Well, one more of these and it’s a full-blown epidemic. At King of the Cage “Opposing Force” on May 15th — just one day before Shaun Parker and Tyler Bryan exchanged simultaneous knockout punches at LFC 25 — Anthony Lapsley and Aaron Wetherspoon’s match also ended with both guys getting their lights turned out. Near the beginning of the second round, Lapsley cranked Wetherspoon with a perfect right straight, but clashed heads with his opponent on the way in. As they both hit the mat, referee Herb “I’m Getting Too Old for This Shit” Dean patiently waited for somebody to get up. Despite the fact that the dazed Lapsley immediately started making the “no mas” hand signal, the fight was ruled a no-contest.
After contacting EliteXC live events president Gary Shaw earlier in the day, FiveOuncesOfPain.com was able to reach ProElite CEO Doug DeLuca to get his public response to the recent controversy surrounding King of the Cage fighter Melvin Costa.
Photographs have surfaced online within the last 24 hours that depict a fighter believed to be Costa with a swastika tattooed to his chest.
DeLuca was quick to state that ProElite does not support neo-nazi ideology.
“ProElite as a company at the highest level condemns racism, antisemitism, Nazism, or any group that advocates hate,” said DeLuca. “The company condemns racism in any fashion.”
DeLuca also explained why pictures of Costa that showed him with the swastika tattoo on his chest were removed from ProElite.com.
“The pictures were taken off ProElite.com because we have a strict policy on the website that we do not put up any racist or antisemitic rhetoric of any kind.”
Also addressed was why Costa was even allowed to compete for King of the Cage in the first place after the promotion had been acquired by ProElite. DeLuca believes that Costa’s choice in body art slipped the cracks.
“From a standpoint of a public company, when we make acquisitions of organizations, we undertake a deep due-diligence process,” DeLuca said. “One of the things we don’t do, because it’s not common practice, is inspect tattoos on the body parts of independent contractors that work for organizations as fighters.
“We were as surprised as anybody else when this came out. We found out the same way as most everyone else did and it was shocking to us.”
DeLuca was asked whether Costa would be allowed to compete for ProElite-owned promotion again. He declined to go into great detail, citing the fact that the company was in the process of seeking legal counsel in regard to the matter.
“It terms of further action, we are consulting with various people and legal representatives right now to figure out what we’re going to do,” he said. “It all happened so quickly that we’re still formulating things.
“I don’t know Melvin Costa as a person. He’s entitled to do whatever he wants to do. Our affiliation with him is as an athlete and we are an athletic organization. We want this to be about athletics. We’re definitely not in the business of putting anything out to the public that’s offensive and we condemn racism in any form. We’re talking internally and we’ll see what the options are.”
ProElite, Inc. and EliteXC have come under scrutiny after a recent photo of a fighter believed to be Melvin Costa taken during a King of the Cage show began to circulate on the Internet that depicts Costa with a tattoo of a swastika on his chest.
After being run independently for several years, King of the Cage was acquired by ProElite., Inc. the parent company of EliteXC, several months ago.
When contacted by FiveOuncesOfPain.com for comment, EliteXC live events president Gary Shaw did not condone Costa having fought for a company owned by ProElite, Inc.
“I try not to allow anyone to anybody to fight in the cage or the ring that has anything inappropriate either on their gear or tattooed permanently on their body,” said Shaw, speaking on behalf of EliteXC. “And that means either ethnic, or racial, or anything offensive to the general public.”
Shaw indicated that the company could be preparing to take action against Costa.
“I was unaware of the situation (but) I’m in the process of handling it now,” he said. “Hopefully, it will never happen again.”
However, Shaw stopped short of saying whether Costa would fight for King of the Cage again.
“I’m going to sit down with (King of the Cage president) Terry Trebilcock and probably sit down with Melvin,” Shaw began to respond when asked about Costa’s future with the promotion. “We’ll explain what our feelings are both as a public company, and just in general, about things that are offensive to the general public.”
It had been rumored for quite some time, but Pro Elite officially announced today the acquisition of King of the Cage…
LOS ANGELES (Sept. 13, 2007) – ProElite, Inc. [PELE.PK], a sports entertainment and media company dedicated to producing world-class mixed martial arts (MMA) events, today announced the acquisition of King of the Cage, Inc. (KOTC), a prolific MMA promoter with an established stable of world-class fighters and global brand equity.
As part of the agreement, KOTC will promote events in conjunction with Los Angeles-based ProElite’s respected and highly acclaimed live events division, EliteXC, which broadcasts MMA events on Showtime Networks. KOTC will also provide live-streaming video content through ProElite.com.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“We are extremely pleased that KOTC is joining the ProElite family, a natural extension of our brand as we continue to move forward with our global growth strategy,” said Douglas Deluca, CEO of ProElite, Inc. “Pound for pound, KOTC is the best brand out there and brings a deep breadth of industry experience to ProElite, providing a built-in infrastructure that will strengthen the impact of our organization on the world of MMA.”
Founded in 1999 by renowned MMA promoter Terry Trebilcock, the Fontana, Calif.-based KOTC is widely regarded as a pioneer in the sport having discovered and showcased some of the world’s premier fighters including Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Diego Sanchez, Rashard Evans, Joe Stevenson, Rico Rodriguez, Urijah Faber and more.
KOTC annually promotes more than 35 shows, 13 of which are pay-per-view events, and prior to 2007 drew the largest cumulative live audiences per annum of any MMA organization in North America. To date, KOTC has sold more than 1.5 million DVDs and continues to promote MMA events on four continents, including Australia, Asia, Europe and North America.
“Terry and KOTC have captured audiences’ attention around the globe, consistently discovering and showcasing some of the best fighters in MMA,” said Gary Shaw, EliteXC Live Events President. “There is no question that this acquisition will bolster EliteXC’s exposure domestically and abroad, serving as an entrée to fans and fighters who look to EliteXC as a destination for the finest entertainment that the MMA industry has to offer.”
Said Trebilcock, CEO of KOTC: ““ProElite’s EliteXC is an ideal fit for KOTC, and we are honored to join such a talented team of dedicated professionals. ProElite is unmatched in its commitment to the sport, its fans and fighters, and we are thrilled to grow in lockstep with the company.”
This Friday, July 27th on Shotime, EliteXC in association with King of the Cage will have 10 fight event with the main event featuring Lightweights Edson Berto vs. KJ Noons. Berto is an exciting fighting who is on the rise how has won in his last nine fights has eight wins and one draw. Even […]
A quick look at the King of the Cage web site (KingoftheCage.com) shows several posters for fights under the promotion’s banner in upcoming weeks.
According to the site, Carter Williams is scheduled to fight Pat Smith. Williams is under suspension by the California State Athletic Commission for testing positive for cocaine. Saturday’s KOTC event is at a reservation casino so it’s possible that the event might not be regulated and that Williams will defy the commission’s mandate. If that’s the case, he’s really going to be digging a big hole for himself.
Another KOTC event is scheduled for next Saturday with Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett scheduled to be one of the headliners.
It also appears as though the July 27 debut of ShoXC will be a co-promotion between Pro Elite and KOTC.