PRESS RELEASE: Senior Vice President and General Manager, Showtime Sports Programming Ken Hershman, ProElite CEO Doug DeLuca and EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw - were featured in a national media conference call to discuss the debut of Showtime's exciting, new prospect-oriented MMA show, ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series.

 

ShoXC will premiere Friday at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) from Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif. The two-hour telecast will feature up to five fights.

 

The main event in the cage will pit Edson Berto of Orlando, Fla., against K.J. Noons of San Diego, Calif. (155-pound match).

 

In the co-feature, Aaron Wetherspoon of Irvine, Calif., will meet hometown champion Jeremiah Metcalf of Santa Ynez in a King of the Cage/Gladiator Challenge welterweight championship unification match.

 

Tickets are priced at $55, $80, $105, $130 and $155. For ticket information and sales, please visit www.chumashcasino.com, or call the box office at 1-800-585-3737. The live event will start at 8 p.m. P.T. Doors open at 7 p.m.

 

Hershman:      We are very excited about the launch of this new franchise.  We think this is going to follow closely in the footsteps of our ShoBox franchise in boxing, which has launched the careers of 10‑plus world champions who are currently reigning, or have reigned in recent past. We think that this is a great new platform for EliteXC, and for MMA generally, so that fans can begin to follow their fighters from the beginning of their careers through the time they finally make it to the big game on EliteXC and SHOWTIME, and then on to Pay‑Per‑View from there.  So, we couldn't be happier.  We think it's a great product.  I think Gary Shaw and Doug DeLuca put together a fantastic opening card.  You are going to see a lot of what we are talking about with ShoXC and with up‑and‑comers on this first show Friday night. 

DeLuca:          It is great to have a partner like SHOWTIME who sees the vision. Ken Hershman has seen the vision from the beginning of this.  It is nice to know that we are all committed together to grow the sport, to really take MMA to the next level, and create something great here that gives an outlet for young fighters and young talent coming up the ranks.  As far as ShoXC is concerned, it is one of the things that I think I am most excited about here at ProElite.  We are building a world‑class global MMA organization. The next six months to a year of this sport will really define where it is going in the future, and ShoXC really speaks to that future.  The future in any sport is with the young athletes and the young talent coming up. ShoXC is designed to give a platform for young athletes and young talent to really showcase what they can do.  It gives them a way to build their character and build their persona to the viewing audience and to the world out there. We are going to see some great things out of ShoXC.  We are going to see some great athletes emerge from it.  

Shaw:              For those what didn't know, I was the creator of ShoBox, along with SHOWTIME, and to Ken's credit, when I came up with the idea of ShoXC, I called Ken Hershman. The negotiation took about 30 seconds.  I am really excited that you are going to get to see some young guys that you have not seen on television.  As Ken said, ShoBox has groomed at least 10 world champions, and I don't know how many are currently ranked and ready to fight for world titles.  Eighteen ShoBox alums have gone on to be world champions.  More than 10 are current world champions.  

Question:        Gary, can you comment about rumors of the different outlets reporting of EliteXC's interest in some of the smaller promotions and possibly buying out and acquiring some of those smaller promotions?

Shaw:              You are not going to like my answer, but we are a public company.  At this point in time, I cannot comment on that question.  You understand the SEC laws, I'm sure.

Question:        Gary and Ken, when ProElite and ShoXC first started, was ShoXC on your radar, or something that developed and you thought of along the way?

Shaw:              ShoXC was always on my radar.  It was the question of time.  I believe after we showed what we can do in February, what we showed Ken and SHOWTIME, what we could do on June 22, I knew that we could deliver the product. At that time, I needed to wait until we had enough fighters that I believe would show ShoXC worthy. That is what I wanted to get.

Hershman:      Originally we had talked about launching ShoXC in December.  You know, MMA, the franchise for MMA and EliteXC has been so positive for SHOWTIME and for EliteXC. We actually talked to Gary Shaw about accelerating that process, launching ShoXC earlier in July, which is why we are starting where we are now.  So, we think this is just such a strong product and such a strong concept, and so necessary in this market place that we actually moved off the launch date.

Question:        Gary, is the Edson Berto-K.J. Noons main event the kind of fight you are planning to do?

Shaw:              Yeah, I am real excited. I think both Noons and Berto are going to be future stars.  Those that Noons know he walked into quite a bunch from Crazy Horse, and Berto is the brother of Andre Berto.  I believe in both fighters, and it is going to be very interesting. The winner and the loser may be in for another big fight in September. 

Question:        Gary and Ken, what do you feel are some of the biggest changes in approach between your work with promoting boxing and these MMA shows? What commonalities do you see between the sports and what things have you been doing the same?

Shaw:              The commonality is the athletes.  They are all fighters with huge hearts who want to go make it to the big time and want to wear a real championship belt. MMA appears to have a much more rabid audience and a younger audience.  Change is the way we entertain with DJ's and dancers, and not just a one ring card girl walking around with one, two, three, four sets.  A promotion is a promotion.  You put all you can into it to make the best experience you can on television and an arena experience.  That is the commonality. The difference for me is understanding what I don't know in the MMA world.  I am an expert in boxing.  I am not an expert in the MMA world, but I have surrounded myself with experts here in our office.

Hershman:      For us (SHOWTIME) with a long 20‑plus-year history televising boxing, we came in the MMA world thinking, you know, we have a lot to learn.  It is a ring sport, a combat sport, but, on so many levels, it is very different in terms of how you cover the fights, the ring versus the cage aspect of it, the techniques, the whole organizational situation versus world sanctioning bodies.  It is a very different world, and we don't pretend to be an expert in it yet either.  We came out very strong in February, but we also recognize from our February show and from a couple of shows in June that we have a long way to go.  We look forward to growing and improving.  That is why ShoXC is so intriguing for us because it gives us more shots at this, more attempts to put fighters on and our commentating team together.  We think that this is going to get better and better as we go along.

Shaw:              I want to interject because Ken Hershman just said something.  Doug DeLuca, Ken, myself and David Dinkins are on conference calls continually in order to keep trying to improve the telecast and the in‑home experience.  None of us are taking this thing for granted, thinking that we have the perfect recipe. We are continually trying to get better and better, just like they follow the puck in hockey, or they give you the first down yardage in the NFL. We are also trying to be innovative, getting new camera shots, getting great lighting grids.  So, you know, we have not stopped trying to learn and deliver a better product. That is a credit to all of us here at ProElite and EliteXC, and to SHOWTIME.

Hershman:      That is a good point.  As much as we think that we have 20‑plus years of experience in boxing, MMA has taught us a lot in a very short time.  Some of that we are applying back to our boxing franchise.  We think this is a win-win for us from a production technique standpoint from an audience standpoint.  We are already seeing more crossover in our audience demographics than we had anticipated at the beginning of this. Hopefully, we grow both franchises. That is the concept and the reason we got into this.

Question:        Ken, how do you all gauge the success and what criteria do you use? Looking back, how would you rate your progress so far?

Hershman:      From our standpoint, we are a subscription television network.  While ratings give us some indication of performance, they are not really the be all, end all.  What SHOWTIME looks at is giving our subscribers enough options that every month they plunge down that subscription fee and feel good about it.  We feel expanding into MMA is just adding to our array of tremendous programming, from our movies, original series, boxing, now MMA. We think that is a lot there.  Not to denigrate our competitors in the MMA space, but you can wisely spend a fraction of 40 dollars a month on Pay‑Per‑View, buy SHOWTIME and get your MMA fix now with EliteXC and ShoXC becoming more regularly scheduled.  You are going to have a lot of that content there for you, and there are other deals that will bring even more content that we will do when we can. 

Question:        Ken, do you expect to bring in new subscribers?

Hershman:      We think MMA will help subscriptions.  We look at who is coming ‑‑ the new subscribers coming to SHOWTIME versus the existing subscriber base and the demographics and the new subscribers coming on tend to be younger.  So, MMA is a good fit for that in terms of the obvious demographic match.

Question:        Gary, are you going after some of the bigger name fighters?

Shaw:              EliteXC in California is open to all fighters.  We have been speaking to some, what you would call name fighters.  I am also a huge believer in building new talent and new stars, and I believe they are out there.  But, we are always open to speak to those that we believe can bring something both to the EliteXC and to SHOWTIME.

Question:        Gary and Ken, you mentioned the next six months to a year being extremely important for MMA.  What are you looking to accomplish with EliteXC?

Shaw:              I am looking for Doug DeLuca not to fire me, and for Ken Hershman not to yell at me.  But, on a serious note, we are going forward with bringing you great product, building new stars and just bringing the fans great great fights I can guarantee this; EliteXC is here to stay.  We are not going anywhere.  We have a contract with SHOWTIME. We have a great partner in SHOWTIME.  We have great things happening here as a company.  There will be some great announcements in the next couple of months. We are going to just continue to bring you great product and product that you can be proud of, build the MMA franchise, and, as Doug has always said from the day I met him, hope to make MMA an Olympic sport.

Hershman:      From SHOWTIME's perspective, the strides they have ProElite and EliteXC have taken in six months time is beyond remarkable, and six months from now, you will see even a different EliteXC.  Those guys are phenomenal business people and operators, and you are seeing a time warp in terms of their ability to get something this huge up and running at this level of sophistication. You are going to look at even more amazing things as we go forward.  These guys are clearly the No. 2, and they have a long way to go before world No. 1, but we will get there because you can see what resources and what expertise they have brought to the game already.

Question:        Gary, how do you feel about the rash of steroid positive tests among MMA fighters?  Do you feel that harms the sport?

Shaw:              It can hurt the sport, but it is going to hurt the individual athletes more.  They will get it.  They will understand that they are getting drug tested and the suspensions that go from anywhere from six months to a year, or it is going to happen one of these times with a repeat offender. It is going to be a career‑ending move.  We will then let everybody know that steroids cannot have a place in the sport of MMA.  So, I think it is unfortunate right now that these tests are coming back positive, but I believe as time goes by, it will decrease to where it almost disappears.  As you know, in boxing, it is on a very, very rare occasion that anybody has taken steroids, and when they have, the penalties have been severe.

Question:        Gary, are there any plans in the future of combining more titles?  Is there any word on Sokiju, is he coming to ShoXC?

Shaw:              We thought we had Sokiju signed and he pulled a 180 on us. So, at this time, he is off the table with EliteXC.  Unfortunately, I would have loved to have the athlete.  We always want to do open championships.  We have said from the beginning of the formation of this company that we wanted to present true champions, those that will fight one another.  Those that don't do that are only club champions.   We are opening it up. 

Question:        Gary, how excited are you to have Gina Carano?

Shaw:              Gina’s future is bright.  She signed a multi‑year contract with us.  I know her personally and her family as well.  She is a good person inside and out, pretty person inside and out, and she can really fight.  We said from the beginning we were going to make her the face of MMA, and SHOWTIME, to Ken Hershman's credit, took a leap of faith in both myself and in Gina and decided at the last minute to put her on in February.  It was done in the press conference upstairs when Gina was doing a photo shoot with other athletes, and I said to Ken, ‘Come on, let's try it.’  He met her and he green‑lighted it there.  Really, it is a combination.  Without Ken Hershman green lighting a woman's card, which was a huge leap of faith, trust me, nobody would know Gina Carano today.  She would be somebody from Reno and lives in Las Vegas.  She is a very, very important asset to EliteXC.

Question:        Gary, will winners advance this weekend?

Shaw:              No, not necessarily.  ShoXC is not a tournament or ladder system in that they automatically go forward to somewhere else.  What it is the opportunity to be seen on television. The exciting fighters we will bring back. We will bring back both on ShoXC if we really feel that they are a step up. Then you will see them on our EliteXC shows, and then hopefully eventually on pay per view. We want to bring you the best talent, and this is the best place to find the new, young best talent. 

Question:        Gary, what kind of feedback do you listen to?

Shaw:              When I am there, I don't even hear the crowd.  I am focused not only on what is happening inside, but on the next fight that is coming in, all of the logistics of what is going on.  So, I don't get to enjoy my own show.  I enjoy it when I am working with my guys making it, and I enjoy it when I watch it a week later and I am relaxed.  But, in that arena or in that forum, I am just working.  I am proud of what we have brought you so far.  I thank you for your support.

Question:        Ken, SHOWTIME had learned some lessons from MMA that were being applied to boxing telecasts. Can you talk about any of those specific things that you have picked up?

Hershman:      I think with the advances in camera technology and lighting technology that you need to bring to MMA, actually, has helped in some very technical aspects. Beyond that, we are also reexamining the way we promote boxing, the way we talk about these fighters, because what we have seen it work in MMA. The way we have seen it work, we think we can translate into our boxing franchise.  With boxing, we need to broaden that fan base.   The better the crowd is, the better the television.  I think what EliteXC has done in the arena experience is something that is translating to boxing and needs a carryover. 

Question:        Gary, is there any talk of possibly introducing a lightweight title?

Shaw:              We are going to start and tinker with the 155-pound weight class. I want to broaden the sport.  When I came into the sport, I was surprised that there were not lighter weights.  There was no one at 130 pounds or 135 or 140 being shown on television.  We should bring you the best fights with the best fighters.  If there are two great fighters at 125 pounds that can fight like hell, I am going to bring them to the television, and you are going to get to meet them and then we will have that weight class.  But, right now, we are very, very strong at 155 pounds, we are strong at 185. We are not looking basically just to have fighters at that weight. I am very concerned in the MMA world about this weight cutting and the dehydration and not getting rehydrated fast enough.  The head injuries come basically when the fighter is not rehydrated and there is not enough water in the head and the brain area.  So, the weight cutting is a big concern of mine. If we have to fit weight classes between 155 to 185 pounds, and that means we have to add two or three weight classes, we will do that.  The only single thing that is important to me in my legacy is the health safety and welfare of fighter.

Question:        Gary, is there any interest in bringing Frank Drake into the fold at 185 pounds?

Shaw:              Yes, there's been interest in Frank Drake, absolutely.

Question:        Gary, can you tell us the difference in philosophy in match making?

Shaw:              My philosophy in boxing is the same as MMA.  If you signed with Gary Shaw, you have to be willing to fight.  I believe that the fans get screwed.  They are the ones that get screwed by not getting real fights, and I have pledged that when you have signed a document with me, you are going to fight. I have pledged to SHOWTIME that I would give them fights where fighters fight.  And that's ShoBox, ShoXC and EliteXC.  A fighter does not learn anything from having a one‑ or two‑round fight. An undefeated record is not the main thing in MMA, unlike in boxing where losses are sometimes devastating.   But in boxing, where you have fighters really fight real fights and they lose, guys that go in and fight every single time, then they come back and television buys them again. 

Question:        Gary, what mixed martial arts promotions can we expect to see and can you talk about today for us?

Shaw:              You can expect on this Friday for us to be working with King of the Cage and Gladiator Challenge.  You can expect on September 15, that we'll work with Icon and Rumble.  You can absolutely expect that.  If that's your question of working, and then you can expect us to work with a lot of other brands.  That is what we are here for.  We are here to grow the sport.

Question:        Gary, is five or six the amount of fights we can expect to see on televised shows?

Shaw:              Yes.  We have a two‑hour window, so in that two‑hour window, we believe that we can bring you five or six fights.  There will be times that the fights go long.  Obviously, you know, injury or things that are unexpected, but basically we want to bring you five fights on every show.

Question:        Gary and Ken, do you have any concern about an oversaturation of MMA on television regarding Bodog, UFC, the IFL, and whether this product could be hurt from that.

Shaw:              There is no oversaturation of great fights, really good cards and great shows.  So, if you take away the pay per view, I do not know how many shows or great fights are on the horizon.  When there were two cable channels, nobody talked about cable, and now look how many there are. It broadens the sport. It gives more fighters the opportunity to be seen. It gives more fighters the opportunity to be employed by different organizations. It is good for the sport, personally.

Hershman:      The level of athlete and production quality on our shows is going to separate us frankly from everybody.  We do it better than everyone else, and we are going to continue to improve.  That is going to be our differentiator. Gary is right, the more people that can get out and work and hone their craft, the better it is for EliteXC and SHOWTIME.

Shaw:              The other thing is, there is no one out there with the production quality that we're bringing that is not pay per view.  It just does not exist.  I have nothing against Bodog, the IFL or anyone else, but it sure is not the production quality that we are bringing along with SHOWTIME.

Question:        Gary and Ken, is there a target date set for pay per view?

Shaw:              We will do the next pay per view when we have a quality show that demands to be on pay per view.  Making fans pay every single month to watch your fight is unfair, it's ripping them off.  my philosophy or the philosophy of our company to make everybody pay for every show.

Hershman:      From SHOWTIME's advantage point, when we went into this we were very clear and specific, this was not a pay‑per‑view strategy for us.   This is a premium television platform. That is where we want to make our mark. That is where we expect the commitment to be, and it has been.  You are going to see it again on Sept. 15, in November, and then going into 2008 and beyond. Between ShoXC and EliteXC, there will be a ton of MMA on SHOWTIME at a very high level.

Question:        Gary, can we get details on what happened in the Sokiju negotiations?

Shaw:              We thought we had Sokiju.  We gave him a very good offer.  We flew him at the last moment to our June 22 pay‑per‑view fight in San Jose.  He was there as our guest.  He ate very well.  We filled him with beverages and then supposedly when he went back, someone threw an astronomical offer for him that I was not willing to match.

Question:        Gary, you had mentioned before watching out for the fighter's welfare and possibly a 160‑pound weight class. At what point are you going to have too many weight classes?

Shaw:              I agree with you.  I did not mean to say that every five pounds will be a weight class.  I know this from boxing.  I know that when you go from 154 to 160, it is major.  There are guys that are at 160 that can get down to 154.  They can't break the 157.  I want to take into consideration the different weight classes and close the gap between like 155 and 185, and maybe we need a 160, 170 and a 185.  I want to speak to Jeremy, the other people that are around me, the experts, and then do what is right for the fighter.  Sometimes, you need to save the fighter from himself.  I would rather be criticized for having one weight class too many than have someone in the hospital.  I will not do anything that will make a farce out of MMA or something.

Question:        Gary, will you be testing?

Shaw:              I do not believe in testing your own athlete.  So far, those commissions, California, New Jersey, Nevada, have very, very strict plans.  They all use steroid and other drug and urine tests. We just have to keep telling our athletes that there's a zero tolerance, and we probably know when someone is taking a steroid, I can almost tell.  It hurts them and it hurts the sport.  I do not want to say anything definite at this point because I may be holding a press conference 30 days from now saying that we are using an independent agency and whoever comes and signs with us will automatically have to take a steroid test.  If you don't do those tests at random and don't do them at the right time, they use blockers. It is tough.  It is an ongoing problem, and we are looking at some very serious problems. Boxing steroids cases are dealt with harshly, and I believe that will happen with MMA as well.