Even my parents who don't watch MMA know Kimbo lost to a no-name Saturday. What happened Oct. 4th was a joke of an event and here is why. There are already two controversies brewing...
The first controversy was reported today on Sherdog.com that Seth was paid extra by EliteXC to stand up with Kimbo, not take him down. This is blatent fight-rigging in my eyes and further shows how dumb business-wise EliteXC really is. The EliteXC execs must have thought Seth would have gotten smashed by Kimbo if they stood and banged it out for while. Takedowns are half of the battle in mixed martial arts fights, and to offering money to a certain fighter to not use this technique is downright cheating everyone who was interested in a real fight. I felt giddy Saturday night after the fight since EliteXC’s fight-rigging backfired horribly and their main superstar lost to a no-name Seth Petruzelli.
The second controversy comes from EliteXC’s vice pres Jared Shaw. You can see his reaction when Kimbo is getting his face punched in, as he clearly is screaming for the ref to stop the action for an accidental one-time punch that landed on the back of Kimbo’s head. Who does Jared think he is, Vince McMahon? Even Dana White looks like a class act compared to this crybaby. Did Dana White ask the ref to stop the action during the middle of the Thiago Alvez vs. Matt Hughes fight to let Matt win? No, because the UFC isn’t rigged like that.
These two controversies make EliteXC even more a non-official league than when they staged a KJ Noons and Nick Diaz trash talk session for promo in the middle of the ring after a fight Nick wasn’t even in. I quit watching fake wrestling back in the pre-WWE days and don’t plan on watching scripted fights any time soon either.
EliteXC blew it, and it sucks for us MMA fans who just want as many good fights as possible.
