EliteXC Cancels September 20th Event
by Robert Sargent
Just days after announcing a pair of main event bouts for September 20th, EliteXC has cancelled the event, citing an injury suffered by John "The Natural" Alessio, who was slated to challenge new EliteXC Welterweight Champion Jake Shields.
Also scheduled for the card was a women's bout pitting Brazilian phenom Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos against Japanese veteran Yoko Takahashi, but that is now apparently off entirely.
The cancellation of the event has sparked rumours of EliteXC's imminent demise, and EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw has done little to quell the speculation, stating outright that he is well aware that the promotion's upcoming October 4th event on CBS will make or break the company.
The rumoured injury to Alessio may or may not have had any impact on EliteXC's decision to drop the event. EliteXC Welterweight Champion Jake Shields, whom Alessio was slated to challenge on September 20th, has repeatedly expressed disinterest in facing Alessio, and is rumoured to soon be facing a current or former Middleweight Champion in another promotion. Frank Shamrock is said to be a leading contender.
In the case of Santos and Takahashi, Santos was originally thought to be competing on the undercard of the upcoming October 4th show on CBS. She has made her desire to battle EliteXC postergirl Gina Carano well-known, but EliteXC seems hesistant to put their prized female fighter in harm's way against the relentless aggression of Santos.
With the bout with Takahashi not rescheduled for October 4th, at least not as of yet, Santos is left without an opponent. Carano is slated to face Kelly Kobald at the CBS event, in a bout that could potentially crown the first EliteXC Women's 140-Pound Champion.
With Shields looking outside of EliteXC for competition, street-fighter-turned-superstar Kimbo Slice being exposed in his last fight and Carano's questionable dedication to the sport and inability to make weight constant points of discussion, the future of EliteXC could be looked upon as bleak. However, Shaw feels otherwise.
Shaw stated that EliteXC made the call to cancel the September 20th event in order to focus all of their efforts on the October 4th show on CBS, knowing that it was sink or swim for the company, and EliteXC has stacked the card with talent.
However, despite repeatedly calling Slice out, EliteXC heavyweight sensation Brett "The Grim" Rogers will apparently be once again denied his chance to take on the brawler, as Slice is rumoured to be facing Sean "The Cannon" Gannon on October 4th. Gannon is the only man to ever defeat Slice in a streetfight.
Additionally, allegedly thanks to poor advice from his manager, Mark Dion - who was previously embroiled in a lengthy legal battle with current UFC star Brandon Vera - EliteXC Lightweight Champion KJ Noons has repeatedly turned down contracts that would pit him against another EliteXC posterboy, Nick Diaz, for the second time. Noons won the first battle, but seems hesitant to compete a second time.
One thing is for certain, however. Whether the October 4th show is a huge success of a dismal failure, there are many other underlying issues plaguing EliteXC that will need to be addressed before the promotion can continue to progress forward.
