EliteXC Came Awfully Close to Fixing a Fight: Can I Get a Lil' Outrage?

I'd like to say that this interview with Seth Petruzelli shocked me. Sadly, it didn't. Fast forward to the 10:30 mark and you'll hear Petruzelli make the following comments regarding a very special request from his promoters ahead of his fight with Kimbo Slice:

"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, stand up and punch with him."

It's one thing to engage in matchmaking in order to build up a certain fighter. The UFC has done that with many guys, most notably Roger Huerta.

But to use money to try and influence what happens inside the cage crosses a whole new line. This absolutely stinks of the worst-smelling bullsh*t on the planet, and I'm just going to pray it's not true because it makes me question some other things I've seen during EliteXC fights.

You know, like that highly questionable standup in the Arlovski/Nelson fight.

Even the smallest hint of the possibility of fight-fixing puts a dark cloud over EliteXC's legitimate athletes just by association. Now I'll ask two obvious questions:

1) What the heck is the Florida State Boxing Commission going to do about it? Because shady business practices like this make MMA look a lot like professional wrestling.

2) Is CBS willing to continue working with EliteXC after this weekend's debacle?

Props to Fightlinker.com for the audio link.