4. EliteXC (2007-08)
EliteXC burst onto the scene with a bang and faded just as quickly, but it did huge things during its brief time in the limelight. It was the first promotion to air on a major television network; it invested serious time and money in women’s MMA; and it rode the “Kimbo Slice” wave to great ratings and its eventual doom.
It was a compelling model that might have had staying power, considering its relationships with CBS, Showtime and other promoters around the world. Unfortunately, if one lives by “Kimbo Slice,” one dies by “Kimbo Slice.” Each of the promotion’s three efforts on the flagship CBS network included a Kevin Ferguson fight, and in the third, Seth Petruzelli quickly knocked him out and ruined whatever aura the backyard brawler might have carried with casual fans. To make matters worse, Petruzelli intimated that he had been offered incentives to keep the fight standing, which opened up an investigation by the Florida State Athletic Commission. EliteXC folded shortly thereafter, and most of its fighters ended up in Strikeforce.
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