From Sherdog.com:

Justin Eilers was shot and died shortly after on Friday morning in an apparent domestic disturbance at an acquaintance’s home in Canyon County, Idaho. Eilers was 30 years old.

Canyon County sheriffs arrived at the residence at 10:44 p.m. MST, where Eilers was found shot and wounded.

“Emergency medical staff took live-saving measures, but they were unsuccessful,” said Capt. Dana Maxfield.

Eilers was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy conducted Friday released the cause of death as a single gunshot wound to the chest. The bullet reportedly punctured Eilers’ lung before exiting his body, said Monte Cox, Eiler’s longtime manager.

Cox said Eilers had gathered with relatives for the holidays, but tensions escalated with an ex-girlfriend, also in attendance. Eilers was asked to leave the residence, but was said to have refused and began throwing dishes and other objects in protest. The home’s owner was then said to have pulled a gun on Eilers and shot him in the chest after a brief verbal confrontation.

Eilers’ ex-girlfriend, mother, and young son were said to have been in the room at the time of the shooting.

James Robert Malec, 48, was arrested and charged with second degree murder in relation with the shooting, said Capt. Maxfield. It is believed that Malec is Eilers’ mother’s boyfriend. Capt. Maxfield could not confirm this relationship or Eilers’ alleged interaction with the ex-girlfriend. Maxfield did confirm that numerous relatives were at the scene at the time of the shooting.

According to Wikipedia, Eilers had fought in several promotions, including the UFC and WEC. His most recent fight was a loss to Antonio Silva in a Heavyweight Championship match for EliteXC.

Eilers was a good friend of Jens Pulver and former middle linebacker at Iowa State University. Pulver urged Eilers to try mixed martial arts, and Eilers’ career eventually took off.

Eilers was planning on dropping down to 205 since his loss to Silva, according to the Sherdog article.

“He was really getting his fight career together,” his manger Cox told Sherdog.

If you guys and gals haven’t heard the newest podcast hotline interview, you should check it out.

This time, Ian and I were lucky enough to get former EliteXC Lightweight Champion KJ Noons on the show. He didn’t hold back when it came to his former employer.

For those of you who might not know much about EliteXC outside of Kimbo Slice, let me give you a little background. KJ won EliteXC’s Lightweight Championship in November 2007 with a victory over Nick Diaz. Some consider that win “controversial” because the fight was stopped due to Diaz having a massive cut over his eye. Considering Noons inflicted that cut, I don’t see it it as being very controversial.

Noons went on to defend his championship against Yves Edwards in Hawaii on June 14. Noons won the fight in front of his hometown crowd. During the celebration after the fight, Nick and Nate Diaz were brought into the cage, and caused a big scene:

EliteXC obviously wanted a Diaz/Noons rematch, but the negotiations fell through, and Noons was stripped of his title. He told his side of the story on the podcast. Here are a few quotes to whet your appetite:

On the Diaz brothers showing up in the cage after his fight against Yves Edwards:

“I mean I can understand how they want to build up for a next fight…it kind of took away from the fight and all the training I did to fight a top contender like Yves…it kind of shows you the type of company that EliteXC is. I mean, that’s why they’re under.”

On his negotiations with EliteXC for a rematch against Nick Diaz:

“The number one reason why it didn’t happen was because they wanted to pay me three times less money than the guy I beat the crap out of…I had defended my title successfully, and they wanted me to fight him, which I was perfectly fine with. It was built up, all the drama, behind-the-scenes…they wanted to pay me three times less money and I told them to go screw themselves.”

“If you’re gonna treat your champ like that, I don’t want to be your champ…”

“I wrote them a letter telling them I would give them the belt back, and in the return they don’t say anything about that and they strip me of the belt, acting like they are taking away from me…”

On a future fight with Nick Diaz:

“I think it would be a great fight…as long as it makes sense, if any promotion wants to do it, let’s make it happen, call me up…”

The time has finally come: tonight, we find out if Ken Shamrock Seth Petruzelli can defeat Kimbo Slice in the much-hyped main event of tonight’s EliteXC Heat event.

Remember, this card airs live at 9e/8c on CBS in the United States. Viewers outside the U.S. are plain out of luck.

Here’s tonight’s televised card:

• Heavweight bout: Kimbo Slice v. Ken Shamrock Seth Petruzelli
• Welterweight Title Bout: Paul Daley v. Jake Shields(c)
• Heavyweight bout: Andrei Arlovski v. Roy “Big Country” Nelson
• Women’s bout: Gina Carano v. Kelly Kobald
• Middleweight bout: Benji Radach v. Murilo “Ninja” Rua

If you’d like to listen to a great preview of this show, check out MMA Shoot Podcast #2.

At yesterday’s EliteXC: Heat weigh-ins, Gina Carano was again in danger of not making weight. She had to strip down to nothing just to get there, which made for a pretty funny scene.

No need for a podcast table of contents for MMA Shoot #2–on this edition, Ian joins me to preview Saturday’s EliteXC: Heat show that will air on CBS. The main event of that show features Kimbo Slice taking on Ken Shamrock in a highly-anticipated fight. Also on the card are Jake Shields v. Paul Daley for the Welterweight Title, Gina Carano v. Kelly Kobald, Andrei Arlovski v. Roy Nelson and Cristiane Cyborg v. Yoko Takahashi.

As a bonus for this show, don’t forget to check out the raw audio of the September 25 EliteXC conference call featuring Gina Carano, Kelly Kobald, Jake Shields and Paul Daley.

(more…)

Kimbo Slice week continues with Kimbo’s (short) fight against Tank Abbott in EliteXC.