Mixed Martial Arts took two steps forward and one step back in 2008.
In April, Pro Elite and CBS came to an agreement to have four Elite XC events televised on the network — marking the first time ever Mixed Martial Arts would air on network television. The Elite XC events would air in prime time — an unprecedented level of exposure for MMA. CBS gave Elite XC marquee treatment, assigning one of its better known voices, Gus Johnson, to cover the events.
The first Elite XC Saturday Night Fights telecast aired on May 31, featuring Kimbo Slice against James Thompson. The telecast drew a solid 3.0/6 rating, beating the Stanley Cup Finals telecast airing on NBC at the same time by 23%. The fact that a sport that had once been considered “human cockfighting” beat the championship event of one of the four major sports head to head was an indication of how mainstream MMA had become.
However, the good times for Elite XC would not continue. The second CBS event in July drew a mere 1.7/4 rating. While ratings perked back up for the third event in October, which drew a 2.7/5 opposite the MLB playoffs and college football, the featured bout ended up being the center of a major controversy.
The fight between Slice and Seth Petruzelli ended with Petruzelli winning in a knockout after only 14 seconds. That was bad enough, as Slice had been “the cornerstone of [Elite XC’s] CBS cards.” For him to lose so easily, and to someone who had to fill in at the last minute for his original opponent, would not help his drawing power in the future. But things got much worse in the days following the fight. In an interview with a Florida radio station, Petruzelli “insinuated that EliteXC made it financially beneficial for him stand and trade with the weak-grappling Slice.” In Petruzelli’s own words: “The promoters kind of hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him. … They didn’t want me to take him down, let’s just put it that way.”
As a result, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation opened an investigation into the bout.
Prior to the fight, Showtime, which already owned a stake in ProElite, had been “close to [completing]” a deal “to purchase the company outright.” That sale was crucial to the survival of EliteXC, which due to mounting losses and “the inability to raise new capital“, faced either being sold to Showtime or folding altogether. The investigation into the Slice/Petruzelli fight caused Showtime to pull out of negotiations, forcing ProElite out of business.
EliteXC was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, but only after it folded.
In 2008, EliteXC went from drawing “seven of the 10 most-watched MMA matches in U.S. history” to being out of business entirely. In the process, it showed that MMA could draw an audience on network television. On the flip side, the perception that officials may have been influencing matches may have set back the sport as a whole.
