It's been nearly a week since Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson was annihilated by Seth Petruzelli at EliteXC: Heat, but a cloud of controversy still hangs above the victor and the promotion. On Monday, Petruzelli told a Florida radio station that EliteXC had promised him extra money if he didn't take Kimbo to the ground. Since making those comments, Petruzelli has backpedaled (he said he was "hung over" that morning) and EliteXC has denied any wrongdoing.
But as ESPN.com's Frank McNeil reports, EliteXC's parent company, ProElite, is under investigation for fixing the Slice-Petruzelli bout.
After repeated calls from ESPN.com, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation -- which oversees the State Boxing Commission -- said Thursday that it has opened a preliminary investigation into the matter.
"While the Department of Business and Professional Regulation doesn't have any reason to believe there was a problem with the Slice-Petruzelli fight, given the interest in it, the Department has begun a preliminary investigation to thoroughly review the circumstances of the fight," said Jennifer Meale, Communications Director for the DBPR.
EliteXC's Head of Fight Operations, Jeremy Lappen, said he wasn't concerned about the investigation.
"We offered Seth Petruzelli a knockout bonus, a submission bonus and ‘fight of the night' bonus. If we were trying to influence the fight, why would we do that?
"We were not trying to protect Kimbo. He had been training to fight a guy in Shamrock who has a better ground game than Seth. If we were trying to protect Kimbo we would have sent him home. We put him in a dangerous fight."
Lappen's comments contradict what he told SI.com's Josh Gross on Wednesday in that EliteXC "doesn't give submission bonuses" because EliteXC doesn't view submissions as important aspects of an exciting MMA fight.
But given the latest news regarding Saturday's fight, Lappen may have to be more careful of his words and a bit worried about his company's future.
If the DBPR finds any signs of mishandling in the fight, the consequences could be deadly for the upstart promotion, and could have lingering effects on mixed martial arts, in general.
- ProElite faces allegations of fixing the Petruzelli-Slice fight (ESPN.com)
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Say what you will about UFC, but you have to acknowledge the professionalism and organization of its MMA franchise. They are not relying on some questionable hype (Kimbo) which, to me, tarnishes this sport. Kimbo should truly learn MMA and develop a ground game and adapt. Dana White & Co. have developed a great business plan that has allowed them to grow exponentially. Their "TUF" show has helped broaden the MMA audience and has legitimately bred some great fighters including 2 champions already (Sera & Griffin) although many think Cera's victory was rightyly short lived. UFC absorbed Pride and that has brought more great fighters in the mix. Not to mention that many UFC fighters have gone to other organizations and in my opinion have helped those organizations by providing them with talent.
Listen, MMA is a sport and UFC has provided a business plan to make it a profitable sport. I am no longer a fan of boxing. I saw one too many questionable decisions in boxing and besides, you really cannot fake a gash to the head, broken bones and devastating knock outs.
EliteXC should not rely on hype (Kimbo) to gain an audience. Start a circus if that is what you want and they should not have gotten in bed with CBS if they couldn't deliver the goods and CBS should have done their homework instead of jumping in the MMA bandwagon and getting the next available organization to exploit. It's like Pirce Brosnan's Dante's Peak being followed by Tommy Lee Jones' Volcano.
zaza14
Total Comments (17)
wow cant believe you figured out a way to compare dantes peak and volcano with mma.honestly just shocked you mentioned either movie at all lol
Dealingfire
Total Comments (71)
Dealingfire,
thanks for the acknowledgement! lol
zaza14
Total Comments (17)
They tried to fix the fight to favor SLICE but it backfired terribly on them. LOL! KIMBO was always been a fraud. Everyone could see that a mile away. PATHETIC!
Kouji Kabuto
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