EliteXC and CBS Brace for Hurricane Disappointment

by Luke Thomas on Jul 25, 2008 3:25 PM EDT in News

We just came back from the EliteXC press conference at the Stockton Arena and the only word that comes to mind is "surprised."

Surprised that there was virtually no media there. Seriously, maybe a handful...tops.

Surprised that the Shaws (Gary and Jared) were no where to be found.

Surprised that no one is willing to give a straight answer as to where they are hiding. Trust me, I asked around.

Surprised that there appears to be zero excitement online, around town or even in the local media for this event.

This is actually worse than previously imagined. I had assumed they were at least trying hard, but swimming up-current against the UFC vs. Affliction river. Not so. It turns out they aren't even putting full force and effort into making what is actually an historic event in many ways actually...well...historic. This could get ugly.

UPDATE: One more thought. After all of the mistakes that were made at the first EliteXC show on CBS, Pro Elite officials assured fans and media members that the second show would be the one where they got matters right. This was the show that was going to be the upgrade from a production standpoint. This was the show to be paraded as the one where, at least to a significant degree, EliteXC polished their product and improved their product. So, if that's at all remotely true, why does it feel like they are punting?

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Of course their better card would get less attention. Funny how that works out.

Intentional Blog on Balls

by Richard on Jul 25, 2008 3:27 PM EDT 1 recs

Why throw in the towel so early? It doesn’t make sene.

by lovingmma25 on Jul 25, 2008 3:30 PM EDT 0 recs

Agreed.

by Luke Thomas on Jul 25, 2008 3:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

It's like they're purposely willing this to fail.

by pud333 on Jul 25, 2008 4:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

Maybe they need Tom Atencio to stand up for them.

by lovingmma25 on Jul 25, 2008 4:35 PM EDT up 0 recs

EXC1 had internet excitement, whether it was bashing or supporting. EXC1 had mainstream media coverage, this time, nothing.

As I stated yesterday, this is the more interesting card, fight wise and business wise. Many tv programs have debuted solidly, only to be canceled soon thereafter. Not saying this is the end of EXCBS, but I think this could have a huge impact on the near future of mma on network prime time.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Jul 25, 2008 3:31 PM EDT 0 recs

But

With Kimbo and Carano returning in October, EXC might – MIGHT – get a pass this time.

by Luke Thomas on Jul 25, 2008 3:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

I agree, I just hate for casual fans to miss the more accurate representation of mma this weekend, and only tune in for the spectacle in October, nothing against Kimbo or Gina.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Jul 25, 2008 3:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

True yet depressing.

by Luke Thomas on Jul 25, 2008 3:35 PM EDT up 0 recs

Perfect Storm for Failure

Who’s idea was this card anyhow? CBS, that’s who. Only, the previous success depended on Kimbo and EXC only has one of him, they had to put in real mma matches. Without the porn-bouncer to promote, the sleazy Shaw and Son became irrelevant and no one sought to replace their promotion efforts. Whups! So, remove the attraction and remove the promotion and you get a fight night for real fans. Lets just hope that the production values improve with the pressure off a bit. At least then, it could wind up like (to borrow from the music world) that sophomore slump album that doesn’t continue the commercial success, but is ironically loved by hardcore fans as an unappreciated innovation. Is that a reach? Think Bushido 9.

by Jaydoggydog on Jul 26, 2008 12:44 AM EDT up 0 recs

I hope they get Whitesnake to play!

by mythbuster on Jul 26, 2008 10:27 AM EDT up 0 recs

That would be awesome.

Intentional Blog on Balls

by Richard on Jul 26, 2008 2:40 PM EDT up 0 recs

I understand what you’re saying. Especially when there are people at my job, not watching b/c Kimbo won’t be on. Talk about trying to not pull my hair out.

by lovingmma25 on Jul 25, 2008 3:45 PM EDT up 0 recs

Plus they had one of the biggest events of the year, March Madness, to advertise during for EXCBS1.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Jul 25, 2008 3:32 PM EDT up 0 recs

Also, most of my friends are more casual fans than myself, and they had no idea there even was an EXC this weekend.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Jul 25, 2008 3:31 PM EDT 0 recs

the perfect storm

1. post Affliction Banned / UFN 14 buzz

2. no Gina Carano / Kimbo Slice

3. Cotto vs. Margarito on PPV: a lot of casual fans will be watching boxing instead this weekend, as this has been hyped as ‘fight of the year’ for months.

4. UFC 84 on Spike

Poor EXC.

by steak_knife on Jul 25, 2008 3:53 PM EDT 2 recs

SO TRUE

by Luke Thomas on Jul 25, 2008 3:57 PM EDT up 0 recs

UFC 84 alone is not a bad fight to replay. I personally feel it’s on the top 5 for the best fight card this year.

by lovingmma25 on Jul 25, 2008 4:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

Antonio Silva & Kimbo Slice

If the UFC uses this to sweep in and snatch up A Silva and Slice it could bulster up their HW division and bring the new found fame of Kimbo to a head in the UFC’s cage. It would quickly answer Afflictions claim to fame with Fedor and their HW’s. That with Ninja, Noons, Shields and Brett Rogers would lead to a ton of new blood, for fairly cheap. I believe it would be a strong move for the UFC to make.

by Tommy7 on Jul 25, 2008 4:00 PM EDT 0 recs

If UFC does in fact sign Kimbo, I want him to fight Brock Lesnar for his first fight. Call me a dreamer, but I just see that as being a big time $$$ maker for UFC.

by lovingmma25 on Jul 25, 2008 4:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

keep dreaming

Nobody has ripped Kimbo Slice publicly more than Dana White. His chances of getting signed are slightly better than Gina Carano’s.

by steak_knife on Jul 25, 2008 4:22 PM EDT up 0 recs

There is no way Dana White would pay Kimbo what EliteXC is paying him.

He might offer him a spot on the TUF show just to prove that he couldn’t even win that.

Other than that I can’t ever see Kimbo being in the UFC.

by mattman73 on Jul 25, 2008 6:32 PM EDT up 0 recs

Hmm

I don’t know…he did sign Sean Gannon just because he beat Kimbo…if Kimbo remained undefeated…I could see him signing him…for what I don’t know…to prove he’d get his ass kicked in the UFC prolly though.

http://tharealness.wordpress.com/

by Tha Realness on Jul 25, 2008 6:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

They’ll run again in October, probably with Tito Ortiz.

The worst part is when this show bombs, they will blame it on the pure MMA aspect.

by Michael Rome on Jul 25, 2008 4:03 PM EDT 0 recs

Speaking of Tito Ortiz...

whatever happened to him doing a reality show?

by lovingmma25 on Jul 25, 2008 4:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

Maybe Jenna told him no.

Intentional Blog on Balls

by Richard on Jul 25, 2008 4:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

Or starting his own promotion… or….

by Chris Nelson on Jul 25, 2008 4:21 PM EDT up 0 recs

I personally want to see Anderson Silva vs Cung Le. Not for a $ draw, just pure entertainment. I believe Silva destroys him but it should be a fun show till then.

by Tommy7 on Jul 25, 2008 4:05 PM EDT 0 recs

EliteXC lost.

http://tharealness.wordpress.com/

by Tha Realness on Jul 25, 2008 4:21 PM EDT 0 recs

If this event isn’t generating buzz with the online media, it isn’t for lack of effort on the part of EliteXC. The PR firm they hired for this has been doing a fullcourt press with conference calls, transcripts, photos shoots etc and providing all that to various websites. It is one of the better efforts i’ve seen by a PR firm on behalf of an mma company….... i wish Affliction had been half as organized and helpful as EliteXC has been. The UFC isn’t helpful in that respect either. The content and access has been there…... from that point it is an editorial issue. Luke has stated that the EliteXC hasn’t been driving hits, so i guess i can’t blame the online folks for not frontpaging more stuff on EXC.

On the Shaw tip, not surprised a bit to see they are no shows….Adam Swift pegged that one hard (there were three or four sources confirming that news.) Gary had a radio interview the night that news broke and he no showed it..that should have been a sign. Everything since that has been EliteXC officials trying to put a pretty picture on it.

by robnashville on Jul 25, 2008 4:45 PM EDT 0 recs

Really, getting buzz isn’t about doing 23 press conferences a week. The problem is the press conferences are to hype up fights nobody gives a shit about, and feature stars that have no name value. None of the fights are really intriguing at all on this card. It’s somewhat of an embarrassing effort for national broadcast MMA.

by Michael Rome on Jul 25, 2008 5:56 PM EDT up 0 recs

well there is mainstream buzz and hardcore buzz….. which this card seems to be getting neither…....folks online railed about the freak show nature of the kimbo fight so i thought that folks might be more into seeing the shields vs thompson fight and lawler shields 2 fight but no dice…again froma hardcore fan perspective…. i can otally see why most of the fihgts ont his card arne’t getting mainstream play…

by robnashville on Jul 25, 2008 6:21 PM EDT up 0 recs

I don’t think those fights do anything for hardcores. I’m a hardcore, and I know I’ll watch them, but it’s not like they get me excited. They’re two fights with guys at the bottom of the top 10 of their division fighting. Affliction, now that was a card to get hardcores excited.

by Michael Rome on Jul 25, 2008 6:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

i’d put lawler at about 6 and shields at 4…but that is just me…. i think folks really sell shields short…... what is your opinion on him?

by robnashville on Jul 25, 2008 6:48 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’m gonna consider BJ Penn a 170 guy too because he’s going there next. I think St. Pierre, Penn, Alves, Koscheck, Fitch, Sanchez, Hughes, Parisyan, and Yoshida would all beat him up badly if he came into the UFC. I’d give guys like Matt Serra, Anthony Johnson, Kevin Burns, Marcus Davis, Dustin Hazelett, and Mike Swick a very good shot against him. He’s better off in Elite XC being the king of a small world.

by Michael Rome on Jul 25, 2008 8:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

It’s somewhat of an embarrassing effort for national broadcast MMA

Wasn’t that the consensus verdict of the first EXC on CBS card?

by steak_knife on Jul 25, 2008 6:12 PM EDT 0 recs

On some level it was, but at least they presented people with name value that came off as hyped stars. Robbie Lawler will get around the same reaction this weekend as Mike Whitehead did at Affliction. They can send me 400 press emails, it doesn’t change the fact that nobody really cares about Antonio Silva vs. Justin Eilers.

by Michael Rome on Jul 25, 2008 6:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

It was and it wasn't.

I think the overall opinion was, while it was indeed kind of embarassing, it showed potential in that there were some good fights outside of the over-hyped ones, and with some tweaking and a little more professionalism, a better product could be put out. But this time around, I don’t think anybody cares about the fighters, though I will be watching the lawler fight, cause the first one was really good up until the stoppage.

by pud333 on Jul 25, 2008 7:22 PM EDT up 0 recs

Can anybody tell me why they are getting rid of the Shaw’s? Lets be real about this, they must be gone. they have not been heard or seen since after first CBS show. Adam Swift at payout usually has good reliable sources.

by The Bronzeville Bully on Jul 25, 2008 6:31 PM EDT 0 recs

from what i gathered it was kinda corporate….... the charles champion guy they put in as ceo was rumored to be a CBS/Showtime move…..they prob want a comapny guy running EXC as well…....

by robnashville on Jul 25, 2008 6:49 PM EDT up 0 recs

I'd watch it if....

Gina Carano was just standing there… let alone fighting.

Rob Dib
http://www.break-your-face.com

by Rob Dib on Jul 25, 2008 6:32 PM EDT 0 recs

watch it

Gina Carano will be sitting there. Proelite announced that she and Kimbo will be signing autographs pre-fight. I guarantee that she will make an appearance at some point during the telecast, most likely during/before/after the Baszler v. Cyborg fight.

I’ll be at the edge of my seat until then.

by steak_knife on Jul 25, 2008 8:10 PM EDT up 0 recs

Kimbo generates interest, just not mine. Gina Carano is great for a number of reasons. If she’d just squash the weight issues, she would be golden. With that said, it’s a disaster in the making when an organization puts almost all its emphasis on a couple of personalities that are still, basically, newcomers to the sport in question. We’re not talking about Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture here. On top of that, there’s nobody to pick up the slack when the only two stars aren’t available.

Why can’t they get the matches finalized and announced sooner? Shayna Baszler’s opponent wasn’t announced until just a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know that they could have done much in hyping Cyborg or Baszler since they’re both mostly unknown, but a name is certainly better than TBD or TBA.

I’m of the opinion that an MMA promotion should start building stars from the beginning. They can use what name competitors they have to introduce fans to up and comers. It’s EXC’s fault that nobody knows Baszler, because they’ve kept her buried on the SHOXC cards. I don’t think any one fighter can make a successful promotion – Fedor, Liddell, and Couture included. Anybody can promote someone that’s already a star. Enabling an individual to become a star is where a promotion earns its money.

This rant is over.

by Cannon Jacques on Jul 25, 2008 8:40 PM EDT 0 recs

Smith over Lawler? C'mon!

Lawler was toying with Smith in their last fight. Shaw told them both that he is expecting their fight to be the Griffin/Bonnar TUF1 finale of EXC and network MMA. No, I can’t prove that he told them to go at least three rounds, and make sure to include some back and forth, but it couldn’t be any more obvious. There was too much at stake for a sleaze ball not to interfere a little bit. But you could see Smith struggling to hang with the punishment he was receiving. Now, I’m not complaining. Smith was heroic in his fortitude being so overmatched. But, with this in mind, I can’t imagine any reason Lawler doesn’t simply end it in impressive fashion to see his stock go through the roof.

by Jaydoggydog on Jul 26, 2008 12:51 AM EDT 0 recs