In spite of ProElite and EliteXC's collapse earlier this week, no top-level executives from the company have spoken out publicly thus far to discuss exactly what went wrong. However, one man with close ties to the fight promotion has gone on the record several times to give his side of the story.
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T. Jay Thompson is the former promoter of the SuperBrawl and ICON Sport promotions, which were staples of the Hawaiian MMA scene. After 15 years of promoting fight cards on the island, Thompson accepted an offer in September of 2007 to sell his promotion to ProElite. As a part of the deal, Thompson received a contract to consult for the company.
In spite of Thompson's vast knowledge when it came to promoting MMA events, he felt his knowledge went largely unused during the company's existence. The past 13 months have been some of the most challenging during Thompson's career, as he was forced to sit back and watch a company with a great deal of potential self-destruct and abuse the many resources it had obtained.
Now Thompson is venting those frustrations and took time out this week to speak with CBSSports.com exclusively in what has been his most in-depth interview to date.
CBSSports.com: I read an article in which you were quoted as saying there were problems from the start between you and ProElite. Can you talk about some of the things you experienced as you negotiated the acquisition of ICON with them?
T. Jay Thompson: It starts during the first EliteXC event in Hawaii in '07 on Sept. 15. My deal was supposed to close a month before, and even more before that. It was just an ugly process in closing the deal. And a week before the event, they hadn't come through with stuff they were supposed to come through with. I still had control of the event and (then-EliteXC live events president) Gary (Shaw) called up the Sunday before the event -- like six days out -- and Gary and I [had it out] at midnight Hawaii time and 3 in the morning wherever he was. And he threatened to walk away and I had threatened to shut the event down. Finally, the Thursday of the press conference, our deal got done. Otherwise that EliteXC event wouldn't have happened.
It started early on that I just didn't like Gary and that I didn't like him morally or ethically. That's just the reality. I was hoping I was going to come in and learn from him. I really was. I was excited to come and work with another promoter that had more big show experience than me. I didn't find him smart, I didn't find him engaging, (and) I didn't find him to be compelling. I am amazed that he's gotten where he's gotten.
As we get a little further, we've got our first big group meeting and I've got at the table, Gary, Jared (Shaw), J.D. Penn and Rich Chou, myself, and Patrick Freitas, Turi Altavilla, Terry Trebilcock is on conference call, and Jeremy Lappen, and we were all dividing responsibilities when it came to matchmaking. And with that group of people there, the matchmaking team ended up being Jared Shaw, J.T. Steele, who was just an intern at the time, and Rich Chou. It was at that point that I realized that things weren't going spectacular. Literally, of the ten people there, the three with the least experience were picked as the matchmaking team.
Q: It seemed like when it came to organizing and finalizing cards; EliteXC was usually behind the ball in that regard. Do you feel that's a fair assessment?
TT: Absolutely. I think a lot of it had to do with the indecision caused by that committee kind of thing. It just seemed like there was no one to actually make a decision and it was always thrown back and forth eight million times. Matchmaking isn't rocket science.
Q: Earlier in this interview you said you didn’t like Gary Shaw morally or ethically. Are you able to elaborate?
TT: I don't have specific instances. It was just a sense of what was said publicly and what was said behind closed doors as far as "fighters first" and "I'm in it only for the fighters." I didn't get a sense of that when we were behind closed doors with him. I think he saw them as a product; strictly as an asset. And again, being in the MMA business for 15 years I didn't see it that way.
Q: How did you feel about Shaw's people skills?
