The Petruzelli Problem
By Brandt DeLorenzo on Oct 07, 2008
There’s been a lot of negative press coming out of the EliteXC: Heat event following the knockout loss of Kimbo Slice. We’ve seen the mainstream media bash Slice, we watched pro-boxing personalities poke the sport of MMA, and now there’s a slew of allegations against Seth Petruzelli, EliteXC, and even Ken Shamrock. And the biggest problem is stemming from Petruzelli’s comments following his 14 second beatdown of Slice. This is what he said on Real Radio 104.1…
“My original plan was to throw out push kicks, have him think that I’m gonna throw them more, and then to shoot in on him, obviously. But the promoters kind of hinted to me, and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him. 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.”
But better yet, now he’s saying he never said that EliteXC asked him to keep the fight standing. But Dave Meltzer has some information for us that he shared on his radio show about EliteXC asking both Petruzelli and Shamrock to stand with Slice.
“I will also say, the story he said, I had heard that story long before Seth Petruzelli said it. I believe it to be true, I cannot tell you that is fact.
Petruzelli has retracted his statements, but it may be too late. 5oz of Pain has the disputed words here.
“… I knew I would do alright standing up with him,” Petruzelli said during the radio interview. “The promoters kind of hinted to me, and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him. They didn’t want me to take him down, let’s just put it that way.”
Is Petruzelli serious? Zach Arnold has a lot of great information about the implications of an organization asking a fighter to alter his or her actions during a sanctioned Mixed Martial Arts bout. So far, nothing has happened in Florida, but things could change quickly.
This is bad.
Comments (12)
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I don’t think the EliteXC has fixed fights, and they are a long way from the 1919 Black Sox scandal.
I seriously hope for the sport that they aren’t fixing fights, and in my opinion paying people to fight into another fighter’s strength is just that.
Like telling an offense to throw to Deon Sanders or Champ Bailey, or have Mugsy Bogues drive the lane to throw up a short floater in front of Shaq to get swatted…
This is all hurting the EliteXC big time. They have rough times ahead!
The notion that this was fixed comes from the home of the tinfoil hat conspiracy theory.
Was Petruzelli encouraged to fight standing up with Kimbo? Absolutely.
Was he paid extra to stand? It looks like it.
While it looks shady, we already knew that EXC was running a shady business. No secrets here.
[...] Josh Stein: The notion that this was fixed comes from the home of the tinfoil hat conspiracy theory. [...]
well said!
I’m sure that all of this controversy can be swept under the rug. I think the MMA blogs will continue to make noise about this issue.
All Elite XC has to do is make the rematch happen as soon as possible, then ext 3-5 months. I’m sure people will pay to watch Kimbo get KO’ed again by a bigger Petrucelli OR watch Kimbo vindicate his Street Fighter persona. It’s a win-win situation for everybody.
Advise for Petrucelli, apply some restraint and diplomacy. He should learn to monitor his words. Other organizations are watching. If he decides to pursue fighting 100%, he needs to also understand that it is a business. Don’t talk too reckless. It doesn’t look good when you let the cat out of the bag, to only retract your own statement hours or a day later.
Vee I agree.
One particular forum they have banned any Kimbo related threads (Dumb, like it or not he is a huge part of MMA).
The Elite XC NEEDS Kimbo to be successful and continue to draw people. They will try their best to spin this in their favor.
As for diplomacy, hopefully the Diaz Brothers are paying attention too. I have always been told “Act like you have been there before” Don’t make statements that may get you in trouble. In no way would saying they wanted you to stand with kimbo be a positive thing for Kimbo or the organization.
having diarrhea of the mouth can result in very bad things, including the loss of your job….Just as War Machine…
I was right, this non-issue is being swept under the rug.
MMAWeekly reported that the FLORIDA COMMISSION has found NO IMPROPRIETY BY ELITEXC.
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not serious, but seriously)
The Diaz brothers?? Whoa!!! Not the Diaz Brothers. They’re freaking entertaining. They just make outlandish disparaging remarks about other fighters. Let’s not forget their willingness to face any opponent even their opponents outweigh them by 50 or 100lbs. As long as they don’t disrupt press conferences or piss off promoters, those guys are playing the perfect heels for MMA. Let’s not forget Intro to Heelism 101.
I read some place else that athletic commission didn’t find anything wrong with bonuses for a KO and if a promotion wants to reward more exciting fights (honestly, I don’t think either Petruzelli or Kimbo has any ground game to begin with), I’m all for it. Obviously only to the point it starts bordering with fixing the figts, which is bound to kill this sport and make it yet another form of WWE.
It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. Petruzelli said it, but he didn’t say enough to incriminate himself…yet.
I think giving a bonus for a KO is fine, giving a bonus to promote a KO is not.
Paying a fighter to play into his opponents strength is borderline fixing the fight.
Hey guys, this whole eliteXC fight was BS. If you have the fights recorded, rewind to Kimbo’s interview the night of the fight. In the interview they clearly state that Ken Shamrock was cut during sparring THE DAY OF the actual fight and would not be able to fight. If you notice Kimbo was very short and smug with his answers to the Interviewer. It almost made you feel as if he didn’t want to slip and say anything regarding the fight. Now fast forward to the end of the fight when Petuzelli is talking, he CLEARLY states that he and Kimbo only had a week to train for their fight. And only having a week to train to learn each other was difficult. So if Ken Shamrock supposedly got cut during sparring THE DAY OF, and could not fight only hours before the fight. Then how did Petruzelli knowingly have a week to train?? Everyone is making theories but know one has caught onto this one yet.
Jesse: Petruzelli was supposed to fight Aaron Rosa on the undercard.