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PAUL HEYMAN TALKS TO THE UK SUN ABOUT THE FALL OF MMA MAIN EVENTER KIMBO SLICE |
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Written by Arturo Collozo Jr. (artucol@mail.com)
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Tuesday, 07 October 2008 |
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4:37 PM EST
Throughout his career in professional wrestling, Paul Heyman was known as
the master of creating and developing characters. But the MMA world created
Kimbo Slice, and EliteXC capitalized on it. So did the CBS Television Network.
And on Saturday night, it all came tumbling down. Heyman talked to the UK
Sun, which is the home of his HEYMAN HUSTLE program (see www.heymanhustle.com) in
a story written today by excellent reporter Mark Gilbert.
Heyman commented:
“The Kimbo debacle was the death knell for Elite XC. If I were Showtime, I'd
cut and run. Kimbo got knocked out by an unknown and not an unknown they can
build the promotion around. Now Elite XC have nothing to carry the top of the
card and the ratings demonstrated an audience interest in Kimbo which must now
be dead."
Heyman also commented on the future (or lack thereof) of Elite XC, saying
“The promotion was built around Kimbo and it didn't even seem to matter that he
was obviously being protected. People were into the character, the aura, the
Mike Tyson-like persona of the baddest man from the streets kicking everyone's
butt. But the promotion didn't protect him and everything about the fight, from
the no-name opponent to the ref stoppage to the forced 'Rocky' comparisons, has
caused a backlash from some and total apathy from others. It was a bad day for
Elite XC and a great one for Dana White.”
You can read the entire article, which is highly
recommended, here: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article1778992.ece
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