squatch66 Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 EliteXC expected to air on CBS By Kevin Iole Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008 5:21 pm EST Thursday will be an historic day for mixed martial arts, when CBS and Elite XC announce a deal that will bring the sport to network television for the first time. Details of the deal, first reported by MMAjunkie.com, are sketchy, but is believed to be a four-fight deal that will begin in April. Kevin Ferguson, the Internet street-fighting sensation known as Kimbo Slice, is expected to headline the first fight card on CBS from either Atlantic City, N.J. or the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Elite XC president Gary Shaw declined comment on Wednesday, but he has been bullish on the company's future despite the fact it lives in the vast shadow created by the UFC. The UFC had been attempting during the writer's guild to reach a deal with CBS to put fights on, but had been unable to finalize a contract. Elite XC already had a relationship with Viacom, which owns CBS, because Showtime is an investor in the company and has been broadcasting its fights since February 2007. Viacom also owns Showtime. The cards on CBS are expected to be two-hour shows broadcast on Saturday nights. The exact time slot is unknown, though it is likely to be something like 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the Eastern time zone and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Pacific. http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/mma_experts/post/EliteXC-expected-to-air-on-CBS?urn=mma,68962 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I saw that last night and all I have to say is HELL YEAH:cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d0ublestr0ker0ll Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Two things. Like I said in the MMA thread, are they really going to broadcast this on CBS? Elbows and knees bashing faces? Blood spurting out of open wounds, people getting KTFO? Add to that submissions that can (and sometimes do) break bones, and people getting choked out until they're asleep. People get torn up in almost every fight in MMA, this isn't for little Stacy and her friend's sleeping over to watch on a Saturday night. Kimbo Slice better hope he doesn't face Frank Shamrock like he's been rumored to be. MMA, and more importantly EliteXC's, debut on Network television might mean a salty vet destroys their marquee guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RammsteinSkins Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 never seen a mma fight but the way doublestrokeroll described it...I CANT WAIT!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Two things.Like I said in the MMA thread, are they really going to broadcast this on CBS? Elbows and knees bashing faces? Blood spurting out of open wounds, people getting KTFO? Add to that submissions that can (and sometimes do) break bones, and people getting choked out until they're asleep. People get torn up in almost every fight in MMA, this isn't for little Stacy and her friend's sleeping over to watch on a Saturday night. Kimbo Slice better hope he doesn't face Frank Shamrock like he's been rumored to be. MMA, and more importantly EliteXC's, debut on Network television might mean a salty vet destroys their marquee guy. You used to be able to see wrestling on network TV, and this was with all the blood, chairs being bashed on heads, folks thrown off the ring, etc...All that wrestling violence and gore. If the fights are at the right timeslot, I think it will be fine. And if they can play "Saving Private Ryan" at a 9pm slot, then they should be alright with MMA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squatch66 Posted February 29, 2008 Author Share Posted February 29, 2008 Kimbo Slice better hope he doesn't face Frank Shamrock like he's been rumored to be. MMA, and more importantly EliteXC's, debut on Network television might mean a salty vet destroys their marquee guy. and it would be an amazing fight. id love to see that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 Kimbo Slice better hope he doesn't face Frank Shamrock like he's been rumored to be. MMA, and more importantly EliteXC's, debut on Network television might mean a salty vet destroys their marquee guy. I thought they said Ken Shamrock? If it is Ken, I'm pretty sure Kimbo would knock him out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldskool Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 If this were going to air on network tv, bet your bottom dollar for a 10pm time slot at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EersSkins05 Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 From what I heard, it's going to air at 11. I would watch (and I don't watch MMA much), that's for sure. And a lot of people I know would, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d0ublestr0ker0ll Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 I thought they said Ken Shamrock? If it is Ken, I'm pretty sure Kimbo would knock him out. I think Ken Shamrock has been exposed from (maybe) some steroid abuse in his hayday. Lost 6 of his last 7 fights, and was pulling subs on Bas Rutten back in the day. Have you seen pics of Ken back then? He looks like Mr. Olympia. Now he just gets ****ed. Kazushi Sakuraba has won 23 fights, 3 of them by (T)KO, one of those was a recent quick TKO against Ken. The only thing I'd like to see is the fight go to the ground. Because Ken has fought some deadly people lately, and Ken's ground game has been shrugged off. If Ken can get on top, he might pull a sub. If it's Frank he's fighting, God be with him, Frank has still got it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMike619 Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 MMA is turning into what texas hold em is. i remember when texas hold em was ONLY on ESPN and it was the world series you saw. now every yahoo channel has one and even the celebs are doing it next is celebrity MMA. starring vanilla ice and todd bridges.. its gonna ruin the sport big time.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squatch66 Posted February 29, 2008 Author Share Posted February 29, 2008 not before the networks and advertisers bleed every last dollar out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 In other big MMA news, the UFC just signed a 3-year advertising contract with Bud Light, (Anheiser Busch): http://mmajunkie.com/2008/02/28/bud-light-partners-with-ufc-for-three-year-sponsorship/ By far the biggest sponsor the UFC has ever had Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d0ublestr0ker0ll Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 MMA is turning into what texas hold em is. i remember when texas hold em was ONLY on ESPN and it was the world series you saw. now every yahoo channel has one and even the celebs are doing it next is celebrity MMA. starring vanilla ice and todd bridges.. its gonna ruin the sport big time.. I totally disagree. MMA is one of the toughest sports in the world. Dismissing it for being a card game is pretty, well, dismissive. Texas hold 'em has nothing, and will have nothing on MMA. It's taking off and not looking back. The 18-34 demographic is latching on, and fathers are starting to get their kids in to martial arts acadamies instead of baseball leagues. I'd venture to guess most young boxers will see the limited fighting style boxing is and want to go where you can actually have a real fight. As far as celebrities in the octagon, that would probably make the sport look better. It will show how hard it is to not actually embarass yourself in the octagon. I have a hard time believing athletic commissions would let douschbags get in there with tiny 4 ounce gloves. But if they do, they'll embarass themselves, and probably make the sport look tougher than people think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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