Cosmo Alexandre has been stripped of the It’s Showtime 77kg title, the promotion announced yesterday.  Alexandre has also been pulled from the December 18 card where he was scheduled to defend the title against L’houcine “Aussi” Ouzgni in the main event.  The title is now vacant, and Ouzgni will fight an opponent to be determined for the belt on December 18.  Alexandre had been the It’s Showtime champion for 8 months, defeating Dmitry Shakuta for the belt in March and defending it once against Csaba Gyorfy.  The new champion will be the third 77kg champ in company history.

The sudden break between Alexandre and It’s Showtime stems from Cosmo’s decision to take part in the King’s Cup in Thailand on December 5.  Here is It’s Showtime’s official statement:

The tournament for the King’s Cup is on December 5, only 13 days before [Alexandre’s] title defense. Since Cosmo let us know that he will still fight on December 5, we have no other option than to take his IT’S SHOWTIME 77kg Max belt from him, also because this is the second time within a short term that he is showing a very unprofessional attitude.

At IT’S SHOWTIME, we have a standard procedure that no fighter is allowed to fight within 5 weeks before our event, unless he has written permission. Cosmo didn’t and still hasn’t got permission. We don’t want to take the risk that our guests will be confronted with an injured fighter right before the event. There is nothing else for us to do than exclude Cosmo Alexandre from our events for the rest of his career.

This is not an unprecedented move from It’s Showtime.  Earlier this year they pulled Khalid Bourdif from their Amsterdam Arena show for this same reason, stating at that time that “We at IT’S SHOWTIME always agree that a fighter can’t/won’t fight at another event minimal 5 or 6 weeks prior to the ArenA event, this to prevent injuries. Exceptions will be made for K-1 fighters but this will always be discussed first, and put in a contract.”

Certainly there will be those who disagree with this move, but I do see It’s Showtime’s rationale.  In order to be considered a top level organization, you need to minimize the number of last minute cancellations, and risking a cancellation in the main event is obviously not a risk they were willing to take.  According to It’s Showtime, Alexandre and his camp were negligent in executing his contract, and the company is within their rights to penalize him for that.

But while I can understand the logic behind this, as a fan, I am gutted that this fight will not take place.  This was easily one of my most anticipated fights in a season full of big fights.  It’s been great seeing Cosmo really take a more prominent role this year in It’s Showtime, and Ouzgni has emerged as one of the top fighters at this weight in the world.  This could have been one of the fights of the year, and it’s a real shame it will not take place.

No word yet on who will replace Alexandre to fight for the now vacant belt.  The easiest bet would be Murthel Groenhart, who has some good wins in It’s Showtime, and is a teammate of Alexandre’s at Mike’s Gym.  Holzken is an option, but it does seem odd since he was so thoroughly destroyed by Ouzgni just recently.  Of course, they could use a revenge storyline to promote a Holzken rematch if they want.  Personally, I’d love to see Artur Kyshenko move up and try his hand at this weight, but I’n not betting on that happening here.

Source: HeadKickLegend.com by Fraser Coffeen on Nov 15, 2010 2:52 PM EST in It’s Showtime