EliteXC: Gary Shaw And Doug DeLuca Resign

According to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission Shaw and DeLuca have resigned from their respective positions, but will remain on board as consultants.  Rumors were persistent about a month ago that Shaw would be ousted, but they were denied stating that he would take a lesser role within the company. 

I suppose you could say that’s true being that he is gonna be a consultant.  However, if you watched Elite’s second offering on CBS a week ago…Shaw was nowhere to be found.  He wasn’t involved in any of the promotional efforts for the show(as little as they were) like the initial offering.  Most of the criticism of the first show was cast in Shaw’s direction, but the show did do massive ratings.  Whereas, this second offering was outdone by a 2 month old UFC PPV that was used as counter-programming on Spike TV.

So what you will…but the inner turmoil within EliteXC isn’t good for the company.  They are continously bleeding money and basically their next show is do or die for them in my opinion.  Gary Shaw and Dana White had a little feud going back and forth at one another…I guess the bald one wins again.

Also, Shaw and DeLuca will continue to make over 200K annually with their consulting roles.  How stupid is that for a company that’s losing their ass in debt?

EliteXC: Swing And Miss

That airing back on May 31, 2008 scored 4.3 million viewers and a 1.9/6 among 18-49 year olds and since the Kimbo Slice bout for that airing aired past primetime (11p) the most viewed portion wasn’t included. But lacking any Kimbo anticipation, last night’s fights pulled a mere 2.62 million and a 1.0/3 from 9pm-11pm.

EliteXC’s second show was down 40% in terms of viewership…despite producing a much better show…and better fights. Currently, their 3rd show is scheduled for Oct. with their stars Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano on the card. They spent a good bit of time hyping the next show and trying to build those fights…only time will tell if they were successful.

Somewhere…Dana White is laughing…and saying I told you so.

EliteXC: “Unfinished Business” Results

For those of you that may have forgotten about EliteXC’s second offering on CBS..I’ll be providing the results as they happen tonight.  The CBS portion of the card begins at 9pm EST.  Also, for those of you that missed UFC 84…it will be broadcast on Spike TV at 9pm EST.  It was prolly one of if not the best MMA cards of the year…so either DVR it and watch CBS or vice versa if you haven’t seen it.

Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith-Lawler wins via TKO Round 2

Jake Shields vs. Nick Thompson-Shields wins via Submission(Choke) Round 1

Nick Diaz vs. Thomas Denny-Diaz wins via TKO Round 2

Cris Cyborg vs. Shayna Baszler-Cyborg wins via KO Round 2

This show was MUCH MUCH better than the initial offering….all of the fights were pretty exciting…no decisions.  Cyborg is a BEAST of a woman….good lawd…I generally don’t like women fighting…but I’ll definitely be watching Cyborg/Gina Carano when they fight.  Nick Diaz was his usual self…that stare down was hilarious.  Shields dominated pretty quickly….and Lawler/Smith picked up where they left off the first time…and that was a good fight as well.

Overall…I’m impressed….the only drawback I can see so far is time management…they better thank Lawler for ending that fight when he did….had that fight gone to a decision…they would have gone over their time allotment again…just like the first show.  One note…it’s so funny that they keep name dropping the UFC….hell even Shields called out the winner of GSP/Fitch.  I’m sorry Jake…but you don’t want it with GSP….nor Fitch.  What are you thoughts on tonight’s fights?

EliteXC: “Unfinished Business” Preview

This event will mark EliteXC’s second foray onto prime time network television on CBS.  In terms of competitive match ups…this card has some…if not better than the initial show.  However, this card is sorely lacking the star power/name recognition that was provided with the first card.  The show will begin at 9pm EST.   Let’s take a look at the fights:

“Ruthless” Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith(EliteXC MW Championship)-Actually, this is a re-match from the initial card that aired on CBS…which ended in a bit of controversy with Smith being poked in the eye and not being allowed to continue.  The initial fight started out rather slow…however, turned into a stand up war with both fighter’s landed massive shots.  Lawler(the champion) has Smith rocked and was close to finishing him at one point during the fight.  Smith is a tough opponent, but I expect Lawler to put him to sleep this go round. 

Jake Shields vs. Nick Thompson(EliteXC WW Championship)-This is gonna be an explosive fight between two of the best fighters that the casual fan doesn’t know about.  Shields is a perennial top 10 fighter in the WW division…and Thompson has won 20 out of his last 21.  Shields has suffered from a myriad of injuries during the past year and he’s favored to win.  I think he will…but Thompson should be able to give him all he can handle.

Nick Diaz vs. Thomas “Wildman” Denny-Diaz is well known….Denny isn’t…Diaz is heavily favored to win this fight as he is much more well rounded as a fighter.  He should win this fight relatively easy, but he’s prone to fight lackadaisical at times so who knows.  If he wins this match, I’m sure he’s gonna ask for his re-match with KJ Noons next.

Shayna Baszler vs. Cris Cyborg-Two women fighters with Baszler being the favorite.  However, Cyborg is a product of Chute Boxe and has some killer muay thai skills.  This fight should be a banger.

Antonio “Big Foot” Silva vs. Justin Eilers(EliteXC HW Championship)-Silva by whatever he wants 

It’s interesting to note that this card has seemed to have been forgotten about because of the two MMA events that took place last week(Affliction, UFC).  I wonder what type of ratings this show will do on CBS?  Drop your thoughts…