Was Elite XC doomed regardless of Kimbo result?

[Schlottke]

Were they going down with or without a Kimbo victory?

[Zapp Brannigan]

Probably eventually. They would have survivedl onger because they would have been bought by CBS, but eventualy they were likely to be shut down. They hadn't yet established a draw other then Kimbo, so...

[Schlottke]

I was amazed how quickly word was out they were done after he got KO'd. Amazing how a company can hinge all of their success on a YouTube streetfighter.

[Zapp Brannigan]

I was amazed how quickly word was out they were done after he got KO'd. Amazing how a company can hinge all of their success on a YouTube streetfighter.

THAT company. It's because they took a high risk, high reward strategy. Didn't pan out. They wanted to compete with the UFC right away. Moving past the debate of whether that is really feasible, even if it is, it's a house of cards to begin with. You need a star to market, and he needs to already be a draw. Unfortunately for Elite, their mainstream draw had little in the way of MMA skill relative to his level of competition, so they needed him to win. Ironically, the smart move would have been to not have Kimbo fight when Shamrock had to pull out. They would have survived, at least, or would not have collapsed immediately.

[Adolf Oliverbush]

Zapp, do you really think that Kimbo losing is the reason the company collapsed? I think it had a lot more to do with the post fight comments with Petruzelli.

[gjfovf]

I think that the $55 Million in losses had alot more to do with it than anything else.

[Zapp Brannigan]

Zapp, do you really think that Kimbo losing is the reason the company collapsed? I think it had a lot more to do with the post fight comments with Petruzelli.

I think the viability of the company was focused on Kimbo being viewed as a monster. That's why people tuned in. With the mythos shattered, I think they were dead in the water.

[Adolf Oliverbush]

I think the viability of the company was focused on Kimbo being viewed as a monster. That's why people tuned in. With the mythos shattered, I think they were dead in the water.

But we don't know that. It's not like they ran another show with Kimbo and no one turned in to see the big man from the south east. Kimbo losing, if anything, created a giant buzz about him, the show, Petruzelli, etc. Keep in mind that after Petruzelli opened his mouth, the Florida commission was going to investigate and it was reported that CBS wanted noting to do with the negative publicity that the comments had kicked off. I don't think that Kimbo losing had a whole lot to do with the company folding at all.

[clmetal]

Unfortunately, a large percentage of MMA fans are casual - they'll pay for a UFC no matter what the card looks like (even when its overloaded with TUF talent) and they care too much about Kimbo (Elite had plenty of other good fighters).