ProElite, Inc. is an American entertainment and media company involved in the promotion of
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
(MMA).
First incarnation
Founded by boxing promoter Gary Shaw and his son Jared in 2006 in partnership with
Showtime Networks Inc. (a
CBS Corporation
The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and t ...
subsidiary), the firm initially promoted live MMA events broadcast on Showtime and Showtime PPV under the
EliteXC
Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on Decemb ...
promotional banner.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
contracted with ProElite to show live events on
prime time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
network television
with the first airing scheduled for May 31, 2008.
A focal point of ProElite's live event promotions was
EliteXC
Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on Decemb ...
. Running its first show in 2007, it quickly became one of the most visible brands in mixed martial arts in the United States. ProElite also acquired several long-standing mixed martial arts promotions since its founding, including
King of the Cage
King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Southern California, United States.
History
KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstr ...
, Hawaii-based Icon Sport, and British promotion
Cage Rage
Cage Rage Championships, also known as Cage Rage, was a United Kingdom-based, mixed martial arts promotion that premiered on 7 September 2002 in London. Cage Rage went into liquidation and is now no longer trading. Cage Rage had been owned and ma ...
. The company also had working relationships with Rumble on the Rock,
Japanese-based
DREAM
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
, South Korean-based Spirit MC, and Northern California-based
Strikeforce
Strike Force may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game
*'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game
*'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game
*''Marvel Strike Force'', ...
.
ProElite also operated ProElite.com, a web portal with social networking for MMA fighters and fans and live streams of MMA bouts not broadcast on Showtime.
While EliteXC was a pioneer in MMA's growth (in addition to its groundbreaking network television deal, its first card included the first televised women's MMA match when
Gina Carano
Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982) is an American actress and former mixed martial artist. She competed in EliteXC and Strikeforce from 2006 to 2009, where she compiled a 7–1 record. Her popularity led to her being called the "face of women ...
faced
Julie Kedzie
Julie Kedzie (born March 18, 1981) is a retired American mixed martial artist. She is a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and specializes in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Kedzie was Greg Jackson's personal assistant at Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts. K ...
, and it continued to air female matches on many of its shows) its run came to an end after the event
EliteXC: Heat, which was held in October 2008 and broadcast live on CBS. Held near star fighter
Kimbo Slice's hometown of
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, the event was designed to give the wildly popular
viral video
A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...
street-fighter legitimacy as a martial artist by matching him up against a well-known talent in
Ken Shamrock
Kenneth Wayne Shamrock (''né'' Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promoter and semi-retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and kickboxer. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Champ ...
. However just hours before the fight, Shamrock was declared unfit to fight due to a cut over his eye. He was replaced by the much lesser-known
Seth Petruzelli
Seth Christopher Petruzelli (born December 3, 1979) is an American retired mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler and entrepreneur. Petruzelli competed in the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight divisions for the UFC, WEC, Eli ...
who was originally scheduled to fight on the undercard. Petruzelli knocked Slice out in 14 seconds, but more importantly Petruzelli did a radio interview two days later where he divulged that ProElite had offered him financial incentives to keep the fight on the feet and protect Slice's reputation. The Florida state athletic commission instantly investigated the company for
match fixing
In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...
: while the allegations were unproven, it effectively doomed ProElite's reputation as a legitimate promoter. It eventually sold its tape library, rights to fighters under contract, and most importantly its Showtime/CBS broadcast agreement to Strikeforce chairman
Scott Coker
Scott Coker (born October 3, 1962) is an American mixed martial artist, Taekwondoin, former movie stuntman, and combat sports promoter. He is the founder and former CEO of MMA promotion Strikeforce and the current President of Bellator MMA.
Back ...
in 2009.
Second incarnation
In March 2011 ProElite was rumored to be the unsuccessful second bidder against the
UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
in an attempt to acquire rival MMA promotion Strikeforce. The offer was said to exceed 40 million dollars. Principals at ProElite immediately confirmed the companies intention to re enter the MMA live event promotional business as they had with the record breaking
Kimbo Slice events on CBS.
Rumors immediately began circulating that ProElite was targeted as a strategic acquisition by either the UFC or an unidentified third party investor wishing to enter the MMA promotional space. PELE.PK stock jumped from .01 per share to more than .20 per share in two days as investors realized the stock routinely traded at $15 per share while ProElite was promoting live events.
In June 2011, Stratus Media Group secured a 95% ownership of ProElite. The group confirmed their intention to return to promoting mixed martial arts with former ICON owner T. Jay Thompson and former Strikeforce matchmaker Rich Chou brought on board to run the show. The company's return show took place on August 27, 2011 in Hawaii and streamed live on
Sherdog.com
Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...
.
ProElite announced a partnership with DREAM to share fighters shortly before it went out of business. This partnership made possible a fight between Kendall Grove and Ikuhisa Minowa in ProElite 3 in early 2012. After this event ProElite has seemingly gone out of business.
Events
Key people
* T. Jay Thompson – Head of Fight Operations
* Rich Chou – Matchmaker
Controversy
As the company was established the man who initially had the idea to launch ProElite, Wallid Ismail, was pressured to have signed out all of his rights, with the other stakeholders gaining complete control over the startup.
References
{{MMA organizations
Organizations established in 2006
Mixed martial arts organizations