Elite Xtreme Combat

Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on December 14, 2006.[1] It was headquartered in Los Angeles.

Elite Xtreme Combat
TypePublic
OTC Pink: PELE
FoundedNovember 13, 2006 (2006-11-13)
FounderShowtime Networks, ProElite
DefunctOctober 20, 2008 (2008-10-20)
FateFolded
Headquarters
Los Angeles
,
United States
Key people
William Kelly President & Chief Operating Officer, Chairman, Paul Feller, Glenn Golenberg, Douglas De Luca, Lloyd Bryan Molander
ParentProElite

The partnership to form EliteXC was announced on November 13, 2006.[2] The first major event occurred February 10, 2007 at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi. Fighters Frank Shamrock and Renzo Gracie fought in the main event. Also debuting on this card was Charles Bennett, K. J. Noons, Mike Pyle and Antônio Silva.

In early 2008, EliteXC had reached an agreement with CBS to broadcast EliteXC shows on prime time. The arrangement was that CBS would broadcast EliteXC specials every other month on Saturday nights.[3] CBS aired only three events in 2008, on May 31, July 26, and October 4.

EliteXC events

This is a list of events held and scheduled by Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC), a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States. The first event took place in February 2007. The list includes three events that EliteXC co-promoted (Dynamite!! USA, Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Baroni, and Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le) with other MMA organizations. Two events were shown initially on pay-per-view, while the others aired on the Showtime cable network or on CBS.

# Event Title Date Arena Location
20 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series October 10, 2008 Horseshoe Casino Hammond, Indiana
19 EliteXC: Heat October 4, 2008 BankAtlantic Center Sunrise, Florida
18 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series September 26, 2008 Chumash Casino Resort Santa Ynez, California
17 ShoXC: Hamman vs. Suganuma 2 August 15, 2008 Table Mountain Rancheria Friant, California
16 EliteXC: Unfinished Business July 26, 2008 Stockton Arena Stockton, California
15 EliteXC: Return of the King June 14, 2008 Neal S. Blaisdell Arena Oahu, Hawaii
14 EliteXC: Primetime May 31, 2008 Prudential Center Newark, New Jersey
13 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series April 5, 2008 Table Mountain Rancheria Friant, California
12 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le March 29, 2008 HP Pavilion San Jose, California
11 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series March 21, 2008 Chumash Casino Resort Santa Ynez, California
10 EliteXC: Street Certified February 16, 2008 BankUnited Center Miami
9 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series January 25, 2008 Trump Taj Mahal Atlantic City, New Jersey
8 EliteXC: Renegade November 10, 2007 American Bank Center Corpus Christi, Texas
7 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series October 26, 2007 Chumash Casino Resort Santa Ynez, California
6 EliteXC: Uprising September 15, 2007 Neal S. Blaisdell Arena Oahu, Hawaii
5 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series August 25, 2007 Vicksburg Convention Center Vicksburg, Mississippi
4 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series July 27, 2007 Chumash Casino Resort Santa Ynez, California
3 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni June 22, 2007 HP Pavilion San Jose, California
2 Dynamite!! USA June 2, 2007 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles
1 EliteXC: Destiny February 10, 2007 DeSoto Civic Center Southaven, Mississippi

ShoXC
Main article: ShoXC

On July 11, 2007, it was announced that Proelite.com and Showtime would produce a new series titled ShoXC.[4] The monthly shows featured up-and-coming MMA talent, similar to Showtime's ShoBox boxing events. The first took place on July 27, 2007. The first event was co-promoted with King of the Cage and was also known as KOTC: Undisputed.

Partnership with Cage Rage

On September 7, 2007, ProElite, Inc. announced that they had officially acquired British MMA organization Cage Rage Championships. EliteXC and Cage Rage Championships planned numerous joint ventures together, beginning with Cage Rage 23.[5]

Partnership with DREAM

On May 10, 2008 EliteXC announced a working partnership with Japanese promotion Dream. The two groups intended to share fighters (Eddie Alvarez, Jason Miller and Nick Diaz have already participated in Dream events) and eventually co-promote shows.[6]

Co-promoting with Affliction

On September 24, 2008 EliteXC announced a working partnership with rival US promotion Affliction. Affliction offered Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson for the EliteXC: Heat card on CBS.[7] In addition, Affliction heavily promoted their line through commercials on the show. It was hoped that the two companies would survive a rocky financial situation long enough to co-promote fights again in the future.

Controversy and closing of EliteXC

On October 4, 2008 at EliteXC: Heat, EliteXC's biggest ratings draw Kimbo Slice was knocked out just 14 seconds into his bout with Seth Petruzelli. Petruzelli served as a last-minute replacement for MMA pioneer Ken Shamrock, who got injured on the day of the fight and was unable to compete. The unexpected outcome of this fight drew a great deal of attention, and subsequent comments by Petruzelli that he was offered a monetary bonus to employ certain techniques during the fight (comments he later recanted and obfuscated), raised the question of undue influence by EliteXC representatives in fights. Significant debt incurred by parent company Pro Elite with no investors or buyers showing interest[8] caused the subsequent cancellation of the November 8, 2008 event. Combined with the Florida State Athletic Commission launching an investigation into the Slice/Petruzelli fight, Pro Elite announced on October 20, 2008 that they would cease operations.

Weight classes
Weight class name Upper limit
Bantamweight 140 lb (63.5 kg)
Featherweight 150 lb (68.0 kg)
Lightweight 160 lb (72.6 kg)
Welterweight 170 lb (77.1 kg)
Middleweight 190 lb (86.2 kg)
Light Heavyweight 210 lb (95.3 kg)
Heavyweight No weight limit

EliteXC champions

Heavyweight Championship
Weight limit: Unlimited
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Brazil Antônio Silva
def. Justin Eilers		 EliteXC: Unfinished Business
Stockton, California, US		 July 26, 2008

Middleweight Championship
Weight limit: 190 lb (86.2 kg; 13.6 st)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Brazil Murilo Rua
def. Joey Villasenor		 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni
San Jose, California, US		 June 22, 2007
2 United States Robbie Lawler
 EliteXC: Uprising
Honolulu, Hawaii, US		 September 15, 2007

NC vs. Scott Smith at EliteXC: Primetime on May 31, 2008 in Newark, New Jersey, US
1. def. Scott Smith at EliteXC: Unfinished Business on Jul 26, 2008 in Stockton, California, US

Welterweight Championship
Weight limit: 170 lb (77.1 kg; 12.1 st)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States Jake Shields
def. Nick Thompson		 EliteXC: Unfinished Business
Stockton, California, US		 July 26, 2008

1. def. Paul Daley at EliteXC: Heat on Oct 4, 2008 in Sunrise, Florida, US

Lightweight Championship
Weight limit: 160 lb (72.6 kg; 11.4 st)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 United States K. J. Noons
def. Nick Diaz		 EliteXC: Renegade
Corpus Christi, Texas, US		 November 10, 2007

1. def. Yves Edwards at EliteXC: Return of the King on Jun 14, 2008 in Honolulu, Hawaii, US

Noons was stripped of the title on September 19, 2008 by EliteXC

Bantamweight Championship
Weight limit: 140 lb (63.5 kg; 10.0 st)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Brazil Wilson Reis
def. Abel Cullum		 ShoXC 8
Santa Ynez, California, US		 September 26, 2008

Women's division

See also

Footnotes
  1. Press Release, Pro Elite launches Elite Xtreme combat on showtime, EliteXC. [Last retrieved January 7, 2007]
  2. SHOWTIME to Televise MMA, Sherdog.com. (Last retrieved January 7, 2007). Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. "EliteXC expected to announce deal with CBS". MMA Junkie. 2008-02-27. Archived from the original on 2008-03-02. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  4. The Fight Network :: All fights all the time :: Get it on!
  5. "MMA Weekly – Your #1 Source for Daily MMA News, Interviews, Multimedia, and More: – Pro Elite acquires Cage Rage Championships". Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  6. "Pro Elite & Dream announce partnership". MMAWeekly. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-05-27. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  7. "Andrei Arlovski vs Roy Nelson at Elite XC on CBS". MMAWeekly. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  8. Reports: EliteXC tells employees, fighters it's out of business
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