Strikeforce to acquire Pro Elite?

[jmt225]

Strikeforce to buy ProElite assets
By Josh Gross, SI.com

ProElite, Inc. and California-based Strikeforce have agreed in principle to an asset purchase, including television contracts with CBS and Showtime, multiple sources have confirmed to SI.com.

Both ProElite CEO Chuck Champion, who has been criticized for his handling of a sale that put the company’s fighters in limbo for four months, and Strikeforce chief Scott Coker denied that any deal is in place. Yet, various sources speaking on the condition of anonymity with intimate knowledge of the negotiations told SI.com that Strikeforce is poised to attain the assets. An official announcement could come by the end of the week.

ProElite, a publicly traded company that promoted mixed martial arts under the EliteXC banner, fought hard to avoid filing for bankruptcy after shutting its doors in October. The deal with Strikeforce would see ProElite dissolve and sell the remaining value, sources say.

In March 2006 Strikeforce, a longtime kickboxing promoter, ventured full-bore into MMA with the sport’s first regulated card in California history. A then record 18,265 fans inside San Jose, Calif.’s, HP Pavilion watched Frank Shamrock knock out Cesar Gracie.

Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming to ESPN since 1995. After entering the MMA promotional business, Strikeforce gained increased exposure through deals with new television partners including Showtime pay-per-view and NBC, which launched the first-ever 52-week MMA series on one of the four major television networks.

Through its partnership with Showtime and later CBS, which, in 2008, agreed to broadcast four live EliteXC events on primetime, EliteXC gained a tremendous amount of visibility. However the company, first led by CEO Doug DeLuca, hemorrhaged tens of millions of dollars during its 22 months in operation.

In September 2008, Showtime, which owned a 20-percent stake in ProElite, entered into preliminary negotiations to purchase a controlling interest in the company. When those negotiations failed, funding dried up and the company was forced into hibernation.

Beginning with Rumble on the Rock, ProElite purchased numerous MMA promotional brands around the world, including King of the Cage, Cage Rage, ICON and Spirit MC. While these companies remained in operation, the focus was on EliteXC, which held 17 events starting with its first card Feb. 10, 2007.

EliteXC’s third card with CBS on Oct. 4 was also its last as a promoter. Headlined by the controversial Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, the event made headlines with discussion surrounding the legitimacy of the main event between Ferguson and Seth Petruzelli.

After debuting May 31, 2008, to an audience of 6.5 million viewers, EliteXC’s ratings on CBS fell significantly in its second effort drawing just 2.7 million last July. In its final event, viewership numbers bounce back nicely, with an average audience of 4.5 million.

Man, if EliteXC wouldn’t just let fighters out of their contracts, this is the next best thing if you ask me. Strikeforce would actually know how to run the promotion and not turn it into a joke like Pro Elite managed to. Still though, I wonder if they’re inheriting all that debt generated? That would be a big risk unless they convinced CBS and Showtime that they were making positive steps, in which case to a giant like CBS tens of millions might not be that much.

But all in all, I’m pretty happy about this. EliteXC had some amazing, very entertaining fighters and shows. And honest to God, I’ve missed the fuck out of Nick Diaz and Gina Carano. I need them back on my TV screen as soon as possible.

 

[Kasey]

Well, it's about fucking time. Gary Shaw and his half-******ed kid pretty much ruined the most surefire thing in MMA to come down the pike...ever. Scott Coker understands that you need to crawl before you walk, walk before you run, and finally to run before you fly. He's done great on the west coast with Strikeforce and has put together some great cards and knows how to book solid shows. With the media connections he now has and his ability to utilize talent, I think he'll have something special. He doesn't work with exclusivity like the UFC does, so you'll probably see some solid import talent as well. As a bona fide MMA nut, this is the best news I've heard in a long time. I'm actually with JMT on this one. I do miss Nick Diaz and Carano. I was anxiously awaiting they're respective fights that never happened after Standgate. Let's hope Coker can get this shit done even half as well as I think he can.

 

[Marquis]

This is great news. I like you two have missed the lack of Nick Diaz on my Tv screen. And for him to be fighting in a decently talented roster like Strikeforces makes the news all the more better. The news of them trying to sign Gina is also great. Seeing as how they already signed Cyborg Santos, we can possibly be seeing a Gina vs Cyborg match up in the very near future. That's one match i desperately wanna see.

Its been reported that Kimbo's contract has been picked up as well. I may not be a Kimbo fan, but this was a smart move on Strikeforces part. Kimbo whether you like him or not has a fan base. So having him on anyone of their televised cards will definitely be a ratings boost.

 

[Kasey]

Tuesday, February 10, 2009
by Sherdog.com Staff

16152
Frank Shamrock will fight Nick Diaz at Strikeforce’s April 11 event on Showtime.

The bout, which Strikeforce and Showtime announced Tuesday, will be contested at a catch-weight of 179 pounds.

The outspoken Shamrock is coming off a loss to Cung Le in a March 2008 Strikeforce event. His arm was broken by Le’s kicks in the entertaining 15-minute match. Before that defeat, Shamrock choked out Phil Baroni in a June 2007 Strikeforce main event.

Diaz, who is perhaps even more outspoken than Shamrock, has won three straight. Most recently he stopped Thomas Denny in a July 2008 EliteXC bout.

Promoter Scott Coker also said Tuesday that Cung Le will not fight on the April 11 show due to an elbow injury. However, Coker expects Le to fight twice for Strikeforce in 2009, and he expects one of those fights to be a rematch with Shamrock.

A middleweight matchup between Benji Radach and Scott Smith has already been confirmed for April. Former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez will be on the card as well, possibly against Mitsuhiro Ishida or Jorge Gurgel.

KJ Noons will be offered a matchup with Strikeforce lightweight titleholder Josh Thomson, Coker said, because the promoter considers Noons the EliteXC lightweight champion.

Keep checking back for updates on Strikeforce’s April 11 event.

Well, I'm ecstatic. Despite his missteps, Frank is still one of my all-time favorites. I love that he got the last laugh against Tito and Baroni. Great intrigue to this matchup as Shammy slaughtered Nick's coach inside of :21. I hope he does the same to Nick, too. Should be good. Nick better pick up some head movement between now and April or the beating Noons gave him will seem like a walk in the fucking park. I can't wait. Plus, I've heard that Strikeforce is set to have a card up here.