After almost two years of business, EliteXC has tapped out... submitted to poor business decisions and an inability to build a deep stable of quality fighters. The company, which launched in late 2006, had achieved something no other promotion had; exposure to the masses through prime time television. Unfortunately, in an attempt to deliver a quality product to the fans they racked up somewhere between $20M and $55M in debt, purchasing multiple organizations and not getting a substantial return on that investment.
Even with the help of consulting executive T. Jay Thompson, who has promoted 55 events under the Icon Sports and Superbrawl brands over the past 13 years, EliteXC could not deliver a profitable business that showed promise with the fans.
In my humble opinion, EliteXC made a few key mistakes. First and foremost, it sounds like they made some poor financial decisions which stemmed from their attempt to "buy a brand" among MMA fans. They tried to do too much, too fast. Looking at some of the promotions that have been around for a while and achieved either national or regional success, they have built their brand from the ground up, struggled through the tough times, and have expanded slowly.
Take the UFC for example. Remember the days when there were 2 or 3 UFC events per year at the most? They built their brand slowly by not pushing fighters onto fans that weren't worthy of the spotlight. This also allowed them to slowly add to their stable of great fighters, creating deep weight classes which then allowed them to offer more and more events with quality fights. Or how about an organization like Strikerforce that has built an impressive brand in the west, and especially in the Bay Area. This is an organization that has slowly grown their brand and stable of fighters, and has exhibited patience and sound judgment. They've created a brand that bay area MMA fans are familiar with, and know what to expect from their events.
Secondly, EliteXC tried to simply capitalize on the popularity of MMA without respecting the knowledge of the fans. In my opinion, pushing Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano as the organizations stars was a bad idea. Not only did fans and experts alike question Kimbo's abilities, but it felt as if they were simply trying to parlay the novelty of the internet legend "Kimbo Slice" into success. MMA fans want to see quality fights, even if the fighters aren't known across the internet.
By the way, didn't you know the end was near when you saw Jared Shaw cage-side with a look of absolute horror on his face as Kimbo went down and the ref stepped into stop the fight? It reminded me of a scene from a bad horror flick.
With regards to Carano, although she has talent, I think fans quickly figured out that her heart was not 100% with fighting as she continually missed weight, yet spent so much time in the spotlight due to American Gladiators and other ventures.
The organization did have quality fighters to push to the forefront. Jake Shields being an example, as a consistently top ranked welterweight, they could have easily propped him up as the face of the organization. Along with other stars like Robbie Lawler, Nick Diaz, Scott Smith and others. Unfortunate incidents with Antonio "Big Foot" Silva and KJ Noons certainly didn't help their situation.
It's really too bad that EliteXC went under, as different MMA organizations is a good thing for the fans and fighters alike. Unfortunately, no one has been able to mimic the UFC's success, probably because it just takes time, and what executive wants to wait for success when he can just buy it? After all, MMA is the hottest sport on the planet, right? Or is it just that the UFC is the hottest promotion on the planet?
As for our favorite EliteXC fighters, where will they go? Luckily many of most talented ended their run with EliteXC on a positive note. With convincing victories over Paul Daley and Nick Thompson, Jake Shields finds himself in a good position. Certainly fans would love to see him go to the UFC where he'll join a deep and very talented weight class and receive the challenges he so deserves. Who wouldn't love to see Jake fight the likes of Diego Sanchez or Thiago Alves?
Robbie Lawler is another fighter that could make a successful move (and return) to the UFC. After all, the UFC is at a loss about who to put up against Anderson Silva, here's one more option for them. Nick Diaz seems to never be short of options in Japan, and we love to see him in action. A talented fighter with a great future, it also seems as though Nick has been taking lessons in Public Relations, and we hope it pays dividends for him in the end. Always popular and exciting, and organization would be lucky to acquire his services.
One organization that surely stands to gain from EliteXC's misfortune has to be Affliction. They began with a great card, unfortunately it was stacked with heavyweights and not much depth at other weight classes. Certainly this event will provide them the opportunity to acquire more talent in different classes. With a reputation on their side for treating fighters well, they certainly could parlay this into further success.
Where ever they go, we wish the best of luck to our local favorites Jake Shields and Nick Diaz!
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