Elite XC shuts it down

The closest rival to the UFC has decided to call it quits. Insiders and true MMA fans both new that the company was in pretty bad financial troubles but a few weeks ago their true situation become crystal clear when it was announced publicly that CBS had to front Elite XC 100% of the money to put on their last show. For this reason CBS had the rights to 100% of  any revenue the last show earned. This was when it became pretty evident that this financial situation along with a devastating loss by Kimbo Slice might be the beginning of the end for Elite XC.

It’s interesting that even though two of the three shows that Elite XC aired on CBS were ratings successes; they still could not find a way to make money in the fight business. This goes to show just how hard it is to run a fight promotion. Fighters tend to have needs and egos. They are like wide receivers and when you are a fight promoter you have to deal with 20 of them on any given night. They all want more money and more recognition. You want to give it to them but you have to run a company at the same time.

This is a big blow to Kimbo Slice and on an even sadder note Gina Carano. It is unlikely for the UFC to offer either a contract. This could also hurt Affliction, who gained a lot of exposure at the last Elite XC event through the fight between Andre Arlovski and Roy Nelson.

Two guys who could, and in my opinion should, get UFC contracts out of this mess; Jake Shields and Nick Diaz. Both were scheduled to fight for the championship of their weight class on November 8th but this has of course now been scrapped. In fact, that is how much of this story broke. GracieFighter.com, a partner of Diaz confirms that “…Elite XC has folded”.

This disaster for Elite XC still showed just how much the sport of mixed martial arts has grown and seemingly just how much the sport has the potential to grow in the near future. If a company like Elite XC that had little to no star power and very little business savy can pull the ratings they did on CBS then this sport has yet to see its best days.