EliteXC's Demise: Bad for MMA

EliteXC is no more. This is a great loss for MMA fans. There are some fans and pundits out there who enjoyed seeing the company falter but others were greatly disappointed in the demise of EliteXC. You can count me as one of the fans who were disappointed and saddened by EliteXC going under.

Competition is good in sports and in business. Dana White said it was a great day for MMA when EliteXC went out of business. He is wrong. It might have been a great day personally for Mr. White and the UFC, but not for MMA fans and fighters.

Many fighters are now out of work, and so are the many employees that worked in the ProElite office in Los Angeles. You now have more people trying to find new jobs and work in a poor economy. A lot of the employees I talked to told me they did not see this coming.

One day the company is working on promoting their next scheduled show on November 8, and the next day the company is folding, and employees are told that they are being let go. This is very unfortunate.

EliteXC gave fans exciting fights and shows. What more could MMA fans have asked for? They entertained me with every show. Besides the shows they had on CBS, the ShoXC shows on Showtime were entertaining as well and was a great showcase for up and coming fighters. A lot of their shows were much more entertaining than the UFC pay-per-views. UFC fights usually end up being decided by the judges more than the EliteXC fights. There were more knockouts and submission wins on EliteXC broadcasts.


The UFC’s only competition now is Affliction. The question now is does Affliction have enough money to compete with the UFC? They are losing money now and it won’t get any better next year. It is a good thing they have the financial backing of Donald Trump. But how long will Trump continue to invest in Affliction? If he backs out, Affliction could be in big trouble.

Strikeforce, another MMA organization that is based in the West Coast, has a decent fan base and a network deal with NBC. Unlike Affliction and EliteXC, they are not trying to compete directly and against UFC. Strikeforce is very popular in the Bay Area, and they have also had shows in Washington and Colorado.

It is bad for the UFC to become a monopoly in this sport. The fans and fighters all lose out. Fighters like Tito Ortiz might have to grovel back to White in order to get back in the limelight.

Wrestling has never been the same since WWE bought WCW and there was only one major wrestling organization in the country. Fans stopped watching and going to the shows because the product was just not as entertaining as in the past because WWE owner Vince McMahon had less incentive to put on great shows without any competition.

Let's hope that the UFC won't become like WWE. With EliteXC gone, White can laugh and ridicule them all the way to the bank. The losers are the fans and fighters.

Exclusive Interview with MMA Fighter Tonya Evinger

D Wizzle is back with a very interesting and informative interview with MMA fighter Tonya Evinger. Tonya will be fighting Gina Carano on September 15 at the Neil Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. It will be aired live on Showtime. Fans who don't know who Evinger is might think she will be an easy opponent for Carano, but that is quite the contrary. She comes from a wrestling background and has competed in the Pan American Games. Evinger, who is from Missouri, has a professional record of 5-1 with 4 KOs.

How has your wrestling background helped you transition into MMA?

My wrestling is the shit so all I have to worry about is beating the bitches up.I can take the girl's game away and I think that is the most important part.

How did you get into MMA?

I was always getting in fights so I figured why not get paid for it?


Were you always athletic? How did you get into wrestling and did you play any other sports?

I was good at every sport I played. I think some people are just natural born athletes. I started wrestling in junior high after I got dropped off the volleyball team for not being at the full 3 day tryout. The coach made a joke about wrestling and I was like "What the hell is wrestling? This sounds fun."

How is training going along and who are you training with?

I'm training a lot of stand up with Chris Houeter, jiu- jitsu with Ryan Gregg, and the guys at the Machado gym, and my sparring partner,who by the way is sexy as hell, Malissa Sherwood.

I will have to check her out! What kind of fight should we expect between you and Gina?

Hopefully an exciting fight all around with me winning of course. I want to throw and I know she will, so I guess we'll see who has the heavier hands.

You have won your fights by both submission and also by knockout. Do you have a preference?

I love to knock bitches out so that's what I'm gonna try to do, but I will never risk a fight on a KO if I have a submission available.

Is there a big MMA scene in Missouri?

Huge, but there's no pro fighting so everyone is worried about going pro too fast...it's all the same to me. The level of guys is the same in both AM and Pro until you get to big shows like UFC and EliteXC.

You've competed in the Pan American Games. How did you enjoy that experience and how did you do?

I placed second. I lost in the last 10 seconds of the match. The girl I lost to... I beat at the next tournament...I tech falled her. I was pissed about that loss and I learned not to be lazy about finishing a match.

Can you explain what the term "tech fall" means in wrestling?

It means I am so far ahead in points that they just call the match. In collegiate wrestling, it's 15 points and in freestyle it's 10 points. It's like pinning but with points so you can get the match over fast.

Do you have any favorite fighters and why?

My brothers Owen and Chris Evinger, and Malissa Sherwood are my favorites. I love to watch them compete and grow as fighters. I help them improve every chance I can. I train all three of them, and when they win, I become inspired and want to push myself even more. They are definitely my heroes.

Is there a lot of jealousy among female fighters in MMA? Do girls resent Gina because she is the current face of MMA when it comes to female fighters?

Hell yeah, the girls of Fatal Femmes were jealous after my fight for them because of all the talk about my KO. The girls in this sport get jealous as hell over anyone getting attention. Gina's just doing her thing, and as long as she's doing good that's fine with me, as long as she doesn't beat me of course.

What would it mean to you to beat Gina in front of a national audience on Showtime?

This fight could make my career, so I wanna win bad. I can't tell you yet how a loss to her would be, because I don't know exactly how tough she is. I guess I will find out soon enough.

Do you have a prediction for Gonzaga vs Couture and GSP vs Koscheck this Saturday night?

Couture of course... he's a wrestler and can adapt to a style of fighting to match his opponents. That to me is crazy... he finds your weaknesses and holes and is able to strive his training to catch those mistakes. I like Koscheck, he's a wrestler. He uses his wrestling perfectly to take his opponents down and beat them up. He has great game, and unlike most wrestlers he is very versatile and able to utilize his strength to tear you down.

Thanks for your time Tonya. Any final words and any sponsors you'd like to thank?

Yeah, I want to say what's up to all my fans. I want to also say thanks to my gyms, Malissa Sherwood, my brothers Owen and Chris for helping me, Ryan Gregg, Chris Houeter, House of Pain in Lee Summit, Missouri, On The Mat (www.otm.com), Tap Out, Machado, all you guys rock... hooked me up with training and facilities to train in, and OTM thanks sooooo much for everything!