EliteXC Cleared In Florida, A Little Too Late To Help

With its business plan in tatters and its bank accounts dried up, it wouldn’t surprise us if executives from ProElite were preparing to throw themselves of the nearest tall building following the company’s declaration of bankruptcy and subsequent closing earlier this week. Cheer up, fellas. There’s a dark cloud to the silver lining.
The Florida athletic commission has cleared your company of trying to fix the Kimbo Slice/Seth Petruzelli fight. The investigation that probably led to EliteXC’s destruction is over. A few days too late to save the company, but at least none of you are going to jail. Hooray!

The Florida boxing commission investigated Petruzelli’s claims two days after the fight that he was paid extra by Elite XC promoters to fight in a stand-up style, which would favor former street fighter Slice.

Earlier this week, Elite XC executive consultant T. Jay Thompson told The Times he was told by two Elite XC promoters that Kimbo would be OK in the fight because it would remain a stand-up affair. Thompson, working the event for the MMA apparel firm Tapout, said he was so bothered by that “nod” that he called an associate who helps direct odds for off-shore casinos. That information caused the off-shore casinos to open Kimbo as a 6-1 favorite, twice the favorite that he was in Las Vegas.

But Thompson reportedly wasn’t interviewed in the Florida investigation, according to documents that emerged in tonight’s reports. California boxing commission director Armando Garcia and his Nevada counterpart, Keith Kizer, reportedly vouched to Florida that Elite XC had previously operated in a responsible manner.

Maybe, in some regards, Florida let EliteXC off the hook by not interviewing Thompson. Still, the end of this investigation is a benefit for not only ProElite’s executives, but for Slice and Petruzelli as well. It’s going to be a lot easier for those two fighters to find new jobs without the cloud of fight tampering hanging over their heads.
That said, all evidence indicates that this investigation was a major problem for CBS, which held the broadcast rights to EliteXC and probably wasn’t terribly thrilled that potential criminal charges might have been brought against the company. That, friends, is how a company goes out of business.
Florida clears Elite XC in Kimbo loss [LA Times]