What now for Gina Carano?

As you're probably already aware, EliteXC closed yesterday when CBS declined to bail them out. EliteXC had already lost $50M. The money wasn't the issue for Viacom or the company would have closed months ago. But the controversy surrounding the Kimbo Slice/Seth Petruzelli fight was just too much for them. So I'm going to look at where Gina Carano might land because she probably has the most value of any EliteXC fighter. So she's going to land somewhere. But the big question is about CBS's interest in MMA. Could they partner with Affliction? It doesn't seem likely because Affliction has their own financial problems and cancelled a recent proposed PPV and are partnering with the Golden Boy boxing promotion. They just seem iffy to me. UFC on CBS? Also unlikely because UFC won't give up control of the broadcast. That's a deal breaker for all the networks. The more likely scenario is that CBS through Showtime buys the EliteXC assets at a bargain basement price and simply launches a new promotion. Remember Showtime is the #1 secured creditor so they have first shot at EliteXC assets. But that depends on CBS's interest in MMA and they haven't said anything yet.





So if CBS gets into the MMA business, that is where Gina Carano will land because she's under contract. What else is there? Could Affliction pick her up? I suppose but they haven't shown any interest in women's MMA in the past so it seems doubtful. What about UFC? We all know that Dana White dislikes women's MMA but is he obstinate enough to leave Gina Carano on the table? I've always said that he should hire someone like Jeff Osborne to run a women's MMA company and stay out of it. Alternatively, he could put women's matches on WEC shows. I have my doubts about either scenario though it makes sense if we're talking about someone who is reasonable. Here's a third possibilty that I'll just throw out there. Gina trains with Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and they've put on a couple of shows. They already have TV with Mark Cuban's HDNet. Certainly Cuban has the money and needs the programming for his own network and a network like CBS can trust him. Do Kim & Randy Couture want to go national? Gina Carano is a proven TV ratings draw. Someone somewhere will invest in her. Paging George Gillett or John Henry. Why not? They got into NASCAR, didn't they? That's crazier than MMA.