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More EliteXC Heat photos at CombatLifestyle.com

In response to Seth Petruzelli’s comments on the “The Monsters in Orlando” show on 104.1 FM in Orlando the Monday following his bout with Kimbo Slice, former EliteXC Head of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen claimed that Petruzelli was referring to a knockout bonus, not a bribe to keep the fight standing as widely suspected.

Surprise, surprise, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation who oversees the Florida State Boxing commission has cleared EliteXC of any wrongdoing in the StandGate scandal. The news comes from Mike Chiappetta of NBCSports.com.

The inevitable comments from Dana White on ProElite’s death are here, and as you probably expected, he’s a pretty happy guy. White calls it a “great day for MMA.” He then proceeds to rip into Jeremy Lappen, Jared Shaw, and Gary Shaw.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s investigation into the EliteXC alleged bribery scandal has commenced. What that investigation actually entails is now detailed in a report from MMA Weekly.

Dana White is piiisssed! He goes off on EliteXC for the alleged bribery scandal in this video, and rightfully so. Of course, he’s assuming they’re guilty, but he pretty much has to to distance the UFC from the situation as much as possible. The whole rant is quote worthy, but my personal favorite is when he addresses $kala as “rapper whatever your name is, Shaw Jr.” Funny stuff.

And White actually had an analogy that made sense for once. Props to MDS at MMA Fanhouse for the transcription.

“It would be like the NFL, there’s a game between the Patriots and the Browns and the NFL goes into the locker rooms and tells the players, ‘Listen, the Patriots pull higher ratings if they make it to the playoffs and the Super Bowl than the Browns do. So here’s what we’re going to do: The Browns have a great running game. We’re going to pay your team more money if you just pass tonight, don’t run, because we need the Patriots to make it to the next level.’ That’s f—ing illegal. They’re being investigated by the Florida Athletic Commission. They ought to be investigated by the FBI, too.”

Due to the “interest” in the EliteXC alleged bribery scandal, the Florida Department Of Business And Professional Regulation has changed their minds and elected to move forward with a “preliminary investigation” after all.

Zach Arnold put together a great article earlier on the mainstream media’s coverage of the EliteXC alleged bribery scandal. It has snowballed into a public relations nightmare for EliteXC as the mainstream press has picked up on the story. Dana White has finally broke his silence on the subject, and as you probably expected, he didn’t have anything nice to say about EliteXC. White’s former nemesis, Gary Shaw, who is officially still an EliteXC consultant, also put in his two cents, and it certainly doesn’t help EliteXC’s cause.

The EliteXC drama continues…

More EliteXC Heat photos at CombatLifestyle.com

Sam Caplan did an interview with Seth Petruzelli yesterday. Seth stated that EliteXC offered submission and “Fight of the Night” bonuses in addition to a knockout of the night bonus. Here’s the excerpt.

It was going to happen sooner or later. EliteXC execs just never in a million years expected to happen tonight and the way it did. Pay particular attention to Jared Shaw behind the cage yelling and screaming right next to Jeremy Lappen. Lappen still appeared shocked well into the post-fight celebration if I remember correctly.