Candid Scott Smith Talk

Scott Smith talks to MMAMania.com about the demise of EliteXC, and his experiences with the company. A few choice quotes:

“When I saw Kimbo lose (to Seth Petruzelli) I thought oh this isn’t good for EliteXC, they’ve got all their eggs in one basket. Then when I saw the controversy I knew it was just a matter of time at that point. We were kind of hoping for the November card just to get one last payday but everybody knew it was inevitable, it was just a matter of when.”

“I’ve been in camp for over eight weeks and I’ve been pushing myself hard. It’s one thing if [it happens] two months out from a fight, but two weeks? It’s devastating. Even if I lost, worst case scenario, (including sponsorship money) I would still be out close to $40,000."

“Jeremy Lappen actually called me last night. He was very professional, very nice. He apologized for having to cancel the card and I kind of felt bad for the guy, that’s a tough phone call to make. (Lappen) said they even offered for upper management not to get a paycheck for this fight to try to make (the November card) happen. I consider Jeremy a friend and I really appreciated that phone call, it was very professional of him.”

And my favorite:

“The hard thing is I just don’t know what’s going to happen. All I can do is keep training. And if I’ve ever said anything bad about Strikeforce or the UFC or Affliction, I take it all back. I love all those guys!”