I just came across an online article about the collapse of Elite XC that contained this particular gem:

MMA pundits had at it in pointing to the reasons Pro Elite went under, citing everything from pointless expenditures to spending money too fast to mismanagement. Investors' attitudes, however, still seem to be that MMA is on the rise. Dallas-based SUN Sports and Entertainment announced this week it has secured $5 million from a hedge fund to launch a new MMA promotion and website, with the parties involved saying they are "very confident that the sport is just starting to grow."

Wow. The seemingly never-ending procession of people with too much damn money and nowhere near enough brains shows no sign of ending. Instead of say, putting that five million behind an independent promoter like Jeff Osborne, who has proven over the past 15 years with his Hook n Shoot promotion that he KNOWS how to run a viable MMA company, these guys are going to do what everyone else before them did, and say "Well, I made a lot of money at this other thing, so I must know how to promote MMA". And just like the people who went before, this new group will undoubtedly (in Jeff's own words) "Make a small fortune...out of a much larger one".

The SPORT is not growing, only UFC is growing, and anyone with a brain bigger than their ego can plainly see that. Once again, the ONE GUY in North America who can come closest to guaranteeing sustainability in a large-scale MMA group is ignored and left to continue his success on the regional circuit, while the big money boys blunder around like a bunch of blind, deaf and retarded cripples. This is like passing up the opportunity to have your major league baseball team coached by a guy who has won 10 AAA championships in a row, only to fill the position yourself because you made a fortune selling auto parts.

I'm not even going to wish this new organization good luck. Instead, I'm just going to say right now that when their almost-inevitable ruin comes to pass, they will deserve every last bit of it for being so wilfully obtuse.