CBS and EliteXC released the official press release today announcing that their first live primetime MMA event will air on Saturday, May 31 from 9:00-11:00PM ET/PT on CBS.

The event will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ and feature heavyweight Kimbo Slice in the main event.

Also on the card will be middleweight champion Robbie Lawler defending his title against Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith. Additional bouts for the event will be announced at a later date.

Here is a snippet from the press release:

"We’re excited to introduce broadcast television viewers to America’s fastest growing sport with this prime time event," said Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime. "EliteXC is putting together a lineup card that showcases the unique personalities, world-class athleticism, and raw power and emotion that characterizes mixed martial arts."

CBS and ProElite, Inc. first announced their partnership last month which will broadcast four MMA events per year. The events will be produced by SHOWTIME Sports.

ProElite has released the first three commercials for "Saturday Night Fights".
TV Commercial #1
TV Commercial #2
TV Commercial #3

EliteXC has released an official press release announcing a new partnership with CBS that will bring mixed martial arts to a major television network for the first time ever.

We talked about the landmark deal earlier and now it is official. The CBS Television Network and ProElite, Inc. have joined forces in a multi-year agreement that will present four MMA events per year as two-hour live primetime specials targeted for Saturday nights and produced by EliteXC’s fight division.

Additionally the two companies will also collaborate to bring mma fans interactive content on ProElite.com and CBSSports.com. This content will include streaming of events, clips, and other enhanced content in an attempt to build an active online mma community around each broadcasted event.

This is a huge milestone for mixed martial arts which to this day have only been available on PPV, cable, and internet outlets. In some ways this will define mma as a true sport to the unconvinced and somewhat weary sports fan. This is the dawn of a new beginning in mma and another step towards mixed martial arts becoming the world largest sport.

Stay tuned for more details concerning this new partnership.

According to MMAjunkie.com a landmark deal between EliteXC and CBS is in the works that would put mixed martial arts on a major television network for the first time in history.

ProElite inc, the parent company of EliteXC, is expected to make an announcement today regarding the new deal. Apparently the new deal will entail CBS broadcasting live EliteXC events on Saturdays as live two hour broadcasts from 9 to 11pm ET.

EliteXC was originally formed as a partnership with Showtime to air the events solely on their subscription based channel. Showtime is owned by CBS therefore a deal like this would only make sense.

EliteXC isn’t the first mma organization to try and strike a deal with a major television network. In October, UFC president Dana White talked about a potential deal with CBS or NBC. It was even reported by MediaPost Publications that UFC and CBS were in "advanced negotiations". Unfortunately the deal ended up falling apart supposedly over issues with the creative control of the UFC’s events.

Following the the reveal of this new landmark deal other details were released thanks to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports. According to Kevin, EliteXC and CBS are going to confirm a four fight deal that begins with the first event in April. Headlining the event will be none other than Kimbo Slice, the street brawler who supposedly "puts asses in seats".

Kimbo Slice recently defeated fellow brawler Tank Abbott at EliteXC’s "Street Certified" event on February 16. Slice cut right through Abbott finishing him off with a punch that sent Tank face first into the canvas. The event was a sellout as 6,187 fans packed out the University of Miami’s BankUnited Center to see Kimbo Slice in action. According to the Florida State Boxing Commission Kimbo earned a salary of $175,000 for his 43 seconds of wrath.

The first event on CBS is set to take place either in Atlantic City, NJ or at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. Further details will be released as soon as the announcement is made.

ProElite has announced the acquisition of Icon Sport, Hawaii’s original and highly profitable MMA organization.

Gary Shaw, President of EliteXC, made the formal announcement today. This is electrifying news for the Mixed Martial Arts fans of Hawaii because Icon is about to be bigger and better than ever before.

“This is an exciting day for all of our organizations, but the biggest winners will be fans in Hawaii,’’ Shaw said. “In a short span of twelve months, EliteXC has already got the well-deserved reputation for staging sensational fights with the world’s top fighters.

With the acquisition of ICON Sport, ProElite and EliteXC continue to establish itself as the fast-growing, premier MMA organization in the world. I look forward to developing Hawaii as the next stronghold in MMA’ ProElite’s partnership will help secure ICON’s foothold in Hawaii’s dominance in MMA, as well as provide the resources needed to expand the company’s operations into an international fight brand.”

Icon is looking to establish itself as one of the sports top breeding grounds for the next wave of MMA greats. There mission is to provide a foundation that keeps the original spirit of mixed martial arts alive in their students. This is evident in their school which has been designed in feng shui to achieve harmony with the environment.

“From day one we have discovered the raw talent that make up Hawaiian MMA in Kaleo Kwan, Kala Kalohe Hose, Mark Oshiro, and Hawaiian trained EliteXC Lightweight Champion Kj Noons. ICON [formerly SuperBrawl] also began the career path for greats such as Frank Shamrock, Vitor Belfort, Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin, Tim Sylvia, Robbie Lawler, Mayhem Miller, Frank Trigg, Takanori Gomi” states Partner, TJ Thompson. “Hawaii grows warriors and will give rise to MMA’s future champions”.

ProElite, Inc. is an entertainment and media company that is dedicated to developing world class MMA events. ProElite delivers an exciting experience for the fan, providing live arena-based events, cable tv programming on Showtime and community driven interactive broadband entertainment online.

Icon Sport, originally called SuperBrawl, is an athlete management and sports marketing firm that specializes in the Olympic and Action Sports markets.

http://news.proelite.com/81813

More exciting MMA news is on it’s way faster than Silva can throw a punch!