Rovell on Slice
October 7, 2008
CNBC Sport business analyst has spoken in the past about his fascination with Kimbo Slice. He weighed in on Monday on the resulting fallout from the EliteXC: Heat card, defining the Kimbo conundrum that EliteXC has faced all along:
You have a really marketable asset in a guy like Kimbo Slice. The problem is, he’s a good street fighter against normal guys. He’s just not that good of an MMA fighter. So you know that he has to continue to win, but there aren’t enough weak guys for him to fight. In fact, as was proven in Petruzelli, a decent guy can beat him.
With that said, Rovell isn’t high on the prospects of EliteXC for the future:
The problem is that mixed martial arts is not a viable business, just like professional football is not a viable business. The viable business is the UFC. The viable business is the NFL. It’s why the International Fight League didn’t make it. It’s why the XFL didn’t make it.
It’s why when Elite XC’s last contracted fight is over–it has one more to complete the four-fight deal with CBS–the organization will be on the ropes.
