Tapping Out: ProElite, EliteXC Shut Doors, Declare Bankruptcy

Carano Unlikely To Move To  UFC Following EliteXC Collapse

DONE DEAL: ProElite exec T.J. Thompson said that bankruptcy paperwork "had already been filed by yesterday morning." SHERDOG.com's Loretta Hunt reported a notice posted last night on graciefighter.com read, "We are confirming that EliteXC has folded." ProElite has "accrued $55[M] deficit during its two years of operation," but discussions of the company's purchase "were said to have gone well and a deal looked imminent as of two weeks ago when EliteXC held its third installment" of "EliteXC Saturday Night Fights." But "negative press surrounding questionable conduct" before the October 4 Seth Petruzelli-Kimbo Slice main event, which included allegations that EliteXC promoters told Petruzelli how to fight Slice, has "overshadowed the ratings success" (SHERDOG.com, 10/20). MMAJUNKIE.com's Steve Sievert cited a source as saying that the "questions raised by the incident and the pending investigation into the matter" by the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation "derailed the one outcome that could have saved EliteXC from going under -- a purchase of the promotion by Showtime." Sievert wrote ProElite and EliteXC "simply didn't have a compelling enough product to generate revenue to stay afloat" (MMAJUNKIE.com, 10/20). In Baltimore, Mark Chalifoux wrote, "It seems as if EXC really was as flimsy as Kimbo Slice's chin" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 10/20). In DC, Tim Lemke writes, "Well, this was just a stunner. I don't think anyone could have seen this coming" (WASHINGTONTIMES.com, 10/21). SPORTINGNEWS.com's Chris Littmann: "What an absolute, raging failure by CBS, too. ProElite was run by a bunch of dopes; that's pretty obvious. But what was CBS thinking getting into bed with them?" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 10/21). 

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST: YAHOO SPORTS' Dave Meltzer notes EliteXC joins the IFL and Bodog Fight as "high-profile competitors" to the UFC to "fold during the past year."  Meltzer notes it is "not known if CBS will start its own MMA company or strike a deal with one of the two companies left standing," UFC or Affliction, which was a "sponsor and co-promoter of the Oct. 4 show." Strikeforce, the other active match promotion, has a "late night television deal with NBC, which has had preliminary talks with the company about doing live events." Meanwhile, EliteXC's two "biggest attractions," Slice and fighter Gina Carano, are "unlikely to be moving" to UFC. UFC President Dana White "has repeatedly said he won't use Slice," and White also has said that he is "not interested in promoting women's fighting" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/21).

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