At initial glance, there appears to be a void when it comes to leadership at ProElite with both Chairman Doug DeLuca and Live Events President Gary Shaw having tendered their resignations in favor of taking on reduced roles as consultants.

DeLuca, a television producer, was a founding member of the company. Shaw, a former boxing regulator turned promoter, joined up soon after the formation of ProElite and was one of its original directors.

There’s little doubt their contributions to the company were major. DeLuca is a charismatic businessman with strong connections in the entertainment industry. While Mark Burnett and IMG played large roles in making the deal with CBS happen, it’s been said that DeLuca was the driving force.

Shaw was a polarizing figure in the MMA community who never gained widespread acceptance from the sport’s hardcore fan base that has followed MMA before it was cool to do so. That being said, it’s debateable whether the company would have ever gotten off the ground if not for the deal with SHOWTIME. Considering Shaw’s existing relationship with key decision makers at SHOWTIME, it’s not a reach to say the SHOWTIME deal would have never happened without him.

Up until December of 2006, SHOWTIME was still involved in negotiations with the Zuffa about a potential deal with the UFC. When word spread in the industry that HBO had interest in getting involved in the MMA business, the Zuffa took a deal with UFC off the table and instead tried to pitch SHOWTIME on a potential deal with the WEC. SHOWTIME took exception to the move and broke off all negotiations.

Once it became apparent that a deal between SHOWTIME and Zuffa wasn’t going to happen, multiple promotions made a renewed push at trying to land a contract with SHOWTIME. However, MMA was still a risky proposition at the time and SHOWTIME wanted to go with a proven commodity within the MMA space. But outside of the UFC, there wasn’t a proven commodity. The next best solution was doing business with a familiar boxing promoter such as Shaw.

So while some will be quick to dismiss Shaw and his shortcomings (something this site has done on frequent occasion), he was an impact player and also the public face of the company for an extended duration. The roles that both Shaw and DeLuca played aren’t ones that will be completely eliminated. Key figures will have to step up and fill the void. But the reality is that both Shaw and DeLuca had been operating in reduced roles for the past several months and their replacements are already in place.

When it comes to the corporate side and providing the leadership required to make a publicly traded company work, Chairman and CEO Charles Champion has been with the company since February. He has an established reputation for being a corporate savior and has turned several companies around in the past, most notably online paramutual betting company YouBet.com.

Before getting involved with YouBet, Champion made a name for himself working on the business side of major newspaper companies such as the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, the Los Angeles Daily News, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Orange County Register. When he joined YouBet in 2002, the company was near-bankruptcy, according to published reports. The hiring made little sense at the time because Champion had little background in the technology sector. However, he had a reputation for being able to right sinking ships and YouBet was all bet sunk at the time of Champion’s arrival.

In a 2005 article published in the San Fernando Valley Business Journal, Champion was said to have demanded the resignations of employees that weren’t committed to making YouBet a winner. He then went so far as to remove the door to his office to emphasize that the company would not only have an open door policy, but that it would have a no door policy.

Under Champion’s guidance, YouBet became one of the fastest growing technology companies around and had a five-year growth rate of 930%.

But ProElite could be his biggest challenge to date. In only two years of operation, the company has made major deals with SHOWTIME and CBS. It has also lost over $30 million in funding and has been forced to make major personnel changes in recent months. While it takes time to build infastructure and a company has to spend money to make money, it remains to be seen whether some of ProElite’s investments will ever pay off.

Champion also has to contend with the fact that prior to joining ProElite, he had no experience in the fight game whether it be boxing or MMA. The fight business is one like no other and it’s one that is unforgiving. Kurt Otto and Gareb Shamus learned on the job when they started the IFL and the reality is that there is little margin for error in MMA. But unlike Otto and Shamus, Champion is not expected to be involved with major fight decisions. While in the newspaper industry, he allowed his publishers and editors to make editorial decisions and while at YouBet, he relied heavily on his technology officers.

At ProElite, Champion will be relying heavily on his fight team, one that currently consists of Head of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen, Vice President of Talent Relations Jared Shaw, Director of Fight Operations J.D. Penn, Manager of Fight Operations J.T. Steele, Matchmaker Rich Chou, and Vice President of Fight Management Turi Altavilla. With the exception of Shaw, all had prior experience in the fight game before joining ProElite.

Lappen started in MMA as a agent and worked big-name fighters such as Ken Shamrock before crossing over into an executive role with the now-defunct World Fighting Alliance. Penn, the older brother of UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn, was involved with his family in the Rumble on the Rock promotion where Chou helped play a major role. Altavilla got his start out of college with Terry Trebilcock’s King of the Cage promotion before being recruited by the PRIDE Fighting Championships to be a top-level executive in its Los Angeles office.

Suffice to say, there is no shortage of experienced fight executives for Champion to turn to.

The promotion will still need a decision maker to step up and assume the role created by Shaw’s resignation. Thus far, it appears Lappen is that guy, even though he has been reluctant to make any public pronouncements of being the fight team’s go-to guy. However, during recent conference calls and press conferences, it’s been Lappen who has served as the public face of the company’s fight operations.

Champion is clearly the replacement for DeLuca while Lappen is considered to be Shaw’s heir apparent. The leadership voids that some may perceive to exist within ProElite have already been filled. Whether or not the new leaders can get ProElite headed in the right direction is a question that can only be answered over time.

According to the filing, restated service contracts were agreed upon with DeLuca and Shaw on July 23.

Both Shaw and DeLuca will continue to work with ProElite as consultants. Shaw’s Gary Shaw Promotions has signed a consulting agreement with ProElite through September 30, 2009. DeLuca’s consulting services will be made available through his company “Legacy of Life Entertainment.”

Both Shaw and DeLuca had been with the company since its inception in 2006. Shaw’s public role had been reduced following EliteXC’s first telecast on CBS on May 31 while DeLuca stepped down as the company’s Chief Executive Officer last February and was replaced by former YouBet Chairman Charles Champion.

After stepping down as CEO, DeLuca remained with the company on a full-time basis as Chief Strategy Officer and Chairman of the company’s board. At the time, the move was termed as a “promotion.” DeLuca will be replaced on the board as Chariman by Champion.

Joining Shaw and DeLuca as leaving the company’s Board of Directors are David Marshall and Kurt Brendlinger. Their vacancies on the board will be filled by Edward C. Hannah, Edward Corey, and Robert E. Brierley.

Update: Cox confirmed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com on Tuesday afternoon that a signed contract was indeed FAX’ed back to EliteXC officials on Monday evening. 

A verbal agreement for Antonio Silva to fight former UFC heavyweight title challenger Justin Eilers during EliteXC’s second-ever CBS telecast on July 26 has been secured.

EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw revealed the news when contacted by FiveOuncesOfPain.com earlier this afternoon.

Five Ounces of Pain later contacted Eilers’ manager, Monte Cox, who indicated that it is their intention to FAX a signed contract to EliteXC officials later today.

It is still uncertain whether the Silva vs. Eilers fight will be for the vacant EliteXC heavyweight title, but Shaw indicated a belt will more than likely be at stake when the two square off.

Other fighters such as IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson and Sergei Kharitonov had been rumored as potential challengers for a possible title fight vs. Silva. When asked about specific names, Shaw declined to answer, but he did state that EliteXC officials had contacted several other fighters in addition to Eilers in regards to fighting Silva. According to Shaw, the other fighters had either outright declined the fight or priced themselves out of the picture.

Eilers is perhaps best known to casual fight fans for his first round TKO loss against then-UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in the main event of UFC 53 in 2005. He then returned to the UFC at UFC 57, where he was knocked out at 1:25 of round 1 against Brandon Vera. The loss to Vera dropped Eilers’ UFC record to 1-3 and he was not brought back to the promotion. However, since leaving the UFC, he has won 10 of his last 11 fights and is on a current three fight win streak.

Eilers last competed at IFC’s Cage Combat card on April 26, where recorded a TKO over heavyweight veteran Wade Shipp at 3:50 of round 4. Some of his more notable wins in his last eleven fights include victories over Matt Thompson, Sherman Pendergarst, Jimmy Ambriz, along with a previous win over Shipp.

Silva is 3-0 lifetime in EliteXC and holds a 10-1 overall lifetime record in MMA. A product of American Top Team in Florida, Silva’s most notable wins have been recorded against Tengis Tedoradze, Ruben “Warpath” Villareal, Tom Erikson, Wesley “Cabbage” Correia, and former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez.

EliteXC’s “Unfinished Business” on July 26 will emanate from the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif. and will be headlined by a rematch for the EliteXC middleweight title between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith. In a co-featured bout, Jake Shields is also scheduled to fight for the vacant EliteXC welterweight title vs. Nick Thompson.

Silva will face extra scrutiny to get cleared for active duty in the Golden State. The 6-foot-4, nearly 300-pound goliath was removed from a K-1 “Dynamite USA” roster over a year ago after pre-fight medical tests revealed a pituitary gland tumor in the 26-year-old’s cranial region.

Under the commission’s recommendation, “Pezao” underwent surgery last summer to remove the tumor.

Let us all hope the bout occurs as it gives us a rare fight between big men from formerly separated organizations. Kharitonov‘s last bout was a beatdown of Alistair Overeem in K-1 to overcome his shoulder injury and knees to the face in their previous bout. Antonio Silva’s last bout was a not all that impressive decision win over Ricco Rodriguez at Showtime’s EXC Street Certified event in February.

I’d look highly forward to this bout but whenever Armando Garcia is in any small way involved I’ll just assume something excellent isn’t going to happen until I see it with my own eyes.

While not finalized, Elite XC promoter Gary Shaw said that CBS is requesting his company’s next two live specials for late July (believed to be July 26) and October.

As things stand, plans are to build the show around the creation of both heavyweight and welterweight championships, as well as creating an October opponent for Carano in a fight where the promotion will create a woman’s championship.

The heavyweight title bout will involve Antonio Silva and an opponent to be determined. Names being tossed around are Brett Rogers, the winner of tonight’s fight between Dave Herman and Ron Waterman, and possibly IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson. The welterweight title fight will involve Jake Shields and an opponent also to be determined. Names being tossed around for that fight include Cage Rage welterweight champion Paul Daley, Drew Fickett, and IFL welterweight champion Jay Hieron.

EliteXC is also looking into the possibility of a rematch between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith for the EliteXC middlweight title. It appears that Lawler is ready to go but the question mark lies with Smith who injured his foot in the bout.

Another interesting tidbit from Meltzer’s piece is that EliteXC is going to create yet another weight class for Gina Carano because she seemingly is unable to make her contracted weight of 140 lbs.:

They are also looking at a women’s match, featuring Shayna Baszler (9-4). The winner of that match would most likely face Carano in October to create the company’s first women’s champion, in a 145-pound weight class.

“I don’t believe Gina Carano can make 140 pounds,” said Gary Shaw, after Carano came in at 144.5 pounds on May 31 for her 140-pound weight class win over Kaitlin Young.

The report, which cited an anonymous “insider at the company,” claims that a Slice vs. Tyson fight could happen towards the latter part of the year or early next year.

Shaw denied the report when asked to comment on its validity and stated that he has had no discussions with the former heavyweight champion. However, he added that he would make the matchup between Slice and Tyson “in a heartbeat.”

During another question, Shaw was asked if there was any possibility Slice fighting another boxer, Eric “Butterbean” Esch. Esch has been candid in recent interviews that he would like a fight vs. Slice, however, Shaw was bearish about any such potential matchup.

ProElite.com (SamCaplan.ProElite.com) has learned that Carwin has not signed with EliteXC and that an opponent for Silva has yet to be determined.

Terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

The signing of Silva comes in light of a report in this week’s print edition of The Wrestling Observer newsletter in which it was claimed UFC Vice President of Talent Relations Joe Silva said during a Q&A session prior to UFC 78 that Silva had two remaining fights on his existing EliteXC contract. According to the report, he added that the UFC would have interest when Antonio Silva became available.

Silva returned to action following an eight month layoff during EliteXC’s most recent show in November. He improved his record to 9-1 following a first round submission via rear naked choke against Jonathan Wiezorek.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

While Silva has yet to receive the documents in the mail, he was assured by CSAC officials that the paperwork had been completed and was en route to him.

Silva was placed on medical suspension in June by CSAC after a tumor was located near his pituitary gland. He underwent surgery per the commission’s recommendation to have the tumor removed in hopes that he would be cleared to fight in the future.

Siva, who fought at over 300 lbs., in the past is expected to come into his match against Wiezorek in the 275-280 lbs. range. The two had been scheduled to fight originally on June 2 during FEG’s Dynamite USA!! show in Los Angeles