Well, this sounds like a fixed fight to me. This is MMA, where a fight can end on the ground OR standing. Paying someone a KO bonus before the fight starts implies you want them to stand and trade, not take it to the ground, i.e., giving Kimbo a chance to get the KO on Seth and thereby preserving his status as EliteXC golden boy.

from mmafanhouse on aol.com:
Today I asked EliteXC head of fight operations Jeremy Lappen what that does for EliteXC's credibility. Lappen told me he believes the media is focusing on something that's "not a story."

"I don't know what it does for our credibility," Lappen said. "I think it's an unfortunate situation. I think it's not appropriate for the media to say things like that when there's not a story. We didn't manipulate the fight. How somebody could think Kimbo Slice threw the fight, it's ridiculous. We should be getting credit, Kimbo should be getting credit and Petruzelli should be getting credit for putting on the fight after Ken Shamrock pulled out at the last minute. I think most organizations and most fighters in Kimbo's situation would have just said, 'Sorry, but we're just going to cancel the event.'"

Regarding the controversy over whether EliteXC paid Petruzelli a bonus (or, as some would call it, a bribe) to keep the fight on his feet, I pointed out to Lappen that he had seemed to contradict himself about what, exactly, EliteXC offered Petruzelli.

Lappen was quoted by Sports Illustrated as saying that EliteXC does not give submission bonuses, while he was quoted by ESPN as saying that Petruzelli was offered a submission bonus. Lappen said both stories misquoted him.

"They're both wrong," Lappen said. "We have given submission bonuses in the past but they're not as common as knockout bonuses. If the question is, 'Have we ever given submission bonuses?' The answer is yes. But we give knockout bonuses more often. We gave Seth a knockout bonus before the fight started. That was part of the deal."