Showtime forms circuit for fighting

Showtime announced Monday the creation of a new circuit of mixed martial arts fighting that the cable network will begin televising early next year in competition against the established Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Veteran boxing promoter Gary Shaw will serve as president of the live event division of Pro Elite Inc., which will assemble the first Showtime card Feb. 10 at a site to be determined.

“UFC has done a wonderful job of branding -- they’re the Scotch tape of mixed martial arts -- but it’s my job now to show there’s a competing brand,” Shaw said.

Shaw, the former chief operating officer of boxing’s Main Events who promoted fights for former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and Pomona’s Shane Mosley, said Showtime would televise up to five of eight bouts scheduled for the February event.

Shaw’s shift to mixed martial arts follows the UFC hiring this year of another notable boxing figure, Marc Ratner, the former executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission.

“I’ve watched UFC grow, and my son, who’s 26 and fits its demographic, is an avid fan,” Shaw said. “I wasn’t sure this thing was real, but I kept watching it explode, to the point people would tell me, ‘Boxing’s OK, but UFC is amazing.’

“When I saw 700,000 in pay-per-view buys, they got my attention even more quickly.”

Shaw said he would recruit professional boxers to mixed martial arts and also strived to “do a better job of explaining the combatants, their skills, the years of work that went into their discipline.”

Showtime officials say their events will feature world-class athletes engaging in “caged and traditional” rings, using the same hand-to-hand combat disciplines featured in UFC’s Octagon -- judo, jiu-jitsu, karate, wrestling and kick-boxing.

Shaw said he would not interfere with current contracts UFC fighters have signed but added “the game is now open.”

UFC President Dana White said Showtime’s involvement in mixed martial arts is “funny.”

“I talked to Showtime five years ago and they hated it,” White said. “It’s always driven me crazy how people in the TV business are so unoriginal, and when something is hot they all try to jump in.... Based on UFC’s success, get ready for a million more washed-up boxing promoters and unoriginal TV networks to try and jump on board.”

lance.pugmire@latimes.com