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[Diegonightmare]

EliteXC: What They Do Right, What They Do Wrong
By Luke Thomas
Posted on Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 03:20:41 PM EDT

This criticism isn't necessarily a reflection of any one event, but more an amalgamation or larger picture about their product itself. One year in to their existence, a little reflection about the quality of their product is due. This is by no means exhaustive, but it does get the ball rolling. Please feel free to add either of your own.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ELITE XC?

1. The weakness of their roster in terms of deep talent is partly a problem that's out of their hands anyway. So, it's too easy and clumsy to say any one division is not that strong. What I do criticize, though, is that no clear efforts seem underway to use the interesting weight categories to build any division. Efforts from EXC to build the heavyweight weightclass should be a given, so I'd like to see some work thrown behind the 160lbs. class. You now have Nick Diaz, K.J. Noons, Yves Edwards, Edson Berto and the always entertaining Charles Bennett in one class. That's a great starting point to find other free agent talent looking for the most optimal weightclass to coalesce under a relatively single umbrella.

2. Get a reality show. You have to give credit for leveraging a heavyweight outside of the top 20 in the world as a massive ticket draw, but the fact is the UFC has proved a reality show - even if the show itself is terrible - can still produce real, talented and marketable stars. A reality show for EXC has been rumored for months and months with nothing actually happening. As quality as the EXC product is, trying to string together interest with events as leveraging points yet only holding events months apart is not a winning strategy. I just don't think fans can be strung along like that with the UFC machine constantly on the march. They need more facetime for their product and fighters, they need brand identity and a reality show is a great way to do it.

3. Fire Bill Goldberg. Immediately. As much as Mauro's puns and similes can get a bit out of hand at times, he is the most competent play-by-play commentator in the business. Goldberg, on the other hand, offers no clear contribution to the commentating team. He's supposed to be a MMA Tony Kornheiser: the one who weaves a tale and offers a narrative about the action we are seeing. But Kornheiser is camera friendly, very bright and actually professorial to an extent. Goldberg, by contrast, doesn't give the impression that he's overly competent about the action. He also isn't that great at telling a tale. Worse, his professional wrestling background causes some awkward moments in conversation. He yells with joyous aggression at Brock Lesnar's K-1 win, engages in racially questionable banter live, and speaking of live, isn't great on camera. For all the criticism of Joe Rogan, the man is capable of cobbling together a few ideas without stuttering over his own words or carrying a though from brain to mouth. Goldberg is a big fan and supporter of the sport and his contributions are noteworthy. But if we are offering sober analysis, he adds little to the broadcast team and cheapens the professionalism of the Elite XC product.

4. No more dancing girls, no more rappers. Elite XC, no one cares about the rappers. No one cares about the girls. I know you think they do, but they don't. And when people who are accustomed to the UFC product watch your events for the first time, they are shocked at how low-end the appeal can be. All these bells and whistles make you different and memorable, but not in a way that motivates folks to give you a second look.

WHAT'S RIGHT WITH ELITE XC?

1. When it comes to building stars, they turn lemons into lemonade. Think about this: Elite XC has managed to convince people in a Zuffa-dominated era that a fighter who embraces his street background and isn't even in the top 20 of his peers is worthy of being seen on a main event. That is astounding. For all their faults, they have done a great job of building Kimbo Slice the right way. Event by event, fight by fight, they are building a fighter's skills by using marketable/beatable foils and getting him used to the spotlight. That is genius and going to pay dividends when Kimbo will be forced to fight serious contenders. Even if he losses at said date, he will have brought the company a number of folks across the Elite XC banner. As far as building other stars, perhaps they have not done as good a job. But they aren't doing poorly there either and Slice is enough of a star - for the moment - on which to hitch a wagon.

2. The televised product embraces more of the fight. Here's what I mean. Take the sound editing, for example. Elite XC, like Pride and not like the UFC, does a fantastic job of offering quality acoustics of the fight. This may sound minor, but it's not. Part of the appeal of being live is hearing the drama of the fight: the kicks landing on stomachs, the punches humming through the air and the fatigue of lungs burning for air. The sound of the fight is what gives fights their color, their polish. It's the ultimate form of blandishment. The UFC, and particularly BodogFIGHT, don't make this nearly the priority they should. Part of the reason may be the larger crowds drowning out that noise with their noise, but I don't think so. Elite XC finds angles to entertain however and wherever they can. Necessity is the mother of invention. This audio addition is welcome and a tip of the hat to Elite XC for realizing just how important this is.

3. The Showtime association is critical. I think the boxing audience is different at fundamental levels, but Showtime's rep as a legitimate banner for combat sports is for real. That automatically helps Elite XC's credibility and visibility. Showtime also knows how to market across demographics, particularly the hispanic community. Now, in the wake of the WEC show, this compliment may sound premature or off the mark. What I am saying is not that EXC does it better than anyone else, but they do make efforts to do both in their booking selections and marketing offerings. And, over the long term, just as the UFC is known as being at home on Spike, a smaller but similar relationship can be established between EXC and Showtime. Obviously a network deal would be better, but with a few adjustments this current arrangement can work.

Source : Bloody Elbow :: EliteXC: What They Do Right, What They Do Wrong

Good, and I think fair, article about EXC's strengths and weaknesses.

I agree with all of it for the most part, but especially agree with this:

4. No more dancing girls, no more rappers. Elite XC, no one cares about the rappers. No one cares about the girls. I know you think they do, but they don't.

I like dancing chicks as much as the next guy, but not with my MMA. I cannot stand the promotions that feature dancing chicks of questionable morality before every fight; let alone a "rapper break" during the show. PRIDE (and other Japanese orgs) and the UFC got this one dead right; you can have ring girls - a tradition as old as combat sports - but you don't need slutty "cheerleaders" doing goofy, even provocative dancing between every fight and even between rounds.

And you sure the hell don't need some non sequitur rap break between fights. When that happened last night I was thinking to myself "it is a positive that they are testing various ideas to try to differentiate their product; but hopefully they will consider this one a failure and move on"

Additionally, the "Fire Bill Goldberg. Immediately." echoes the voiced sentiments of a number of MMA fans. I've said before that I do like the guy's passion and his interest - he appears to really love MMA and the shows that he's getting the privelege to see - but so far, that describes me too. I don't deserve to be at an MMA announcing table based solely on that; neither does Goldberg.

Anyway, all in all I liked the article. Your thoughts.

[perc10]

I dont mind the girls,Pitbull was a little much. I think the talent is decent they have KO's or finishes to almost all the fights. Goldberg is retarded but that makes me laugh. I think they are running good shows that are fun too watch

[Punk Ass]

I love the girls and I don't see the big deal with the rappers.

I'm not a fan of Pitbull but if it was one of my favorite artists I wouldn't have minded.

What's wrong with the rappers?

[Dork8503]

Originally Posted by harlemhustla145

I love the girls and I don't see the big deal with the rappers.

I'm not a fan of Pitbull but if it was one of my favorite artists I wouldn't have minded.

What's wrong with the rappers?

nothing wrong with rappers doing that, but when you come out an blah blah blah im on crack mumble oh shit what was i going to sing, oh yeah HEY YO.

he would have been better off coming out saying wave your hands in the air, or singing some Will Smith song, like Welcome to Miami lol.

[Diegonightmare]

Originally Posted by harlemhustla145

What's wrong with the rappers?

If I wanted to hear rap I'd go to a rap concert or listen to a CD, not watch an MMA show.

Like I say, I like dancing chicks as much as the next guy - and for the record I like some rap a good deal. But neither of them has a place at an MMA show, in my estimation. It just makes the production seem cheesy to me, like the fights aren't "enough" and you have to pad it with this other stuff.

It's a fine line to toe, and a very difficult one. For example, PRIDE had off-the-hook theatrics in their shows, yet nobody can deny that they had spectacular fighters and spectacular fights; and I don't think anybody could rightly claim that the production there gave the impression of cheesiness.

But to me, EXC (and many other stateside productions besides, who follow a very similar format) cannot do that as well; to be fair, they don't really attempt to precisely follow the PRIDE model - they take another approach, but it's one that IMO just doesn't come off.

I think stateside, the UFC gets it right; they have ring girls, who are generally speaking hot as hell; but again, that tradition started way before the UFC was even dreamed of, and beyond that the fight cards are about the fights.

[perc10]

I thought Prides production sucked they'd pan out of a fight to show the audience. EXC has alot of bs but they are trying crossover fans. I personally think rap sucks but it gave me time to piss and heat up cheese for my nachos. I really am impressed with the fights more tahn anything, Shamrock beating baroni,Lawler over Rua just for a few. The sideshow shit doesnt mean anything as long as the in ring production is good and it is IMO

[stanthrax]

i actually am a rap fan, but thought Pitbull's performance was out of place...
i could understand if he was doing the song as Kimbo's entrance or something... maybe i'm just used to that from boxing... but that would'e made more sense...
the performance for no reason at all felt so random.

the girls.... eh i didn't mind.. it's like dancers at a basketball game.. just entertainment for the live crowd.

goldberg... as much as i don't really like him, i understand him being there... he's just a familiar face for the average joe shmoe who turns on to see fights and is just getting into mma

what i HATE, and it's not EXCs fault, is the boos from the crowd.
that irks me so much how disrespectful they are.
i dunno.. maybe a message before the fights about being respectful in the live audience... something... just seems so embarrassing compared to the audiences in Japan.

[Quintessential Studmuffin]

Its an MMA show,not a concert. Whoevers there is there for the fighting,not the coked up hookers dancing horribly on the entrace ramp,or random rapper performances.

I enjoy most rap,but does that mean I wanna see a live rap show during an MMA show? No.

[thumper]

Originally Posted by Diegonightmare

I cannot stand the promotions that feature dancing chicks of questionable morality before every fight;

This literally made me laugh.

Yeah because it's the morality that is the issue :headscratch:

As for the article. hit and miss. it was right about some things, wrong about others. don't get rid of goldberg, get rid of BOTH of those idiots.

The girls? How in the world can people whine about dancing girls? I just don't get that. They aren't interrupting anything, they're filling time between transitions. What's the difference between girls dancing and shaking their asses and walking around the riing with a round card? What a weak argument.

The rapping? Listen, anything that interrupts the fights is stupid. Having a rapper sing in the middle of an event is just dumb. But again, it's really a weak argument. Should be gone, but it's not much worse than crying about something so insignificant.

The commentators are by far the biggest problem with elite-xc. Period, no questions asked. Replace the guys with one guy that can call a fight correctly and get genuinely excited like rogan (but god no don't even consider asking him) and Goldie on the UFC was the worst commentator ever. until elitexc and the guy that has more cliche stupid statements than Don King.

The even last night was done very well and will get better.

Also, praising the company for making kimbo a main event is hilarious. He was the main even because they don't have anyone else that could draw. No real fighters would be big enough to carry a card. That's hardly an excuse to praise them for butting a side show fight at the top of the list. Tank is a has been, kimbo is the flavor of the month.

[perc10]

Originally Posted by Quintessential Studmuffin

Its an MMA show,not a concert. Whoevers there is there for the fighting,not the coked up hookers dancing horribly on the entrace ramp,or random rapper performances.

I enjoy most rap,but does that mean I wanna see a live rap show during an MMA show? No.

So if you went to a concert and they had a fight between sets you'd be mad?