Well, as I warned you all in my last article, the war of words between UFC ringleader Dana White and EliteXC promoter Gary Shaw has extended. Shaw appears content to take a shot at Dana White whenever the opportunity presents itself. Here’s what Shaw had to say in a recent interview with Fightline.com:

Fightline.com: I gotta say, Kimbo is getting a ton of exposure recently. I just saw him presenting at the Country Music Awards of all places.

Gary Shaw: Exactly, because the UFC is run by a jazzercize instructor and EliteXC is run by a real promoter.

Mr. Shaw, are you serious? A real promoter? Let’s see, you’re losing money hand over fist, half of your roster is UFC rejects, and you’re banking on a guy with 2 professional MMA fights to carry your organization. Is this really a smart business model?

I believe Kimbo can carry EliteXC for the time being, because he’s intriguing, but what happens when he loses a fight? Is anyone going to care anymore? The idea of relying on one fighter to carry your organization is a recipe for disaster (see: M-1 Global and Fedor Emelianenko). Not only that, but Kimbo seems to be on a path that is commonly used by boxing promoters. They’re setting him up in fights that present little danger to him, but give him the opportunity to land a highlight reel knockout. While this is fine in the short term, how long will fans continue to sit around and watch Kimbo fight fighters that present no real challenge to him?

The war of words and the general statements made by Gary Shaw are so misaligned; they’re really hard to swallow. Does he really think he’s the reason Kimbo appeared at the Country Music Awards? I’m sure that CBS had something to do with that. They’re invested in this programming, and they’re going to try to do everything they can to make money off of this venture.

It’s going to be interesting to see what Dana White comes back with, because we all know he won’t just sit idly by. We’ll see if Shaw’s plan to attack the UFC and Dana White at every opportunity will pay dividends this Saturday night.

Earlier this week in an article published in the Long-Beach Press-Telegram, Dana White had this to say about Kimbo Slice:

"You know what would happen if he fought in the UFC?" White said to the newspaper. "I'd put him in against B.J. Penn, and (Slice) would get annihilated. The guy he is fighting, James Thompson, might get knocked out before he gets into the cage. Kimbo has no credibility at all in MMA. ... I am telling you, B.J. Penn would beat him."

While this may seem like an idiotic statement to make, it’s partially true. Would B.J be able to defeat Kimbo? It’s hard saying, however, it isn’t that far out of the realm of possibility. B.J. has fought at light-heavyweight and was able to hold his own against Lyoto Machida, but that’s another debate for another day.

The fact of the matter is that Kimbo is an unknown commodity. He has an intriguing personality, but he’s always going to take slack from hardcore MMA fans and veterans of this sport. I think it’s mostly due to people being jealous of his stardom in the sport. They’ve seen the veterans of this sport, the Chuck Liddell’s, the Randy Couture’s, the Tito Ortiz’s, put in their hard work and help grow this sport to what it has become today. Kimbo has burst onto the scene because of backyard fights on the Internet. Does that represent him as a person? No. Does that make the criticism of him valid? Maybe.

Kimbo is being brought along slowly. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. He hasn’t been training that long and has done nothing to draw the negative comments that have been directed at him. He’s simply done what he’s been asked to do, and that’s go out there and put on an exciting show and win fights.

EliteXC has also been matching him up with advantageous style matchups that suit his brawling and avoid having him being taken down repeatedly.  I think James Thompson might try to take him down, however; he’s going to have to get close to take him down. The closer he gets, the better chance Kimbo has of exploiting Thompson’s famous glass jaw. Thompson’s wrestling also isn’t that great, so it could be a quick night for Kimbo once again.

Gary Shaw had this to say when asked about Dana’s comments:

"Dana White is a jerkoff," Shaw said. "That's what Dana White is -- a [expletive] idiot -- and you can quote me on that. If he cared about mixed martial arts and the sport instead of caring about his big ass swimming pool and his own personal gains, he'd understand that statements like that make someone a jerk. First of all, I love B.J. Penn, and he is a friend of mine. Kimbo Slice, with one shot, would knock B.J. Penn out. But they are never going to fight. It is an idiotic statement from a complete idiot."

Woah, woah, woah there, Mr. Shaw. Are you implying that you really care about MMA and don’t care about the money? Get the [expletive] out of town.

This is the thing that really irks me about Gary Shaw. I love how all of the sudden he has come out and said that he is all about MMA and that he’s doing this all for the love of the sport. Wrong. He’s doing it for money, and I think he has ulterior motives. To me, he’s still “the boxing promoter” Gary Shaw.

As much as everyone criticizes Dana White, I really believe he loves the sport of MMA. Does he let his personal feelings get involved sometimes? Sure, but I think that just shows that he really loves the sport. He has been here through the thick and the thin, and I think it’s highly hypocritical of Gary Shaw to come out and say that Dana White doesn’t love the sport of MMA. I think he’s probably the biggest fan we have. He’s an impulse acting kind of guy, and that sometimes hurts his persona, but if you ask Dana White a question, you’re going to get a truthful answer.

Things are starting to heat up between the organizations and as the clock winds down to EliteXC’s debut on network television; I think the war of words between Dana and Gary will continue to worsen.

Leave some comments below and let me know what you think about each organizations front man. Is Dana wrong to call out Kimbo and his lack of experience? Is Shaw still the same sleazy boxing promoter some fans see him as? Can EliteXC ultimately compete with the UFC? Let me know, I’ll be sure to respond.