CBS has signed a deal with Strikeforce Productions to air quarterly MMA fights, and have 12 fights a year on their sister station, Showtime. This is a bit of a surprise, considering the last CBS-boradcast MMA card was an unqualified debacle - the headliner, KImbo Slice, lost in 14 seconds, and that was against a replacement opponent, Seth Petruzelli, who later claimed MMA promoters, while not exactly fixing the fight, didn't want him to use all his weapons:
The promoters kinda hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and throw with him, they didn't want me to take him down. Let's just put it that way. It was worth my while to try and stand up punch him.
Oy. So you've got a horrible fight and a scandal - all of which led to the promoter of that card, Elite XC, going bankrupt, and having Strikeforce pick up its fighters. It speaks to the immense popularity of MMA - and Kimbo Slice - that not only is CBS still down to broadcast these brawls, they want Kimbo Slice involved. Oh, and one must never forget that this has something to do with the economy - compared to regular prime-time programming, MMA fights are really cheap to broadcast, and have a guaranteed bloodthirsty audience.
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