200px|Kimbo Slice vs. Seth Petruzelli Boxing regulators in the state of Florida have started a preliminary investigation into allegations of corruption and fight fixing after mixed martial arts fighter Seth Petruzelli defeated Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson in the main event of the EliteXC: Heat on Saturday, October 4, 2008. Petruzelli, who was scheduled to fight Aaron Rosa on an untelevised undercard match, was approached by EliteXC officials to take on Ferguson, who fights under the nickname Kimbo Slice. Slice's announced opponent, legendary mixed martial arts and professional wrestling veteran Ken Shamrock , was declared medically ineligible to fight after injuring himself during a Saturday morning workout session, requiring stitches to be applied to a cut over his eye. News of the injury and substitution was not made until after CBS Sports started broadcasting the show. The controversy started the next morning after Petruzelli was interviewed on the " Monster in the Morning " radio show on WTKS-FM 104.1 in Orlando, FL and simulcast on XM Satellite channel 152. In the 18-minute interview, Petruzelli made the statement, "The promoters kind of hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and trade 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 to stand up and punch with him." With the statement from Petruzelli about being paid to stand up and fight on Slice's skill level, allegations of tampering with the fight began to arise within hours. EliteXC's Jeremy Lappin, Director of Fight Operations, responded to MMA Weekly 's inquiries, saying "Press reports that EliteXC suggested or paid money to heavyweight fighter Seth Petruzelli to keep his fight against Kimbo Slice off the ground are false. Let me be perfectly clear with no ambiguity – that did not happen." Lappin stated that they offered him a "Knockout of the Night" bonus if he could score a win by KO. Bonuses such as "Knockout of the Night", "Submission of the Night" and "Match of the Night" are often offered to fighters who can deliver entertaining and crowd-pleasing performances. Lappin also stated, "Elite XC organizes and promotes fights. We have not, do not, and will not suggest or dictate fighters' strategies or tactics. How the fighters perform in the cage is at the sole discretion of the athletes involved." EliteXC's Lappin told ESPN, "We were not trying to protect Kimbo. He had been training to fight a guy in Shamrock who has a better ground game than Seth. If we were trying to protect Kimbo we would have sent him home. We put him in a dangerous fight." Frank Shamrock , MMA color analyst for CBS Sports, and brother of Ken Shamrock, feels that EliteXC is looking out for Slice's best interests. "As for Pro Elite, are they looking after their baby? I hope so. Are they conspiring to ensure he wins? I don't think so."
 Boxing regulators in the state of Florida have started a preliminary investigation into allegations of corruption and fight fixing after fighter defeated in the main event of the on Saturday, October 4, 2008. Petruzelli, who was scheduled to fight on an untelevised undercard match, was approached by officials to take on Ferguson, who fights under the nickname Kimbo Slice. Slice's announced opponent, legendary mixed martial arts and professional wrestling veteran , was declared medically ineligible to fight after injuring himself during a Saturday morning workout session, requiring stitches to be applied to a cut over his eye. News of the injury and substitution was not made until after started broadcasting the show. The controversy started the next morning after Petruzelli was interviewed on the " " radio show on 104.1 in Orlando, FL and simulcast on channel . In the 18-minute interview, Petruzelli made the statement, "The promoters kind of hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and trade 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 to stand up and punch with him." With the statement from Petruzelli about being paid to stand up and fight on Slice's skill level, allegations of tampering with the fight began to arise within hours. EliteXC's Jeremy Lappin, Director of Fight Operations, responded to 's inquiries, saying "Press reports that EliteXC suggested or paid money to heavyweight fighter Seth Petruzelli to keep his fight against Kimbo Slice off the ground are false. Let me be perfectly clear with no ambiguity – that did not happen." Lappin stated that they offered him a "Knockout of the Night" bonus if he could score a win by KO. Bonuses such as "Knockout of the Night", "Submission of the Night" and "Match of the Night" are often offered to fighters who can deliver entertaining and crowd-pleasing performances. Lappin also stated, "Elite XC organizes and promotes fights. We have not, do not, and will not suggest or dictate fighters' strategies or tactics. How the fighters perform in the cage is at the sole discretion of the athletes involved." EliteXC's Lappin told ESPN, "We were not trying to protect Kimbo. He had been training to fight a guy in Shamrock who has a better ground game than Seth. If we were trying to protect Kimbo we would have sent him home. We put him in a dangerous fight." , MMA color analyst for CBS Sports, and brother of Ken Shamrock, feels that EliteXC is looking out for Slice's best interests. "As for Pro Elite, are they looking after their baby? I hope so. Are they conspiring to ensure he wins? I don't think so."
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200px|Kimbo Slice vs. Seth Petruzelli
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mixed martial arts fighter Seth Petruzelli defeated Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson
fighter defeated
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EliteXC: Heat
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Aaron Rosa
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EliteXC
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Ken Shamrock
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CBS Sports
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Monster in the Morning
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WTKS-FM
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XM Satellite channel 152.
channel .
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MMA Weekly
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Frank Shamrock