COUNT Urijah Faber among those disappointed to see EliteXC close its doors last week and join the list of mixed martial arts promotional companies that saw their dreams of riches crumble under a flood of financial losses.

Faber wasn't directly affected by EliteXC folding because he's aligned with the WEC, which is owned by Zuffa, LLC, the same company that owns the highly successful UFC.

There was a time not so long ago when EliteXC appeared to be a viable threat to the UFC's dominance of mixed martial arts. EliteXC had Kimbo Slice and a contract for primetime shows on CBS. Now that EliteXC has folded, the UFC's stranglehold on the sport is that much tighter.

That's not necessarily a good thing as far as Faber is concerned. He would like to see more promotional companies in play, breeding the kind of competition that would ultimately benefit fighters.

"Fortunately, I'm with the best team out there," Faber said during a quick visit to Manhattan Thursday. "But competition is important. It's important for our economy; it's important for fighting and it's important for the fighters themselves."

Faber, 29, is one of the superstars of mixed martial arts, the reigning WEC featherweight champion. Nicknamed "The California Kid," he'll take a 21-1 record into the cage Wednesday night when he defends his title against Mike Brown (19-4) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Versus will televise live, hoping to attract the more than 1.5 million viewers who turned in to see Faber's victory last June over Jens "Li'l Evil" Pulver, who is on Wednesday's undercard.

If this were baseball or football or even boxing, Faber would be earning close to seven figures each time he steps into the cage. He's smart, personable and the ladies like his golden blond hair. But Zuffa dictates who fights who, and for how much. With the absence of any type of free agency among fighters, purses will remain limited as long as there is no real competition among promoters. Faber has earned about $40,000 for each of his past three fights.

"It's not that I would ever want to go fight there," Faber said of EliteXC, "but the more companies around, the better. It's like if you have one casino, a few people are going to show up. But if you have 20 casinos, you have a bunch of people there. It's kind of the same idea."

Faber isn't complaining though. He's making a living doing what he loves to do - fight - and he's the headliner for the WEC, which was founded in 2001 to highlight fighters in the smaller weight classes.

"The UFC has the best fighters and I would have stood out in the UFC as well," Faber said, "but they want to use me as a catalyst for the WEC. I feel like I'm really lucky to be where I am and I'm fortunate to be the guy being pushed. But I'm also winning on top of that."

A former collegiate wrestler at UC-Davis, Faber will carry a 13-fight winning steak into the cage against Brown, the No. 2 ranked 145-pounder in the world. The fight was originally set for September but had to be postponed because of a hurricane threat.

Brown is known as an aggressive fighter who likes to overpower his opponents. But Faber is deceptively strong and his wrestling skills are complemented by an improved stand-up attack, making him one of the more versatile fighters in the sport.

"He does a lot of things pretty well," Faber said. "But what he does pretty well, I'm going to do just a little bit better."

Taken from: http://www.nypost.com/seven/11012008/sports/boxing/fighters_like_faber_concerned_with_mma_f_136265.htm

The Sun Sentinel is reporting an interesting piece of information as they caught up with Kimbo Slice, who was at one of his kid's career days at school. Slice apparently is talking to his agent and considering fighting at K-1 Dynamite!! 2008 which will be held on December 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. His opponent would be none other than Seth Petruzelli.

The October 4th main event between Kimbo Slice and Petruzelli would always be known as the final nail in the coffin for ProElite, but now Slice may get his only chance to avenge his 14 second loss to Petruzelli.

Here's what the Sun Sentinel is saying:
"He may fight on the DREAM K-1 New Year's Eve show in Japan, possibly a rematch with Petruzelli."

Former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley's December mixed martial arts debut was in jeopardy because the company he is signed to -- the American Fight League (AFL) -- announced it is ceasing operations until the first quarter of 2009.

But, a local radio ads running in Miami, Florida are now advertising that Lashley will compete in his first official MMA bout on December 13th at an event promoted by Mixed Fight Alliance called "There Will Be Blood". The show will take place at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. No opponent has been announced yet.

Lashley signed a two-fight deal with an option for a third earlier this year, but like most of the other fighters under contract with the fledgling AFL promotion, he still has the freedom to fight in other organizations so long as it doesn't interfere with any AFL obligations.

Chris "The Polish Hammer" Horodecki will enter the Shootboxing "S-Cup 2008", the same-night eight-man tournament on November 24 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Horodecki will take on Shoot boxing-trained Hiroki Shishido in the quarterfinals of the biennial tournament, which will also feature PRIDE Bushido veteran Luiz Azeredo -- the first man to beat Anderson Silva -- and 2-time K-1 MAX and 2-time S-Cup Champion Andy Souwer.

Shoot boxing, also referred to as standing vale tudo, is similar to kickboxing except that throws and standing submissions are allowed.

After this fight, Horodecki -- the Polish-born Canadian mixed martial artist -- will fight against Dan Lauzon on January 24, 2009 at Affliction 2: Day of Reckoning in Anaheim, California.

UFC has an open challenge of sorts for Kimbo Slice to join "The Ultimate Fighter" on Spike TV.

To discredit Slice's mixed martial arts abilities, UFC President Dana White said he'd be willing to bring back heavyweight to the show.

"I don't consider him (Slice) a real athlete or anything," White said at the UFC 90 post-fight conference, in a video courtesy of AOL Fanhouse. "He won't win 'The Ultimate Fighter'. The offer is out there if he wants to take it. He won't win it."

But Slice fighting for the UFC -- and especially as a cast member for "The Ultimate Fighter" -- is not likely to happen.

Between fighting for a boss who has insulted him at every opportunity, Slice stands to earn bigger bucks as a headliner elsewhere. Another possibility is Japan, where there's a fascination with black athletes with an intimidating look. Bob Sapp anyone?

Here are the results for UFC 90 which held in the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on October 25, 2008:

• Anderson "The Spider" Silva def. Patrick "The Predator" Cote by TKO (injury stoppage) at 0:39 of Round 3

• Thiago "Pitbull" Alves def. Josh Koscheck by unanimous decision

• Gray "The Bully" Maynard def. Rich "No Love" Clementi by unanimous decision

• Junior Dos Santos def. Fabricio Werdum by KO (punches) at 1:20 of Round 1

• Sean Sherk def. Tyson Griffin by unanimous decision

• Thales Leites def. Drew "The Massacre" McFedries by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:18 of Round 1

• Spencer "The King" Fisher def. Shannon Gugerty by submission (triangle choke) at 3:56 of Round 3

• Dan Miller def. Matt "Suave" Horwich by unanimous decision

• Hermes Franca def. Marcus Aurelio by unanimous decision

• Pete Sell def. Josh "The People's Warrior" Burkman by unanimous decision