Kimbo gets KTFO in 14 seconds – EliteXC KTFO in 22 months

Most in the MMA world felt that the brutal beat-down of Kimbo Slice at the hands of UFC dropout Seth Petruzelli was the beginning of the end for EliteXC. The second of what should have three live events broadcast on CBS was a monumental bomb with the marquis star of the fighting organization getting his ass whipped just 14 seconds into the fight. By a replacement fighter. Because old timer Ken Shamrock cut his eye just before the fight. In short, what could go wrong that night, did go wrong.

Late last evening the news began to spread that EliteXC was filing for bankruptcy protection and closing the doors to their 100K a month rental offices in California. Finger pointing started shortly after the Kimbo fight and today it elevated to a new level. With former executive TJ Thompson now blasting the leadership of the company, it’s clear that if his allegations are even remotely true, EliteXC seemed screwed from the get-go.

Somewhere Dana White has a massive hard-on right now. He made it clear early on that EliteXC was not ready to run with the UFC, pointing out that their stable of fighters were second-class for the most part and nowhere near the caliber of HIS fighters. Of course, it’s seems prophetic when he commented just a few weeks ago that Kimbo Slice “may be the baddest guy at the BBQ, but he’s not the baddest guy in MMA by any stretch”.

It appears that the ship that was once EliteXC has went down almost as quickly (just 22 months in business) as their proclaimed captain (Kimbo was knocked out in 14 seconds). It will be interesting to see where many of the fighters under EliteXC contracts wind up once the smoke clears.