Kimbo Slice was prepared to meet with UFC’s former Superfight champion Ken Shamrock on October 4th, 2008. However, Shamrock injured himself hours before the fight and was forced off the fight card. What would EliteXC do now with such a highly promoted event that was just underway??
Seth "The Silverback" Petruzelli was given the chance of a lifetime when he was offered a main event heavyweight bout against the streetfighter everyone was talking about, Kimbo Slice. Kimbo was undefeated coming into the fight, with 3 wins and 0 losses. To many, Petruzelli didn’t stand a chance against the monstruous Kimbo. Nonetheless, the Silverback stunned the world in just 14 seconds as he caught Kimbo right in the jaw, opened up a cut above his left eye and sent him straight to the mat for good.
During one of Petruzelli’s several post-fight interviews, he stated that EliteXC officials wanted him to keep the fight standing up even though he planned on shooting for a takedown as part of his strategy. Here’s the snip:
"It was an opportunity to step up… and do what I know I can do…The promoters kind of hinted to me, and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him. They didn’t want me totake him down, let’s just put it that way."
The Vice President of EliteXC, Jared Shaw, denied the "hinting" issue and says it never happened. When asked if Petruzelli’s comments were true, Shaw immediately replied with:
"Absolutely not…Whether that was something Seth was taken out of context or Seth was trying to say something different, I don’t know. What I can tell you, I was in the locker room with Seth with the contract; that did not happen…Why in a million years would we ask Seth to not take Kimbo down? That’s crazy. That’s all Kimbo’s been working on is the ground game. Ken Shamrock, 84% of his wins are submission and through the ground, so Kimbo was ready for the ground. If anybody knows Seth Petruzelli, he’s a K-1 fighter, I wouldn’t want him standing. So to say ‘don’t take him down,’ that’s ridiculous."
At one point during the 14 second knockout, you see Shaw screaming at the referee. He says that he felt there was an illegal hit to the back of Kimbo’s head when Seth went on his rampage of punches to finish off Kimbo:
"I may have reacted that way, and I still believe there was a hit to the back of the head, but I’m not in control of the situation…I don’t file the protests and anything I say doesn’t really matter at that time. I’m essentially a fan like everyone else…but as the promoter of both sides, I have no business reacting at all. That’s why I apologize to Seth Petruzelli first and foremost. I’m excited to work with Seth; I’m excited to promote Seth…It’s not the first time you’ve seen me go crazy about a ref’s decision and it has nothing to do with Kimbo…look at Jared Hamman and Poai Suganuma the first time around. It was a very quick stoppage; I was very upset. I always side with the ref at the end of the day, no matter what I think in the head of the moment. The ref has the hardest job in the cage."
Kimbo Slice was prepared to meet with UFC’s former Superfight champion Ken Shamrock on October 4th, 2008. However, Shamrock injured himself hours before the fight and was forced off the fight card. What would EliteXC do now with such a highly promoted event that was just underway??
Seth "The Silverback" Petruzelli was given the chance of a lifetime when he was offered a main event heavyweight bout against the streetfighter everyone was talking about, Kimbo Slice. Kimbo was undefeated coming into the fight, with 3 wins and 0 losses. To many, Petruzelli didn’t stand a chance against the monstruous Kimbo. Nonetheless, the Silverback stunned the world in just 14 seconds as he caught Kimbo right in the jaw, opened up a cut above his left eye and sent him straight to the mat for good.
During one of Petruzelli’s several post-fight interviews, he stated that EliteXC officials wanted him to keep the fight standing up even though he planned on shooting for a takedown as part of his strategy. Here’s the snip:
The Vice President of EliteXC, Jared Shaw, denied the "hinting" issue and says it never happened. When asked if Petruzelli’s comments were true, Shaw immediately replied with:
At one point during the 14 second knockout, you see Shaw screaming at the referee. He says that he felt there was an illegal hit to the back of Kimbo’s head when Seth went on his rampage of punches to finish off Kimbo:
"I may have reacted that way, and I still believe there was a hit to the back of the head, but I’m not in control of the situation…I don’t file the protests and anything I say doesn’t really matter at that time. I’m essentially a fan like everyone else…but as the promoter of both sides, I have no business reacting at all. That’s why I apologize to Seth Petruzelli first and foremost. I’m excited to work with Seth; I’m excited to promote Seth…It’s not the first time you’ve seen me go crazy about a ref’s decision and it has nothing to do with Kimbo…look at Jared Hamman and Poai Suganuma the first time around. It was a very quick stoppage; I was very upset. I always side with the ref at the end of the day, no matter what I think in the head of the moment. The ref has the hardest job in the cage."
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