[jayyet]

CAGE RAGE:

EliteXC and Cage Rage Championships Join Forces

Cage RageProElite, Inc., the parent company of Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC), today announced the acquisition of the U.K.-based Cage Rage Championships organization.

Cage Rage, which premiered in London in 2002, is considered England’s top mixed-martial-arts organization. Notables such as current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, “The Ultimate Fighter 3” winner Michael Bisping, and former PRIDE standout Murilo “Ninja” Rua have all competed for the organization.

In today’s press announcement, ProElite says the acquisition will help Cage Rage become a true international fight brand. Additionally, EliteXC could begin to feature top British talent as part of the relationship.

EliteXC was born out of a partnership between Showtime Networks Inc. and ProElite. The upstart organization, which airs fights on Showtime and Showtime PPV, officially launched in December 2006. EliteXC’s first major event featured a headline bout between Frank Shamrock and Renzo Gracie back in February.

Cage Rage’s next show is set for Sept. 22 in Wembley Arena. The “Cage Rage 23” event is expected to have a sellout crowd.

A media conference call for next week’s EliteXC “Uprising” event (which takes Sept. 15 and features a main event between Rua and Robbie Lawler) takes place this afternoon.


KING OF THE CAGE:

EliteXC Announces Acquisition of King of the Cage

Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC) today announced the acquisition of King of the Cage Inc., a large and veteran mixed-martial-arts organization that puts on shows throughout North America.

As part of the deal, King of the Cage will continue to operate under its current name, and the organization will begin streaming live events on ProElite.com, the official site of EliteXC.

Last month EliteXC announced a similar acquisition of the U.K.-based Cage Rage Championships.

“We are extremely pleased that KOTC is joining the ProElite family, a natural extension of our brand as we continue to move forward with our global growth strategy,” ProElite CEO Douglas Deluca said in a statement. “Pound for pound, KOTC is the best brand out there and brings a deep breadth of industry experience to ProElite, providing a built-in infrastructure that will strengthen the impact of our organization on the world of MMA.“

MMA promoter Terry Trebilcock founded the California-based KOTC in 1999. The organization promotes more than 35 shows annually with at least a dozen of events appearing on pay-per-view.

Prior to 2007, KOTC drew the largest cumulative live audiences per annum of any MMA organization in North America. To date the organization has sold more than 1.5 million DVDs and continues to promote MMA events on four continents, including Australia, Asia, Europe and North America.

With its deal with Showtime and and an ever-expanding stable of fighters, EliteXC has emerged as one of the UFC’s biggest competitors.

[jayyet]

Should have posted this in the contenders section, sorry

[Hamm]

yup wrong section. however, thats cool news, pretty soon Elite will be up here in the heavywueghts

[imaycare]

Excellent news. Hopefully they do some cross promotion fights.

[Daniel-san]

Originally Posted by jayyet

Should have posted this in the contenders section, sorry

maybe not anymore!

this is cool, i know exc and cage rage already had a partnership but this will just make things simpler

also, i forget, was KOTC part of that partnership before? thats a nice addition too

[Goshin-jitsu]

Wow, they bought Rage, KOTC, Icon and Rumble on the Rock. It looks like they are going to get any and all spare talent that's left outside of the UFC. I can see them becoming the org that actually gives the UFC a little competition (yes this is premature but they are making the right moves).

[jayyet]

Originally Posted by Goshin-jitsu

Wow, they bought Rage, KOTC, Icon and Rumble on the Rock. It looks like they are going to get any and all spare talent that's left outside of the UFC. I can see them becoming the org that actually gives the UFC a little competition (yes this is premature but they are making the right moves).

I agree, Elite is making the right moves to be the next big MMA org

[Teebagz]

Good news, this should get us fans some top fights.

[eastcoastMMAfan]

Originally Posted by Daniel-san

maybe not anymore!

this is cool, i know exc and cage rage already had a partnership but this will just make things simpler

also, i forget, was KOTC part of that partnership before? thats a nice addition too

It is still the wrong section. Until they come close to having the same talent level in fighters that the UFC does they will still be in the contender category. EliteXC even with KOTC and CR just doesn't have anywhere near that talent level.

[jayyet]

One name now can put them over the top...