat” has been closed, according to Alexis Antonacci, a Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation representative.
...
FSBC Executive Director Thomas Molloy interviewed Petruzelli, EliteXC Head of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen and inquired with both the Nevada and California State Athletic Commissions regarding the promotion’s past conduct in their jurisdictions.

Molloy also contacted David “Tank” Abbott, who lost to Ferguson at a Miami EliteXC event in February 2008. Molloy asked if Abbott had been asked to fight in a particular manner, to which the former UFC superstar answered, “No, nothing was said.”

Though Pro Elite officials denied any wrongdoing on Oct. 4, at least one employee has stepped forward to voice his doubts following the company’s demise.

“I have no proof [but] I’d be amazed if [Petruzelli] wasn’t paid to stand up,” Pro Elite executive consultant T. Jay Thompson told Sherdog.com Tuesday.

Thompson also said two EliteXC employees expressed their confidence to him cageside of an arrangement that had been made with Petruzelli before the fight. Thompson said he alerted Pro Elite CEO Chuck Champion the next day.

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Didn't want to make a whole fanpost for it, but..

..Meltzer was just on G4’s Attack of the Show for abour 3-4 minutes of discussion regarding the demise of EXC. I was impressed that they covered MMA, but it was tasteful. Kevin Pereira seemed well read, if perhaps not a hardcore fan, of the sport. And while they discussed the controversy of the Petruzelli/Kimbo fight, they mostly discussed the futures of fighters like Kimbo and Gina. Interestingly, better coverage than ESPN. Hmm…

by Blackout612 on Oct 23, 2008 7:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Were they cleared, or was the case closed?

by mythbuster on Oct 23, 2008 7:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well.. It was never really opened

They pretty much said “Ah, it’s nothing” before they began their “investigation”. Who didn’t see this coming?

by Blackout612 on Oct 23, 2008 7:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They did an investigation and cleared them.

by smoogy on Oct 23, 2008 8:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They said the preliminary findings gave them no reason to start a formal investigation. Apparently Tank Abbott saying they didn’t pay him to stand was good enough for the State of Florida to drop something they obviously had no interest in pursuing to start with.

by who me on Oct 23, 2008 8:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

To be fair...

Lappen and Petruzelli also said, “Nope, no fixin’ here!”. So that should be enough for any man.

by mythbuster on Oct 23, 2008 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Florida: So Mr Lappen any crimes committed in the state of Florida you want to admit to?

Jeremy Lappen: Nope.

Florida: Well I guess your innocent and we can wrap this investigation up then.

by who me on Oct 23, 2008 9:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sounds about right.

by mythbuster on Oct 23, 2008 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol funny stuff guys.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Oct 24, 2008 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They said at the start that they had no reason to believe EliteXC officials had done anything wrong. What that meant is that they were innocent unless proven otherwise, so I don’t know why people are pointing to that as a sign of apathy/indifference.

As for the Tank quote, who knows how much importance that had in their decision-making? It would be ignorant to assume that this is the only action they took.

by smoogy on Oct 23, 2008 9:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What it means when you say they are innocent before you start the investigation is that you have already lost your objectivity before you have even looked into the issue. If you are seriously looking into whether someone broke the law or not you don’t start by saying they are innocent but people won’t leave you alone. If they didn’t have any reason to believe they did anything wrong then what is the point of doing an investigation? They weren’t seriously looking into this they were just pandering to the media that wouldn’t leave them alone.

by who me on Oct 23, 2008 9:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Like I said, it would be ignorant to assume…. all that. They didn’t say EXC was innocent at the outset, they said they had no reason to believe they were guilty. If you were accused of a crime, would you not expect the same chance to clear yourself?

by smoogy on Oct 23, 2008 9:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

investigators != judges

I don’t want detectives going into a homicide assuming everyone is innocent, but I do want the judges and juries to assume that the defendant is innocent.

by mythbuster on Oct 23, 2008 9:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Personally, I’d prefer that they going into it without any bias one way or the other.

Intentional Blog on Balls

by Richard Wade on Oct 23, 2008 10:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If you have no reason to believe they are guilty then of course that means you believe they are innocent. If you have no reason to believe they are guilty then you have no reason to start an investigation except that you are wanting the press off your back. They started this with the intention of proving there was no reason to start this and that is a complete loss of objectivity for a investigator.

If I was accused of a crime of course I would want to prove I was innocent but that doesn’t mean the police should start investigating me to prove I am innocent. The Florida Athletic Commission’s job isn’t proving that EliteXC was innocent it is finding out what the actual truth was.

by who me on Oct 23, 2008 10:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

“Molloy and the DBPR reached their conclusion after speaking with fighter David Lee "Tank” Abbott, Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer, California State Athletic Commission executive director Armando Garcia, matchmaker J.T. Steele, ProElite vice president of fighter operations Jeremy Lappen and Petruzelli."
from the link mythbuster posted.

Apparently they asked Kizer and Garcia if they had any complaints and they talked to Tank, JT Steele, Lappen and Petruzelli and made their decision off that. So yes they obviously put a lot of weight on people not self-incriminating and a preposterously silly question asked of Tank Abbott.

by who me on Oct 23, 2008 9:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The investigation was always a conclusory joke. They didn’t even contact news reporters who had heard these stories from other sources before the radio show. It was not a real investigation, and never was.

by Michael Rome on Oct 23, 2008 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So...

… they talked to Tank Abbott and asked him if he was paid to fight a certain way (re: stand) and he said no. Wow, really? That’s amazing. Who’d a thunk it?

by pud333 on Oct 23, 2008 7:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Think Hard….if the Seth guy was paid to do something (or not to do something) Don’t you think that they offered Ken the same thing? Being that he hates anything other than winning, I am sure that he turned it down, or at the very least wanted far more than they were willing to give him, when they could just give this Seth guy, or anyone from the undercard a smaller amount of money……

THEY WANTED KEN TO THROW THE FIGHT!!!!!!

by kungfuvanity on Oct 23, 2008 7:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Settle down there tiger.
Do you honestly think Ken would have lasted the first round? They could have given him 100% bonus to submit Kimbo and he still wouldnt have simply because his body is stuffed, he cant take a fight to the ground anymore.
You hear of old people falling off a chair and breaking their hip? Thats Ken! ;)

by Benicio on Oct 23, 2008 8:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

When you start your investigation by stating that you don’t believe anything wrong happened then it’s doubtful that you are even going to try and actually find anything.

So after asking a couple of people if they wanted to make any self-incriminating statements and asking Tank Abbott if EliteXC had paid him to not use his tremendous ground fighting skills they concluded that they had proved their initial statement that nothing happened, way to go Florida athletic commission.

by who me on Oct 23, 2008 8:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

haha, pretty much.
Reminds me of the commission looking at the Anthony Johnston eye-poke. “Sorry guys, we dont have anything in our rule book about this so we’re gonna just pretend it didnt happen. Carry on..”

by Benicio on Oct 23, 2008 8:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Their finding was:

According to the DBPR report, Petruzelli was offered $35,000 to fight and $15,000 to win.

(here)

Which is interesting considering it mentions nothing of the knockout bonus that pretty much everyone said existed.

by mythbuster on Oct 23, 2008 8:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yea even in the report that is supposed to clear them the information still doesn’t match any statement any of them publically made on the subject.

by who me on Oct 23, 2008 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah that’s why I think it’s more that the case was closed, rather than the company cleared. I know, they say cleared, but with this minimalist investigating, combined with the company in question folding, it seems to be a non-issue now. Not worth the money and time to investigate further.

by mythbuster on Oct 23, 2008 9:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hahaha. THis is pretty much what I predicted.
You need really strong evidence to charge someone of fixing fights.

It doesn’t matter anymore, RIP EliteXC.

by MMASuPreMaCy on Oct 23, 2008 8:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Why ask Tank?

They knew with Abbott they were getting a stand up fight with 0 chance of it going to the ground. Tank doesn’t even know what BJJ is. Its not like Tank ever had any chance or desire to take the fight down.

Kind of weird they would pick Abbott out of all people

by Discman2 on Oct 23, 2008 8:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If, in fact, there was no bonus for Petruzelli to stand, ProElite executives did one of the most amazing things in the history of combat sports. Their accomplishment was building a PR nightmare that helped scare off their only hope of survival – CBS. Lappen gave several versions of a story. All versions sounded sketchy. If there wasn’t a KO bonus, why did he say there was?

There is something else. Whatever did or didn’t happen in regard to ‘Standgate,’ this situation did not kill ProElite. In other words, those that have been calling for an investigation and answers to the alleged incident didn’t cause the promotion to go out of business. ProElite was well on there way out. They were in financial straits before they ever even signed the deal with CBS. This controversy may have accelerated their demise, but it did not kill them. Sorry for the rant, but I feel that this is going to be the next argument hurled at those people who’ve questioned EXC’s operating practices.

by Cannon Jacques on Oct 23, 2008 9:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ridiculous

by Rundownloser on Oct 23, 2008 9:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I haven't read through all the comments...

but did they seriously ask TANK if he was paid to stand up? That seems like paying a dog to bark…he wasn’t going to take the fight to the ground for Christ’s sake!

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

by Brent Brookhouse on Oct 23, 2008 10:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well, I find it odd to be asking other sports commissions as well to a point. I mean, when would Lappen go “Hey Keith, just wanted to let you know that we’re fixing a fight today, m’kay?”

by LiuLang on Oct 23, 2008 10:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Makes you wonder about this whole “investigation” doesn’t it.

by who me on Oct 23, 2008 10:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the investigation needs an investigation! lol.

A paid elite xc exec pretty much confirmed the stand up bonus… so at least everyone knows what happened… regardless of the outcome of this joke of an investigation.

by mmalogic on Oct 23, 2008 11:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did anyone really expect for them to do anything about it?

by Zocalo on Oct 23, 2008 10:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think we can file this one under “non-vestigation”

by mythbuster on Oct 23, 2008 10:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

How do they reconcile the difference between what Seth and Lappen said when they interviewed them and the various stories that they each threw out in the week following the show?

I’m glad they aren’t stupid enough to go into this investigation with different stories, but the fact that the current story doesn’t match what they were saying right after the fight makes me think something should have been done besides interviewing these particular people. Maybe talk to managers, other people who were there, Ken Shamrock, see what Kimbo and his camp knew about the situation (if anything), etc.

by Phildo on Oct 23, 2008 11:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This is interesting

“However, Kizer said that about two weeks ago, he had a conversation with someone from ProElite whom Kizer did not name. As later recalled in comments to MMAWeekly, this is Kizer’s account of that conversation: "Someone affiliated with ProElite told me that the fighter or his camp said that he had not been training to fight a Muay Thai specialist and thus he had not trained to defend Muay Thai-style kicks, so that he would agree to fight the proposed opponent if the opponent agreed not to use any such kicks, and that information was told to that opponent.”
http://www.ivansblog.com/2008/10/mixed-martial-arts-proelite-employee-to.html

by who me on Oct 24, 2008 3:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Lappen has a law degree, it is not worth Florida’s money to get into a lengthy procedure and costly procedure just to prove some kind of precedent against a bankrupt company.

They would likely have thrown this out all together if that had been a possibility, but nobody cares at this point.

by DirtyML on Oct 24, 2008 8:09 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs