Elite XC

ProElite relaunch under management of Stratus Media Group

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Stratus Media Group, Inc. (OTCBB:SMDI – News), a live entertainment company, announced today that Stratus has assumed control over the board of directors and the management of ProElite Inc. (Pink Sheets:PELE – News), an entertainment and media company involved in the promotion of mixed martial arts (MMA). “This acquisition allows Stratus and ProElite to … Read more

Muhsin Corbbrey signs five-fight deal with WEC

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Elite XC veteran Muhsin Corbbrey has been added to the World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight roster. According to the Savannah Morning News Corbbrey has been signed to a five-fight contract.

The Savannah, Ga. resident was last inside the cage against Nick Diaz at Elite XC’s “Return of the King” in June 2008. Diaz defeated Corbbrey (7-3) with a third round TKO due to strikes. Prior to the Diaz bout he was on a three-fight win streak.

Although no opponent was named, according to the report, Corbbrey’s first fight will be on Sept. 2 at “WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson” in Youngstown, Ohio.

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Affliction finished with Arlovski

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Andrei Arlovski was one of the few fighters in history to leave the UFC on an upswing. Arlovski left the world’s premiere MMA organization in 2008 on a three-fight win streak, having defeated Marcio Cruz, Fabricio Werdum, and Jake O’Brien in consecutive heavyweight bouts.

In July 2008, he made his debut with Affliction and leveled Ben Rothwell in the third round with devastating punches remeniscent of the Arlovski who held the UFC Heavyweight Title in years past. The Belarusian appeared reinvigorated and his popularity was booming.

Just three months later, in Oct. 2008, Affliction loaned Arlovski to Elite XC. Once again “The Pit Bull” emerged victorious, becoming the first man to ever stop “Big Country” Roy Nelson, and set himself up to face the world’s consensus number one heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko.

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Renato “Babalu” Sobral set to defend Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title June 6th

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PRO MMA (promma.info) was notified Thursday Renato “Babalu” Sobral (32-7) will finally return to the STRIKEFORCE cage on June 6th in St. Louis, Missouri, to defend his light heavyweight title for the first time. His opponent will be fellow Brazilian, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (7-1).

“Babalu” won the STRIKEFORCE Light Heavyweight Title in November 2008 after landing an elbow strike that opened a deep cut around the eye of Bobby Southworth in the first round. Southworth finished the round but was not allowed to continue by the ringside physician.

“Babalu” is one of the very few fighters in UFC history released from the company due to a victory!  He actually defeated David Heath at UFC 74 with an anaconada choke but held the choke even after Heath tapped, causing him to go unconscious.

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Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields set for Strikeforce June 6 in St. Louis

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PRO MMA (promma.info) received official word today from Strikeforce officials “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (16-4) will fight Jake Shields (22-4-1) on Saturday, June 6, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

The fight will be the headliner for STRIKEFORCE: LAWLER vs. SHIELDS, which will air live on SHOWTIME at 10 pm ET/PT (delayed on West Coast).

Lawler is the number four ranked middleweight in the world, while Shields is the number four ranked welterweight. The two will meet at a catch weight of 182 pounds.

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The DREAM of a Ninja: Murilo Rua to fight on April 5th

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Pride FC veteran and former Elite XC Middleweight Champion, Murilo “Ninja” Rua (16-9-1) will reportedly be fighting on the upcoming DREAM 8 card on April 5th in Nagoya, Japan.

“Ninja’s” last bout was at Elite XC: Heat and was broadcast live on CBS in October ’08. His opponent was Benji Radach. “Ninja” ended up losing the bout by TKO due to punches in round two. Also appearing on the card was the infamous Kimbo Slice vs. Seth Petruzelli fight.

Incidentally, “Ninja’s” last bout with Elite XC was the last time they ever aired on network television and a little over two weeks later the promotion ceased operations.

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Kimbo Slice leaving MMA for boxing?

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Kevin Ferguson, better known as the Internet street fighting sensation ‘Kimbo Slice’, says he wants to try his hand at professional boxing. In an interview with Bahamian news paper, The Nassau Guardian, Ferguson stated he will be making the transition to pro boxing as soon as he has fulfilled his MMA contract.

Ferguson’s contract, which was acquired when Strikeforce bought the majority of the bankrupt EliteXC’s assets, has two fights left to be completed within the year.

“I have two more MMA fights scheduled before this year is out. Every fighter and athlete knows that you should not switch camps in the middle of something. Also, I train in Florida. My MMA trainer will also be training me for stand up boxing. Finishing up my contract would allow me to be a free agent,” Ferguson said.

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‘Skala’ breaks his silence

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Jared Shaw, affectionately known as “Skala”, has finally surfaced after months of absence from the public eye. He recently gave an interview to another man who has been taking a little break as well, Ariel Helwani.

In this new interview, ‘Skala’ talks about his time with ELITE XC, his accomplishments with helping to jumpstart the careers of a few now well-known fighters and the things he would have like to have done differently, given the chance.

He has one major regret out of his time with ELITE XC and that is the fact he stood up screaming when Kimbo Slice got knocked out by Seth Petruzelli on national TV. Shaw said now when you ‘Google’ his name inevitably that picture comes up. As the Editor of PRO MMA (promma.info) I’m proud to say we contributed to the cause. In fact we even had a ‘picture slogan’ contest in honor of that very memorable moment in MMA history.

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Bas Rutten would not train Kimbo Slice again for one million dollars

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The only reason Kimbo Slice (3-1) a.k.a. Kevin Ferguson had the small bit of credibility he did was because the legend, El Guapo, vouched for him. Those days are over.

In a new AOL MMA FanHouse interview with Bas Rutten, the subject of Kimbo Slice inevitably came up. Bas said he was finished training Kimbo Slice and even if someone paid him a million dollars, it is not going to happen.

Bas had always seemed very supportive of Kimbo in interviews and had a lot of good things to say about him in the beginning. So where did things go sour? Bas explains,

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THE INFO episode 11 – PRO MMA podcast featuring Mike Afromowitz and Brian Caraway

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Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz and 145 pounder Brian Caraway were both guests on this week’s edition of ‘THE INFO’. Matt De La Rosa and “Fast Eddie” Constantine talked about the San Jose based promotion’s acquisition of select PRO Elite assets, former Affliction CEO Todd Beard, KIMO Leopoldo and the latest happenings at PRO … Read more