It disgusts me. I’ve been busting my (expletive) for 10 years flying all over the planet to show everybody what a great sport this is and what amazing people are involved in it. Then CBS throws this guy who fights at people’s barbecues on the main event because they’re trying to compete with us, and he gets knocked out in (14) seconds by a guy who didn’t win ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and couldn’t fight in the UFC. Then the guy turns around the next day and says, ‘The promoters actually paid me to not go to the ground with this guy. They paid me to stand up,’ which I’m pretty sure is illegal…. (Slice is) a joke. It was bound to happen. These guys have lost $60 million trying to get this thing off the ground. They’re building their promotion around a guy who can’t fight. It’s kind of (expletive) stupid, isn’t it? You’re in the fight business and you’re building your business around a guy who can’t fight…. When dirty people go out and do stuff like that, it hurts. Promoters have a bad rap as it is because of the last 100 years of boxing. We actually started to turn that around and were doing the right things and then you have these guys coming out and doing (expletive) like that. It hurts us.”

– UFC President Dana White comments via the Boston Herald on the firestorm that Seth Petruzelli created in the aftermath of his 14-second dismantling of Elite XC posterboy, Kimbo Slice, at Elite XC: “Heat” over the weekend. Petruzelli made some curious remarks that the promoters “hinted” before the fight, which was coordinated literally hours before showtime because Ken Shamrock — Slice’s original opponent — was scratched because of a cut, that it would be worth his while to keep the fight standing. Elite XC vehemently denied the statement and Petruzelli has since gone on to indicate that he was referring to a knockout bonus. The Florida State Boxing Commission has reportedly passed on investigating the situation at this time. Regardless, it has created quite a stir that could have global implications on the sport itself and not just Elite XC. Time will tell.

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