Props: Sherdog.com
“I think it was a mistake to not let me fight [Kimbo Slice]. When I realized we would have to cancel the show, I said, ‘Look, I’ll fight the guy’. You know, it’s a great story — little brother steps into the spot, comes out of the booth. It’s very compelling, but we need a fight to happen that’s compelling. That went around for hours. Then I put my shirt on and went to work. No one committed to it, so I just kept talking. Kimbo is great - great for ratings. But Kimbo fighting a star, a superstar, somebody who’s going to elevate him or knock him down in a good way, that’s what we needed that night. We didn’t need a nobody to beat Kimbo. Everybody knows that Kimbo is not very good. He hasn’t had time to mature. He’s a new guy.”
– Former Strikeforce middleweight champion and current EliteXC commentator Frank Shamrock sounds off on EliteXC’s “50-million dollar mistake” of letting Seth Petruzelli replace the brittle Ken Shamrock against main attraction Kimbo Slice at Saturday Night Fights on October 4. Slice was stopped in just 14 seconds by a fighter that Shamrock feels has no commercial value or appeal - thus diminishing the aura of Slice in every way.
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I dont like Frank Shamrock, but from a business perspective that would have been a smart thing to do. I actually agree with him on this. That way, if Kimbo looses, then the company still has its poster boy because you cant take anything away from him if his first loss comes to a pro like Frank Shamrock. Seth wooped up on him and now kimbo lost all credibility ( if he had any to start). Elite XC is the dumbest company ever!!!
They knew for sure that Frank would whoop Kimbos as*, thats why they made that dumb move to pick seth in hopes that he’d beat him atleast, I like him though (frank) He’s a good fighter and He’s been here since the begining of the sport almost.
I respect Kimbo for the soul Purpose that he stepped into the cage, But as a figher, He’s a Joke and trying to carry the company (not his choice though) was a joke as well. He should have kept fighting cans on mabey the first televised fight.
Agreed! From what ive been reading, Kimbo made the choice to fight Seth. He must have thought it was an easier matchup? Thats why nobody came to Frank to let him know what they were going to do.
Either way, Elite XC is done!
Exactly and the fact that Frank is a business man, they could have asked him to make it exciting and to stand with Kimbo. Frank probably would have fought Kimbo on a lower level which would have helped their ratings and made Kimbo look better even with a loss to Frank. EXC tried banking on Seth getting KO’d by Kimbo when really they should have been given Kimbo the hardest challenge he’s ever had so that when the loss comes, they could just say “hey, we gave em a top guy to roll with and he stepped up. He lost but Kimbo gave it his best.” To be honest though, this would have been better if say he faught the Pitbull. Kimbo fighting a top 5 guy would have been astronomical, not to mention the Pitbull tends to fight to the level of his opponents so Kimbo could have just stood and banged, win or lose it would not have looked as bad as a 15 second loss to Seth.
i agree, they realy don’t know what they are doing, it whould have been frank imagine the shit he would have talked to ken about having to step in for him.kimbo loses to frank not that big a deal keeps kimbo going and sets up the ken fight with kimbo or the frank vs ken fight.
Exactly, they could have built it up nice and big. Frank beats Kimbo, so Kimbo fights Ken win or lose its good for EXC. Kimbo wins, then he beat Ken and lost to Frank who is definetly more skilled than Ken. Ken wins and it sets up more interest in a Frank Ken fight.
Elite XC for some dumb reason thought Kimbo could beat Seth but lose to Frank and wanted to give Kimbo the fight with the least risk…. I don’t think they gave Seth near enough credit.
Frank is so full of himself but he does make a valid point.
Absolutely right - he may come across arrogant, but he is spot on with his statement.
Kimbo knocking out Frank -> Heavyweight beats Middleweight
Frank knocking out Kimbo -> Experience over physique
One way or other there would have been an angle to spin how the fight went down, but losing to Seth with a 14 sec TKO was simply bad for business.
he’s right even if Kimbo would have been knocked out by him….at least it would have been by him… a former Champion and not a washed up UFC fighter in Seth Petruzelli. Petruzelli is somebody that just put Dana’s theory into action about any UFC fighter being able to beat Kimbo…that was without a doubt the worst thing Elite XC could have done and it was a big fuck up…plus they need to get a card like the Diaz/Alvarez on CBS instead of Kimbo who is basically a joke
LOL, i was just about to comment on this, was reading it on another site. Great read. I agree, at least if Kimbo loses to a “name” he can save face. Now he’s just a joke to the casual fan who didn’t know who seth was…or is he? I’m still hearing people (with zero knowledge of mma) say that if Kimbo was let up, (boxing rules) he would have killed seth. My response is simple, he couldn’t even take the ref down, at which point I’m called a moron. I don’t know, I’ve said before, I get the kimbo mystique, but put him on the indercard, but then you defeat the purpose of him making money..lose/lose for elite
On another note, Junie should be off the show peried. He did the same as jesse tayler, just at the begining of the season so producers need his douche baggery for ratings. It’s really sad that I have to sit through drunken crap instead od being able to see the interaction between Nog, mir and these kids!
I agree with Frank Shamrock. Wait, did I REALLY just say that???
And I’m happy you mentioned TUF. I DVR’d it and watched it yesterday, therefore, I just read the thread about it now, but didn’t bother commenting at all. All I do have to say about it is this = I LOVE JUNIE ALLEN BROWNING!!!!!!
Once Dana gave him his opportunity to stay, like the next scene he is in Efrain’s face ready to go at it. He is a total lose cannon that is going to provide many great moments of television. Dana won’t kick him out for jumping into the cage, even though I feel that he should. Before the season started, I had Joe Duarte (because of some dumb yahoo article) and Junie Browning pegged as the “next Anderson Silva”. Junie has all of the athletic abilities and he does know how to fight. Unfortunately, his head is not all there. Everybody wants to see Junie get KO’d, but too bad - once he gets into the cage (for a fight) he will be the one knocking fools out! I read that he has a blog on UFC.com - I’m about to head over there to read it right now. If he was to get kicked off the show, there is NO way he would be doing the blog on UFC.com Very happy he has that gig because I remember after episode 1 aired, I requested that Mania reach out to Junie to write a weekly blog for the site.
Its wierd, as for the flamboyant punks that are in every sport, I either love them or hate them. I have yet to decide what, of it there even is, a factor that determines if I love them or hate them. For example, season 1, I loved Leben and hated kos and B-south. Football, I hate TO but I love Chad Johnson.
I agree with Franks statemetns.. even though I really don’t lokie him after his scrap with Renzo.. but he made some solid points.. Kimbo would of still fought a ” Shamrock “.. just a younger/better overrall skilled one.
Junie..has major insecurity issues. he should be banned from drinking..before he pisses off the wrong crowd and gets himself killed.
Kev.. ur right it’s all about the ratings. As morally sad and pathetic the act of Junie is.. it puts butts in front of TV screens every wednesday at 10 pm on Spike.
I question.. the way this is going.. it’s a lock that Junie gets himself booted.. off the show. maybe the next one or the one after that ..the most.
Do you think we will see Junie fighting the TUF Finale.. or just fighting in the UFC??
hey phil, I think you could beat kimbo…you got the size and the jits!! I’m serious too!
Thanks Brotha = )
I still can’t believe he got paid $500,000. Wow.. with close to Zero MMA skills. Only in America.
he got $500,000?? Man thats Chuck money!!!
my 2 cents….I think Junie will end up at the WEC until he can get his head together. It sucks to see such a talented guy, act like a douche on “The Real World”…and it makes these athletes look like they belong in a Fraternity. I hope he pulls his head out of his ass, because a guy like him in LW or FW would be a crowd favorite.
I said the same exact thing when the broadcast started…The risk was not worth the reward with petruzelli. Plain and simple.
everybody hates frank haha, i like him, (then again i havent seen him from the beginning), but he is so right, it was a very stupid mistake from a business perspective on behalf of eliteXC, didnt weigh out the risks involved.
Nobody likes Franks attitude much like Tito’s. Thats why a Frank Tito fight would actually be really interesting to almost everyone. I don’t personally like Franks attitude because he does come off as arogant but the guy is exciting to watch and regardless of what anyone says, he has some pretty good skills and will take a fight where ever he wants to. Look at the Cung Lee fight.
He will take the fight where ever, but he is obviously not the best strategist, standing with Cung was just foolish.
Have you guys notice that Cung Le still hasn’t made his debut on CBS. I know he’s finishing a movie (or some crap), but it’s interesting to see both KJ and Cung out of the picture…….EliteXC is garbage and I laughed my ass off when Kimbo got beat down like Phil Baroni.
I would love to see Tito get his rematch with Frank,Tito was basically a rookie then and i think he would literally destroy Frank this time,Frank had problems with Baroni,and Baroni always seems to lose .Then Cung Le whipped him ,well not exactly whipped him but broke his damn arm,and beat him even though Frank was acting like he was going to humiliate Le,By the way when is Cung Le going to fight again,it is getting a lil past that time for him to fight ,I mean ,how long ago was that fight,like 9 months
frank is better than tito at every aspect of the game, the only thing tito would have on him is size.frank wins again.
Did someone just compare Tito (and his style) to Cung Le and Baroni??
Elite to a gamble and they lost. they put kimbo against petruzelli expecting to put him against someone he was going to beat
I think this would have been way cooler, pro-wrestling type drama. Would have been great for ratings and their image.
so has franks arm healed already? and what about his braces? does that need some special mouthguard?
yep - frankie’s got a point
Kimbo vs Petruzelli = Lose/Lose
Kimbo vs Frank = Win/Win
They better sign AA/Tito if they want to keep going with this farce
do you mean Tito vs Arlovski I really do not want to see that ,I am a huge Tito fan ,and even i would say Tito would not have a f@cking prayer
They are two different wieght classes. But anyway Arlovski was on loan from Affliction. He will only fight in Affliction or back in the UFC. EXC does not have the draw to get alot of real talent, they are a terrible org.
I watch their fights though because I love MMA, but seriously Kimbo v Ken was HW v LHW anyway then they stuck another LHW in there. Thats just dumb.
I love it how now people that are connected to EXC ,are saying that Kimbo is not any good ,I don’t remember hearing Frank talking any trash about Kimbo before ,and he has never been the one to hold his tongue.I guess they have given the go ahead to tear him down now that the fraud has been exposed.Just last week ,he was god’s gift to mma according to EXC.Finally they can tell the truth,atleast they making one step into trying to be somewhat of real organization ,maybe I am just hoping ,in a few days we will probably hear Jared Shaw making more excuses for Kimbo and come up with some bs,of why he lost and start building him back up
They will probably say in a few days that Seth failed a drug test and the results have been changed,so then Kimbo will be undefeated again ,yeah that sounds like some crap that would come from their crappy organization
The only point Frank has is that if they would’ve thrown him into the fight with Kimbo….it was going to be a different douche that would’ve been paid by Elite to take a dive. Gary Shaw and his previous ties with boxing is the primary reason why this organization was a joke from the beginning. They overstepped their boundaries as soon as they placed an individual with a credible skill level (and not 42+ in age), with a guy that they’ve groomed from the beginning. I understand the case he’s trying to plead, but that fight would’ve been fixed too. QUIT FIXING FIGHTS AND TAKE THE GARBAGE OUT OF THE EQUATION!! Keep your shirt on Frank…..the ratings were fine without you.
i understand that they are dirty, but seth did not take a dive and frank wouldn’t have either.
The reason I’m bringing up the concern of taking a dive is the fact that a 185 guy with over 10+ years of experience would clearly beat the crap out of Kimbo. I’m not sure what would make the fight more compelling…. with the exception that Frank would’ve kept it close to make it more of a fight. This was the easiest 50k that Seth ever earned; putting Frank in there (and making the fight last longer) gives EliteXC more to gain and less credibility to the sport. A fight is a fight…..whether it’s 25 minutes or 14 seconds. If it lasts longer to improve ratings, I consider that similar to taking a dive.
UHH ,I think we all know that Seth didn’t take a dive and I know Frank would not have.Frank is way to cocky to take a bribe to lose to someone
Frank Shamrock: Kimbo Slice should have fought me - not a ‘Nobody’
Frank…..Kimbo is the nobody in MMA. If it wasn’t for YouTube, he would’ve been the guy with a 3-20 fight record in the cage. Sorry EliteXC, there goes your meal ticket.
Careful what you say Frank….Seth might kick your ass in 13 seconds.
except for Frank would kill that kid.
frank would kick seths ass
Lol, I think you’re right…..but let’s not forget Rashad vs. Liddell….or….St.Pierre vs. Serra.
I’m just sick and tired of hearing Frank yap about who he wants to fight next. Get on with it, take off the suit, and stop hyping yourself up as the next coming of Randy Couture (similar to Frank Trigg calling out Anderson Silva). I’m almost 100% positive that Shamrock wouldn’t take a fight with Seth now, because he has nothing to gain. My prediction is that whoever wins between Lawler and Villasenor…..will get called out by Frank….just for shits and giggles.
If he fought Kimbo they would have stopped the fight for excessive bleeding from his braces…haven’t you heard of Invisalign???
nobody’s don’t make 500 000 a fight
I think that Frank would have still destroyed Kimbo,but there would have been no way Frank would have even thought about standing he probably would have started the fight laying down (kidding)but that would have been a little bit worse if he beat him because he has been fighting at 185 lately
in no way would it have been worse to lose to frank even though 185 than to seth, and i think frank would have stood with him for a bit and that all it would have probally took for frank to knock him out as well
wow he was going to step up and fight him on short notice, and with braces. the last guy i saw take a punch with braces lost teeth and their mouth was horribly cut up. if he were a real man he’d put on his headgear and go in there!!!
We don’t know Seth may have greatly improved over the last few years,he is young suppose to be well rounded he might shock a few more people before you know it ,I mean anybody could have did what did I am talking about all he hit him with was a straight right hand that is all it was not even thrown hard
I didn’t finish that statement .But Seth may be an up and coming fighter,doubt it but maybe.
Should have let Andrei beat the $h!t out of him. I would have loved to see that. Kimbo probably would have gotten “injured” himself before that one.
lol, he would have magically had the same cut as Ken Shamrock.
Frank…he’s a somebody
I think that now EliteXC has no choice but to step in and elevate Cung Le or Frank Shamrock as soon as possible with big fights… Cung Le vs Vitor Belfort at Middleweight, Cung Le vs Frank Shamrock rematch Frank Shamrock vs Vitor Belfort and then look to pick up some of the now defunt Dream fighters and possibly land a Kid Yamamotto or something… I can see EliteXC is also now forced to lean harder on the affiliation with Affliction because they will need all the Affliction Heavyweight names they can get to help get over what Kimbo’s loss did to them as a company.
EliteXC can recover but they will have to put guys like Frank Shamrock, Cung Le, and when Tito Ortiz signs finally they will have to put those guys on free TV. They also need to do a better job of scouting for talent… I wouldnt say copy UFC with an ULTIMATE FIGHER show but they need to step up their scouting and find some of the better YOUNG talent out there that they can build the brand around
Frank juat wants another fucking paycheck.