Any truth to the rumor that Frank Shamrock got $1.3 million for his fight with Phil Baroni?  Not hardly, at least according to the California State Athletic Commission.  As required by law, MMA promoters must disclose event attendance and fighter salaries to the CSAC. 

Here are the numbers from the recent EliteXC show:

-Frank Shamrock: $200,000
-Phil Baroni: $100,000
-Murilo “Ninja” Rua: $50,000
-Paul Buentello: $50,000
-Cung Le: $45,000
-Josh Thomson: $20,000
-Mike Pyle: $20,000
-Joey Villasenor: $15,000
-Duane Ludwig: $15,000
-Edson Bert: $14,000
-Carter Williams: $13,340
-Paul Daley: $12,000
-Luke Stewart: $10,000
-Jason Von Flue: $10,000
-Tony Fryklund: $8,000
-Seth Kleinbeck: $6,000
-Nick Gonzalez: $4,000
-Victor Valenzuela: $4,000
-Chris Cariaso: $4,000
-Ray Seraille: $4,000
-Rex Richards: $4,000
-Aaron Wetherspoon: $4,000
-Sean Bassett: $3,700
-Anthony Figueroa: $3,000
-Sam Spengler: $3,000
-Nik Theotikis: $2,800
-David Smith: $2,000
-Nikk Covert: $1,500

Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $628,340

Pro Elite continues to gain ground on MMA juggernaut UFC with recent news that it has teamed up with reality show juggernaut Mark Burnett (The Producer of Survivor and The Apprentice).  

The terms of the deal actually go for beyond simply producing yet another reality series (that happens to center around mixed martial artists):

“The pact between ProElite and Mark Burnett Prods. calls for Burnett’s company to produce the potential series, whose contestants would be signed by ProElite. The companies would pursue Internet extensions on ProElite’s Web sites and would share revenue from their joint endeavors, including pay-per-view events.

As part of the deal, Burnett gets the right to buy up to 17 million shares of ProElite at $3 a share in eight tranches tied to the success of their joint efforts.

Sources said that ProElite had approached Burnett to collaborate on expanding its MMA business into television and other mediums. It is understood that there is no concept for the primetime series yet, and talks about any joint media ventures between Burnett and ProElite remain in the exploration stage.”

You can read the entire article at Hollywood Reporter which is one of the most established publications in the entertainment industry.

Last night EliteXC Strikeforce put on one hell of a main event that lived up to it’s high expectations.  Dailymotion currently has the entire video on their site although I am not sure how long it will remain.  Catch it if you can click on the image  below.

Round 1 - As the round begins, both fighters are very acitve and come out swing.  After the initial flury, Baroni takes the fight to the ground.  While on the groun, Baroni gets out of Shamrock’s guard and they scramble back on their feet. Back to the stand up, Shamrock drops Baroni with a flurry and then follows up with a guillotine choke attempt. Baroni is able to get out of it and then Shamrock then landed a couple of punches to the back of Baroni’s head.  Franks gets deducted a point. The remainder of the round Shamrock outscores and rocks Baroni with punches.  Baroni does get another takedown and the round ends with Phil in Shamrock’s guard.

Round 2 - Baroni comes out landing the clear punchs and Shamrock landing low kicks. Things start to shift as Shamrock starts landing punches as they move up against the cage and the pace begins to slow. Baroni lands a couple of big shots that rattled Shamrock, then Shamrock returns with a flury of his own that rocked Baroni.  Baroni in touble goes for the takedown again, holding on to Shamrock’s legs. Shamrock quickly spins around and gets to Baroni’s back and attempts a rear naked choke.  With a smile on his face, Shamrock sinks it in nice and deep and Baroni goes nighty night. 

At the conclusion of the fight Baroni “wakes up” and walks over to congratulate Shamrock.

Both fighters showed a a lot of wear and tear on their faces but at the end it was a fairly dominating performance by Frank Shamrock.

Frank Shamrock def. Phil Baroni by TKO (Passed out due to Choke) at 4:00, Round 2

Complete EliteXC Strikeforce event results:

-Frank Shamrock Phil Baroni TKO (Rear Naked Choke) 2 4:00 
-Murilo Rua Joey Villasenor TKO (Strikes) 2 1:05
-Cung Le Tony Fryklund TKO (Strikes) 3 0:25 
-Paul Buentello Carter Williams KO (Punch) 2 0:10 
-James Edson Berto Victor Valenzuela Submission (Heel Hook) 1 0:47
-Josh Thomson Nick Gonzalez Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 1 1:42 
-Paul Daley Duane Ludwig TKO (Strikes) 2 0:42 
-Seth Kleinbeck Sam Spengler TKO (Strikes) 2 2:55 
-Chris Cariaso Anthony Figueroa Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 
-Rex Richards Ray Seraille TKO (Punches) 1 0:34 
-Luke Stewart Jason Von Flue TKO (Strikes) 3 2:17 
-Mike Pyle Aaron Wetherspoon Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00 
-Nik Theotikos Nikk Covert KO (Punch) 1 1:13 

• - Chris Cariaso defeats Anthony Figuero via 3rd round unanimous decision
• - Rex Richards makes quick work of Ray Seraille via first round TKO
• - Luke Stewart defeats Jason Von Flue in the 3rd round via ref stoppage
• - Mike Pyle defeats Aaron Wetherspoon via decision
• - Nik Theotiko defeats Nick Covert by KO in the 1st round

A lot of people have been having trouble finding where on the Pro Elite fight they can find the free undercard fights.  They might be having some technical/server difficulties so it might take a minute or two to load but you can find it here.

http://www.proelite.com/live/8