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I know we’re all a little tired about talking about what went down at EliteXC “Heat” but I’ve always enjoyed Bas Rutten’s perspective on things, so I thought I’d share this interview he did with Steve Cofield.

More EliteXC Heat photos at CombatLifestyle.com

Two fighters, Kimbo Slice and Andrei Arlovski, received huge disclosed paychecks—$500,000 each to be exact— on Oct. 4 for their fights at EliteXC “Heat.” For one of them though, that may have only been the tip of the iceberg.

More EliteXC Heat photos at CombatLifestyle.com

It’s pretty much a well-known fact that EliteXC had to pay Kimbo Slice and Seth Petruzelli extra money to take the fight at EliteXC “Heat” at the last minute, and understandably so. Neither fighter was under any obligation to fight against a different opponent than they contracted to face, and in Kimbo’s case, there was really no upside besides extra cash to take the fight.

The press release:

Mike Chiappetta makes the case that Kimbo Slice hasn’t lost his drawing power as the result of his first loss. Now that I’ve had a little time to get over the natural reaction that Kimbo is worthless and done, I think his drawing power has taken a hit, but not to the extent as most people are saying. I won’t go as far as to agree with Chiappetta, but I think if EliteXC puts him back in the main event on CBS he would draw ratings somewhere between “Unfinished Business” and “Heat.” However, hopefully, EliteXC and CBS will come up with a new strategy such as putting headlining worthy fighters in the main event. I don’t care if Kimbo makes it on another televised card, but the headliner charade needs to be over.

The FSBC has released the fighter payouts for EliteXC “Heat” to Sherdog.com. Keep in mind, these figures represent the base contracted pay the fighter receives from the promotion. These figures do not include any additional bonuses or sponsorship money, which in many cases exceeds a fighter’s base pay. These numbers also do not account for taxes, insurance, and license fees.

If Jared Shaw had any credibility whatsoever with mixed martial arts fans prior to Saturday’s shocking turn of events, he pretty much lost it all when he was seen yelling at the ref as Kimbo was getting beat down by Seth Petruzelli, as evidenced in the animated gif to the right.

There’s not really any way to spin it, so $kala has elected to say he’s sorry instead.

“I watched the tape back today. While I think that the ref may have missed the (blow to the back of the head) call, my reactions at ringside – I saw them myself – were inappropriate and inexcusable.

“I apologize to the MMA community and the fans and most of all Seth Petruzelli as although my reactions can not change a referee’s decision, they were inappropriate at the time and over a heated and tense mixed martial arts event.”

“Again, I apologize to the community. I am all for fair mixed martial arts fighting and I am very happy to represent Seth Petruzelli.”

I almost want to give him credit for coming out and apologizing, but I’m a little skeptical of his motives and afraid I’m going to regret it the next time he opens his mouth and makes a public statement.

$kala’s at it again in this video of the EliteXC “Heat” post-fight press conference. He calls Seth Petruzelli the “modern day Rocky Balboa.” Seth deserves all the credit he gets for stepping up last minute and beating Kimbo on the national stage, but $kala, like always, is way too over the top. A promoter’s job is to manipulate perception and turn it into reality, but you have to at least not come across as completely full of shit in the process.

The overnight ratings for EliteXC “Heat” are in, and they’re very similar to the ratings EliteXC “Primetime” put up on May 31 in the first ever primetime network television broadcast of mixed martial arts.