EliteXC Conference Call Coverage: Gina Carano, Kaitlin Young and Gary Shaw

Posted by Randy Harrison on 05.13.2008

Lots of discussion leading up to the huge May 31st CBS show, with Kaitlin Young, promoter Gary Shaw, and the face of women's MMA, Gina Carano...

Elite XC/Gina Carano/Kaitlin Young Conference Call


Joined in progress with Gary Shaw talking about how this card is going to be a huge step forward for MMA and that they're going to be putting a women's fight on. He talks about how EliteXC has meant a lot to Gina and vice versa and he turns the call over to Gina.

Gina sounds rather happy to be on the line and says that she's extremely honored to be fighting on the CBS card and honored to be fighting Kaitlin in that it's one of the best fighters she's been put up against. She's a little disappointed about the AG ratings, but she's ready to get back to her passion that is fighting. She says that she's anxious to see how she'll perform with the crunch-time training with the AG taping.

Shaw says that EXC has always had confidence in women fighting in MMA and he says that they've believed in equality and that if women can fight in a war they can fight in MMA. He introduces Kaitlin Young and she says that she's honored as well and that it's a great stylistic match-up for her. She feels like her training is going well and that she's had a lot of notice for this fight so she's been able to train fully. She says that a lot of people don't realize how many great women fighters there are because of them not being focused on in the UFC and that they're able to use the EXC platform to show how talented women are. Shaw thanks the Showtime big-wigs and the CBS execs, saying that they're very grateful for the opportunity and he thanks some sponsors as well before opening it up for questions.

First question to Gina and Kaitlin and they say that the fight is going to be at 140 and Gina thinks that it's an awesome match-up and a great opponent so that it's going to push her to be the best. Gina is referring to the fact that she's a good fighter period, not just that they're both good stand-up fighters. Question to Kaitlin about how much notice she had for the fight and she says that she doesn't think that she had more notice than Gina but that she had heard rumors about it a while before and that she's been training hard since hearing those rumors.

Question for Gina about her preparation and if there's anything that concerns her and she says that she wishes she would have had the time to focus on the fight like Kaitlin but she chose to do AG and that she's concerned but she feels more mentally clear than she has been in a long time and that she's got a couple of weeks to sharpen everything up. Question about the amount of attention she's been getting and she says that she lives in her own world and doesn't really feel too overwhelmed and that she doesn't buy into the hype at all and that she's not surprised about the attention that females are getting now. They put on great fights all over the world and that it's awesome and well-deserved that they're finally getting the attention they deserve. She says that she keeps her head about her and that might be why people like her. She feels like if the fight goes the distance it could go either way but she's planning on it favoring her and she's expecting it to be a fairly equal match-up.

We're told that Gina is going to be fighting in the third match-up of the night and a question comes up about how she's going to catch up on being in fighting shape and honing her technique. She says that she's been fighting in a different way for the past nine months and that she's going to enjoy fighting instead of doing the press conference thing or the games in AG and she says that it's not as easy doing AG as it is fighting. GIna doesn't want to get too much into her gameplan since her opponent is on the line as well and they both laugh. Kaitlin is asked about her ground game and she says that she's done a couple of grappling tournaments in between fights to try to gain as much experience as she can while fighting people that are her size. She's gained some submissions and she feels really confident about her abilities on the ground and how they're growing.

Question to Gary Shaw about why he wanted to have a women's fight on the first CBS show and he says that he believes that there are women out there that deserve the chance because they're professional athletes and he gives the "if they can go to war" line again, saying that he has faith in Gina and faith in having women on the card. He feels proud of the matchmaking team and that they've been able to put together a lot of entertaining women's matches and that after the fights the next day that everyone will be writing about the great fight that these two women had.

Question for Kaitlin about what it means to her to fight on national television and she says that it's such an honor and that she feels an obligation to represent female fighters well. She feels much better on the ground and that it's not as natural as her stand-up but that she's working to become the same level on the ground as she does on her feet. She's excited to get to test her stand-up skills against Gina and that she hasn't seen much of Gina's ground game other than the Tonya Evinger fight. Kaitlin says that Gina is tough and athletic and that she can't give a sure-fire prediction on how the fight will turn out because they're just so closely matched.

Question to Gina about keeping focused on fighting and she says that she was supposed to go to New York on a promotional tour for AG and she turned it down to keep herself in training and getting herself mentally ready for the fight. She feels like she has a great life and that she's going to stay positive and keep balancing things to do as much as she can. She feels like she's approaching it as just another fight and that once it's in the cage it's just a fight. She says that her and Kaitlin have the same number of fights and that they can only do what they can do and that if they're themselves and fight their own styles that the public will appreciate it and be drawn to it. She's happy that EliteXC took a chance on her the way they did and is appreciative of their support.

Question about Gina's problems with making weight in the past and she says that never has a fight not happened because she didn't make weight and she feels like she doesn't have anything to be ashamed of. She doesn't think it's going to be a problem for her for this fight and she feels strong and ready to go. She says that as her career goes on she's going to try to be a bit more professional and get down a little sooner. Question to Kaitlin about what a win over Gina would mean to her career and she says that either way it will be big for her but a win over someone with Gina's status would be huge. She feels like some of the women who have been in MMA for a long time aren't very happy with how things are now and she feels like the time for women just getting into the sport now is right. She explains that some of the other women are feeling like there aren't as many high-profile opportunities for them.

Gary Shaw says that they're continually scouting women's talent and that they will continue to put them on Showtime, CBS, etc, and that they've actually signed a couple of fighters in the past few weeks. He feels like he would like to have as many women on the roster that can fight as he can get. As long as they put on good fights and excite the fans, there won't be a limit to how many they sign up. Shaw says that they're talking about a women's title as well as a night that focuses on all women's fights and that it's something that would be a major milestone and good for the sport.

Question for Gina if she regrets the AG experience and she says that she doesn't and she focuses on the fact that she's going to get the chance to do something she loves to do. She says that she's living her dream and that she's excited to get in there and do it and she says that her next fight will definitely get all of her attention and that training for a fight is the best part about it for her in a way. She says that she'll see how it goes in this fight and go from there in the future. She says that taping for AG is done and that now she's just focusing on fighting. Question about her E:60 segment and she thinks that it's going to be a realistic piece and that she was herself and she spoke her mind on everything. She thinks that there are other female MMA fighters that are wondering why she's where she's at because they have been in it longer with better records and she thinks that maybe EliteXC saw something they could build on and she sympathizes with them. She thinks that there might be some of the other female fighters that were interviewed that might have that complaint.

Shaw jumps in and says that the article on ESPN's website was a bit of a hatchet job and he makes an allusion to his dogs using them for their "business". He didn't think it was journalism and he doesn't respect the piece at all. ESPN didn't understand why the piece came out and they talk about how Kimbo has been very accessible to ESPN and that if you meet Kimbo, it won't be the same person that the journalist wrote about. He says that if there are women fighters that don't like her, it's not fair to Gina because she didn't push anyone out of the way to get on the air, it was just that she was in the right place at the right time. He feels like the girls that have the negative things to say, if they're in the weight class, will have the chance to fight.

Question about whether DREAM has asked about possibly having Gina fight on one of their cards with the new agreement between the two companies and he says that he hasn't had any talks at length with them yet, but he hopes for the opportunity to be able to bring women to fight for them as well. A question to Gina about feeling pressure fighting in front of such a large audience and she feels like she's a shy person but that she's never nervous about fighting. She says that she likes to dance a little to relax before a fight and she prays to get herself feeling prepared for things and get some of her nerves out. She says that her dad is 100% supportive of her and she appreciates that support from him and she says that it threw him off a little when she decided to be a fighter and that he got behind it right away.

She feels like she has more confidence now than she had when she started out and that if she makes herself happy, other people will be insipired by that, rather than trying to make other people happy first. Question for Gary about where he will be when the fights are happening and he says he will be right there at cageside and will have goosebumps and rattled nerves through the beginning of the show but that once the first fight takes place, he'll be a little more relaxed. He feels the pressure about the health and welfare of the fighters first and foremost, and afterwards that everything in the arena and for the TV show goes off without a hitch. He says that personally he's not at ease until the show is over and that once it's over he won't go to a party or anything, he'll just go somewhere to relax and enjoy a moment of quiet. He says that the feeling afterwards is amazing, not just for the release of the pressure, but that the fighters are smiling and happy and that they are fighting for the time and that afterwards they'll hug each other.

Gary gets dropped from the call and there's a question for the fighters about the proelite.com experience and Kaitlin says that she checks it once every day or every couple of days and that she answers people's questions as much as possible. Gina says that she'll go on every couple weeks or so. They talk about how exciting it is to have some interaction with the fans and Gina says that she wishes that she had the time to respond more but she wants people to know that she does read them and she enjoys them all. Kaitlin talks about how there are some people you just have to start ignoring though because there are times where people will just end up going a little crazy and not getting responded to.

Talk turns to Kaitlin and her history, including her Hook N' Shoot tournament win and they want her to give a little background about herself. She says that she started Tae Kwon Do at 14 and that she started in Muay Thai and amateur kickboxing and then transitioned to MMA this past year. She's in school at the University of Minnesota for kinesiology and she they ask about her GPA and it's apparently around at 3.

Questions for Gary Shaw, first about when he might launch those women's titles and Gary says that the winner of this fight could be fighting for a women's title in the fall and that the number of titles will depend on how many legitimate weight classes they have in the women's division with 140 being the first. He says that they'll be looking to bring back either of these fighters around September. Shaw gets asked about the sponsors and that Rockstar and Burger King are the two biggest and that there are other sponsors lined up for the show as well.

Follow-up question for Gina about weight-cutting and that the theory is that weight cutting for women is different than it is for men. Question about whether she's working within a fifteen pound range and she feels like it will only be five or six pounds before she goes to New Jersey. She says that she somewhat enjoys the weight-cutting experience but gets dropped before she can finish the thought.

Question for Gary Shaw now about the public filings and the criticism of the numbers and how much EliteXC has spent along with the expectations for the company coming out of this show. Shaw admits that they're losing money and that most start-ups do and that it's about the staying power and whether they can have it or not. He says that all the fighters are happy with EliteXC and that they're taking fighters that people didn't know and they're turning them into stars. He says that they're the only company with a Showtime deal and CBS deal and that everyone will know who the fighters are on the CBS show and that they'll be instant stars. He admits that they're #2 behind the UFC but that they've grown in leaps and bounds in the sixteen months they've been in business and that they feel like they're finally catching up to the UFC and that the future is bright for ProElite and EliteXC.

Follow-up about if they might make a move to PPV and Shaw says that he puts shows on PPV when he feels like they're worthy of them and he doesn't believe in making people pay to see their fighters every single month. He says that they'll do a PPV when they feel like they have a fight that's worthy of it and that they won't do it until then. He feels like it's wrong and a rip-off to make people pay month in and month out.

A follow-up for Gary Shaw about the proelite.com networking and how it opens the door for people to talk about all MMA while the UFC keeps things a bit of a closed shop. Shaw feels like the better they build up MMA, the better it will be for the fighters and the fans. He says that he's not a believer in crushing everyone around you and instead wants to work to build MMA and that he hopes it could become an Olympic sport. He says it's not about the organization, it's about MMA. He says that he would love to put his belts up at risk against any other company belts and that they'll put any legitimate fighters on their shows, no matter where they fight.

Question to Kaitlin about her finals and she says that they're still coming up so she'll see how they turn out. Talk about her training facility and whether she's getting more wrestling training because it's a place where Sherk and Lesnar train as well and she says that Sherk has been helpful with her takedowns and takedown defense. Gary talks again about a PPV fight will happen when it's supposed to. He says that a good PPV fight does 200 or 300k but that the CBS fight could bring hundreds of millions of people. He says that he could name fighters in boxing and MMA that fought on PPV and that no one would know who they were. Shaw hopes that his fighters getting more exposure will allow them to be part of the rankings systems on the internet and that he's willing to put his fighters up against any of the fighters in the world and that they're not ranked just because they're not UFC fighters.

Queston to Gina about whether the AG show helps with her endurance and she says that what it helps with is getting her out in front of people and getting used to performing in front of people. She says that being around healthy and positive people helped a lot as well. She says that a lot of the AG's have trained here and there in Muay Thai or Jiu-Jitsu but that they'll mostly stick to the entertainment business.

A quick question for Gary about if there's any design to make them the third fight on the card and whether there was any resistance from CBS about having the women fight. Gary says there was no resistance and that he just put it where he thought the fight would fit in terms of entertainment value. He says that what MMA needs to do is to educate the fanbase about the discipline and the sporting value behind it because it didn't get its start as a real sport. Shaw says that he can't complain about networks like ESPN because they're giving a ton of coverage and that they're backed up with requests for interviews with their athletes. He feels like there is a lot of room for crossover as well and is excited about what CBS has brought to the table.

Shaw is asked about doing more than four shows on CBS and that he would love to do more and that if the fighters fight the way he thinks they will and the ratings do well that CBS would want to do more than four a year and that CBS has the option to open it up for more. Shaw gets asked about Affliciton and he says that perhaps they should have stayed in the clothing business and building their brands rather than trying to do fights that might be boring or uncompetitive. He says that it's not names that make fights, but the fighters themselves that make them. He talks about guys like Eddie Alvarez and then says that they'll do one or two fights and then be back in the clothing business. He says that the ban would end as soon as he gets an e-mail saying that they're back in the clothing business only.

Question to Shaw about the differences between boxing and MMA and he says that boxing is more of a sport while MMA is more of a lifestyle and that the fans are a much more rabid fanbase and are a lot more educated about the sport than the average boxing fan is about boxing. He says that in boxing, no one shows up until the main event, but in MMA people are there as soon as the doors open. Shaw is shocked that there are very few women in a boxing audience where in MMA there are a lot more women fans.

Shaw says that he and CBS are both expecting a certain number and that they expect to get that number. They plug the CBS media day coming up and an autograph session in Southern California and that CBS will be sending an announcement out on Monday morning about the annoucers for the first CBS show and that there will be a demonstration with a full cage.

Question for Kaitlin about her first high-profile fight and she says that it's exciting and that this is the first time she's fought someone that she has been able to see footage on and that it made her preperation feel a bit more complete. She feels confident that she could win the stand-up game, but that it's MMA and that she's not going to be surprised if this fight goes to the ground.

Question for Gina about whether her profile has gone up with all the publicity and she says that it has, but that she stll knows who she is and how far she's come and how far she has come in the sport. She says that a lot more people recognize her but that she's still the same person she was. A question about what her training normally would consist of and how AG affected it and she says that she usually likes to train for eight weeks before a fight but that in this instance it has been a lot less, but there will be no excuses come fight time. She says that she's keeping her mind clear.

Shaw gets asked about why the show was put on in New Jersey and Shaw says that he lived there and was a regulator on the NJSAC for years and that it's close to New York City, which will allow for a large fanbase, even from Connecticut or Pennsylvania as well. He says that going to the University of Miami campus and then coming back home to New Jersey was a sweepstakes for him. He says that tickets are going very well for sales and that there's going to be a full house in New Jersey on the 31st. He's asked about the Sumner Redstone comments and he feels like it was an off-the-cuff remark and that he can't be an MMA hater because he has a ton of UFC stuff on Spike, a channel also owned by Viacom. He says that you have to meet the fighters to get to know them and the sport before you make any generalizations.

Shaw has to head out but thanks the conference callers for the questions and he plugs the CBS media day again and plugs the CBS show again before leaving. Question for Gina about comparing AG and MMA and whether she has to tone down her aggression and physicality a little for the AG show. She says that the first season they seemed a little freaked out at having her be a part of it and that they would speak to her on the rules a lot more than everyone else it felt like. She says that she's used to being physical and that she viewed it more as fun and games and that she didn't have any problems holding back beacuse it's a completely different mentality.

Follow-up about whether she'll have to switch on a different part of her brain for fighting as opposed to AG and she says that it is and that it has to go back to Gina being a fighter and that she's come back to the fight world and that it's exactly how she left it. She feels like it's lightened her load and she can come back refreshed and that the time away helped her realize how much she loves MMA. She's hoping to get a fight in before the end of the year, win or lose. Another reminder that there will be another conference call featuring Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith.

Last question for Gina and they're taking about Laila Ali and whether there has been any dicussions with Ali about their respective places in their sports. There has been and she says that she was having some second thoughts about it and that she wanted to be taken seriously as a fighter and that Ali said that she has to be herself no matter what people think or say. She says that people like watching her right now, but that it could change at any time.

There are closing comments and thank you's from everyone on the call and that's it for everyone and the end of the conference call.