ProElite

(Doug DeLuca, CBS Senior Executive VP Kelly Kahl, and our man Gary. Photo courtesy of 411 Mania.)

So let me get this straight: All that talk from Jared Shaw and Doug DeLuca about how Gary Shaw wasn't being pushed out of ProElite turns out to be...bullshit? 'Fraid so, people. ProElite's latest Securities Exchange Committee filing shows that both Shaw and DeLuca have resigned their positions with the company (as well as their spots on the Board of Directors) and will now serve as "consultants."

Shaw has been EliteXC's Live Events President since ProElite's founding in 2006. DeLuca, who's also been there since the beginning, started out as the company's CEO before becoming Chief Strategy Officer and Chairman of the Board last February. The man who replaced him as CEO, Charles Champion, will now replace him as Chairman. No word yet on who will take over as the new EliteXC Live Events President.

But don't cry too hard for Shaw and DeLuca, because their severance packages are pretty damn solid.

(Diaz rocks Inoue at DREAM.3 on Sunday.)

Though the participation of Nick Diaz and Eddie Alvarez at DREAM.3 already suggested that relations between ProElite and DREAM were friendly, the two organizations made it official during a press conference held on Saturday, announcing that they've formed a partnership that would have the fight clubs sharing fighters and working on co-promoted events.

Speaking for ProElite, executive William Kelly revealed the company's goal of presenting EliteXC and Dream co-promoted shows on CBS and Showtime; he also announced ProElite's intention of opening offices in Japan with the hopes of putting on an EliteXC show there at some point, as well as hosting co-promoted Dream/EliteXC events in places like England and Korea. ProElite executive and former ICON Sport owner T. Jay Thompson named Kimbo Slice, Jake Shields, and Robbie Lawler as other U.S. stars that the promotion wants to present to Japanese audiences in the future.

As long as the first installment of CBS/EliteXC's Saturday Night Fights doesn't tank, this could be a major development for the still-struggling ProElite. An ongoing network TV deal and access to some of the most exciting lightweights, welterweights, and middleweights in MMA could help establish the company as just as legitimate as the UFC — and it removes one more obstacle to the world's best fighters facing each other. Plus, if Bob Sapp was popular enough in Japan to warrant an entire store in Tokyo devoted to his memorabilia, they'll probably give Kimbo his own town...

(Gary Shaw: "The soup, salad, and breadsticks are on me.")

Following in the footsteps of the floundering International Fight League, ProElite released its 10-K annual report last week, which revealed that even though EliteXC's CBS deal might turn their fortunes around, things are still tough all over in the MMA world. Some highlights:

— ProElite has lost $31.3 million through 2007, including $27.1 million in 2007 alone.

— The company generated $5.3 million in revenue last year, including $4.6 million in live gate revenue and $447,679 in television and pay-per-view revenue.

— ProElite spent $9.6 million on events in 2007, including $2.9 million in production costs paid to Showtime. The company actually received no license fee from Showtime last year and absorbed all the production costs. ProElite will be receiving a licensing fee this year, however, reported to be between $50,000 (for ShowXC events) up to $500,000 (for major events).

— ProElite.com cost the company $3.3 million in 2007, while generating only $68,782 in revenue. Lesson: Social networking may be the hip trend these days, but good luck making a buck with it if your name isn't Facebook or MySpace.

— EliteXC live events prez Gary Shaw earned $435,724 last year, $78 of which went to his wardrobe.

— As with the IFL, ProElite's auditors have expressed "substantial doubt" about the company's ability to sustain operations at this rate of financial loss.

So, ProElite didn't earn a cent from Showtime for licensing last year, and the "Strikeforce on NBC" deal is a straight-up infomercial-style time buy. It may have seemed strange that these smaller leagues beat the UFC to network television, but when Dana White says "we're not going to sign any deals that don't make sense," this is pretty much what he's referring to.

U.K.-based MMA organization Cage Rage is putting on a thoroughly kickass show tomorrow, featuring Murilo "Ninja" Rua, Elvis Sinosic, Mark Weir, Neil Grove, and TUF3 alum Ross Pointon. Check out the full fight card here. I'd never heard of Rua's opponent Xavier Foupa-Pokam (please keep your "fupa-poker" jokes to yourself), so I decided to search for a clip of him in action, which I've posted below. Rua might have his hands full, as Foupa-Pokam looks like a sharp striker who's absolutely deadly once he falls on his ass. You should also keep an eye out for Neil Grove, a 4-0 heavyweight bruiser whose last two fights resulted in a 10-second knockout of James "The Colossus" Thompson (the video is below) and a 34-second TKO of Domagoj Ostojic. Cage Rage 24 can be seen live at ProElite.com PPV; the action kicks off at 1 p.m. ET.

(Xavier Foupa-Pokam vs. Alex Cook at Cage Rage 18, 9/30/06)

(Neil Grove vs. James Thompson at Cage Rage 22, 7/14/07)