Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
It has been rumored for awhile now, but yet to be confirmed on any level, that Elite XC will be looking to makes its pay-per-view debut in 2009. Originally, I was in the line of thought that suggested that Elite XC was ready for a pay-per-view, but after some recent events, I’m starting to change my mind a little.
Now most people would say I’m changing my mind after the Seth Petruzelli/Kimbo Slice fight, but that is only a partial reason behind my change of opinion. My other reasons are the lack of big name draws, potentially bad timing, lack of big name champions and the aforementioned Kimbo Slice/Seth Petruzelli fallout.
A big problem could become the lack of big name draws, not just because of the talent pool, but because of the Elite XC event in early November. According to rumored reports, the Elite XC pay-per-view was scheduled to take place in January of next year. Which means fighters like Robbie Lawler, Joey Villasenor, Nick Diaz, Brett Rogers, Eddie Alverez and Scott Smith may not be able to compete at the pay-per-view event due to competing in the November card. Now I’m not making this prediction as a guarantee, but if most fighters take three to four months off between fights, that would indicate that the previously listed fighters wouldn’t compete again until February or March at the earliest.
With that being said, it does leave other big name stars like Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano, Crystiane Santos, Jake Shields and Seth Petruzelli ready for combat, if need be.
As for the bad time, in late December and January alone, there are MMA events like UFC 92 (December 27th), UFC 93 (January 17th), Affliction: Day Of Reckoning (January 24th) and UFC 94 (January 31st). If plausible, the Elite XC pay-per-view would have to occur in the first week of January if they were to run in January, but look at the momentous amount of pay-per-view events in the time span of a month. I look at it like this, if you are a new fan to MMA and will already be spending around two hundred dollars on pay-per-views in late December/January, would you be willing to spend more money on a company venturing into pay-per-view for the first time.
Most MMA pay-per-view events are built around title fights, that why nearly every UFC pay-per-view is headlined by a title fight. The current Elite XC title holders are Elite XC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Silva (pending hearing about potential year long suspension), no Elite XC Light Heavyweight Champion, Elite XC Middleweight Champion Robbie Lawler (fighting in November), Elite XC Welterweight Champion Jake Shields, no Elite XC Lightweight Champion (Nick Diaz/Eddie Alverez fight for title in November), Elite XC Bantamweight Champion Wilson Reis and no Elite XC Women’s Champion (Gina Carano could Fight Crystiane Santos to determine champion on PPV).
After going through the list of champions, the potential January pay-per-view could feature a fight to determine a new Elite XC Heavyweight Champion if Antonio Silva is stripped of the title. There could also be a fight to crown the first ever Elite XC Light Heavyweight Champion and Jake Shields could defend his Elite XC Welterweight Title, despite the lack of contenders. Robbie Lawler or Joey Villasenor are unlikely to defend the Elite XC Middleweight Title, due to their fight in November, some goes for potential Elite XC Lightweight champions Nick Diaz or Eddie Alverez. Wilson Reis would probably be ready to defend the Elite XC Bantamweight Title and Gina Carano/Crystiane Santos should be rested enough to fight for the Elite XC Women’s Title.
Arguably, the biggest draw for Elite XC, whether on television or pay-per-view, is Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson. Recently, Kimbo Slice lot his first professional fight to former UFC veteran Seth Petruzelli, although he was supposed to be fighting Ken Shamrock instead. Now, it could be argued that the loss by Kimbo Slice won’t damage his career, because the fight was made official only a few hours before the event began and there was a lack of preparation. However, if you are a fair-weather MMA fan, would you be willing to buy a pay-per-view event if one of the headlining fighters was defeated in just fourteen seconds by a seemingly unknown fighter?
If Elite XC wants to move into the bigger realms of MMA, then pay-per-view exposure is a must, but when the time comes, will Elite XC be ready for pay-per-view?
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
