From FiveOuncesofPain.com:

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned through multiple sources - all speaking on the condition of anonymity - that ProElite’s current management team is hard at work towards completing the sale of the company. Indications are that ProElite believes it could have an agreement in place prior to the Christmas holiday.

However, Trebilcock’s group is not considered the leading contender at this date. Sources will only go so far as to describe the top contender as a company with over a billion dollars in annual gross revenue that also is a recognizable name.

The story goes on to state that CBS & Showtime are open to working with a new buyer and have expressed a sincere interest in televising MMA in 2009. I for one have no problem with EliteXC continuing as long as the new ownership is sincere and will promote the right fighters rather than a side show circus. A lot of the fighters under contract to ProElite would remain under their banner and they would not be granted free agency.

From Free Fight Videos:

The UFC has paved the way for its first ever event in mainland Europe by completing a long awaited German TV deal. After a almost 5 year wait since its last appearance on German TV, the Ultimate Fighting Champion has finalized a deal with one of Germany’s biggest broadcasters. According to a report by the Spiegel (via Baz Online) starting from 2009 the UFC will air its popular reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter” on German broadcaster “Pro Sieben”.

ProSieben is the second biggest privately owned TV company in Germany and consistently of one the highest rating broadcasters on German TV. The channel is part of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG group one of Europe’s biggest media conglomerates.

It seems that the UFC will indeed be holding a show in Germany. It was previously believed that the UFC would be holding UFC 99 without having rights to air it on German television so this is a major step for the promotion.

From FiveOuncesofPain.com:

In a Nov. 19 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, ProElite indicated that the troubled company could possibly be close to receiving new funding from an outside source.

While ProElite opted to protect the identity of its potential investor, FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned from its sources that the so-called would-be mystery investor is the Art of War promotion, which had tried to specialize in promoting MMA arena shows in Dallas before cutting back due to financial losses.

Don't worry. I don't think we'll see EliteXC coming back from the dead. I think this is an attempt by Art of War to gain a broadcast deal with Showtime. But, it seems like there are way too many hoops to jump through for this to take place. In the end the fighters are the ones who are getting hurt by being kept in limbo. Fighters such as Jake Shields still are not able to negotiate with any other organizations until this mess is resolved.

From NewYorkTimes.com:

ESPN cannot ignore the deep recession’s impact on advertising. But its subscriber revenue gives it an extraordinary cushion. ESPN charges cable and satellite operators an average of $3.65 a month per subscriber, the most in television, according to SNL Kagan, a research organization. Multiply that by 98 million subscribers, over 12 months a year, and ESPN’s financial armor adds up to $4.3 billion.
...
Currently, it carries “Monday Night Football” (albeit without playoff games), the N.B.A., Major League Baseball, vast quantities of college football and basketball, a piece of all four tennis majors and a huge array of other sports. Earlier this month, it snared the rights to the British Open, taking what was on TNT and its sister network, ABC. Now after years of being shared by a broadcaster and a cable network, it is all on cable.

“Where’s the ceiling?” asked Kevin O’Malley, a former B.C.S. adviser and also a former Turner and CBS Sports executive. “They have so much sports inventory, they can make sponsors happy and generate real advertiser premiums.”
...
Broadcast networks regularly note that sports leagues and organizations like the I.O.C. risk losing viewers when a property moves to cable, simply because 114 million broadcast households can get broadcast TV and 98 million get ESPN. That gap is expected to narrow by February after the nationwide shift to digital from analog.

If you're interested in the business of sports media, this article is a must-read. The bottom line is that ESPN is already a very formidable player in sports media. The company isn't just a package of TV channels -- it's also a Web site, a magazine, and a radio network.

So, why is this relevant to MMA? It's relevant because of the glaring omission of any mention of ESPN looking to acquire rights to MMA programming. Especially given MMA's reputation as the "fastest-growing sport in America", one would have thought there might be something in the piece about live MMA matches being on the Worldwide Leader's networks.

The omission is notable but certainly not an indication that ESPN isn't actively trying to acquire rights for live MMA. And, when the day comes that MMA is on ESPN, it will be a truly banner moment for the sport. Bigger, quite frankly, than being on CBS.

From The Fight Network:

Mosley is promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and the company’s CEO, Richard Schaefer, is quoted as referring to the Mosley vs. Margarito matchup as a “done deal.”

Affliction’s PPV, titled “Day of Reckoning,” will be headlined by WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko defending his title vs. former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. In addition to competing with Margarito vs. Mosley on HBO, the event is likely to face competition from the UFC and Spike TV.

Affliction is sandwiched in between UFC 93 and UFC 94. I doubt very many people will buy three straight PPV's on consecutive weekends, especially with the UFC unable to show UFC 93 on Spike TV.

According to MMARated.com in an today interview with Jon Fitch, Fitch has come to an agreement with the UFC and Lorenzo Fertitta in particular, and will be back in action at UFC 94 against Akhiro Gono.

“Communication kind of broke down with Dana (White) so we talked with Lorenzo. (I) just got off the phone with him and we came to an agreement. We’re going to move ahead and I’ll be back in the UFC. We’re going to sign off on the video game and I’m back. It was never even about the agreement or the contract. It was the approach that we felt Dana was being a little bit hot-headed and was threatening us right off the bat. It didn’t seem like a professional way of doing things.”

Good to see that cooler heads prevailed and the two parties came to their senses. Fitch is a tremendously talented fighter and his skills belong in the UFC. No issue as irrelevant as some video game deal should keep a fighter of his caliber off of the UFC roster.

From Yahoo.com:

The outspoken UFC president said shortly after landing in Hawaii on Wednesday that he no longer wants to work with AKA fighters or those represented by DeWayne Zinkin and Bob Cook.

White said he excepted AKA welterweight Mike Swick from that group because he said Swick called him and told him he wants to fight for the UFC. But Fitch and heavyweight Christian Wellisch were cut on Wednesday, and heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez and welterweight Josh Koscheck could be next.

From TheFightNetwork.com:

According to a heated Fitch, heavyweight sensation Cain Velasquez and welterweight star Josh Koscheck will be next to go following their upcoming bouts. Koscheck, who is coming off a loss to Thiago Alves, will meet Yoshiyuki Yoshida in the main event of the "UFC Fights for the Troops" card on Dec. 10.

From Sherdog.com:

“They cut him [Christian Wellisch] from the organization first, I think as kind of a scare for me and [Josh] Koscheck and Cain [Velasquez],” said Fitch. “I guess Cain Velasquez wouldn’t sign under his contract and they we’re saying that after his fight he was done and they weren’t going to re-up his contract. I think the same thing goes for Koscheck. I think they would drop him right now too, if he wasn’t fighting on the 10th, if he wasn’t headlining that show –- so they can’t drop him.”

Note that Sherdog is now also claiming that as of Thursday afternoon Fitch and the UFC have re-opened negotations.

From FiveOuncesofPain.com's account of a Dana White radio interview:

“No, no, no. It has nothing to do with an agreement,” White corrected Carmichael when the host began to suggest Fitch was cut amidst reports he wouldn’t sign an agreement that would grant the UFC lifetime rights to his likeness for the purpose of making video games.

“It doesn’t have to do with Jon Fitch either,” continued White. “I like Jon Fitch. I’ve never had a bad word with Jon Fitch. The problem is with the idiots that run AKA. I won’t use any names; the idiots know who they are.”

White goes on to discuss today's economy and says that he is there to help everyone make money. Basically he is blaming everything on AKA. He is always looking for a scapegoat but this time I don't think he will be able to find one.

Fom MMAWeekly.com:

"This is like over the course of two days, three days," Fitch explained about the release. "It had to do with Dana (White) calling my managers and immediately saying, 'we need to get him to sign this contract' and 'it's a big favor to me.' Then we asked him, 'Why do you need this contract signed?'

"Then we finally asked, after reading through the contract, why can't we negotiate for different terms? Because it asked me for a lifetime contract for the video games, so they would have exclusive rights to use our likeness for these video games and we couldn't go and do any other video games ever again in our lifetime."

...

"So basically we said we weren't cool with that deal and why can't we do it for five or 10 years? Why does it have to be a lifetime deal? Their next response was, 'either you guys are in or you're out' and 'sign this or you're going to get dropped from the UFC,'" said Fitch. "So we hear that and we didn't even think they were serious. Why would you want to release fighters at our level over something like that? Doesn't make any sense.

"Within two phone calls, it got to 'sign this or you guys are out.'"

...

"This is seriously how they're trying to treat fighters? Especially me? " Fitch questioned. "I've never complained about them. I've always done my best for the UFC in a positive way. I've fought my ass off. I'm arguably the second best welterweight in the world. Yet they are still willing to release me, especially after my last fight?

Numerous reports indicate that the UFC has cut FightTicker.com #2-ranked welterweight Jon Fitch over exclusive video game image rights. More cuts may be on the way. Sound off Fight Ticker members.

UPDATE: Fitch has re-signed with the UFC thanks to Lorenzo Fertitta.