Kimbo Slice

Evening News and Notes: May 16, 2008

EliteXC heavyweight sensation Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson will serve as one of the presenters at Sunday night’s Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas according to Josh Gross of Sports Illustrated. The event will air on CBS from 8-11 PM ET. Slice’s appearance will likely have him make some kind of mention of EliteXC’s debut on the network next Saturday night.

Report: Moreno to Face Haselrig at EliteXC on CBS

New Jersey-based heavyweight Carlos Moreno will step in to face former NFL All-Pro offensive lineman and NCAA wrestling champion Carlton Haselrig at Elite Xtreme Combat’s upcoming “Primetime” event on May 31st according to Sherdog.com.

Moreno has won two out of his last three fights. He most recently fell to Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Kevin Jordan at a Battle Cage Xtreme event last October. Haselrig was originally slated to take on Fightfest veteran Joe McCall, who will be unable to compete at the event due to family obligations.

Kelly Perdew Resigns as CEO of ProElite.com

EliteXC parent company ProElite announced today that Kelly Perdew, the winner of the second season of NBC’s “The Apprentice”, has resigned as President and CEO of the organization’s official website through the company’s SEC filing.

Perdew filed his resignation on May 9th and it will go into effect next week. According to MMA Junkie, Perdew will now move on to rotohog.com to serve as the fantasy sports company’s CEO. A successor for Perdew has not yet been named.

Donruss to Create Cung Le Trading Card

Popular trading card company Donruss has announced it’s intention to create a trading card featuring the likeness of newly crowned Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le, who defeated former UFC middleweight champion Frank Shamrock in March to claim the title.

“We’re excited to be able to include Cung in our program,” said Scott Prusha, Marketing Director for Donruss, said in a press release sent out to the media today. “Cung is an extremely exciting fighter and winning the Strikeforce championship was really a big thing.”

Penn, Sherk Continue War of Words

The war of words between UFC lightweight kings B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk raged on yesterday, a little over a week until their highly anticipated showdown that will decide the organization’s true lightweight champion in Las Vegas.

Even before the bout was officially signed, Penn has been adamant about blasting Sherk with every chance he gets concerning Sherk’s failed steroids test last year under the watch of the California State Athletic Commission, a ruling that the Minnesota native still feels is wrong to this day.

“It’s hard for me, being a guy that’s never used performance enhancing drugs,” Penn said on yesterday’s pre-fight conference call for UFC 84: Ill Will. “You wake up every day after training tired and in pain and it kind of gets to you when you learn that someone is taking those kind of things. I’m a purist and I love this sport more than anythning. When someone goes ahead and perverts a sport as pure as this, I can’t take it.”

Even though the two both agreed that the conclusion of the fight would most likely result in the end of the bad blood and hard-feelings, Penn continued to push Sherk’s button as the call went on, even going as far as asking the former champion himself about his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs, prompting Sherk to strike back.

“I know what I did and I know what I didn’t do,” Sherk said. “I went above and beyond what I had to do in order to try and prove that I was innocent. Anyone that has followed the case and what I’ve had gone through will know that I didn’t do what they said I did.”

“I have fans who stand by me and who believe that I didn’t take steroids,” continued Sherk. “Then there are those who will think a certain way because of the way I look. I’ve looked the same for the past 10 years. Shit, I’ve apparently been doing steroids and I’ve been able to drop down to 155 lbs. Amazing, isn’t it?”

Moderating the banter was UFC President Dana White. While White was hesitant to give a definite opinion on the situation involving Sherk, he also stated that he can’t complain about the amount of animosity between the two.

“I’ve known Sean Sherk for a long time. I respect him as an athlete and as a man,” White said. “B.J. has his opinions of Sean and he’s going to let you know what they are. This happens sometimes. One of the cool things about this sport is the sportsmanship and everything else. But you know sometimes guys just rub each other the wrong way and it happens. Everything I just said about the two best fighters in the world facing each other in their prime, it doesn’t suck when they hate each other either.”

Additional conference call notes from yesterday are after the jump.

Continue reading "Penn, Sherk Continue War of Words"

Shaw Interested in Bringing Ortiz to EliteXC

With his days as a featured fighter with the Ultimate Fighting Championship coming to an end, Tito Ortiz, the one-time face of the organization, has mentioned that he’d like to take his services elsewhere following his upcoming fight against Lyoto Machida on May 24th.

One of the organizations in which Ortiz has expressed interest in Elite Xtreme Combat, headed by former boxing promoter Gary Shaw. Brash and out-spoken, Shaw is no stranger to giving his opinion when asked by the media and didn’t shy away earlier today when the potential of Ortiz shifting his career to EliteXC was brought up.

“In all my years in the fight game, I can see, touch, feel a superstar,” Shaw said this afternoon on a conference call promoting EliteXC’s network television debut on CBS later this month. “Everytime I see Tito Ortiz, he reeks of stardom. I think when his days in the UFC are over, that I can reincarnate him. Could you imagine Tito and Kimbo Slice in the cage together? I hope when his contract with the UFC is up that he will not be sitting across the table with me, but sitting with me at that table.”

“Please tell Tito that our door is wide open for him,” Shaw continued. “When his deal with the UFC is up, I’d love to talk with him and figure things out.”

Ortiz’s falling out with the UFC stems from his rocky relationship with the promotion’s figurehead, Dana White. The two have been at each other’s throats for years but things took a major turn for the worst after a proposed exhibition boxing match between the two fell apart and White opted to begin his verbal bashing of Ortiz in the media.

Ortiz has since stated multiple times that his fight against Machida will be his last with the UFC. (His current contract with the promotion ends this summer) Reasons for his departure circulate solely around White and his negative treatment of Ortiz as well as other contracted fighters on the organization’s roster.

Shaw mentioned that Ortiz wouldn’t have to worry about any kind of lack of respect from himself or others in the organization if he decided to sign with EliteXC.

“All of our fighters can attest to this, but we here at EliteXC put the fighters first,” Shaw said. “Our fighters are of the utmost importance to us. They come before the organization. The spotlight should be put on them. We treat everyone with respect and like they are a champion, regardless of who they are. Tito wouldn’t have to worry about that sort of thing if he decided to take his services to our camp.”

Additional conference call notes from today are after the jump.

Continue reading "Shaw Interested in Bringing Ortiz to EliteXC"

ProElite, DREAM Agree to Partnership

Elite Xtreme Combat parent company ProElite and Fight Entertainment Group’s DREAM yesterday announced a working partnership between the two promotions that will help bridge the once-distant gap between Japanese and American mixed martial arts.

The two sides made the official announcement yesterday at a pre-fight press conference for DREAM.3, which took place late last night in Japan. DREAM officials Keiichi Sasahara and Sadaharu Tanikawa were on hand to discuss details about the agreement along with ProElite’s William Kelly and ICON Sport promoter T. Jay Thompson.

“Last year’s Dynamite USA at the Los Angeles Coliseum was the largest attended mixed martial arts event ever in the USA,” Kelly said at the conference. “ProElite is delighted that we will be building on that by sharing fighters and referees and doing co-promotions in Japan and the US, and potentially the UK and Korea also. Japan is important to ProElite, and we have great US television partners, so we can bring DREAM to the American public.”

It’s expected that ProElite will also attempt to put at least one of the co-promoted shows on network television in the form of CBS.

According to MMA Weekly, ProElite contracted fighters that were mentioned as potential DREAM participants in the future at the press conference included Kimbo Slice, Jake Shields, and Robbie Lawler.

EliteXC fighters Nick Diaz, Jason Miller, and Eddie Alvarez all competed at DREAM’s third show yesterday in Japan, unofficially beginning the sharing of assets between the two organizations.

EliteXC May 31st Tickets Go on Sale

Tickets for the upcoming EliteXC show on May 31st go on sale to the public on Friday, April 18th at 10am through Ticketmaster.  MMA on Tap has learned that a pre-sale of tickets started Wednesday morning.  The pre-sale can also be purchased through the Ticketmaster website.  The code is “Kimbo” for access to the pre-sale.

This EliteXC show will be broadcast live on CBS-TV, the first live MMA event on broadcast television in the United States.  The main event features internet fighting sensation Kimbo Slice against Pride veteran James Thompson.  EliteXC and CBS today confirmed the main card fights scheduled to be broadcast.

* Kimbo Slice vs. James “Colossus” Thompson (Heavyweights)

* “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler vs. Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (for EliteXC Middleweight title)

* Gina “Conviction” Carano vs. Kaitlin Young (140 lb. weight class)

* Phil Baroni vs. Murilo “Ninja” Rua (Middleweights)

* Brett “The Grim” Rogers vs. Jon Murphy (Heavyweights)

EliteXC Re-Signs Slice, Carano, and Lawler

LOS ANGELES - Fans can continue to expect to see mixed martial arts standouts and fan favorites Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano and Robbie Lawler fighting for Los Angeles-based ProElite, Inc.’s live fight division, EliteXC, for a long, long time.

“I am proud and very excited to announce that Kimbo, Gina and Robbie have all re-signed with us,’’ EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw said today. Terms of the long-term, multi-year agreements were not disclosed.

Kimbo, Carano and Lawler are three of EliteXC’s most popular, talented and exciting fighters and all will be featured Saturday, May 31, in the first of four prime time events on the CBS Television Network in 2008.

Kimbo (2-0) of Perrine, Fla., and Carano (5-0) of Las Vegas will face fighters to be announced while the exciting Lawler (15-4) of St. Louis will defend his EliteXC middleweight title against hard-hitting Scott “Hands Of Steel’’ Smith (15-4) of Sacramento, Calif., in a slugfest that figures to be non-stop, toe-to-toe action.

Continue reading "EliteXC Re-Signs Slice, Carano, and Lawler"

White Won’t Rule Out Liddell-Kimbo Showdown

When it comes to Kimbo Slice, opinions vary, especially thoughts held by those that have been involved in mixed martial arts for a long time. Thus has been the case in the past with UFC President Dana White and most recently, his real-life best friend, Chuck Liddell.

However just like Gary Shaw and company, White won’t deny the fact that if given the opportunity, he’d bring Slice over to the UFC. Why? To give him a shot against Liddell of course, well, if he starts beating notable names that is.

From Deadspin:

“If Kimbo fought anybody that mattered, I would book that tomorrow,” White said. “I’d take Kimbo absolutely seriously, but again, he hasn’t beat anybody. In this sport, it’s all about ‘Who have you beat right now?” And he hasn’t beat anybody. The fact is, Kimbo’s not there yet. He would get destroyed. I heard he just got knocked out by Forrest Griffin last week in a sparring match after a kick to the head.”

While White’s comments concerning Slice and his career so far make sense, it still makes you wonder what his mindset was before signing Brock Lesnar. Then again, Lesnar is an accomplished amateur wrestler while Slice’s previous claim to fame was fighting in the streets of Miami.

A win over James Thompson next month would be a victory over his most legitimate opponent to date. However Thompson still isn’t the type of fighter that will start getting people to take Slice and his skills seriously. Matchups against Brett Rogers and maybe even Ricco Rodriguez may come in time but is Kimbo ready to hit the ground? Time will tell.

HT: Five Ounces of Pain

Report: Slice-Thompson Set for CBS

EliteXC heavyweight sensation Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson will reportedly headline the organization’s first prime-time televised event on CBS against James Thompson on May 31st at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

The news comes from NBC Sports‘ Mike Chiappetta. A source close to one of the fighters confirmed that EliteXC would officially announce the fight later this week.

Ferguson picked up the biggest win of his professional career so far in February, knocking out longtime veteran brawler David “Tank” Abbott at EliteXC: Street Certified. The Bas Rutten-trained fighter forced Bo Cantrell to tap out from strikes in just nineteen seconds in his pro debut last November.

The Miami street fighting legend quickly rose to fame after many of his underground fights became available for viewing on the internet.

Thompson, a veteran of PRIDE and Cage Rage, will easily be Slice’s biggest test to date despite losing six out of his last eight fights. Thompson was recently knocked out by heavyweight prospect Brett Rogers in February. The England native’s last win came over Don Frye in April of last year.

“EliteXC and CBS Saturday Night Fights” will also feature an EliteXC middleweight title fight between champion Robbie Lawler and challenger Scott Smith in a bout that will likely be a sure-fire war on the feet. Female star Gina Carano will also return to action against Kaitlyn Young.

Touch of gloves to our friends at MMA Junkie for the find.

EliteXC Announces Details on First CBS Show

Elite Xtreme Combat has announced that their first prime-time televised event on CBS, “EliteXC and CBS Saturday Night Fights” will take place on May 31st and will be broadcast live from the brand new Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the same venue that hosted UFC 78: Validation last year.

“We’re excited to introduce broadcast television viewers to America’s fastest growing sport with this prime time event,” said Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime, in a press release sent out to the media today. “EliteXC is putting together a lineup card that showcases the unique personalities, world-class athleticism, and raw power and emotion that characterizes mixed martial arts.”

EliteXC heavyweight sensation Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson will indeed participate at the event against an opponent yet to be announced. EliteXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler will also put on his belt on the line against Scott Smith in a bout that will likely be a sure-fire war on the feet.

Lawler has not fought since stopping Murilo Rua with strikes in September. He was slated to take on fellow heavy-hitter Kala Kolohe Hose in a December title unification bout but a nagging injury bug prevented Lawler from fighting and he was ultimately stripped of his ICON Sport belt. Smith knocked out Kyle Noke in his EliteXC debut last month.

“I am very happy for the highly trained fighters, who will finally get the kind of exposure they deserve, and, of course, the viewers, who will get the opportunity to learn that MMA is truly a sport that requires an abundance of skills, both mentally and physically,” said Gary Shaw, EliteXC Live Events President.

Five Ounces of Pain reports that a heavyweight swing bout between Brett Rogers and Jon Murphy is currently in the works and that Gina Carano may also return to action at the event as well.

EliteXC, CBS Announce Television Deal

ProElite, the parent company of Elite Xtreme Combat, today announced a new, multi-year network television deal with CBS that will make the promotion only the second in the history of the sport of mixed martial arts to produce an event for live broadcast television.

“Mixed martial arts is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and a wildly popular entertainment vehicle for upscale, young adult audiences,” said Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime. “It’s original programming for Saturday night; it’s live, creating an event-atmosphere; and it’s something that hasn’t been seen on network television, until now.”

EliteXC heavyweight sensation Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson is expected to headline the first event produced for CBS. The events are scheduled to air on Saturday nights in a prime-time slot. CBS will broadcast four events per year.

“This is a pivotal moment for the sport of mixed martial arts now that a major television network plans to broadcast live MMA events during primetime hours,” said Douglas DeLuca, Chief Executive Officer of ProElite. “We are delighted to enhance our partnership with CBS to bring American audiences the very best in MMA competition through our EliteXC brand.”

The International Fight League became the first mixed martial arts promotion to land a network television deal when they partnered with MyNetworkTV to televise a number of taped highlight shows and one live event last year. However the network has since has placed IFL programming “on hiatus”, meaning they may or may not decide to continue airing IFL-related shows, potentially leaving EliteXC as the lone promotion with as much exposure.

The deal also comes close to two months after CBS broke off discussions to air live events with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“Our world-class fighters and the high production value of our events continue to drive ProElite as a global MMA organization that is fortified by the bedrock foundation of a partnership with CBS,” said Gary Shaw, President of EliteXC. “Broadcasting our events on CBS will instantly engage a new fan base, as well as provide an opportunity for EliteXC to further establish itself as the world’s premier MMA organization.”

Showtime, which partners with Elite Xtreme Combat in producing and televising live events, is owned by CBS. Showtime will continue to air EliteXC events.