Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States–based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on December 14, 2006.Press Release, Pro Elite launches Elite Xtreme combat on showtime, EliteXC. [Last retrieved January 7, 2007] It was headquartered in Los Angeles.
The partnership to form EliteXC was announced on November 13, 2006. SHOWTIME to Televise MMA, Sherdog.com. (Last retrieved January 7, 2007). . The first major event occurred February 10, 2007, at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi. Fighters Frank Shamrock and Renzo Gracie fought in the main event. Also debuting on this card was Charles Bennett, K. J. Noons, Mike Pyle and Antônio Silva.
In early 2008, EliteXC had reached an agreement with CBS to broadcast EliteXC shows on prime time. The arrangement was that CBS would broadcast EliteXC specials every other month on Saturday nights. CBS aired only three events in 2008, on May 31, July 26, and October 4.
EliteXC events This is a list of events held and scheduled by Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC), a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States. The first event took place in February 2007. The list includes three events that EliteXC co-promoted (Dynamite!! USA, Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Baroni, and Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le) with other MMA organizations. Two events were shown initially on pay-per-view, while the others aired on the Showtime cable network or on CBS.
# Event Title Date Arena Location 20 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series Horseshoe Casino Hammond, Indiana 19 EliteXC: Heat BankAtlantic Center Sunrise, Florida 18 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series Chumash Casino Resort Santa Ynez, California 17 ShoXC: Hamman vs. Suganuma 2 Table Mountain Rancheria Friant, California 16 EliteXC: Unfinished Business Stockton Arena Stockton, California 15 EliteXC: Return of the King Neal S. Blaisdell Arena Oahu, Hawaii 14 EliteXC: Primetime Prudential Center Newark, New Jersey 13 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series Table Mountain Rancheria Friant, California 12 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le HP Pavilion San Jose, California 11 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series Chumash Casino Resort Santa Ynez, California 10 EliteXC: Street Certified BankUnited Center Miami 9 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series Trump Taj Mahal Atlantic City, New Jersey 8 EliteXC: Renegade American Bank Center Corpus Christi, Texas 7 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series Chumash Casino Resort Santa Ynez, California 6 EliteXC: Uprising Neal S. Blaisdell Arena Oahu, Hawaii 5 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series Vicksburg Convention Center Vicksburg, Mississippi 4 ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series Chumash Casino Resort Santa Ynez, California 3 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni HP Pavilion San Jose, California 2 Dynamite!! USA Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles 1 EliteXC: Destiny DeSoto Civic Center Southaven, Mississippi
ShoXC
On July 11, 2007, it was announced that Proelite.com and Showtime would produce a new series titled ShoXC.The Fight Network :: All fights all the time :: Get it on! The monthly shows featured up-and-coming MMA talent, similar to Showtime's ShoBox boxing events. The first took place on July 27, 2007. The first event was co-promoted with King of the Cage and was also known as KOTC: Undisputed.
Partnership with Cage Rage On September 7, 2007, ProElite, Inc. announced that they had officially acquired British MMA organization Cage Rage Championships. EliteXC and Cage Rage Championships planned numerous joint ventures together, beginning with Cage Rage 23.
Partnership with DREAM On May 10, 2008, EliteXC announced a working partnership with Japanese promotion Dream. The two groups intended to share fighters (Eddie Alvarez, Jason Miller and Nick Diaz have already participated in Dream events) and eventually co-promote shows.
Co-promoting with Affliction On September 24, 2008, EliteXC announced a working partnership with rival US promotion Affliction. Affliction offered Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson for the EliteXC: Heat card on CBS. In addition, Affliction heavily promoted their line through commercials on the show. It was hoped that the two companies would survive a rocky financial situation long enough to co-promote fights again in the future.
Controversy and closing of EliteXC On October 4, 2008, at EliteXC: Heat, EliteXC's biggest ratings draw Kimbo Slice was knocked out by Seth Petruzelli in just 14 seconds. Petruzelli served as a last-minute replacement for MMA pioneer Ken Shamrock, who got injured on the day of the fight and was unable to compete. The unexpected outcome of this fight drew a great deal of attention, and subsequent comments by Petruzelli that he was offered a monetary bonus to employ certain techniques during the fight (comments he later recanted and obfuscated), raised the question of undue influence by EliteXC representatives in fights. Significant debt incurred by parent company Pro Elite with no investors or buyers showing interestReports: EliteXC tells employees, fighters it's out of business caused the subsequent cancellation of the November 8, 2008, event. Combined with the Florida State Athletic Commission launching an investigation into the Slice/Petruzelli fight, Pro Elite announced on October 20, 2008, that they would cease operations.
Weight classes Weight class nameUpper limitBantamweightFeatherweightLightweightWelterweightMiddleweightLight HeavyweightHeavyweightNo weight limit
EliteXC champions Heavyweight Championship Weight limit: Unlimited
No.NameEventDateDefenses1 Antônio SilvaEliteXC: Unfinished BusinessJuly 26, 2008
Middleweight Championship Weight limit:
No.NameEventDateDefenses1 Murilo RuaStrikeforce: Shamrock vs. BaroniJune 22, 2007 2 Robbie LawlerEliteXC: UprisingSeptember 15, 2007
Welterweight Championship Weight limit:
No.NameEventDateDefenses1 Jake ShieldsEliteXC: Unfinished BusinessJuly 26, 2008
Lightweight Championship Weight limit:
No.NameEventDateDefenses1 K. J. NoonsEliteXC: RenegadeNovember 10, 2007Noons was stripped of the title on September 19, 2008 by EliteXC
Bantamweight Championship Weight limit:
No.NameEventDateDefenses1 Wilson ReisShoXC 8September 26, 2008
Women's division
Shayna Baszler Gina Carano Marloes Coenen Tonya Evinger Takayo Hashi Sarah Kaufman Debi Purcell Cris Cyborg Kaitlin Young
See also Mixed Martial Arts List of current mixed martial arts champions List of Bellator MMA champions List of Invicta FC champions List of ONE Championship champions List of Pride champions List of PFL champions List of Strikeforce champions List of UFC champions List of WEC champions Mixed martial arts weight classes
Footnotes
External links Former Official EliteXC Site as captured by archive.org Official Showtime Networks, Inc. Site