EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw comments on reaction towards referee after Slice vs. Petruzelli fight; his feelings about Shamrock’s cut; and more in new interview
October 6, 2008 by Sam Caplan
Filed under Exclusive
Immediately following the post-fight press conference for EliteXC and CBS’ Saturday Night Fights this past weekend in Sunrise, Florida, I was able to catch up with EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw to discuss a number of pressing topics coming out of the fight card.
During the course of the interview, Shaw addressed his reaction towards referee Troy Waugh following the stoppage of the Kimbo Slice vs. Seth Petruzelli main event; the process in which a replacement was chosen and if canceling the event was ever under consideration; his feelings about Ken Shamrock being medically disqualified; and more.
Sam Caplan: At what point were you alerted that there might be a problem with the main event?
Jared Shaw: It’s tough for me to say. I got a call, I want to say, around 4:30 or 5:30, that there may be a problem. I ran down (to the arena) and found out that Shamrock had hurt himself. We had waited for him to come here because we didn’t know. Ken’s a gamer — a showman and a fighter — so we didn’t know. It could have been psychological warfare against Kimbo. He could think that we would tell him there’s no fight and then he would show up with no laceration. Or, how bad was it? Could we pull this fight off? We definitely wanted this fight to go.
We had a meeting with him when he arrived and we then right back with him to his dressing room. The commission looked at him and he had a laceration and they weren’t going to let the fight go. And that’s honestly where it stopped. He wanted to fight but his private doctor didn’t want him to fight. (The commission) said “no” and we had to make that move right away to figure out how we were going to save this event.
Sam Caplan: If Seth Petruzelli hadn’t taken the fight and if maybe Aaron Rosa hadn’t been a viable backup option, would the card had to have been canceled if there was no fight featuring Kimbo?
Jared Shaw: No, we would have went on with the card. We would have offered fans their money back and I’m not positive, but I believe we had even offered fans their money back because the opponent had changed. Not one fan wanted their money back, which shows you what a big sell Kimbo Slice is. But I think we did fine and it was a great card.
Sam Caplan: By getting medically disqualified, does that mean that Ken Shamrock didn’t make a single penny from the event?
Jared Shaw: He definitely didn’t make a penny. In fact, if there was any idea if there was any foul play involved, he might have lost money.
Sam Caplan: Did at any point did he grandstand in an attempt to get more money?
Jared Shaw: No, he never grandstanded. He wanted to fight. He came in there and he was defeated when (the commission) told him “no.” But for EliteXC, we’d like to believe in Ken and what happened but it’s just very eerie on the day of and again, the cut is real, there’s no doubt about it. The laceration was there. But none of us were there so it’s tough to say why he was sparring so hard the day of. I asked Tito Ortiz if fighters spar on the day of and he said he goes full that day, which surprised me. So maybe he didn’t completely hit his head, or maybe he did? I don’t speak to every fighter about their sparring practices the day of (a fight), I just know that boxers don’t. It’s interesting to me.
Sam Caplan: When Kimbo was approached about a replacement was their any apprehension on his camp’s part of were they all over the Petruzelli fight?
Jared Shaw: It wasn’t even a concern to anybody. His reaction was like, “I’ve got fans here, I’m not letting them down. We’ve got to do this. Let’s figure out how we can make this happen.” Obviously, there was a period of initial shock. You know, your fight isn’t happening and it’s not the same guy. We can show you a quick tape of Petruzelli, but what’s really out there on the YouTubes of the world?
To Kimbo’s credit, he took the fight. He didn’t have to take this fight. He could have sat back and chilled. He could have come back and fought Nov. 8 on SHOWTIME. There possibly could have been another opportunity but it wasn’t even discussed. It was never a discussion. He wasn’t going to let his fans down.
Sam Caplan: It appeared that after the fight was over that you were in the cage having a heated discussion with the head official. Were you happy with the stoppage?
Jared Shaw: I wasn’t necessarily angry, I just want to have the right decisions at all times. From my vantage point it looked like the second punch was to the back of the head, which is a foul. That could hit a fighter’s equilibrium and mess them up. And you turn him over and you punch him a couple of times and the ref stops it because there’s no recovery time after that. So I just asked the ref to please look at the video. I asked Thomas Milloy to please look at the video. And Kimbo’s camp will take their own look at the video. I can’t file a protest myself but I think his camp will look at it and decide on their own. I just wanted to make sure the ref saw it from the proper vantage point because I want to make sure we have the right calls at all times.
Sam Caplan: When you saw the replay on the screen, did you still feel the second punch was a foul?
Jared Shaw: I think Seth Petruzelli definitely had a nice, clean first punch but… Look, I don’t say refs make the wrong calls because the hardest job in the business is that of the referee. He’s got to make that stoppage. He’s got to decide when to break fighters up. And none of us know because none of are in there – unless some of us have reffed – but you don’t know what you’re seeing and how quick you’re seeing it. So I never go against a referee’s decision but sometimes decisions are rendered and they might not be the correct call. Not that it’s going to get overturned but maybe it’s more reason to see a rematch. I don’t know. I saw something and I pointed it out. I saw it again and I still feel what I saw is the same thing but it’s not up to me.
Sam Caplan: Where does Seth Petruzelli go from here? He’s competed as a heavyweight and he’s competed as a light heavyweight. What do you see as his weight class from this point forward?
Jared Shaw: That’s very interesting. We’ve got to sit down and talk with Seth because he’s fought as a heavyweight before moving down to light heavyweight. He had some tough fights in another organization against some of the best fighters in the world. He was going to come back as a light heavyweight against Aaron Rosa but took a shot against a big-time heavyweight and gave up a lot of weight. He obviously showed he’s got heavyweight hands; that’s what he showed more than anything. Kimbo Slice is a guy who has been hit bare knuckles many times but has never been dropped from a jab in the way he dropped off of that. To me, Petruzelli has got heavy hands. He could move to light heavyweight and fight (Rafael Feijao) Cavalcante. There’s another…
Sam Caplan: (Interrupts) I was going to ask you about that. How about Nov. 8? Is that possible?
Jared Shaw: Definitely not possible. Way too soon. A guy like that deserves a nice rest. He took a big step up today. He’s going to be a star in this sport. People keep asking me if I’m depressed or if this is a tough day for me? This is a great day for EliteXC. We have more stars now. To me, I watch this and you can tell me if I’m wrong but I felt like every loser was a winner tonight. From Ninja Rua, who even though he was knocked out cold, still gave us the most exciting Ninja we’ve watched; to Kelly Kobold, who is an absolute warrior with a sponge for a mouth; to Yoko Takahashi who has no quit in her; Roy Nelson was winning that fight, possibly, even, and then got caught. I’m sure he wants another opportunity. For me, it was a win for EliteXC and it was a win for mixed martial arts. Kimbo Slice is still a star like I told you and Seth Petruzelli is now a star. I’m really excited for the future.
Sam Caplan: Is it safe to assume that Petruzelli is already under a long-term contract with EliteXC?
Jared Shaw: Yes, Seth is under a long-term contract. We’ll talk to him about what the future brings. Seth Petruzelli has got some big fights under his belt, I’ll tell you that much.
KIMBO is the Damn Man , No little pink haired pansay is gonna beat my man, he takes bare knuckle punches to the face on his internet video, KIMBO does have a damn chin, that was the most bull crap punch from seth I don’t think it would have knocked down my 6 year old niese. Kimbo is and will always be a super star, keep him in fight cards and he will prove this fact.
wam bam thank you mam
“GAMBO SLICE”
ya, Tha Wrecka Mann, i don’t know if that was supposed to be a joke or something, but Roy Nelson wasn’t picked up in a bar.. he was a champion in the IFL, which i’m sure you’ve never heard of.. oh, and rather than claiming he was swinging like a drunkard, how about you rewatch the fight, so you can see that he actually dominated most of the first round..
either way, i’ve never liked the guy.. and i was glad to see him fall right on his belly..
But seriously, for AA to be trainin’ with Roach, and not blocking.. is crazy..
he needs to fix that..
So I’m assuming Jared Shaw was upset after the Kimbo/Tank fight? If I recall right, Kimbo threw some bombs on the back of Tank’s head. Oh wait that doesn’t matter…
just like tito said ringside
KEN should have super glued his cut and put makeup on it to. they do it all the time.
JARED SHAW was trying to save his cash cow. that why he was YELLING at the ref like he was.
it is piss poor management that is bringing them down.if JEREMY LAPPEN was running the show ELITEXC would be alot better.
good luck with your 60 million debt!
if you ask me, i am glad that kimbo lost. He’s only had 3 fights prior to this and he is a main eventer. what kind of crap is that? how do you go from being a nobody to being the main event in atleast 3 (that i have seen) out of 4 fights that he has ever fought as a professional. As for ken sharmock, i think he wussed out. he is such a fake. his days are over and he knows it. tito made sure of that. and as for tito signing on with elitexc. give me a break! he needs to retire too.
jared shaw should not worry about his “cash cow”. I personally think that kimbo slice is way overaided. don’t get me wrong, he is definitly is a knock out artist. But to be in mma you need more then that to be succesful. it showed when he fought his last fight where he, i think, barely won. he only had 3 pro fights prior to saturdays’ fight. Jared shaw has alot of other and better fighters that could put on a show. It stil would have been nice to see kimbo get beat even worse by shamrock who might i add is a very well rounded fighter. I hope to see that fight some time in the future.
its pretty obvious that elitexc is trying as hard as possible to paint this as a robbery for kimbo slice hes there meal ticket and only the only exciting fighter besides arlovski .you heard what he said but in any normal fight that “punch to the back of the head’ you know the one where if you actually watched the fight was not there it never happened. they want to people to doubt that there golden boy lost which he did fair and square he lost this is a failed attempt for a shady pathetic organization to protect there precious meal ticket
the dude sat ringside and watched his mealticket get demolished in 14 SECONDS!!!!!!!!!! he completely freaked out and tried to do everything possible to keep the fight going(in front of everyone mind you,thats beyond bad).doing what he did and hearing the blabbering nonsense hes yappin about now shows firsthand why elite xc will bve a afterthought soon. then what? how many of elite xc’s people are gonna hang in UFC? not many and certainly not kimbo. lesson learned here is you can only fool people for so long before you get exposed for what you are. elite xc got theirs saturday night. good luck to them from here, theyre gonna need it.
shaw should just shut his mouth if he wants to talk about bad refing against kimbo …….did u see him complaing after the bad refing in kimbos other fights? or even erlier in the roy nelson fight , he had complete control over orlovsky and hes advancing his position yet they still stand it up ? i think i convince myself after i watch and elitexc ppv or show on cbs to never watch it ever again , i dont know why i dont but all this rematch talk is jsut funny cuz petruzelli is way lighter then him and still knocked him out give him 20-30 more pounds its gunna be jsut as bad!
Why is everyone making up an excuses for kimbo? What a load of crap. Fights get changed and he finally had to fight someone that knew what they where doing. Both of them took the fight on short notice but if kimbo won nothing would be said. This is starting to turn to look like the ufc. Everyone cry and bitch and bitch. He can not beat someone that is not old as dirt or just sucks. He should have lost his last fight to. He got drop with a weak punch and his shit split open. Face you can not fight thug against talent. Talent will always win. Then he wonders why fighters do not care to fight him, because they do not care about him.
who the hellll is kimbo a BUM thes dum asses gut from the streats and put him ona a cage thats what hapens when you fight some one how is not paid of UFC for ever FUK kimbo go back to seling crac on the streats
KIMBO IS A JOKE .
TAPOUT KIMBO IS BAD FOR THE BUSINESS DROP HIM.
BAS I FILL SORRY FOR YOU BEACUSE YOUR THE REAL DEAL TRAINING BIMBO IS BAD IMAGE.
KIMBO YOU SUCK
i think elite xc has a HUGE bias when it comes to their competitors. basically, all they care about is the money instead of the actual fight. since kimbo generates more money, of course they would want the fans to see him knock someone out. if you look at his last fight with james thompson, i dont know about you guys, but i saw kimbo tap out. elice xc needs to stop protecting kimbo and just realize that he may not be an “MMA fighter.”
as dana white put it “kimbo slice wouldn’t survive in the UFC”
… i guess elite xc should’ve realized that too
my advice: just stick to making uneven match-ups on the streets kimbo, you don’t belong in the cage just yet
i think that kimbo slice is over rated any way kimbo got what was comming to him i think he would have lost aganist ken if they would have let him fight….kimbo is just over rated i like him he is a great fighter and he will get better but right now he is just over rated
Elite XC is fighting an up hill battle against the UFC. They are hinging the whole thing on Kimbo Slice because he’s all they have got. The rest of their fighters are no names or UFC & WEC wash outs like Nick Diaz, Tank Abott, Scott Smith Nija Hua and Phill Barone ???? and yes Ken and Frank Shamrock. Now there adding Tito Ortiz. Elite XC is a minor league show trying to be a major league attraction. Now their golden boy just got beat by a fighter who lost during the ultimate fighter and followed it up with a second loss in the first round, 0-2 in the UFC. I think Ken would have destroyed Kimbo if they had faught. But remember there was a reason he retired to begin with. The UFC is the big dog on the block but it’s nice that all the washouts have a place to go when they can’t compete in the UFC anymore. They can just keep telling them selves there starting up a great new organization. PRIDE is dead change the name to Elite XC and it’s still dead. At least they lost the ring.
It’s not Kimbo’s fault that EXC need him so badly. If you get offered a nice fat payday to headline EXC are you going to turn it down? I didn’t think so. I’m not a Kimbo fan, but I can’t blame him for taking the money. Blame EXC for all the crap, fix allegations, hype etc, not Kimbo.
My bigger worry is how this farce will affect the general public’s perception of MMA, lots of people think this sport is barbaric at best, with fixing on the agenda now thanks to EXC I really hope the other organizations will not be tarred with the same brush.
I don’t blame Kimbo Slice at all. I think if he got with a Good camp and got some ground training, Jujitsu and some appropriet training in stricking he could be one of the best Heavy wieghts out there. He’s a tough S.O.B. But He landed in Elite XC due to Name recognition and not skill level. I beleive that none of the Elite XC fighters landed there due to there skill level. Every fighter on their roster that I know landed there after a string of loses in the UFC. Diaz, Shamrock, Scott Smith, Phil Baroni, Tank Abott, Andrea Arloski, Yves Edwards, Robie Lawler, TITO ORTIZ. The rest are wash outs from WEC or Fighters left over from the Pride buy out . You know the ones that the UFC didn’t want( , Antonio Silva ) or the’re just no names. You can’t tell me that if any of these fighter were in contention for a UFC title they’d be any where near Elite XC.
I do agree with you whole heartedly about the negative impact recent Elite XC actions and preception are having on this great sport. But I don’t think Kimbo took a dive. I think he just got knocked out by a second rate UFC / ultimate fighter washout in Seth “the silver back” Petrucelli. And dont get me wrong I respect all the above listed fighters for what they do. BUt there’s only one UFC One King of the hill and not everyone can fight for the best. Lets just hope Elite XC cleans up their act before it effects the whole sport of MMA.
I still don’t think that the fight should have been stopped so soon. just my opinion. yea, kimbo got caught with a nice jab that startled him and knocked him down, but those punches while he was down were like love taps lol. the ref should have let it go a little longer. but, as it is, kimbo lost. im sure he’ll get a rematch.
UFC rules I think EliteXC should throw in the towel!
I really dont mind EliteXC displaying ppl who dropped out of the UFC..
There simply isnt enough room for all those ambitious guys on the UFC card.
I am certain that almost all of the fights shown under the label of EliteXC are of higher level – or more entertaining, than 70% of the eg. Even if K1 fights we get to see in europe. The top of K1 are right there, but the washed out ppl in other organsiations are a lot less watchable, than the washed out ppl from the UFC.
So I am glad about the EliteXC – the more entertaining fights we get the better.
From this point of view putting Kimbo on main cards isnt bad at all. He is entertaining. I am practicing martial arts myself, so I know that the one should demand quality in such show, rather than just entertainmend, but I think Kimbo is an exception, simply due to his enormous reputation.
I think its good for Kimbo’s carreer that he has to refocus at this point, I am sure he will come back stronger.
To be honest, I was quite disappointed with the stoppage. If you have seen what Kimbo can take on the internet, you would know he has a tough chin.
When trained MMA fighters let their hands fall to the side like this, they are mostly about to go out. In case of kimbo its just lack of experience. I am sure he would have recovered very quickly. Seths hurt him with 2 shots. 1st took him off balance standing (he is a full contact karate guy, their ‘jabs’ differ from boxing) the 2nd was on the back of the head, leaving him dazed, but not knocked out.
Difficult to judge when you are in the middle of all that ofcourse.
Btw. for those who criticize EX and wonder how Kimbo made it to the top place in the event – look at the UFC and Brock Lesnar..
its the very same thing.
Anferny did you watch the same fight I did. The supposed punch to the back of the head was actually a puch the landed behind the ear whcih is perfectly legal. Pretty much all knock out head kicks land in same exact spot. Just watch Cro Cop in action. Kimbo was not going to get a chance to recover because Petracelli was all over him and Kimbo was not protecting himself thats why the fight was stopped and rightfully so. I do agree with you that the loss will improve Kimbo’s carrer by forcing him to focus on things differently. And as far a Brock Lesnar and the UFC, it not the same Lesnar is, all be it in the past a very highly decorated roman greco wrestler. So he has a base that Kimbo doesn’t. Also he almost beat a former champion only lossing because he got over excited and made a stupid mistake. Next he completely dominated one of the most experienced heavey weights in MMA in Heath Hearing. Lesnar would distroy Kimbo. Lastly no one has better fights then the UFC thats why there number one In MMA and in Paperview sales. But it is nice and entertaining to watch some of the UFC wash outs fight as long as there still relavent in the sport. Tank Abott not so much.
What the hell are Paperview sales? Please explain this i would love to hear it.
Well Steve I looked at it in the slo-mo and i felt it was on the back of the head, but it certainly was the blow that really got dazed the 2nd time and hindered him from getting back to the feet.
Observing the other blows that fllowed, it seems like none of them really connected..
Well anyhow, I hope he’ll come back stronger
@ Robert – ufc Shows are brought to the audience by offering Pay-Per-View. You pay a certain amount of money and then the channel lets you watch the show. Otherwise it is locked.
This way they do no only make a lot of money, but also can capture very well how many and which ppl actually watch the ufc events.
I can’t believe you explained Pay-Per-View sales to me. I was simply pointing out the goofball above me calling them Paperview sales.You did’nt get that? What is wrong with you people?
Shaw you are full of $hit, you offered no refunds! The first interview you said you offered the fans money back and we said NO, now you say, I think we offered money back? I flew in from Providence, RI with six (6) tickets in section four (4) row F. If you offered my money back I would have been first in line! You knew at 4:30 abouth the Main Event and you did NOTHING about it because you knew you would have had a riot on your hand. To give credit to Kimbo for fighting a no name mid-carder come on…Kimbo should have kicked his a$$, thats why you ran to the ring. When Gina loses to Cyborg in a few months your are all done…My total weekend was $2100.00 how much did you lose with the Kimbo loss????
why don’t you have a fight fit for KIMBO? a bareknuckle fight that when the opponent is down, the fight comes to a halt then continues if the opponent would still fight. now Let’s see if Kimbo would rul;e that kind of match…I love to see who dominates on Kimbo’s turf!
all of you bash EXC you fail to mention Cung Le who is a true martial artist he has been undefeated in his career he fought in K1 unbeatable no one could match his talent, so he left K1 and went EXC. If you watched the fights he has had their you would be a big fan he is the champ now. tSince EXC folded what is going to happen to Cung Le? go to the UFC and beat all of their best guys? the guy is a beast look out MMA Cung Le is on the loose and i hope he gets a shot at another belt i have been watching him for a long time he is amazing if you get a chance you should really see him if you get a chance
Cung Le fights for Strikeforce not EliteXC.