As we referenced earlier, here is the official press release from CBS regarding their first EliteXC show.
THE FIRST “CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS” TO BE BROADCAST LIVE ON SATURDAY, MAY 31 ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK
EliteXC Heavyweight Sensation, Kimbo Slice, Will Headline an Exciting Night of Mixed Martial Arts
Middleweight Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler will Defend His Title Against Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith
LOS ANGELES, March 20 - CBS and ProElite, Inc. today announced that the first live primetime mixed martial arts event will be broadcast Saturday, May 31 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS will be broadcast live from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
“We’re excited to introduce broadcast television viewers to America’s fastest growing sport with this prime time event,” said Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime. “EliteXC is putting together a lineup card that showcases the unique personalities, world-class athleticism, and raw power and emotion that characterizes mixed martial arts.”
Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler will put his title on the line against Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith in a middleweight championship bout. EliteXC heavyweight phenom, Kimbo Slice, will also participate in the May 31 event along with other stars from mixed martial arts. Additional matchups will be announced at a later date.
“I am very happy for the highly trained fighters, who will finally get the kind of exposure they deserve, and, of course, the viewers, who will get the opportunity to learn that MMA is truly a sport that requires an abundance of skills, both mentally and physically,” said Gary Shaw, EliteXC Live Events President.
CBS and ProElite, Inc., a Los Angeles-based leading entertainment and media company that produces world class mixed martial arts (MMA) events, announced last month they were teaming up to bring MMA to a major broadcast television network for the first time. CBS will broadcast four MMA events per year, produced by ProElite’s EliteXC fight division, as two-hour live primetime specials.
Mixed martial arts is a sport evolved from a number of ancient combat disciplines including judo, jiu-jitsu, karate, wrestling and kickboxing. World-class athletes engage in hand-to-hand combat in a ring - both caged and traditional - and must adapt their fighting style to fit their opponent. The wide variety of styles and techniques make every event an unpredictable spectacle.
CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS will be produced by SHOWTIME Sports. The executive producer is David Dinkins, Jr. with Bob Dunphy directing.
For additional information visit http://www.proelite.com/
It’s nice to see CBS giving MMA a good time slot of 9-11 PM instead of putting it on in the wee hours of the morning.
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Ok guys, who watched IRON RING so far? what? you think its wack? I did too at first but hear me out..
Firstly, im a hiphop fan most of you know that, the hiphop element is basically the hook to attract more mma fans. That in itself is a great idea, but bseides that, you put 10 millionaires in the same room, moneys changing hands man. They got side bets going, and imagine the under the table bonuses theyre offering their fighters.. definately more than the UFC pays their low level guys.. Thats the kind of incentive thats sure to result in explosive fights and guys giving it 110% nothing motivates like cash money baby! hehe.
Secondly, the artists all have “assistant coaches” lol, who are actually the real coaches, like Shonie Carter and Krazy Horse. I think this will help keep the show grounded and down to earth with all the big egos around, especially Mayweather.. dam i hate hearing that guy talk.. thats the only drawback of the show if you ask me, listening to him run his mouth.
Thirdly, each team has 3 fighters, a LW, MW and HW so there will be a good range of weight classes.
MOST IMPORTANTLY!! Wes Simms is one of the fighters, no, not a coach, hes IN the competition lol. Hes gonna be a real test for anyone on that show and im anxious to see if someone is able to beat Simms. He seems like a lock for the HW div.
One thing tho, you might want to skip the first episode lol, it all talking sht and introducing the celebs etc, im pretty sure everyone knows these guys already so it was a terrible episode. The 2nd episode shows us some fighters training, basically like auditions for who makes it on the show and they do show one of the audition fights so its a bit more interesting.
About drama, theres gonna be a HELL of alot of drama on this show, its already begun by the 2nd episode lol.
Its on BET which is available almost everywhere in the world, unlike Spike or HDnet, etc..
Doc, any thoughts on this?
i havent seen the show yet and all i hear is people pissed off about rapper and boxers running there mouths but ive heard nothing about fights or fighters (aside from Sims being there) i hope to get a chance to see it soon so i can asses for my self about if its any good or not. and my thoughts on it before i see it is any MMA is good MMA and free MMA is better, and for the rappers and other MMAless content they throw in is fine, i would sit through the stupidest of stupid sh*t if i get to see a good fight.
Ya, check it out RJ, like i said, the first episode is just talking and BS, you can go right to episode 2 without missing anything interesting.
One thing i noticed, do these guys even know who Wes is? they showed him once for like 5 sec when they were saying who made the cut. Like the camera would flash on him, then move on, the didnt mention his UFC experience or anything..
Looking up on Sims, i noticed hes only 28 years old, he didnt have a very good record in the ufc, but he was a memorable fighter man. Especially that time he stomped Mir and got DQ lol hes a beast man.
yeah i will see the show sooner or later. i think Sims could be a good fighter if he got his sh*t together, the more quality heavy weights around the better. who else is on the show anyone worth talking about?
im not sure if anyone knows this yet but Don Frye was supposed to take part in the first YAMMA pit fighting show but has withdrawn he will be replaced by Pat Smith and Smith will be fighting Oleg Taktarov.
http://www.thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=6655
this is to the link to the report from the Fightnetwork, check it out the is a few interesting things going on there including a match between Gary Goodridge vs. Eric “Butterbean†Esch and one of the fighters taking part in the HW tournament is LOL George Bush?!? LOL
ye RJ, i saw that about Frye, i cant believe that guys still fighting man lol. Hes worse off than Ken and tank both, seriously man, there should be a seniors tourney or something man. Because you cant use new fighters against them, its just not sporting to see legends get beatup by young kids. example, when Royce fought Hughes..
Thats why they should just fight each other, example Royce and Saku, though it was a terrible fight, thats the best case scenario. But just the heart of being in the ring, without a single good ligament in either leg, and your in a fight! lol.. balls man.. well, money too ofcourse heh.
The worst part, they cant even train for the fight, because 95% chance theyre getting injured during training and it will ruin the fight. So just go in there cold and get injured in the fight instead, or should i say re-injured.
oh i also wanted to mention that Goodridge and Butterbean are a good example of two guys who shouldnt be in the ring anymore, and theyre fighting each other.
We need a seniors tourney man heh..
LMFAO you guys gotta see this goto http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=EventDetail.FightCard&eid=1105 and scroll down till you see the pick of Nakamura LOL tell me it doesnt look like hes wearing a f*ckin acorn top on his head LMAO.
damn it… i was lookin foward to seein tom selik fight lol