Elite XC Champ KJ Noons Issues Statement Criticizing the Company

EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons, who's currently embroiled in a public spat with EliteXC officials after his management team refused to return phone calls requesting an Oct. 4 rematch Nick Diaz, has issued a formal statement on the matter.

Noons emailed the statement to several MMA outlets.

Noons alleges EliteXC officials of a variety of misdeeds, including poorly publicizing his career, breach of his confidentially agreement, poor pay, threats of a lawsuit, and instigating a now-infamous in-ring scuffle between Noons' and Diaz's camps during a June event in Hawaii.

In the statement, Noons claims the problem isn't with Diaz and, instead, stems from two years of the sub-par treatment from the organization, specifically ProElite CEO Chuck Champion and Vice President Jared Shaw.

Noons also states that he's now going to focus on his boxing career since it has the potential to be more lucrative than MMA. However, he predicts the fight with Diaz will happen but "probably not" on Oct. 4, when the organization returns to CBS airwaves for its third installment of the "Saturday Night Fights" series.

K.J. NOONS STATEMENT -- AUG. 28 2008

It is not about being scared to fight Diaz, who I previously defeated, it is about the fight I am currently in with Elite XC regarding my career.

I would first like to address all the false allegations and insults from Jared Shaw, aka $kala, VP of Elite XC. You will see why I am so disgusted of how Elite XC treated me and how it applies to this proposed fight and my career.

$kala says:

Honor my contract. Elite XC wants to talk about honoring the contract. How about when Elite XC honored the contract and my pay to fight Edson Berto went down after I lost my first fight. That was not part of my contract. Or how about the contract Gary Shaw breached by not promoting my boxing career? Gary Shaw only gave me one out of four of the agreed upon fights. I have not boxed for over a year. When I signed with Elite XC, I was promised they would promote both my boxing and MMA careers. I could have signed with another MMA only company, but I wanted to box too.

Elite XC does me a favor after I lose, by putting me on the first ShoXC against Edson Berto? Berto's father is good friends with Jared's father, Gary Shaw who wants Berto's brother on a boxing contract. Berto was the next guy Elite XC wanted to build. But I win that fight and now I am 1-1. Elite XC gives me an opportunity to fight Diaz. Elite XC puts me against Diaz because Elite XC's roster was so light and there was nobody else to fight him.

Elite XC creates a new weight class for Diaz because he beat Gomi. Giving Diaz a belt and creating a weight division (160) he can make, will make your belt legit. Sorry to ruin Elite XC's plans and beat him.

Elite XC never promoted or took care of me as their champion.

Examples:

In the Elite XC's DVD where Diaz and I fought there are two (2) baseball cards of Diaz and Kimbo. Hello! I won the fight and Elite XC's promoting Diaz after I beat him? Or how about the day Elite XC flew Diaz in to do a signing on the DVD where he lost. Wow, that must have been uncomfortable Nick? Signing a DVD, and it is a fight that you lost. Why wasn't I flown in for the signing?

Elite XC has never promoted me on either of their websites, EliteXC or Pro-Elite.

Elite XC offered me a fight on the first CBS show, but only if I signed a new long-term contract. Instead of promoting their best fighters on CBS, you have to be on a long term contract for them to promote you. That was not our deal.

Consider when Elite XC gives a couple thousand tickets away at their CBS show in Stockton. Elite XC gives me a hard time about comping me one extra ticket for my cousin that helped me train for my fight. I only get four tickets per show. I am the main event in Honolulu, my home town! I did not ask for any tickets for my family and friends and they gave me a hard time about one extra ticket!

Or how about when Elite XC brought Diaz into the ring after my last victory in Hawaii to disrespect me and my family.

Chuck Champion (President Elite XC) threatens me, my family and my manager with lawsuits and how he's going to sue me. HAHA. Pretty hard to sue a guy who does not make jack with your company. I'm glad $kala disclosed how much I make, which breached the confidentiality clause of the contract. I will break down the real numbers for you. I am the defending world champ, I have been the main event for Elite XC three out of four times on Showtime. In almost two years I have made approximately $83,000?

After paying my trainers and managers fee, I have $50,000 thousand. After taxes, probably 30 grand. Divide that by two years for $15,000 thousand a year. Divide by 52 weeks that amounts to approximately $300 a week. I do not know anybody that can survive on that amount of money. My buddies make more money than that in a couple days being a bus boy or bar back. And yes you can argue I should fight more. Elite XC doesn't give me fights or promote me, they ice me. Gary Shaw Productions only gave me one of the agreed upon four fights per the boxing contract.

And I do not want to ramble on about all the little small stuff that I can keep going on about. But the straw that broke the camel's back is they want me to fight Diaz for the second time. Diaz is not the number one contender and they are paying Diaz three times more money than me. Diaz complained after the Stockton fight, he was not paid enough. How do you think that made me feel? Yes you can argue that Diaz gets more for the draw, therefore I do not deserve as much compensation. If that is the case, it is a result of Elite XC terrible job promoting me. Instead of promoting me as their champ and upcoming athlete, Elite XC has resented me for ruining their plans to make Diaz their champ. That is just total disrespect. So it comes down to money and what is fair. I am tired of being bent over by Elite XC with no Vaseline.

am right when I say Diaz is not the number one contender. Elite XC is trying to force this fight for their ratings. Eddie Alaverez is the number one contender and anybody with half a brain knows that a fight with Eddie is a way harder fight for me than Diaz. I will fight Diaz, but Elite has to be fair. I'm not ducking Diaz, why the hell would I be scared of someone I already beat.

With that being said, I am going to focus on my boxing career. I can make more money doing 6 and 8 rounders every other month and make more than I did being the Elite XC defending world champ. At least I will be able to sleep at night and be able to look myself in the mirror everyday. That right there is worth more than $300 bucks a week or fighting a guy I cannot stand for less money than him the second time around.

Will the Diaz fight happen, yes. Will the fight happen on Elite XC on October 4, 2008, probably not. The way things are being run by Chuck Champion, a guy whose history is newspapers, not fighting, and $kala, someone who talks a lot of game, but has never put on a pair of gloves, never stepped in a ring or cage. $kala has had everything handed to him with a silver spoon from daddy. Does anyone else but me think $kala just wants to be famous and stir up all this dirty laundry? I guess any publicity is good publicity. When I think about it, it has been good promotion for their October card since nobody is talking about it until you bring up the Noons vs. Diaz match up.

Before I end, I would like to thank my team, my trainers and workout partners for helping me prepare for my fights hours every day. I would like to also thank my manager Mark Dion for standing behind my decision making. I want to be a fighter who is not doing whatever I am being told like some kind of mindless puppet.

Thanks for hearing my side.

K.J. NOONS

Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock for EliteXC 'Heat'

Former street brawler Kimbo Slice will take on UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock in the main event of EliteXC “Heat” Saturday, Oct. 4 on CBS, the promotion confirmed Monday.

Shamrock, who has lost five fights in a row and seven out his last eight fights, is nowhere near title contention in any major organization, but he continues to be a ticket seller due to his popularity in the past as a UFC fighter and a WWE pro wrestler.

EliteXC is banking on the popularity of the two fighters to boost its "Saturday Night Fights" ratings on CBS. The first EliteXC-CBS event on May 31, headlined by Slice, drew record ratings, but without a star attraction on the second event on July 26, ratings fell 43% from the first.

The CBS card is now complete:

- Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock
- Jake Shields vs. Paul “Semtex” Daley (Title Bout)
- Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald
- Murilo “Ninja” Rua vs. Benji Radach
- Cris Cyborg vs. Yoko Takahasi (Swing Bout)

This could be the best opponent for Slice, but it could also be the worst. If Shamrock defeats Slice, it could stall the plans for the poster boy of EliteXC. But if Slice wins, it could vault him up and give him a bit of credibility with a victory over an established fighter. Granted, Shamrock is nothing compared to what he once was.

If you ask me, EliteXC is making a desperate move which could work in their favor. One thing is for sure, this fight will get some serious ratings. I doubt it's gonna be a good fight but it will be a watched fight.

Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon at Oct. 11th Affliction bout

Former International Fight League stand-out Chris Horodecki (12-1) has agreed to make his Affliction debut against one-time UFC fighter Dan Lauzon (10-2) at the organization's Oct. 11 event.

"Affliction: Day of Reckoning," which features a headline bout of Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett, takes place at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas and airs on pay per view.

Horodecki, a 20-year-old MMA prodigy, was one of the IFL's most recognizable stars before the organization recently halted operations.

The Canadian fighter will now meet Lauzon, a fellow 20-year-old who -- at the ripe age of 18 years, six months and 16 days old -- became the youngest fighter ever to compete in the UFC. Lauzon suffered a first-round TKO to Spencer Fisher at UFC 64 -- and a subsequent submission defeat to Deividas Taurosevicius -- but he's posted six consecutive stoppage victories since then.

UFC Confirms Florian vs. Stevenson at UFC 91

A lightweight bout between title contenders Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson has been confirmed for UFC 91.

UFC President Dana White told Yahoo! Sports that the two Ultimate Fighter contestants will meet on pay-per-view on Nov. 15 at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon.

Both have fought for the UFC lightweight belt and have fallen short. Florian lost to Sean Sherk at UFC 64 in Oct. 2006, but has won five in a row to put himself close to another shot. Stevenson lost to BJ Penn earlier this year but returned in July at UFC 76 to submit Gleison Tibau.

This is certainly going to be a very entertaining fight but it's not what's best for the UFC. There's too many 'what ifs?' in this fight. If Stevenson wins, does he get another shot at BJ Penn? Meanwhile Florian has destroyed everyone since he lost to Sean Sherk in 2006 runs the risk of not getting his title shot at BJ Penn.

If Florian doesn't win, the lightweight division will be in shambles. It could turn into the middleweight division all over again.

This all but confirms that BJ Penn will be going up in weight to fight Georges St. Pierre. It goes to show tha as much as Dana White says the other organizations don't bother him, they obviously are. There's no need to have St. Pierre fight BJ Penn in their next fight, especially when Florian was supposed to get a shot at Penn with a win over Roger Huerta.

Hey, I'm not gonna be upset watching Penn vs. St. Pierre but I do know that the UFC is making promises to the fighters that they can't keep. Just because they feel threatened by other organizations.