UFC President, Dana White is a very smart man. He catches a lot of flack for the words he chooses to use sometimes because he drops the F-bomb like names at a hollywood party (hi Mauro). But with Dana at least you never have to wonder where he stands on an issue.. He lays it out there and isn’t worried about being politically correct. Love him or hate him once again he comes away looking like Nostradomus as it appears EliteXC is shutting down operation.
White having been through the ups and downs of the MMA promotion game has stated in the past that EliteXC would not last. He also said that Affliction would not last. EliteXC has hit the dirt and it sure seems Affliction’s MMA promotion doesn’t have much life at this point.
Reports are now surfacing that Elite XC has started the process of notifying managers and employees that the company will no longer be in the fight promotion business and therefore relinquishing them of their duties. Office space is being cleared out and doors are being locked at the corporate headquarters.
EliteXC had an event scheduled for Nov. 8 in Reno, Nevada that was to air live on Showtime and that too has been canceled. Although the Oct. 4 broadcast of EliteXC’s “Heat” was a ratings success, it did little to sew up the $55 million dollar hemorrhage the company had acquired in just two short years.
Although EliteXC will no longer air on CBS, Affliction Entertainment did help co-promote their Oct. 4 broadcast and there is a possibility we could see a future partnership between Affliction and CBS/Showtime. Of course, that will depend on whether or not Dana White’s prophecy about the “T-shirt company” comes true or not. In the immortal words of Mr. White, “I will be fu**ing horrified if they are still in business after the new year.”
The UFC sure makes it look easy to run an MMA promotion, but then again they have had years of practice. There is one question sure to be everyone’s mind; “Where does Kimbo go?” Also, where will the EliteXC Welterweight Champ, Jake Shields go? Most pundits would agree Shields belongs in the UFC with the rest of the world’s top welterweights.