brutus
08-14-2008, 11:52 AM
Source ([Only registered and activated users can see links])
Danny Acosta: Can you comment on Gary stepping down?
Jared Shaw: What’s out there is the truth. That is Gary just had a lot going on between family, travel at his age, and his boxing. He’s got really spectacular fall cards: Alfredo Angulo fighting on the 4TH on HBO, you’ve got [Antonio] Tarver-Chad Dawson world title fight on Showtime in October, Sergio Mora contender fight with Vernon Forrest…
DA: EliteXC was definitely steered by Gary’s vision, how will the direction of the company change now that he’s not involved?
JS: I don’t think that’ll change at all. The production remains the same. You have Showtime and CBS as the platform and their people do a fantastic job at producing these shows and making them great for television. All the fights are still in tact, with the same matchmaking team, the same guys completely working for the promotion.
We just don’t have the face, which was Gary. Right now we don’t have a face, but I like to think EliteXC the brand is the face.
DA: Analysts criticize EliteXC for not having depth in its divisions. What are you doing to combat that?
JS: We’re just continuing to scour the free agent market, continuing to develop our own fighters that we found from the start. One of our world champions KJ Noons, he’s kind of home grown. So it’s not that we don’t know how to build champions because we one-hundred-percent know how to do that.
I just think fights make themselves. Hungry fighters make great fights. At the end of the day, you got a couple guys who are going to be great fighters and they make a great fight and then all of a sudden people are talking about the next [Arturo] Gatti, the next [Mickey] Ward. That doesn’t necessarily mean its an [inferior] promotion…they just might not have had the opportunity for that kind of fight yet.
DA: EliteXC has done some things to break away from the UFC’s model. Right now there is criticism toward them about rankings. Is EliteXC considering revealing rankings within their organization?
JS: I like to think that we don’t have, say, a ranking system aboard or a file that has the rankings. But we have a fight team that tries to agree on fights and…I think right now that the fight team right now knows who’s the 160-pound champion is and who’s number one who’s next in line.
Unfortunately…[people] follow one ranking system and that’s universal, but until there’s fighters fighting universally against each other there is no real ranking system. How do you say to yourself Nick Diaz isn’t the number one contender at 160-pounds because he fought outside of the promotion and won? You can’t discredit Eddie Alvarez and the way he fought in Dream because it wasn’t in EliteXC. That doesn’t mean he’s not the number one or two contender.
I don’t really believe in rankings, I think they are more of a superficial way of the public identifying fighters. I think if you can just do a fantastic job of promoting fighters and showcasing them and them in return doing their job of making great fights, the sport is just gonna know them and recognize them and not care what their ranking is. You don’t need to put a belt around Gina Carano to know she’s a fantastic female fighter.
DA: The second CBS show had a weaker showing than the first, but the fights were strong. How can the network and the company ensure non-Gina Carano, non-Kimbo Slice fights sell?
JS: We’ll continue to work with them on the way that they market, that they promote, to continue to give ourselves enough leeway in time in promoting to announce and fully establish ourselves in that local market—to then have a marketing plan for television. I think it just comes down to basically promotion 101.
The first one was fantastic and went over great—you had Kimbo and Gina. The second one was a fantastic card but didn’t do the ratings or the gate. People immediately want to point the finger and identify that no Kimbo, no Gina, no money.
But it comes down to the fact that it’s the summertime. There was only five weeks to piece together that promotion. But you know its still an important thing to do because it showcased for a second time on national television and it makes that brand that much stronger going into the fall when the ratings really start to amp up. And that’s what’s going to show for CBS.
DA: You guys have a show this Friday with Debi Purcell and Rosi Sexton. ShoXC showcases fighters and gets them bigger fights. Is the winner next in line for Gina Carano after October?
JS: I think there in line to be in line for everybody. I don’t think it’s just the Gina Carano weight class anymore. Cris Cyborg came around and said, “Hey, this is women’s fighting. It’s not just Gina Carano fighting.”
I think Caitlin Young and Shayna Baszler, although both have been defeated, they have something to say about where Rosi Sexton and Debi Purcell fall in line in EliteXC. I think it’s an exciting time for women and female fighting in EliteXC.
DA: How far is EliteXC from crowning a female champion?
JS: In the first quarter in 2009, you’ll a see a championship belt in every division in EltieXC.
DA: After the last show, people were salivating over a Carano/Cyborg fight. Could that be the first ever-headlining female fight?
JS: You know Danny, if you have it your way, it will be.
DA: Do you feel having the only female fights of a major promotion is going to take the organization to the next level?
JS: I mean, I just like to think that its one tool in the chest to take us to the next level. At the end of the day female fighting is an important part of mixed martial arts because at the end of the day women can simply fight. They’re as good as guys. Some of them are.
We’re looking for the best of the best. I like to think at the end of the day one thing that EliteXC will be known for is putting female fighting on the map—Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg on the map.
[Only registered and activated users can see links]
I love me some gina.
Danny Acosta: Can you comment on Gary stepping down?
Jared Shaw: What’s out there is the truth. That is Gary just had a lot going on between family, travel at his age, and his boxing. He’s got really spectacular fall cards: Alfredo Angulo fighting on the 4TH on HBO, you’ve got [Antonio] Tarver-Chad Dawson world title fight on Showtime in October, Sergio Mora contender fight with Vernon Forrest…
DA: EliteXC was definitely steered by Gary’s vision, how will the direction of the company change now that he’s not involved?
JS: I don’t think that’ll change at all. The production remains the same. You have Showtime and CBS as the platform and their people do a fantastic job at producing these shows and making them great for television. All the fights are still in tact, with the same matchmaking team, the same guys completely working for the promotion.
We just don’t have the face, which was Gary. Right now we don’t have a face, but I like to think EliteXC the brand is the face.
DA: Analysts criticize EliteXC for not having depth in its divisions. What are you doing to combat that?
JS: We’re just continuing to scour the free agent market, continuing to develop our own fighters that we found from the start. One of our world champions KJ Noons, he’s kind of home grown. So it’s not that we don’t know how to build champions because we one-hundred-percent know how to do that.
I just think fights make themselves. Hungry fighters make great fights. At the end of the day, you got a couple guys who are going to be great fighters and they make a great fight and then all of a sudden people are talking about the next [Arturo] Gatti, the next [Mickey] Ward. That doesn’t necessarily mean its an [inferior] promotion…they just might not have had the opportunity for that kind of fight yet.
DA: EliteXC has done some things to break away from the UFC’s model. Right now there is criticism toward them about rankings. Is EliteXC considering revealing rankings within their organization?
JS: I like to think that we don’t have, say, a ranking system aboard or a file that has the rankings. But we have a fight team that tries to agree on fights and…I think right now that the fight team right now knows who’s the 160-pound champion is and who’s number one who’s next in line.
Unfortunately…[people] follow one ranking system and that’s universal, but until there’s fighters fighting universally against each other there is no real ranking system. How do you say to yourself Nick Diaz isn’t the number one contender at 160-pounds because he fought outside of the promotion and won? You can’t discredit Eddie Alvarez and the way he fought in Dream because it wasn’t in EliteXC. That doesn’t mean he’s not the number one or two contender.
I don’t really believe in rankings, I think they are more of a superficial way of the public identifying fighters. I think if you can just do a fantastic job of promoting fighters and showcasing them and them in return doing their job of making great fights, the sport is just gonna know them and recognize them and not care what their ranking is. You don’t need to put a belt around Gina Carano to know she’s a fantastic female fighter.
DA: The second CBS show had a weaker showing than the first, but the fights were strong. How can the network and the company ensure non-Gina Carano, non-Kimbo Slice fights sell?
JS: We’ll continue to work with them on the way that they market, that they promote, to continue to give ourselves enough leeway in time in promoting to announce and fully establish ourselves in that local market—to then have a marketing plan for television. I think it just comes down to basically promotion 101.
The first one was fantastic and went over great—you had Kimbo and Gina. The second one was a fantastic card but didn’t do the ratings or the gate. People immediately want to point the finger and identify that no Kimbo, no Gina, no money.
But it comes down to the fact that it’s the summertime. There was only five weeks to piece together that promotion. But you know its still an important thing to do because it showcased for a second time on national television and it makes that brand that much stronger going into the fall when the ratings really start to amp up. And that’s what’s going to show for CBS.
DA: You guys have a show this Friday with Debi Purcell and Rosi Sexton. ShoXC showcases fighters and gets them bigger fights. Is the winner next in line for Gina Carano after October?
JS: I think there in line to be in line for everybody. I don’t think it’s just the Gina Carano weight class anymore. Cris Cyborg came around and said, “Hey, this is women’s fighting. It’s not just Gina Carano fighting.”
I think Caitlin Young and Shayna Baszler, although both have been defeated, they have something to say about where Rosi Sexton and Debi Purcell fall in line in EliteXC. I think it’s an exciting time for women and female fighting in EliteXC.
DA: How far is EliteXC from crowning a female champion?
JS: In the first quarter in 2009, you’ll a see a championship belt in every division in EltieXC.
DA: After the last show, people were salivating over a Carano/Cyborg fight. Could that be the first ever-headlining female fight?
JS: You know Danny, if you have it your way, it will be.
DA: Do you feel having the only female fights of a major promotion is going to take the organization to the next level?
JS: I mean, I just like to think that its one tool in the chest to take us to the next level. At the end of the day female fighting is an important part of mixed martial arts because at the end of the day women can simply fight. They’re as good as guys. Some of them are.
We’re looking for the best of the best. I like to think at the end of the day one thing that EliteXC will be known for is putting female fighting on the map—Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg on the map.
[Only registered and activated users can see links]
I love me some gina.