The major media is covering the "StandGate" scandal now and the L.A. Times gets former EliteXC headman Gary Shaw to make a very damning statement that directly contradicts the claims of current bossman Jeremy Lappan and Shaw's son Jared.
Elite XC consultant Gary Shaw said he wouldn't hesitate to "go to a fighter and say, 'We're looking for a stand-up fight.' You're not asking him to throw a fight. You're talking about a fan-friendly fight, not about protecting Kimbo."
Shaw said he has urged MMA fighters in the past to maximize the action, to avoid an abundance of yawn-inspiring wrestling.
"Do I think that's unethical? No," Shaw said. "Because in MMA, you get bonus money for a knockout. I don't see it as unethical . . . asking him to be TV and fan friendly."
That's a signed confession from the man who more than anyone built the EliteXC organization. Its an admission that he hates and misunderstands the sport of MIXED martial arts.
And the whole scandal is an indication that the Shaws have brought sleaze and corruption from the boxing world into MMA.
Here's Zach Arnold on what it all means:
Yesterday, I said that the media should have covered the PRIDE yakuza scandal more seriously than they did (coverage barely existed in the States). That scandal negatively impacted the business in a big way. Hopefully, everyone in the media, in the MMA industry, and those who work at state athletic commissions starts investigating the ’stand-up’ fighting scandal.
Make no mistake about it — if Dana White wants to use his clout to push this story further in American media circles, he can. Would UFC benefit from this? Yes. However, so would the industry as a whole. Everyone has a vested interest in keeping as much corruption out of this business as possible. If you don’t think UFC management has a vested interest in seeing things stay as clean as possible, then you don’t understand what’s at stake here.
This is the kind of corrupt bullshit that can kill our sport in the cradle. We MUST stand up and demand a full investigation and if there's proof that EliteXC has been paying fighters to alter their tactics and game plans, everyone involved should be drummed from the sport.