Seth Petruzelli Opens His Mouth Monday, Potentially Destroys EliteXC By Thursday

If you’re an EliteXC executive, you probably wish you could go back in time and tape Seth Petruzelli’s mouth shut. Following comments made by the fighter following his unlikely defeat of Kimbo Slice on Saturday night’s nationally televised MMA card, during which he implied that head honchos at EliteXC suggested he not give it his all against Slice, Florida’s boxing commission has opened an investigation into allegations, fueled by the winning fighter himself, that the bout was fixed.

“The promoters kind of hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him,” Petruzelli said on “The Monsters in Orlando” show. “They didn’t want me to take him down, let’s just put it that way. It was worth my while to try to stand up and punch with him.”

Petruzelli has since claimed his comment was “misconstrued.” But the damage was too great to simply go away quietly. His words implied that ProElite attempted to influence the fight, causing the issue to mushroom.

After repeated calls from ESPN.com, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation — which oversees the State Boxing Commission — said Thursday that it has opened a preliminary investigation into the matter.

“While the Department of Business and Professional Regulation doesn’t have any reason to believe there was a problem with the Slice-Petruzelli fight, given the interest in it, the Department has begun a preliminary investigation to thoroughly review the circumstances of the fight,” said Jennifer Meale, Communications Director for the DBPR.

EliteXC is denying everything, of course. And they do have a case, since it’s hard to argue that they fixed the fight for Slice when he didn’t win. But MMA is in real danger here. Since Slice is already essentially a creation of image and hype, skeptics of EliteXC and MMA in general will latch on to this as proof that the sport is not worth their time. Even if the resulting investigation finds no wrongdoing, Slice’s reputation is likely tarnished anyway. A potential MMA fan not only saw him defeated on Saturday, but beat by a guy who was allegedly supposed to let him win. Fight-fixing turns MMA into the WWE, and nobody takes the WWE seriously.
UFC President Dana White, for whom EliteXC is the only real competition, said he welcomes the investigation, given the damage that such a scandal could do to his league and the growing sport in general. He also wastes no time in taking a shot at EliteXC’s top draw, Slice, implying that the YouTube sensation is bad for MMA, regardless of the viewers he sucks in.

“This is how it hurts [UFC]; it hurts our mainstream growth. The people who aren’t hardcore fans … ask me ‘Oh, you have that Kimbo Slice guy.’ And I have to say no, ‘I don’t have Kimbo Slice.’ I would never bring Kimbo Slice into my organization.”

Earlier: Did EliteXC Pay Seth Petruzelli To Play Patsy For Kimbo Slice?
ProElite faces allegations of fixing the Slice-Petruzelli fight [ESPN]
Image [GaySocialites.com]