The MMA News is receiving word from several different sources that ProElite, the parent company of EliteXC has folded and that the doors will be closed as of Friday. ProElite had been hemorrhaging money for some time and the Seth Petruzelli debacle has only further inflated the problems. The MMA News will bring you any developments on this as it happens.

Tonight The MMA News brings you live results for Sho XC Challenger series 9. As always we keep the results off the main page, hit read more to see them. Read more »

As always The MMA News brings you live results for all the major MMA events, and tonight it’s ShoXC. We keep the results of the main page, just hit read more for the jump(the fights start around 6:00 pm). Read more »

As always The MMA News brings you live results for all major cards and tonight it’s Pro Elite’s SHO XC Challenger Series which takes place from the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California. The card will start at 11 pm ET, and will be broadcast on Showtime live.

The MMA News keeps all spoilers of the main page so hit read more for the results. Read more »

With the upcoming ShoXC event scheduled for August 15 at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, Califorina just around the corner, The MMA News was lucky enough to have Cyrille Diabate give us a few moments of his time. Diabate(11-6-1) is scheduled to take on Jaime Fletcher(6-3-0) in what would be Diabate’s first MMA foray in North America and the 6′6″ international fighter is looking to come out strong.

When talking to Diabate most of the conversation turned towards his upcoming match with Fletcher, and how things would go down:

“I’ve seen a couple of his fights, he’s a tough guy and he comes to fight. I don’t expect an easy fight, but I think I’ve got too much experience for him. I’m tall, I’m mobile. He’s going to have a lot of problems getting me to the ground and if he wants to strike with me I’m a lot better at the striking. It doesn’t matter where the fight goes, whether it’s a quick win, or not. I can’t really say how I’m going to win, but I’m going to win. I just want an exciting match.”

Diabate has been appreciated by MMA hardcore fans for his ability to let his hands and legs fly, and his lean, tall build makes for interesting style match-ups. EliteXC is looking for big things from Diabate, and has signed him to a three fight agreement but the Frenchman isn’t looking past his first fight:

“I’m completely focused on this fight. I’m not taking it lightly. I’m confident but I’m going to be careful of what I do. I’m going to take my time, enjoy my time, and entertain. After that I look forward to fulfilling my contract and getting more acquainted with the public and….. have them get used to my style. I’m an exciting striker; I hope the fans will like my style.”

As with most MMA fighters, sponsorship is a big deal and Diabate was quick to thank Full Contact Fighter, RBP(Rolling Big Power), Lexani(Luxury Wheels), OTM(OTM Fight Shop) and Rockstar Energy Drink.

As always the MMA News asked Diabate to give final comments, both for his fans and his opponent Fletcher.

For the Fans: Thank you very much for all the support from the US. I haven’t fought here in MMA before but I’ve got a few fans here and it’s great to have the support. I hope the fights as entertaining as I like it to be.

Jaime Fletcher: Come prepared.

The MMA News, Interview.

ShoXC’s next event entitled ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series, takes place on Friday, August 15th at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California, and features a heavyweight matchup between Poai Suganuma and Jared Hamman.
The last time the two met Suganuma, who sports a 9-1 mma record, destroyed Hammon, who up to that point had been undefeated, in just 15 seconds with an effective flying knee. Hamman didn’t like the call, but it did seem that he was out, if only for a “liddell” like moment. The rematch should silence both camps and settle the matter between the two fighters. Both fighters have fought in Pride Fighting Championships, and both are touted to be possible high end heavyweights.

Maximum Fighting Championships, based out of Canada, has struck a deal with The Fight Network. The deal includes 8 never before broadcast MFC cards as well as the next 3 MFC events. The deal starts with MFC: Hostile Takeover which will take place on July 25th at the River Cree Resort And Casino in Edmonton, Alberta. This deal should allow MFC to become the #1 Canadian promotion, especially with the recent departure of Hardcore Championship Fighting(of course there’s still TKO out of Montreal, and King of the Cage Canada).

ShoXC has postponed an event that had initially been scheduled for June 27th at the Sycuan Casino and Resort in San Diego. The problem came when the outdoor venue was unable to be secured, thus forcing the exec’s at EliteXC to re-schedule the event. The event had gained some attention as Cyrille Diabate and aussie Hector Lombard were both supposed to make debuts in the ring, though not against each other. Keith Barry, the King of the Cage middleweight champ, was also scheduled to fight on the card against Reggie Orr. No word on when the new show will take place.

Hector Lombard and Cyrille Diabate will be participating in the next ShoXC event, scheduled for June 27th at Sycuan Casino & Resort in San Diego, California.

Some consider Cyrille”Snake” Daibate to be one of MMA’s best pure strikers, but Diabate has recently been working with team Quest to get better at wrestling, which would make him much more deadlier as a complete MMA figher. What makes Diabate an interesting match-up for other fighters is his Streetfighter Sagat like-build;he comes in at 6′6″, 205 lbs. Diabate’s opponent will be Jamie Fletcher.

Lombard is a judo standout from Cuba and he sports an impressive 15-2-1 record, with 8 of his last fight’s being victories. While Lombard is an exciting fighter to watch, he has had 7 decision victories in his career, something that may hinder him in the new “must finish the fight” promotion mentality. There has been no opponent announced for Lombard.

Welterweight Tamdan “Barn Cat” McCrory will be fighting TUF season two contestant Luke Cummo at UFC 87. McCrory last fought in the octagon at UFC 78, where he suffered a loss to Akihiro Gono. UFC 87 is currently headlined(though not officially) by Brock Lesnar who will be fighting Mark Coleman, though more MMA watchers might be interested in the Florian Huerta bout.

There are alot of people asking about heavyweight prospect Shane Carwin and here’s what Nate Marquardt said about the former NFL prospect:

“Wrestling is his strength, but his overall ground game is very good. He’s super, super dangerous on the ground compared to other fighters of his experience level. But I’m going to be honest with you, his ground and pound is second to none. I’ve never seen anyone with his stopping power on the ground, and that’s comparing him to the best out there. I’ve seen him hit guys so hard, he’ll knock them unconscious. And he has power from positions you just can’t imagine.”

The next ShoXC(Elite Xtreme Combat) will be an outdoor event at the Sycuan Casino & Resort in San Diego. The main fights include Hector Lombard (15-2-1), Keith Berry (6-2) and Reggie Orr (5-5-1). The event can be seen on Showtime.