The Weekly Wrap: Oct. 25 – Oct.31

Newsworthy

• A week after Pro Elite Inc. shuttered, some clarity developed around the fate of its fighter contracts and promotions. Monte Cox, manager of EliteXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler, told Sherdog.com that he filed a breach of contract claim to exercise a clause that states Lawler could be released if EliteXC did not have the funds to satisfy the agreement. Lawler revealed on his blog that he talked with the UFC while attending UFC 90. Meanwhile, Nick Diaz’s management took a similar step, filing a breach of contract notice on his EliteXC deal in court on Thursday, according to GracieFighter.com. Diaz plans to fight in Japan for either K-1 on Dec. 31 or Sengoku on Jan. 4.

Another Cox client, red-hot lightweight Eddie Alvarez, does have immediate options despite having an EliteXC contract. Cox told Sherdog.com that Alvarez had already signed agreements to fight for his Adrenaline MMA and Extreme Challenge promotions, as well as Dream. The terms of the deal allow Alvarez to compete in any of those venues without legal wrangling, and Cox said Alvarez could fight next at an Extreme Challenge event in January.

Also, British striker Paul Daley, who turned down a UFC offer to sign with EliteXC, told Sherdog.com he’s likely to fight for Sengoku in early 2009. As for EliteXC’s two biggest attractions, Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and Gina Carano, UFC President Dana White weighed in on the viability of using both. White said he does not believe there are enough fighters to carry a women’s division but considers Carano “a real star.” Meanwhile, White re-iterated his seemingly tongue-in-cheek position that he would only offer Slice a spot as a cast member on “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Sherdog.com’s Loretta Hunt reported that CBS and Showtime are interested in continuing to broadcast mixed martial arts but do not plan to start their own promotion from scratch. A Showtime spokesman told USA Today that the network was exploring “other opportunities” in MMA. EliteXC officials, meanwhile, have gone underground since the company’s demise, with few offering public comments. Former Live Events President Gary Shaw promised HDNet’s “Inside MMA” that he would “do his talking in the courtroom.”

In other defunct promotion news, Mark Cuban’s HDNet network received the legal go-ahead to acquire the assets of the International Fight League for $650,000. The deal means HDNet owns all fight library videos, intellectual property and actual property left behind when the IFL closed shop with a bankruptcy filing on Sept. 15. HDNet, which aired some of the last IFL events live, will likely replay the promotion’s library as part of the “HDNet Fights” series.

• Satoshi Ishii, who won a gold medal in Judo at the Beijing Olympics, will enter MMA. The Judoka, who won gold in the over 220-pound class, will appear at the annual K-1 “Dynamite!” event on New Year’s Eve at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Ishii, who has oscillated between training for the 2012 London Games and moving into MMA, made his decision Friday, according to the Associated Press. The Japanese Judo Federation does not allow Judokas to dabble in another sport and stay in the running for Olympic competition. It remains unclear if Ishii will fight on Dec. 31. He follows other gold medalists who have made the transition to Japanese MMA rings, including Hidehiko Yoshida, Makoto Takimoto and Rulon Gardner. Ishii was rumored as an opponent for Fedor Emelianenko on Dec. 31, but a confirmed Jan. 24 Affliction bout between Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski makes that unlikely.

In other “Dynamite!” news, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic told Croatian news outlet dnevnik.hr that he will rematch Alistair Overeem at the year-end event. The first meeting between the two on Sept. 23 ended in controversy after Overeem threw knees that struck Filipovic in the groin and rendered him unable to continue. A lightweight clash pairing Dream champion Joachim Hansen with Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante also appears likely for the “Dynamite!” show. Meanwhile, Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson’s manager told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that his bearded client was considering an offer to rematch Seth Petruzelli at “Dynamite!”

• A first glimpse at the money-making potential of the Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar fight at UFC 91 came with a report that an ESPN feature on Lesnar last week drew the highest television rating in the history of the channel’s “E:60” series. The special took a look at Lesnar’s journey from collegiate wrestling powerhouse to World Wrestling Entertainment superstar to a quixotic, short-lived run as a Minnesota Vikings lineman. In the piece, Lesnar was shown calling off a sit-down interview when he was about to be asked if he had used steroids. Lesnar also balked at the idea that Couture, at 45, is stronger than he ever has been.

The UFC has begun filming an extended version of its “Countdown” series for the Nov. 15 fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, according to the Wrestling Observer. The UFC unveiled a 10-minute hype video on its Web site that featured breathless analysis from UFC President Dana White and on-air analyst Joe Rogan, as well as the principals. It’s not all going swimmingly, however. UFC 91, unlike many other cards this year, has not yet sold out. The company also blew a big chance to hype the heavyweight main event. Couture was in the house at UFC 90, and the Sean Sherk vs. Tyson Griffin fight pitted Lesnar’s trainer, Greg Nelson, against a trainee of Couture’s.

• The nation was introduced to Vinicius Magalhaes, one the world’s top competition grapplers, on the latest edition of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series on Spike TV. The three-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and six-time medalist sparred verbally with interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on the episode. Magalhaes then submitted Jules Bruchez easily as soon as their light heavyweight elimination fight hit the ground. Nogueira’s team had passed on word that Magalhaes called the heavyweight champion’s jiu-jitsu “basic,” which led to a genuinely tense locker room exchange in Portuguese between the two. Magalhaes claimed in recent interviews that the argument with Nogueira took place weeks after his fight, despite the way it was presented, and contended that his remark about Nogueira’s ground game was taken out of context. Frank Mir was enamored with Magalhaes’ ground skills and invited the former Team Quest instructor to train with him after the show for Mir’s UFC 92 bout against Nogueira.