ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series 10/10/08 Re-Cap

ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series 10/10/08

Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros are the announcers. There are 5 fights tonight. The bigger names on the card are Jason Guida, Dave Herman and Kerry Schall.

Lightweight Fight- Rafaello Oliveira (5-0) vs. Lyle Beerbohm (7-0)

Beerbohm’s nickname is “fancy pants.” Beerbohm has only been training for 19 months. He’s from Spokane, Washington and he had is first fight after training for only one week. Beerbohm is wearing some seriously hideous tights that are very colorful and apparently made by his mother, hence the fancy pants nickname. These would make Shinya Aoki blush. This is Oliveira’s first fight on the mainland, he has one in Hawaii. Both of these fighters are undefeated. Oliveira has a 4” reach advantage. Oliveira is a Jiu Jitsu practitioner and Beerbohm is more versed in submission wrestling. Apparently Beerbohm has already called out Nick Diaz (who has a Lightweight title fight coming up against Eddie Alvarez to fill the vacant Elite XC Lightweight title on Nov 8th).

R1- Oliveira immediately gets a take down after a couple of leg kicks and then takes Beerbohm’s back and drills him with some punches. Oliveira dominates the first minute of action. Beerbohm gets caught in an attempted triangle after he rolled to the top. Oliveira hitting some elbows and has opened up a cut on Beerbohm and then Oliveira attempted a kimura but lost it. Beerbohm gets a brief guillotine but Oliveira gets command again and is looking very smooth. They stand in a clinch and Oliveira with a knee. The separate and Beerbohm charges and gets a clinch and then gets a freaking FIREMAN’S CARRY. Beerbohm gets caught in an arm bar but rolls out of it. They clinch against the cage and Beerbohm gets a slam and is in Oliveira’s full guard. Beerbohm hits one big elbow and Oliveira is bleeding heavily. Beerbohm hits a couple of more strikes. Very good and close round as Oliveira won the first half and Beerbohm won the last minute. Oliveira is in danger of having this fight stopped due to his cut. He walks out of the cage at one point during the intermission. It’s a large cut, Quadros says you “can put a quarter in it.” And the fight is stopped due to the cut. Really good first round and would like to see these two guys fight again as I think Oliveira is the better fighter, he just got caught with that one big elbow that cut him open.

Post-match Beerbohm thanks his mom for making his shorts and then calls out the winner of Diaz/Alvarez. Says he will beat up either of the two. I’m not sure if “fancy pants” has ever seen Alvarez fight.

Winner: Lyle Beerbohm by TKO (Doctor Stoppage/Cut) R1

Middleweight Fight- Alexander Shlemenko (29-5) vs. Bubba McDaniel (12-4)

This is Alexander’s US debut and his first fight against an American fighter. Alexander is a Muay Thai and Sambo fighter from Russia. Mauro says that Alexander is from the Siberian city of Omsk . He says that according to stats- 50% of the youth in this city are either in prison, hooked on drugs or dead by the age of 21. Alexander is only 24 years old but has 34 professional fights. Bubba McDaniel has 12 victories, 10 of them have been won via tap out. He is the reigning Icon Sport Middleweight Champion. Bubba has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage.

R1- Bubba goes for an immediate take down and Alexander grabs the cage to stop it and gets a warning. Bubba takes him down but Alexander has an arm. Bubba hitting Alexander on the side and then they stand and Bubba is holding his back and wrestles him back to the ground but then they stand back up. Bubba gets a take down against the cage but Alexander gets back to his feet. Lots of clinching and up and down without either guy getting in anything of substantial damage. Bubba moves from north/south to side control to taking Alexander’s back. Bubba hitting him with shots and then mounts and gets some Ground and Pound. Bubba is controlling this round and starting to dominate. Bubba goes for a choke but Alexander is keeping his chin down. Alexander got back up and right at the bell he nailed Bubba with a huge knee and Bubba buckled to the floor. Alexander looked to the ref for a stoppage but it looks like Bubba may have been saved by the bell. The ref says it was a groin shot and that he is not stopping the fight. Bubba is saying that his ribs are hurting and he is lying on the ground in pain. Now they are saying that it’s not his groin and that it’s his ribs and Bubba can’t answer the bell and this one is over as Bubba can’t answer the bell. What a shot by Alexander right before the bell to win the fight in a round where he got controlled. He hit the flying knee right under his heart.

Winner: Alexander Shlemenko by TKO (Flying Knee) R1

Two really good, fun fights to start off this show. Both have been stopped between the first and second rounds. Bubba is still down and they have to help him to his feet.

Robbie Lawler is at the fights and he is interviewed by Stephen Quadros. They talk about his re-match with Joey Villasenor (Lawler won the first fight).

Welterweight Fight- Anthony Lapsley (13-3) vs. Mike Stumpf (10-1)

Stumpf has a 4 fight winning streak and is a wrestler. Lapsley is known as “The Recipe.” Lapsley is a wrestler and a boxer. He is the King of the Cage Welterweight Champion. Stumpf weighed in at 172.5 pounds but Lapsley choose to fight anyway. Lapsley has a 3” reach advantage. Stumpf is only 22 years old. Lapsley is 13-3 with 10 Submissions.

R1- Lapsley comes out throwing punches but doesn’t hit. They clinch and exchange knees. They are in an active clinch against the cage. Stumpf got a take down and is in half guard. The fight gets back to the feet and Lapsley lands a nice kick to the upper body but Stumpf grabbed a single leg take down but Lapsley takes half guard on top of Stumpf. Lapsley lands a strike or two. Lapsley lands a couple of nice shots and then an elbow to the jaw. Lapsley with hammer fists but Stumpf grabs full guard and tries to protect with one and a half minutes left in round one. Lapsley lands some strikes and goes for an arm triangle but Stumpf slips out. Lapsley with elbows and punches until Stumpf covers up. Lapsley wins Round One 10-9 and looked like he was on the verge of finishing Stumpf at times.

R2- First minute of the round is a stalemate. Lapsley hits a flying knee and then gets a single leg take down. Not a whole lot going on in this round buy Lapsley is maintaining control of the round. Lapsley is throwing some wild punches and lands one. Stumpf pulls guard and grabs a kimura. Stumpf then moves to full mount with about a minute left in the round. Stumpf basically does nothing and then gets rolled over by Lapsley. Very ho hum round after a very good first round. I have to give this round to Lapsley as he controlled the majority of it but not as convincing a round as the first. Lapsley up 20-18 on my score card.

R3- Lapsley lands a kick and a punch to start the round and then they clinch. Pretty much the same way that the other two rounds have started. Lapsley gets a take down. Not a real exciting round. This one is much like round two with Lapsley winning the round by controlling Stumpf with wrestling. Lapsley is going to win this fight 30-27.

Judges score cards say: 29-29 (WHAT fight was this judge watching?), 30-27, and 30-27. Winner by majority decision is Lapsley.

Winner: Anthony Lapsley by Decision (Majority)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Mamed Khalidov (17-3-1) vs. Jason Guida (17-17)

Khalidov is yet another fighter making his North American debut. Guida says he’s going to knock this guy out. Jason’s brother UFC fighter Clay Guida is in his corner. The announcers reference Guida’s appearance on TUF where he failed to make weight before the qualifying fights. Clay slaps him around a little bit before he gets in the cage. Mamed is from Poland. Both guys have a wrestling background. Mamed usually competes at middleweight so he is a little undersized in this fight. Mamed is undefeated in his last 12 fights. Guida claims that he is 25-17 (instead of 17-17) but Mauro says that they were unable to confirm this statistic.

R1- Guida comes right at Mamed and hits a punch and then bulrushes him. Mamed tries a rolling knee bar and is going after Guida’s legs. Guida goes for a heel hook of his own. Very exciting first minute. Guida takes his guard but Mamed goes for an arm bar but Guida escapes. Guida went for a roundhouse upkick but missed. Guida has a cut on the top of his head. Mamed catches Guida with an up kick that knocks him off guard and then gets warned about strikes to the back of Guida’s noggin. They are in the clinch and Mamed hits a punch and knee to the gut. Guida gets a take down. Mamed has used an active guard throughout the first round. This is a tough round to judge. Guida controlled the cage much more but Mamed did more damage and had more submission attempts and was very active when in a defensive position. Mamed 10-9 on my score card after one. Good first round. Guida looked really tired at the end of the first round, must have been all that weight cutting.

R2- Mamed with a good counter punch to start the round. Guida answers with a good kick that countered one by Mamed. Mamed hit a spinning heel kick that was blocked but looked great. Mamed with a combo and now he’s coming on as Guida looks winded. Mamed with a spinning back fist. Guida finally clinches to slow down Mamed’s combo’s but Mamed hits some strikes and then gets a take down. Guida with very little offense so far this round through two minutes. Guida eats a couple of punches against the cage and covers up and eats two good punches from Mamed. Mamed taking it to Guida and Guida goes for a take down and Mamed sprawls. Guida is on his knees and Mamed levels him with a punch. Guida dives at the leg and is holding onto it trying to recover. Mamed with some elbows that are close to the back of the head. Guida loses his mouthpiece and the ref stops the fight to put it back in but he can’t find it and Guida is getting a ton of time to recover here as he is down on his knees sucking wind. They can’t find Guida’s mouthpiece and they tell him he has to use another one and Guida knocks it away. They find the mouthpiece after the ref says that he is going to DQ him and then Guida throws it out to get it cleaned. Guida is stalling here and it’s just painfully obvious. This is ridiculous. Mamed with a left hand and now he is opening up on Guida against the cage and Guida is standing taking a beating and the ref steps in and stops the fight and Guida pushes the ref and then leans on him.

Man, Jason Guida just with a horrible performance here. First he totally gasses. Then he plays stalling tactics with his mouthpiece and then he pushes the ref. He totally got outclassed here by Mamed. Guida needs to go back to the minors where he belongs. He is the total opposite type of fighter than his brother is. Mamed on the other hand looked really good. I would definitely like to see him fight again as he picked Guida apart once he gassed.

Winner: Mamed Khalidov by TKO (strikes) R2 4:53


Heavyweight Fight- Dave Herman (11-0) vs. Kerry Schall (22-10)

Schall’s nickname is “Meat Truck.” They briefly discuss Schall’s loss to Fedor early in Fedor’s career. Herman’s nickname is “Pee Wee” and he’s undefeated. He was impressive in his victory over Ron Waterman. He trains by himself at his house. Says he doesn’t really have a strategy, just kind of goes with the flow and sees what happens. Both guys are wrestlers. Schall has an 18 pound weight advantage, Herman with a 2” reach advantage. Schall has 17 submissions out of his 22 victories. Herman has 8 KOs in his 11 wins. He has no decision wins (the other 3 were by submission).

R1- Herman landing some front kicks early. Herman with some knees and Schall hits Herman hard when he came in for one of them but Herman grabs Schall into a Muay Thai clinch and hits knees to the body. Schall goes down and Herman destroys Schall on the ground and this one is over.

Winner: Dave Herman by TKO (strikes) R1 1:05

Good show. Check it out if you get the opportunity.

Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 10/4/08 Re-Cap

Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 10/4/08

They start off the show announcing that Ken Shamrock has sustained a cut and had to get stitches right above his eye and he will not be able to fight Kimbo Slice tonight. Seth Pettruzelli of UFC and TUF fame will take his place. Gus Johnson interviews Shamrock and then they speak ringside to the doctor that made the decision to not allow him to fight.

Card for tonight is:

-Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson vs. Seth Petruzelli
-Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley
-Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson
-Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald
-Benji Radach vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua

Looks like a pretty decent card as we’ve got some pretty decent fighters like Shields, Arlovski and Rua to watch tonight. They talk about the Elite XC/Affliction relationship, which is the reason for the Arlovski/Nelson fight and they also talk about Fedor. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos is on the under card and rumor has it that we will get highlights of that fight on tonight’s show time permitting. Edson Berto is also on the under card. I wish they would have done a pre-CBS Showtime card so I could see his fight. He doesn’t have the best record but he’s real fun to watch.

The announcers tonight, as usual, are Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock. Gus is great. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer. They are running the show in Florida so Kimbo should draw in a good crowd tonight.

Middleweight Fight- Ninja Rua (16-8-1) vs. Benji Radach (18-4)

Radach has 14 knockouts in his 18 wins. Rua was the Middleweight Champ for Elite XC before dropping the belt to Robbie Lawler.

R1- Radach lands some shots early and then gets Ninja down on his knees and looked like he had a chance to put him away. Ninja gets back to his feet and pushes forward and shoves Benji down. Radach lands a big punch and follows with another lesser punch. Radach is a free swinger and he’s taking it to Ninja early. Ninja landed a shot but then came in unprotected and Benji knocked him back against the cage. Ninja is hurt. Benji is hitting him up against the cage. Both guys went down at the same time, I think Benji hit Ninja with a punch but then slipped. Benji tries to take Ninja’s back but Ninja instead gets the advantage and lands a couple of shots and then they go back to their feet and they are clinched. Ninja is getting some of his bearings back but is face is beaten up pretty good. Ninja with a knee and follows with a punch. Benji takes Ninja down but Ninja grabs an arm but then releases it. Ninja is active on the bottom as Benji is in his guard, but it’s a loose guard. Ninja goes for a heel hook. Benji spins out and regains a dominant position. Ninja grabs a guillotine but Benji again gets out. Ninja grabs a heel hook but Benji fights out. Ninja now has Benji up against the cage. Ninja ends the round in a dominant position. Really good first round and a great way for Elite XC to come out swinging on this show. Radach takes the first round 10-9 but Ninja regained his barring and made the fight close towards the end of the round as he had a bunch of submission attempts.

R2- Ninja comes out as the aggressor in this round and hits a couple of knees. Ninja walking down Benji and in control but comes in and eats a big straight right hand that rocks him but he remains on his feet. Ninja clinches against the cage but Benji denies the take down. Benji caught Ninja with a punch as he was coming in and Ninja slipped going for a knee and Benji immediately hit Ninja right square in the face several times and the fight is stopped.

Great fight for Benji. Ninja showed a pretty good chin as he took a bunch of strong shots but he just had really poor defense tonight and Benji picked his shots well and gets a really good victory for him and puts him in line for a shot at Middleweight Champ Robbie Lawler.

Winner: Benji Radach by TKO R2 2:31

Karyn Bryant interviews Gina Carano. They discuss her issues making weight for the fight.

Woman’s 140lb Fight- Gina Carano (6-0) vs. Kelly Kobald (16-2-1)

They show Cyborg watching at ringside and say that she won her fight earlier and they put her over. These will be 3 minute rounds.

R1- Carano lands a good shot right at the beginning. Kobald goes for a take down, the announcers say that Kobold doesn’t want to stand up with Carano. They battle against the cage for a while with Kobold trying to get the take down. Carano gets out and lands some shots. Kobold swinging wildly in defense. Carano landing better punches and landing knees. Kobold goes for another take down and they clinch against the cage. Shamrock notes that Kobold’s nose is busted open and they unclinch and you can see it now. They both swing at each other to close the round. Carano takes this round 10-9.

R2- Carano hits a good punch early and clinches Kobald but Kobald holds on. Kobald goes for another take down. Kobald lands a good punch but Carano answers. Kobald goes for another take down but is denied again. Carano is hitting some shots now and is starting to pick Kobald apart. Kobald finally gets a take down at the end of the round and lands a couple of shots. This was a much closer round but I’m not sure that I would give it to Kobald as I had Carano winning it pretty well up until the take down with 10 seconds left. I’ve got Carano 20-18.

R3- Kobald comes right across the ring at Carano trying for another take down. Gina still defending the take down after a full minute gone in the round. Ref separates them and Carano starts getting some nice strikes in on Kobald. Kobald clinches again going for a take down. Gina with a knee and another in defense. One minute left in the fight. Gina has Kobald in a Rear Naked from the side and gets a take down but can’t get the submission. They are back to their feet as Carano lost the move when they went to the ground. Carano with some strikes and a front kick. Kobald is exhausted at this point and Carano is just picking her apart. Carano takes this round and will win by decision. I’ve got it 30-27, but I could see a 29-28. They show Cyborg ringside again and are hyping a fight between her and Carano. Carano landed 62 strikes to Kobold’s 28 during the fight.

Judges scores are: 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27.

Winner: Gina Carano by Decision (Unanimous)

Gus is in the ring and interviews Gina. Gus brings up Cyborg and asks if she’s is Gina’s next opponent. Gina says that she will fight whoever they put in front of her and puts Cyborg over.

Heavyweight Fight- Andrei Arlovski (13-5) vs. Roy Nelson (13-2)

This fight is brought to us by Affliction. Nelson is on a 5 fight win streak and he has finished all of those fights. Nelson has one of the worst physiques that you will see on an MMA fighter. Andrei has a 4 inch height advantage and “Big Country” Nelson has a 22 lb weight advantage. Nelson is a former IFL Heavyweight Champion. Andrei is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Arlovski gets a good reaction from the crowd. Tito Ortiz is shown ringside and they say that it is rumored that he could be a part of Elite XC in the future. Mauro says that he is having back surgery and will be back in action next year. Mauro says that he bets Frank would like to see Tito as a part of Elite XC and Frank answers that it “would give me something to do with my fists.”

R1- Arlovski starts off with some low kicks and Nelson clinches. Andrei takes him down but Nelson rolls over and is on top of Andrei. Nelson passes quickly into side control. Nelson going for an arm submission but gives it up. Nelson moves to the north/south position but Andrei bucks out of it. Nelson gets back into half guard and then moves to side control again and has an arm. The ref brings them back to their feet. Big Country clinches against the cage again. Arlovski lands a good knee. The ref separates them again. Arlovski gets some shots in on Nelson. Nelson clinches again. The first round goes to Nelson as he controlled the round early on the ground. As the round went on it seemed like Nelson grew tired and it allowed Arlovski to stand and get some good strikes in. Nelson 10-9 after one round.

At the end of the round Karyn Bryant interviews Tito Ortiz ringside. Tito says he’s still a Free Agent but says he’s about a week away from signing a deal. Tito says that he would be interested in a fight with Frank Shamrock.

R2- Nelson hits a shot early and it wobbles Arlovski but instead of following up he clinches Arlovski against the cage. Arlovski hits a knee on Nelson. Arlovski hits a left hand and then a right and then a kick. Great combination by Andrei. Andrei has a clinch and lands some knees and punches. Andrei with a leg kick and then some jabs and then just destroys Nelson with a big left hand and this one is over. Nelson got tired and Andrei just owned this round.

Winner: Andrei Arlovski by KO R2

Welterweight Title Fight- Jake Shields © (21-4-1) vs. Paul Daley (18-6-2)

Shields has a 3” height advantage but Daley has a 2.5” reach advantage. Daley is the Cage Rage Welterweight Champion. Shields has won 10 straight fights.

R1- Shields pushes early. Daley hits a nice strike as Shields attempts a take down. Daley sprawls out of it nicely. Shields goes for a take down and gets it with about three and a half minutes left. Shields passes guard and gets full mount. Shields landing some strikes. Shields continuing with some Ground and Pound and it seems to be growing in velocity and he starts to hit some elbows. Shields moves back to side control and gets full mount again and lands some Ground and Pound strikes. Shields is just controlling Daley right now. Shields goes for an arm bar but can’t get it so he regains full mount and goes for it again but Daley flips him over and is now in Shields guard and Daley hits a couple of nice shots. Round one goes to Shields 10-9, Daley needs to keep the fight standing up if he wants to win.

Karyn is backstage with Kimbo Slice. Kimbo’s answers are real short and he looks like he’s ready to get down to business.

R2- Daley pushes Shields early and Shields goes for a take down but Daley sprawls. Shields goes for another take down and goes for a heel hook but Daley gets out of it. Shields take down is stuffed again. Shields finally gets a take down and is immediately in full mount. Shields is getting in some light Ground and Pound. Shields with elbows and Daley smiles at him but can’t get out from under Shields. Shields moves to side control and then back to mount and goes for an arm bar and Daley has to tap out.

This was a tough fight for Shields as Daley was clearly better on stand up. Shields definitely showed some weaknesses tonight but still won the fight.

Winner and still champion: Jake Shields by Submission (Arm Bar) R2 3:47

Gus interviews Jake in the ring after the fight. Shields says that he’s up for whatever Elite XC has for him and suggests moving up in weight to take on Robbie Lawler.

They show highlights of the Cyborg/Takahashi fight after the break. Cyborg won by Unanimous Decision. Gina is shown ringside. They hype up a Cyborg/Carano fight but don’t announce it as official.

Heavyweight Fight- Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (3-0) vs. Seth Petruzelli (10-4)

Kimbo is backstage getting hyped up. Bas Rutten is by his side. The announcers put over Kimbo for taking this fight tonight after Shamrock could not go. Kimbo has the physical advantage in this fight. He’s 2 inches taller, 29 pounds heavier and has a 4 inch reach advantage. Hulk Hogan is shown at ringside with a large breasted blonde woman.

R1- Kimbo just got destroyed in about 20 seconds by Seth! Wow. That was an amazing performance by Seth. I think Elite XC just folded before our very own eyes here on National Television. Man, I can just see Dana White smiling at this.

Seth hit a quick jab and possibly a front kick and Kimbo was down on his knees and Seth just kept pounding him until the ref stepped in.

Gus interviews Seth and Kimbo post match. Seth is very gracious in victory. Kimbo doesn’t shy away and still gets on the mic but then kind of walks away before Gus can ask him what is next for him.

Winner: Seth Petruzelli by TKO (strikes) R1 0:14

Good night of fights and a shocking Main Event. Great TV, but it’s got to be the worst thing to happen for Elite XC from a business perspective because Kimbo was their meal ticket into the mainstream.

ShoXC Elite Challengers Series 9/26 Re-Cap

ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series

Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros will be doing the announcing tonight.

Welterweight Fight- Erik Apple vs Matt Makowski (3-0)

Apple has not fought in the last year and a half, Makowski’s last victory was against Nick Serra. Makowski spent the last three weeks with Greg Jackson training.

R1- Apple came out quick but Matt caught him and took him down but Apple flipped him over and is in Matt’s guard. Matt has an active guard as he went for some submissions but Apple denied him. Apple went for a kimura but Matt slipped out. Apple is really dominating the positioning so far but hasn’t landed a lot of damage. Apple takes this round 10-9 and really controlled almost the entire round but didn’t land much damage.

R2- Apple got some kicks in at the beginning of the round and then Matt pulled guard with a guillotine. Definitely a questionable move since he spent almost the entire first round on his back. Apple got out and is in half guard. Matt gave up his back with 2 minutes left in the round and then tapped to a Rear Naked Choke.

This fight was pretty much all Apple as he was just too experienced and seemed to impose his will on Makowski in this fight. I think Elite XC will probably push Apple as they are in need of contenders for Jake Shields.

Winner: Erik Apple by Rear Naked Choke R2 2:04.

Middleweight Fight- Giva Santana (11-0) vs. Jaime Jara (19-5)

Jara is 39 years old, kind of out of place for a show like this that should be focusing on more young and up and coming fighters. Santana is also up there in years at 36.

R1- Santana eats a punch and Jara pulls guard with a guillotine but Santana gets out and is in side control. Santana moves to half guard and then gets a mount and then takes Jara’s back. Santana is getting some shots in but doesn’t seem to want to go for the choke. Back to their feet with 1 minute left in the round. Santana got another take down at the end of the round. Santana wins this round 10-9.

R2- Santana got knocked down at the beginning of the round, looked more like a slip, but Jara didn’t attack. Santana went for a heel hook but Jara got out pretty easily and then hit a jab. Jara hit a big left hand that floored Santana but again didn’t follow up due to Santana’s jiu jitsu. Santana got a take down but Jara got right back up. Jara got some shots in on the cage but Santana clinched to stop the onslaught. Jara takes this round and its 19-19 after 2 rounds with Jara with the momentum.

R3- Both guys are throwing shots to start the round. Jara’s eye is bleeding but he remains the aggressor. Santana shoots but can’t get the take down. Santana landed a good right and then followed with a leg kick. Santana with another body kick and then they clinch with one minute left. Jara gets in a couple of strikes as they clinch again with 20 seconds left. Santana hits a knee with about 5 seconds left. Close round, I think Santana is going to take it as he messed up Jara’s face pretty good with some strikes in the third round. Neither guy really distanced themselves in this fight as the better fighter.

Judges scores are: 29-28 Jara, 29-28 Santana and 29-28 Jara.

Interesting decision, can’t say that I agree or disagree with it but I thought Santana would get the win due to damage. I see a re-match at the next Challengers show.

Winner: Jaime Jara by Decision (Split)

Featherweight Fight- Malaipet (3-2) vs. David Douglas (5-1)

Malaipet came in 4.5 lbs overweight. Douglas agreed to fight so will be giving up 10% of his purse to Douglas and 10% to the California State Athletic Commission. Douglas is a Cesar Gracie trainee. Malaipet is a Muy Thai fighter.

R1- Douglas storms to the center of the ring and it’s on! Douglas with a take down 5 seconds into the fight. Douglas gets free and hits several punches and is taking it to Malaipet. Lots of Ground and Pound by Douglas. Malaipet finally rolls him over but gets caught in a triangle that looks more like a head scissors move as he doesn’t have a choke in. Back to their feet and Douglas backs him down against the cage and delivers a big shot. Douglas looks hurt as Malaipet caught him. Malaipet then hit a kick and Douglas fell down awkwardly backwards. Douglas is laying on his back resting. Ref stands up Douglas. Douglas goes for a take down and gets it. Back to their feet and Malaipet ends the round with a flurry. Great first round. I think Malaipet took it as Douglas won the first half but just gassed and looked beaten at several times in the second half of the first round.

R2- Douglas went for a take down but was denied and then ate a knee. Malaipet hitting strikes. Douglas trying to come back by throwing wild strikes. Malaipet throws another knee. Douglas once again just laying down and resting. Back on their feet and Malaipet with leg kicks. Douglas gets a take down. They are stood up but Douglas gets another take down. Douglas mounts Malaipet and is getting some strikes in. Douglas got in a bunch of strikes but didn’t have much power behind them. Douglas finished really strong in this round. Fight could be going either way so far. Malaipet definitely is the fresher fighter.

R3- Malaipet jumped at Douglas and Douglas caught him and took him down. Douglas in half guard getting some Ground and Pound and then takes side control. Douglas in the mounted Ground and Pound position know and Malaipet is busted open. Douglas doesn’t have much on his punches right now. Douglas just continuing to pepper Malaipet with light strikes and the ref finally stops the fight.

This was a fun fight. If Douglas gets some cardio he could be a good fighter. Malaipet is real raw but has talent if he can learn the ground.

Winner: David Douglas by TKO (strikes) R3 2:51

Heavyweight Fight- Shane Del Rosario (4-0) vs. Carl Seumanutafa (4-0)

This is the “Semi” Main Event. Both fighters are undefeated so far and have finished all of their fighters- Carl with 4 KOs and Shane with 3 KOs and 1 Submission.

R1- Carl gets a throw early to get a take down and he’s in full guard. Shane gets a triangle attempt from the bottom. Carl tries a slam to get out of it but can’t. Shane seems to have the move locked in pretty well but Carl slips out and passes guard. Carl goes for an arm bar but Shane escapes. Carl is now in half guard. Carl moves to north/south position and now to side control. Carl ends the round in the dominate position. Close round as Carl was in a dominate position for about 3-4 minutes of the round but Shane was closer to victory with the submission triangle attempt. Carl probably takes this round 10-9.

R2- Carl went for a take down early and got stuffed. Carl got stuffed again and Shane hit some knees and strikes and finished the fight.

Winner: Shane Del Rosario by TKO (strikes) R2 1:07

Elite XC Bantamweight Title Fight- Wilson Reis (5-0) vs. Abel Cullum (11-1)

This is for the vacant Elite XC Bantamweight Title. Reis was on the 7/26 Showtime card and won by unanimous decision. Reis was strong on the ground but showed a lot of opportunity in the stand up game. Cullum is the King of the Cage 130lb champion and has a 10 fight win streak and is stepping up in weight to take this fight. Cullum has a 4” reach advantage.

R1- Reis got a quick take down. Reis passes guard and tries to mount but Cullum is actively defending and ends up on top but then Reis goes for an arm bar and Cullum flips out and gets back to his feet. Some nifty ground work so far. Reis catches a leg kick and gets a take down again. Cullum gets to his feet but gets taken down again. Cullum is doing a good job defending so far. Cullum stands up again, and again gets taken back down. Lots of action early with most of it being on the ground. Reis dominated in terms of positioning and won the round. Reis 10-9. Good first round.

R2- Cullum threw a couple of shots and then Reis took him down again. Cullum with some elbows from the bottom. Reis went for the back but Cullum slipped out and Reis again on top. Cullum doing a good job being slippery and switches positions and is in Reis’ guard. Cullum is getting some Ground and Pound from the guard position. Reis goes for the arm bar from the bottom but Cullum slips out again and is once again in full guard. Cullum getting more shots in. Reis goes for the arm bar again from the bottom but can’t get it so goes for the leg and then goes to full mount and an arm triangle attempt but can’t finish with anything and ends up in the guard. Really good round and could have gone either way as Cullum got in a lot of strikes and Reis got in a few submission attempts near the end of the round.

R3- Reis landed a good shot about 20 seconds into the round and then got a take down. Back to their feet and they clinch as Cullum hits some knees. Reis shots in and gets another take down. Reis is denied from taking the back and Cullum reverses position and is now in full guard. Reis goes for an arm bar but Cullum rolls out and then Reis reverses position so he’s in full guard now. Reis gets Cullum’s back but Cullum squeezes out of it and reverses so he’s in Reis’s guard to end the round. Another solid round. This one goes to Reis due to his positioning and control of the round.

R4- They go back and forth a little of their feet. Reis gets a take down. Reis again controlled the ground and too this round but couldn’t finish.

R5- Reis got a take down and is in Cullum’s guard. Reis controlled for the first 3 minutes, Cullum briefly rolled over but Reis quickly reversed. Reis went the rest of the way in Cullum’s guard and it looks like he will take this fight by a pretty wide score.

Judges score cards are: 49-46, 48-47 and 49-46 for Reis.

Winner and new champion: Wilson Reis by Decision (Unanimous)

ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series 8/15/08 Re-Cap

ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series 8/15/08

Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros are the announcers.

They show highlights of the Suganuma/Hamman fight from 4 months ago when they fought and Suganuma quickly finished Hamman with a big knee and then the ref quickly stopped the fight. They will have a re-match tonight as Hamman is disputing the stoppage.

Catchweight Fight (190 lbs)- Keith Berry (7-2) vs. Ray Lizama (5-5)

Berry is the reigning King of the Cage Middleweight Champion. Berry is training at Extreme Couture. Lizama took this fight on short notice. Lizama has a win over Fabio Nagao (who recently lost to Matt Lindland by Decision at the Affliction Banned show).

R1- Lizama lands a nice punch that staggered Berry about a minute into the fight. About 3 and a half minutes in Berry lands a shot and Lizama goes down and Berry wastes no time and takes Lizama’s back and goes for a choke. He then releases the choke and hits some Ground and Pound. Lizama knocks Berry’s mouthpiece out and both guys are really swinging at each other. Really good first round with both guys really throwing some wild shots. I’ve got Berry winning the round based on the knock down and submission attempt. Berry 10-9.

R2- Lots of action early with Berry pushing the pace and hitting a nice shot that buckled Lizama against the cage. Lizama recovers and comes back and lands some really nice punches and Berry looks like he’s in trouble. Lizama just unloading on Berry, but Berry is staying on his feet. Berry is bloody but starts fighting back. Very Chris Leben type performance in that Berry really seems to bring it after he’s been rocked. Lizama again comes back with a body punch and again is unloading on Berry and Berry is finally beginning to sink and drops down to the canvas and the ref calls the fight.

Great opening fight.

Winner: Ray Lizama by TKO (strikes) R2 2:15

Women’s Fight (130 lbs)- Debi Purcell (4-1) vs. Rosi Sexton (8-1)

Purcell has a 4.5” reach advantage. Purcell is the first woman to compete and win in King of the Cage. Sexton has 5 submission victories out of her 8 wins. Rosi looks tiny.

R1- The first round was pretty much spent in a clinch with Rosi trying to take down Debi. Really close round but would have to give it to Rosi since she was the one that was causing the clinches and trying to get the take downs where as Debi was mostly on defense.

R2- Purcell starts with some kicks trying to keep Sexton off of her so she can strike but Rosi gets a take down and takes Debi’s guard. Rosi hitting some Ground and Pound. Purcell kicks her off and gets back to her feet. Purcell gets a take down with about 30 seconds left. Another close round, gotta give this one to Rosi as well as she did more damage on her take down. I’ve got it Rosi 20-18 right now.

R3- Purcell hit a spinning back fist. Lots of clinching. Sexton reverses a Purcell take down for one of her own then basically does a handspring trying to get better position. Purcell spends the last minute or so on her back..

I’ve got Sexton 30-27 in three very close rounds. Entertaining Fight.

The judges score the fight a split decision. 30-27 for Sexton, 29-28 Purcell and 30-27 for Sexton. Kind of crazy how two judges can have it 30-27 for one fight and the other judge 29-28 for the other fighter.

Winner: Rosi Sexton by Decision (Unanimous)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Cyrille Diabate (14-6-1) vs. Jaime Fletcher (9-3)

This is Cyrille’s first fight in the US. Cyrille has a huge height advantage of 7” and a huge reach advantage of 9”.

R1- Fletcher starting with leg kicks. Lots of clinching against the cage. Diabate hits a flying knee after they separated. Diabate hits a nice right hand and Fletcher bails out Diabate starting to hit some kicks. Fletcher goes for a take down and gets one with 25 seconds left in the round but basically just uses it to rest. He tried to lock in an ankle lock right at the buzzer. I’ve got Diabate with a 10-9 round as he landed more effective and damaging strikes.

R2- Diabate hits some nice body kicks early in the round after a brief stoppage for a low blow. Fletcher gets another take down. This time he’s got 4 minutes in order to work with. Diabate goes for a kimura from the bottom but let’s go of it. Jamie goes for a guillotine but Diabate passes it and comes out with side control on Fletcher. Diabate with some short elbows. Fletcher rolls out of side control and acts like Heath Herring by turtling up. Diabate hitting some elbows. Fletcher escapes but Diabate takes him back down in side control. Diabate with elbows and now punches to the face. Fletcher gives up his back again and is turtling up. Diabate with elbows to the side. Fletcher stands up and his face is covered in blood. Diabate 20-18 so far.

R3- Diabate hitting some strikes in the early part of the round. Fletcher grabs a guillotine attempt and pulls guard but Fletcher cannot hold the move. Diabate with some elbows from the guard position. Fletcher turtles up and is dripping blood on to the canvas. Diabate won this round as well and takes this fight 30-27.

All three judges score the fight 30-27 in favor of Diabate.

Winner: Cyrille Diabate by Decision (Unanimous)

Lightweight Fight- Fabricio Camoes (10-4) vs. Sammy Morgan (19-10)

Morgan has fought for Strikeforce, King of the Cage, and was on Season 2 of the Ultimate Fighter UFC show. Camoes once fought Anderson Silva in Brazil and went 27 minutes before losing. Morgan has a 3” height advantage. 14 of Morgan’s 19 wins have come by submission. Camoes has won 5 straight fights. Diego Sanchez is in Camoes corner for the fight.

R1- Morgan hits some leg kicks and then some punches and Camoes shoots in the take down and gets it via slam and moves into full mount. Morgan gives up his back and Camoes goes for a choke and this one is over. Short and to the point for Camoes.

Camoes basically calls out KJ Noons in his post-fight interview.

Winner: Fabricio Camoes by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 0:47

Light Heavyweight Fight- Po’ai Suganuma (9-1) vs. Jared Hamman (10-1)

Their last fight lasted 15 seconds and they are fighting again due to a “controversial decision.” Po’ai trains with BJ Penn.

R1- Po’ai gets a quick take down via punch and takes side control. Hamman gets to his feet and then gets a take down of his own but then they stand up and he gets taken down again. Po’ai in Hamman’s guard. Hamman goes for an arm bar but is denied. Hamman gets back to his feet and gets in a couple of good punches and Po’ai goes to his knees and Hamman hits him with punches and Po’ai is out. Hamman gets the surprise victory.

Good fight.

Winner: Jared Hamman by TKO (punches) R1 2:34


Upcoming Elite XC shows:

September 26th: ShoXC Elite Challenger Series on Showtime
October 4th: CBS Saturday Night Fights
October 10th: ShoXC Elite Challenger Series on Showtime

Elite XC CBS "Saturday Night Fights" 7/26/08

Elite XC Saturday Night Fights on CBS 7/26/08

Tonight we’ve got the Middleweight Title re-match from the first CBS show as Robbie Lawler defends against Scott Smith. Nick Diaz will be in action against Thomas Denny. Jake Shields will also be fighting.

Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock will do the announcing. Gus puts over that their first show was the most watched MMA telecast in the history of the sport. Gus definitely brings a high level of professionalism and legitimacy to the broadcast. Who do you want for your announcer- Gus Johnson or Jay Glazer? It should be interesting if Lawler wins and Shamrock interviews him as that is a rumored potential match-up later this year.

Woman’s Bantamweight Fight- Shayna Baszler (11-4) vs. Christiane Cyborg (4-0)

Gina Carano is at ringside for the fight and gets a good reaction when she is shown. Baszler has won 4 fights in a row. Cyborg is the wife of the former Pride Fighter by the same last name. They are fighting at 140 lbs. This is Cyborg’s US debut. Three of her four wins are by KO. All of Baszler’s wins have been by submission. Baszler trains with Josh Barnett. These rounds are only 3 minutes.

R1- Cyborg is very active early with some strikes but Shayna gets a take down and goes for a knee bar and instead takes a toe hold. Cyborg gets out and is on top of Shayna and landing some strikes. Shayna goes for another leg submission. Close first round. Cyborg landing more punches and Baszler attempting three submissions. Really close fight.

A commercial for Pineapple Express is shown. It looks awesome.

R2- They come out fighting with both women throwing and attacking. Cyborg lands some nice punches and seems to be taking over this fight. She lands a nasty knee. Cyborg is just picking Shayna apart. Shayna goes to the floor and Cyborg walks away like the fight is over and then leaps up on the cage and is celebrating. What a huge mistake. Cyborg gives Mazzagatti a look of disbelief. Cyborg comes back and lands some nice shots. Cyborg is just lighting Shayna up against the cage. Cyborg finally gets a KO. Cyborg looked awesome. I’m not sure she has much between the ears but she can fight. Very exciting second round. Cyborg landed 48 punches in the two rounds.

Winner: Chrisiane Cyborg by TKO (strikes) R2 2:48

Karyn Bryant interviews Gina Carano at ringside. Carano says she wants to fight Cyborg. Carano will be fighting on the next CBS show on October 4th.

Welterweight Title Fight- Jake Shields (20-4-1) vs. Nick Thompson (26-9-1)

This fight is for the vacant Elite XC Welterweight Championship. Nick Thompson is a law school graduate and will be taking the BAR exam in 2 days. Mauro puts over the Thompson has given Eddie Alvarez his only loss. Thompson is on a 12 fight win streak, Shields is on a 9 fight win streak. Shields is the hometown fighter in this fight. Thompson is announced as the Bodog Welterweight Title holder.

R1- Shields take the fight down quickly and gets full mount almost immediately. Nick slips out by Shields grabs a guillotine and finishes the fight quickly in impressive fashion. Great showing by Jake Shields.

Winner and new champion: Jake Shields by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1

Karyn Bryant is at ringside with Kimbo Slice. Kimbo will be on the October show at Ft Lauderdale.

Lightweight Fight- Nick Diaz (17-7) vs. Thomas Denny (26-16)

This is definitely a showcase fight for Nick Diaz as Elite XC is just killing time before his showdown/re-match with KJ Noons. Thomas Denny looks like the MMA version of Jeff Hardy. Diaz is the hometown fighter in this fight. Diaz has a 4” reach advantage and a 4” height advantage.

R1- Denny comes out early and tries to take it to Diaz, who usually likes to start methodically from what I’ve seen. Denny got a take down but no damage. Denny goes for a take down but Diaz has his Denny’s arm. Diaz is going for the arm bar but losses it. Both guys are landing some pretty good shots. Denny is getting in a surprising amount of offense. Diaz starting to get more shots. Diaz is starting to find the range with the jab and Denny is trying to keep Diaz close by clinching him. Diaz hit a good stiff left that knocked Denny backwards and then he goes down and Diaz lands a couple of shots as he gets back to his feet. Diaz is landing more shots and Denny is clinching to try and hold on until round two. Denny almost looks out on his feet but he’s staying on his feet. Fans are on their feet. Really exciting close to the round. Diaz 10-9. Diaz landed 75 punches in the first round.

R2- Diaz landing some nice punches early in the round and Denny is wobbly. Diaz starting to play to the crowd and then peppers Denny. Denny just trying to cover up but this looks like the end for him. Denny finally goes down and Diaz hits a couple of well placed punches and the ref puts an end to this one. Good fight and a fantastic introduction of Nick Diaz to the casual viewers. They just made a very methodical fighter (not that this is a bad thing) seem like one of the most exciting fighters going today. Diaz landed 93 strikes in this fight, 91 punches in 5 minutes and 30 seconds.

Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (strikes) R2 0:30

Anderson Silva is in the crowd (he cornered Feijao on the Showtime portion of the card earlier) and Gus Johnson and Mauro Rannallo both put him over as the P4P best fighter in the world.

Middleweight Title Fight- Robbie Lawler © (15-4) vs. Scott Smith (15-4)

Lawler has a 4” reach advantage. Lawler was winning the striking game in the last fight but it was pretty even when it was stopped. Both fighters are 15-4 with 1 no contest.

R1- Smith getting some leg kicks early. Lawler blocks a big high kick. They are starting to throw some punches now about 2 minutes into the fight. Lawler hits a roundhouse to the body and then blocks another roundhouse to his head from Smith. Lawler finding the range as he hits three punches in a row and Smith bounces off the fence a little wobbled. Lawler with a left kick and then a right hand and then another left kick and another right. Lawler misses a big leg kick and Smith comes back and pushes forward and hits a nice punch. Smith landing some strikes. Close round. If I had to pick I would go Lawler 10-9. Smith started to come back toward the end of the round to even it up towards the end.

R2- Lawler hits a body kick and then they clinch and Smith gets some nice shots in on Lawler. Lawler now backs Smith up against the cage and hits him with 2 or 3 really hard punches. Lawler is busted open. Lawler hitting Smith with body shots in a clinch. Lawler with some nice dirty boxing shots. Robbie Lawler is cut bad, Mauro comments that they had some plasma land near them. Lawler getting some knees and Smith gets buckled and is down to his knees. Smith gets back up but eats another knee and falls to the ground and Herb Dean stops the fight. Smith really got hurt by the knees to the body.

Good fight but not as exciting as the first one.

Winner: Robbie Lawler by TKO (strikes) R2 2:35

While this show didn’t have the star power of Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano (other than in the audience) I thought that this show featured better fights and was a better effort than the first CBS show. No doubt this will not do as well in the ratings but it was a good night of fights.

Elite XC on Showtime 7/26/08

Elite XC on Showtime 7/26/08

This is the Pre-Show for the CBS “Saturday Night Fight” show tonight. The Showtime show will feature a fight for the vacant Heavyweight Title featuring Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante will also be in action and we should see a competitive fight between Brian Caraway and Wilson Reis.

The announcers are Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock. These 3 guys do the CBS broadcast. Normally Stephen Quadros and Bill Goldberg do the Showtime stuff with Mauro but looks like not tonight.

Bantamweight Fight- Wilson Reis (4-0) vs. Brian Caraway (9-2)

Caraway fought and won on the undercard of the Strikeforce “Thomson vs. Melendez” show. Caraway is 9-2 with all wins coming by submission. His discipline is “cowboy karate.” Reis is called “dominating” by Jimmy Lennon Jr during his introduction. This should be a good fight. Reis’s all 4 wins have also come by submission. So my guess is somebody is getting submitted tonight in this fight.R1- Caraway dislocated his knee cap two weeks ago and Gus Johnson points this out as the fight starts. Caraway hits a clean punch to start. The mat has a lot of blood on it- so there must have been a preliminary match that got nasty early. Reis gets an early take down. Reis moves from full guard to side control pretty quickly and effectively. Reis loses side control but postures up and gets some nice punches. Caraway escapes and they are back to their feet. Caraway is landing some shots when they are on their feet. Frank Shamrock does a good job of pointing out what Reis is doing wrong on his feet and why Caraway is able to get the advantage on his feet. Reis goes with his comfort zone and gets another take down of Caraway. Reis gets full mount and lands a nice punch. Caraway gives up his back. Caraway slips out again. Reis gets another take down at the end of the round. This was a good round and definitely the story of two fights- the stand up going to Caraway and Reis dominating on the ground. Reis wins this round 10-9 but it’s still anybody’s fight as Caraway can win if he keeps the fight on their feet.

R2- Reis gets a quick take down as he didn’t want any part of the stand up game. Caraway scrambles to his feet and hits a knee on Reis. Reis is down and Caraway gets some strikes. Reis ties him up and recovers. Reis passes guard and goes to side control. Caraway flips back into the guard. Reis has really good BJJ but Caraway is doing a good job defending it. Fans are booing but to me this is interesting because it’s like a chess match. This is especially funny as they put over the fans in this city as being “educated” fans of MMA. Yeah, right. Caraway scrambles again and gets out of trouble. Reis goes for a take down but Caraway ends up on top. Reis rolls him over and gets on top and lands some punches. Reis hits a nice knee at the end of the round. This was a very tough round to judge. Reis got more take downs and spend more time in control of the fight but Caraway hit that big knee early and was in a position to possibly finish the fight. Reis is probably up 20-18 at this point, but I could see it being 19-19.

R3- Caraway starts off the fight by hitting some strikes on Reis. Reis immediately goes for a take down and gets it. Reis is hitting some elbows but he doesn’t seem to be hitting them very effectively. Reis gets full mount but gets turned over. Caraway going for some strong strikes but doesn’t hit them solidly. They scramble and are back to their feet. Caraway with some strikes but Reis gets another take down and this one will probably win his the fight. Reis went for a strike but overshot and landed on the mat. They are back to their feet and Caraway has 30 seconds to win this fight or lose a decision. Caraway flies at Reis with a knee but Reis takes him down Reis is going to win this fight, probably 30-27.

Good solid opening fight. Not as exciting as the fans wanted but I thought it was a solid fight for the opener. Both guys showed a lot of promise and I’m definitely interested in seeing these guys fight again and in the end that’s what matters. Reis really needs to work on his stand up game. All judges score the fight 30-27 in favor of Reis. Caraway landed more strikes but Reis had 7 take downs in the fight.

Winner: Wilson Reis by Decision (Unanimous)

Gus, Mauro and Frank hype Lawler/Smith II and also Silva/Eilers and Feijao/Galbraith.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Rafael Feijao (6-1) vs. Travis Galbraith (15-5)

Feijao looked awesome in his last fight against Wayne Cole on the undercard of the KJ Noons/Yves Edwards 6/14 fight. Anderson Silva cornered Feijao last time and he is by his side again for this fight. Galbraith is taking this fight on short notice. Galbraith fought on a Pride card in 2006 in the US. Feijao also trains with Noguiera and he is in his corner as well. Galbraith is a Canadian King of the Cage fighter.

R1- Feijao hits a nice leg kick to start. They clinch for a while. Not much happening as Galbraith is trying to keep Feijao tied up. Feijao hits a nice judo throw and lands in half guard but Galbraith gets back to his feet. Feijao gets unclenched and lands a nice right hand and then two knees. Feijao is all over him with more strikes and knees. Galbraith fights back with some strikes showing some heart. Feijao clinches him (a la Anderson Silva) and nails 3 knees and Galbraith crumples. Feijao jumps on top and lands 3 strikes and this fight is over.Once Feijao got separation he was very explosive and looked awesome. Galbraith did a good job tying him up for a while but ultimately Feijao was just too much.

Winner: Rafael Faijao by TKO (strikes) R1 3:00

Karen Bryant interviews Scott Smith back stage.

Heavyweight Title Fight- Antonio Silva (10-1) vs. Justin Eilers (19-6-1)

This fight is for the vacant Elite XC Heavyweight Title. They just picked 2 names out of a hat and we ended up with these two fighters. Eilers has won 10 of his last 11 fights with that loss being to Andrei Arlovski. Eilers is working with a boxing trainer that has trained Evander Holyfield in the past. Silva has a 40 pound weight advantage and a 6” reach advantage. This is the Main Event of the Showtime portion of tonight’s Elite XC show.

R1- They are boxing early. Eilers having a difficult time with Silva’s reach advantage. Silva is connecting on some counter punches. Silva gets a take down on Eilers. Eilers gives up his back, Herb Dean warms him not to hit in the back of the head. Dean takes off a point for hitting the back of the head. Silva opens up with some kicks and then pushes Eilers down and jumps on top but Eilers gets back to his feet. Silva connects on some punches and knees. First round goes to Silva but he got a point deducted so we’ve got a 9-9 first round.

R2- Eilers starts the round with a left hand that Gus Johnson pops huge for and then Silva wakes up and comes after him hitting a counter punch with dislodges Eilers mouthpiece, follows with a big knee and hits some strikes. Eilers is getting destroyed on the cage and Herb Dean stops the fight. Huge explosion in the second round to end this fight only 19 seconds into the round. Silva looked good but not Heavyweight Champion good. I would have much rather seen an 8 or 4 man tournament for the belt. I’m guessing we’ll see Brett Rodgers fighting for the title fairly soon and then Kimbo or Dave Herman after that.

Winner: Antonio Silva by TKO (strikes) R2 0:19

Elite XC: "Return of the King" 6/14 Re-Cap/Thoughts

Elite XC: Return of the King

They focus on the Main Event during the lead-in promo with KJ Noons vs. Yves Edwards. This show is named for KJ Noons who is returning to his home, Hawaii, to defend the lightweight title.

The card for tonight is:

Rafael Feijao – (205) vs. Wayne Cole – (204)
Dave “Pee Wee” Herman – (243 ½) vs. Ron Waterman – (263)
Murilo “Ninja” Rua – (184) vs. Tony Bonello – (185)
Nick Diaz – (169) vs. Muhsin Corbbrey – (163 ½)
EliteXC Lightweight World Title Match: KJ Noons ©– (160) vs. Yves Edwards – (158 ½)

Light Heavyweight Fight- Wayne Cole (11-6) vs. Rafael Feijao (5-1)

Wayne Cole was last seen on the Frank Shamrock/Cung Le card destroying Mike Kyle. Feijao has trained with Anderson Silva and Noguiera. This will be the first time I’ve seen Feijao fight. Looks like Anderson Silva is in Feijao’s corner, or someone who looks a lot like him. Maura Ranallo notes that Feijao’s lone loss was due to disqualification.

R1- They mix up at the beginning with both guys landing shots and then Rafael takes Cole down. Back to their feet and they clinch. Ranallo confirms that Anderson Silva is in Rafael’s corner. Rafael is hitting some knees. The ref stops the fight and tells Cole that he has five minutes, looks like he called a low blow. They come back and Rafael hits a couple of kicks and then they clinch again. Both guys are very quick and aggressive. Rafael separates from the clinch and hits a couple of nice punches. He goes for a knee but Cole grabs it so Rafael hits him with this other knee. Rafael with two more knees and Cole is down and in trouble. Rafael just nailing Cole with shots and the ref stops the fight. Rafael Feijao looked very impressive in victory in this fight.

Winner: Rafael Feijao by TKO (strikes) R1 2:47

Scott Smith joins Mauro Ranallo ringside and they show highlights from the CBS Saturday Night Fights show. Scott says his eye is fine and that his foot is also fine, he pulled some ligaments in it but he’s running on it now and he’s ready to fight. Says he and Lawler have some unfinished business to take care of. Smith says he needs to move around move during the next fight and not eat as much punishment (jabs). Ranallo announces that the re-match is coming up Saturday July 26th at 9PM on CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights. I definitely will tune in for this as I really liked their first fight.

Heavyweight Fight: Dave Herman (10-0) vs. Ron Waterman (15-5-2)

They hype Waterman as a “Jack of all Trades” and talk about some of the former jobs he’s had, they don’t mention WWE developmental wrestler. He’s 42 years old. Ranallo says that Cro Cop called Waterman the most powerful man he’s ever faced. Herman is hyped as an undefeated young prospect. Herman is 10-0 with 7 KOs and 3 Subs.

R1- Herman boxes around Waterman early but Waterman quickly takes him down. Waterman has Herman against the fence and is getting some Ground and Pound. They sprawl and Herman gets up but Waterman takes him down and Herman gets up again. Good job by Herman escaping with minimal punishment. Herman hits a Karate Kid kick right to Waterman’s face that just looked fantastic as it echoed when it hit. Waterman trying to take Herman down again and Herman is hitting him with some elbows, a couple of which are dangerously close to the back of the head. Herman hits a knee to the side and Herman is in full mount and Ground and Pounds Waterman until the ref stops the fight. Really impressive fight for Herman.

Winner: Dave Herman by TKO (strikes) R1 2:19

Two impressive victories by young fighters to start off this show as Herman and Feijao are both guys that I want to see more from.

Stephen Quadros interviews Yves Edwards backstage. They talk about Yves’ comeback and working with American Top Team and of course the fight tonight.

Middleweight Fight- Tony Bonnello (16-0-1) vs. Ninja Rua (15-8-1)

Bonnello is undefeated and he is looking to get the fight on the ground. Ninja says he’s never submitted and the only way he is leaving the cage is if he gets knocked out. Ninja is a former EliteXC Middleweight Champion but he lost to Robbie Lawler. This is Bonnello’s US TV debut. Bonnello looks pretty intense during the pre-fight ref talk. I think he was cussing at Rua during this as the ref was giving instructions.

R1- Bonnello aggressive early but Rua gets a take down. Ninja has side control. Ninja with some elbows and some shots to the side. Ninja hitting some nice elbows. Bonnello just getting dominated. Rua is just destroying this guy with elbows. Rua in the full mount now getting some Ground and Pound but then moves back to side mount where he was having more success. Rua is hitting more elbows. Rua hits a couple shots to the side. Rua puts his knee on Bonnello’s belly and starts hitting Bonnello with punches. Bonnello has no answer and the ref stops the fight. Rua just dominated this fight. Nice to see after the other guy was talking trash to him during the ref instructions. Domination. Great showing by Rua. The only things Bonnello showed was that he can take a punch, actually lots of punches.

Winner: Ninja Rua by TKO (strikes) R1 3:16

Post-Fight Rua says he wants his belt back. So we’ve got Smith/Lawler coming up and potentially Rua getting the winner of the fight.

Stephen Quadros is backstage with KJ Noons and they talk about the fight.

Catch weight (168 lbs) Fight- Nick Diaz (16-7-1) vs. Mushin Corbbrey (12-2)

Neither of these guys made weight for this fight. Nick Diaz just fought last month at the DREAM.3 fight. They say that Diaz went to a plastic surgeon after the Noons fight (which was stopped due to a Diaz cut) to get some scar tissue removed to try and correct the issue he’s had with cuts. Neither one of these guys made weight for the fight but the winner is going to be considered a leading candidate to fight the winner of Noons/Edwards for the lightweight belt. Makes perfect sense to me. Diaz missed weight by 9 pounds. Mushin is from Savannah, Georgia.

R1- Diaz goes for an early take down but comes up empty. Diaz has a noticeable reach advantage and hits a couple of jabs. Diaz hits a nice left hand. Both guys are hitting shots now. Diaz is hitting more clean shots but Mushin is hitting some knees and dirty boxing. Diaz hits a couple more nice shots. Mushin has some really quick punches and is able to land a good shot to Diaz but Diaz comes right back with jabs. This was a good first round with a lot of action. It was pretty even but Diaz controlled the fight more and landed more punches. Mushin started to come on towards the end of the round so it will be interesting to see who comes out and controls round 2. Diaz up 10-9 so far on my scorecard.

R2- Diaz trying to get a take down but he is denied again. Diaz is hitting some nice jabs and it looks like he is wearing Mushin down. Mushin getting in some counter punches but is still getting tagged by Diaz jabs. Diaz starting to hit some more punches and is talking trash and putting a little “show” in his game. Mushin hits a good counter punch. Diaz looks like he’s cut. Diaz goes for another take down but he still doesn’t get it. Diaz with more jabs and one of them catches Mushin off balance. Diaz gets a take down but there is only 15 seconds left. Diaz takes this round based on controlling the fight and landing more punches. Diaz’s jabs seem to be talking their toll on Mushin. Mushin is not out of this fight but he needs to finish to win. Diaz is up 20-18 on my scorecard.

R3- Diaz goes for a take down but is denied. Diaz hitting more jabs. Diaz gets a take down after a knee. Diaz moves from half guard to side control and is going after an arm submission. Diaz was going for a kimura, looks like he is going for an arm bar but Mushin escapes. Diaz pins him against the cage and is picking him off with shots against the cage now. Quadros compares this round to a spider and fly. Diaz moves very well to full mount, great move. Diaz is hitting Ground and Pound and the ref stops the fight.

This was an enjoyable fight and Diaz looked really good. Diaz dominated the fight without dominating until Round 3. He just controlled the fight and did what he wanted except that he wasn’t able to get a take down that mattered until the third round. Corbbrey looks to have talented he was just outclassed by Diaz. I would like to see Corbbrey fight Edson Berto in the future. Nate Diaz was in Nick’s corner in a wife beater.

Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (strikes) R3 3:59

Anderson Silva is shown again in the crowd watching the fights. They mention that he is considered to be one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Anderson mugs for the camera.
Elite XC hypes some upcoming shows:
July 26th on Showtime (must be the prelims for the CBS show)
July 26th on CBS at 9 PM- Lawler/Smith II

Lightweight Title Fight- KJ Noons © (5-1) vs. Yves Edwards (34-13-1)

R1- Noons comes out and hits an immediate kick and then they are going back and forth. Yves hits a good knee but then gets tagged and Noons is all over Edwards and is Ground and Pounding him and this one is over in 47 seconds. Wow, I thought Yves was going to take this one but KJ looked really strong in this one as he just exploded on Yves after Yves was knocked to the mat. On the replay Yves got caught with a punch right to the jaw and then Noons just jumped on him and went to town hitting a barrage of punches.

Winner: KJ Noons by TKO (strikes) R1 and still Elite XC Lightweight Champion

Post-Match they interview KJ and Yves. Yves says he got his ass whooped. Then they bring in Nick Diaz and we are about to go all Pro Wres in this bad boy! Diaz says let’s go and KJ lunges at Diaz and we get a pull apart as the Diaz boys rain on KJ’s parade. KJ’s dad almost getting into it with Nick. At least they are starting to sell their next big fights as they hyped Smith/Lawler II during this show and now we have Noons/Diaz II which looks promising.

Overall, this was a good solid show. A couple of quick fights with very good showings by Herman and Feijao. Ninja looked dominate in his fight. Diaz had a good fight and looked really good and KJ Noons dominated Yves Edwards.

CBS/Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 5/31/08

Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 5/31/08

Gus Johnson is the lead announcer. Good move in my opinion as he will put a “legitimate” face to MMA for the casual fans. They pair him with Mauro Ranallo, the usual voice of Elite XC. Mauro isn’t the most popular guy but I like him. The third member of the announce crew is Frank Shamrock. They name drop Bruce Lee as one of the fore fathers of MMA. They move to street fighter turned MMA fighter Kimbo Slice and briefly touch on his fight tonight versus James Thompson.

Card for tonight is:

Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson
Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young
Phil Baroni vs. Joe Villasenor
Jon Murphy vs. Brett Rogers

Frank Shamrock does a segment where he goes over some basic MMA styles and talks about striking and grappling. And goes over some terms like “Ground and Pound”, “Guard”, “Half Guard”, “Clinch”, “Arm Bar”, “Rear Naked Choke”, and “Take Down”. Frank goes over some of the do’s and don’ts of MMA. He talks about the 3 ways a fight can end: KO/TKO, Submission/Tap Out, and Judges Decision.

Heavyweight Fight- Jon Murphy (4-2) vs. Brett Rogers (6-0)

Of these guys I’ve only seen Brett Rogers fight and from what I remember he was fairly impressive. Brett Rogers is lead to the ring by a rapping Busta Rhymes. Stuff like this and the dancers that opened the show are what I can do without.

R1- Murphy catches Rogers early and Rogers clinches with him and backs him into the cage and gets in a couple of shots. Rogers hits Murphy with a couple of shots and this one was over. Not the prettiest fight but Rogers showed good power and got the KO very early in the fight. He moves to 7-0 and moves up the Elite XC Heavyweight ladder.

Winner: Brett Rogers KO R1 1:01

Middleweight Fight- Phil Baroni (10-9) vs. Joey Villasenor (25-6)

I’ve seen a couple of Villasenor’s Elite XC fights and he’s unspectacular but really solid and seems really hart to beat. I haven’t seen that much of Baroni but he’s got a big rep so this should be an interesting fight as both guys like to stand up and punch. Baroni guarantees a knockout in the pre-match interviews. Mark Coleman is in Baroni’s corner. Villasenor has won his last two fights, Baroni has lost 3 of his last 4.

R1- Baroni pushes the pace early and gets a take down as he catches Villasenor in a kick. Drilled Baroni with a left hook and now has a guillotine on Baroni. Vallasenor with some shots and Baroni is shaken. Villasenor all over Barnoi and Villasenor gets the win. Mild upset in terms of name status but not in terms of records. Great win for Villasenor.

Winner: Joey Villasenor by TKO (punches) R1 1:11

Two fights and both have been finished very quickly.

Gina Carano (5-0) vs. Kaitlin Young (4-1)

R1- Carano takes young down early but Young gets back to her feet. Carano hit a good right hand and then hit a good left jab. Young hit a good right hand. Young takes down Carano. Carano is just smothering Young and Young can’t do anything despite being on top. The first round was very competitive. Both got in one take down but I think Carano got in more clean shots. Carano 10-9 but very close.

R2- Carano got caught doing a kick and Young got in a couple of knees. Then they exchanged some punches. Lots of action early in round two. Carano is starting to go to town and Young got hit right in the nose but is holding on and fighting back. Carano with a big left. Carano is peppering Young with punches but Young is holding on. Carano kicks Young to the ground and is going for a Rear Naked Choke but is having trouble clamping it on. Young gets saved by the bell in round two. Really exciting fight so far. Young’s face is jacked up. Carano 20-18.

And the fight is stopped in between rounds.

R3- Gina Carano by TKO (ref stoppage) R2

Elite XC Middleweight Title Fight: Robbie Lawler © (15-4) vs. Scott Smith (15-4)

This is the fight that I’ve been looking forward to the most on this show. This is Lawler’s first title defense. Interesting note that these guys have the same exact record of 15 wins and 4 losses.

R1- Smith throwing some big kicks early but coming up empty. Lawler really taking his time and not rushing in. Smith charged at Lawler and got popped. Lawler the aggressor now as he’s hitting some shots. Smith tags Lawler with a kick and then bedlam breaks loose as both guys are just swinging back and forth. Lots of misses and Lawler hits a combo. Both guys really opening up. Lawler hitting with some jabs and Smith countering. Lawler with a big body shot that hurts Smith. Lawler with a body kick. Lawler with some right hooks. Lawler with a great body kick and then ends the round with a right knee and a ton of punches. Smith is saved by the bell. Lawler just looked awesome at the end of this round. This round took a while to get going but once it did it was really fun. Lawler takes this round 10-9.

R2- Lawler is the aggressor at the start of round two. Big side kick by Lawler. Smith fighting back but coming up short on kicks. Smith clinches him and lands some nice knees to the head of Lawler. Smith know peppering Lawler with some punches. Lawler comes back with punches. Lots of dirty boxing. Lawler continuing to hit shots on Smith. Smith continues to throw shots. Really back and forth round. These guys are really throwing at each other. Both guys are bloody. Great round. Really even. Lawler is cut on the top of his head. I think Smith probably takes this round, 19-19 after two.

R3- Lawler jabbing early looking for an opening. Lawler starting to hit some elbows but his head cut has opened back up. Lawler went for a take down but got stuffed and now they stand up again. Smith got a finger in the eye and they stop the fight to allow him to recover. The doctor comes in and stops the fight. What a shame as Scott Smith is begging them to let him continue to fight. The crowd is chanting “bulls**t, bulls**t”. Well, I really enjoyed this fight and will look forward to the re-match.

Decision: No Contest, Lawler retains belt

Heavyweight Fight: Kimbo Slice (2-0) vs. James Thompson (16-8)

R1- Kimbo takes down Thompson but then Thompson gets Kimbo to the ground. Kimbo gets up but gets taken back down. James Thompson gets to side control but Kimbo gets to his feet. Kimbo is caught in a guillotine. Kimbo trying to get out with some knees. Kimbo finally frees himself. Kimbo takes Thompson down. Kimbo tried a slam but slipped and Thompson now has Kimbo in side control. Kimbo flips him over. Kimbo hitting a couple of elbows. First round comes to an end. I think Thompson won the first round 10-9.

R2- Kimbo with some punches and Thompson is in trouble. Thompson locks him up. Kimbo briefly got Thompson in a guillotine but Thompson has side control on Kimbo. The ref stands them up as there was not much movement. Kimbo hitting some shots. Thompson looks to be finished and Kimbo hits some shots but Thompson holds on and drops Kimbo with a double leg take down. Thompson hitting some elbows on Kimbo. Thompson just dominated the second half of this round. Kimbo won the first half but then just got dominated. Both rounds could go either way but I’ve got Thompson up 20-18 so far. Kimbo had a chance to put Thompson away in the middle of this round but couldn’t do it.

R3- Kimbo hits two nice shots and Thompson’s ear popped open and is bleeding like crazy and the ref stops the fight. Thompson is not happy. Thompson ear is just disgusting. Kimbo escaped this fight and this fight really exposed him.

Winner: Kimbo Slice by TKO R3 0:38

This was a good show, would have been better if Lawler/Smith would have had a finish as that was the fight of the night. The woman’s fight was very good. And the show started with two real quick knockouts which I think was a good thing to get the show kicked off. The Main Event was nowhere near as good as Lawler/Smith but it was interesting. Kimbo was definitely exposed and it will be interesting to see where they go with him now. Obviously, he’s still undefeated but he’s gonna have a tough time with any heavyweight who can get him off his feet.

Strikeforce/EliteXC "Shamrock vs. Cung Le" Thoughts

Strikeforce/EliteXC "Shamrock vs. Cung Le"
Saturday, March 29, 2008
HP Pavillion at San Jose, CA
Showing on: Showtime on 9pm ET/PT


185 lbs: Joey Villasenor (185) vs. Ryan Jensen (186)

Villasenor controlled this match. It started out slow and then opened up when Villasenor landed some punches. Jenson looked like he got woke up and briefly became the aggressor but then Villasenor baited him with two jabs and then just blasted him for a knockout.


265 lbs: Mike Kyle (225) vs. Wayne Cole (209)


Both these guys looked to be in really good shape. When they stood up at the beginning of the fight Cole looked a little uncomfortable in his stance but quickly took down Kyle and almost immediately tapped him out in what had to be 30 seconds into the fight. Cole looked really good in his quick victory.


155 lbs: Gilbert Melendez (154.5) vs. Gabe Lemley (153)

This was for Melendez’s Strikeforce lightweight title and Melendez just dominated and controlled this fight until the ref finally called for the bell in the middle of the second round as Lemley just wasn’t defending himself anymore. Melendez looked impressive.


172 lbs: Drew Fickett (171) vs. Jae Suk Lim (170)
This was real quick. Fickett took Suk Lim down, Lim used some good takedown defense but Fickett rolled over on top. Suk Lim then got out of the guard and stood up but Fickett quickly grabbed a tight guillotine on him and then Suk Lim went down and tapped out. Fickett is another guy who looked really good in victory tonight. Everybody who has one tonight has been impressive in one way or another.


185 lbs: Frank Shamrock (185) vs. Cung Le (183)

These are the first two guys that get the superstar treatment from the crowd. Shamrock seemed to get as many boos as he did cheers but this quickly turned to cheers when he came out in a San Jose Sharks hoodie. This is for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship. Crowd seems to have woken up for this match. Crowd turns on Le during intros and then turns to mostly cheers. Crowd seems to be split tonight as Shamrock gets pretty much the same treatment. Either way the guys are getting a reaction and that’s a good thing.

Round 1: Good early feeling out process as Le goes for a back kick but Shamrock grabs him around the waist. Le gets out and Shamrock plays to the crowd as they are really into this. Both guys going for kicks and then throwing hard punches. Le gets a right hook in. They are feeling each other out mid way into the round. Lee has some good quick kicks. Le goes for a spinning back kick and misses and Shamrock gets an opening and is all over him as Le’s momentum takes him down and Shamrock gets in a couple of good shots but they are back to their feet. Shamrock bullys him into the cage with a shot or two but Le is quickly out. Shamrock is visably smiling. Shamrock gets in a couple of shots on the cage at the end of the round. Really good close opening fight. Le really seemed to have the advantage for the first half of the round but Shamrock really controlled the cage, had a takedown and got some good offense in at the end of the round. I would barely give this round to Shamrock 30-29 but could see it going either way.

Round 2: Le connected with a kick to the side of Shamrock’s face. Shamrock is welted and his mouthpiece flew out but he didn’t seem to look any worse for the wear as Le gave him the opportunity to put his mouthpiece back in. Le takes down Shamrock but lets him back up as Frank was calling for Le to come to the ground. Things are slowing down here in the second round as there is not as much action as the first. Le seems to be controlling the offense again in the first half of this round (like in the first). Quadros notes that this round has taken almost like a sparring match. Le then unloads with a solid right hand that staggers Shamrock but he quickly shrugs it off. Le definitely takes this round.

Round 3: Le gets a good roundhouse kick tha glances off of Shamrock’s head early but Shamrock shrugs it off no-selling it. Le hits a nice punch combo. Le still looks pretty sharp and hits another close call on a nice kick that is partially blocked by Shamrock. Le hits a spinning back fist that pops the crowd. Le grabs Shamrock’s leg on a leg and knocks his leg out from under him. Le is definitely seizing control of this fight as the crowd chants for Le. Shamrock seems to be moving in closer and trying to get better shots in on Le and finally pops him with one. Shamrock hits a couple of shots and is really throwing punches at Le and hitting some of them. Shamrock has Le on the fence and is measuring. Shamrock barely misses with a hard knee. Le comes back with a spinning back fist. Shamrock is really looking for the knockout. Let gets in a lot of shots right at the end of the round and the crowd is really into this as the round ends. Le dominated the early part of this round, Shamrock hit a really great flurry but then Le ended on top. I’m saying 2-1 right now for Le but could realisitically see it be 3-0 in favor of Le.

The fight is called after the third round and Le is awarded the victory. Shamrock is unable to answer the bell for Round 4. Great fight, really weird finish. They are saying that Shamrock has an arm injury and that’s why he can’t finish the fight. Probably from Le’s continued kicks. Great fight, Le is the new champ. Would love to see a re-match and/or see Le fight his next opponent. Le wins by TKO.

Elite XC "Street Certified"

Fight One: Brett Rogers vs. James Thompson

Thompson rushed Rogers at the beginning and then it was a bunch of uneventful holding. Thompson briefly took Rogers down but Rogers got right back up. Thompson held Rogers a lot but never got in a good shot or move on him. Rogers finally distanced himself with a knee and then landed a series of pretty good looking punches and Thompson went down. Nice showing for Rogers as he stays undefeated.

As a sidenote, I like the set-up of the Elite XC show and the announcers are solid (yes including Bill Goldberg- he actually showed more mic skills in his opening segment than he did in his entire pro wrestling career). I don't really like the ring announcer though. Good build-up for Kimbo- I'm really interested in seeing him fight after the hype he's been getting lately.

Fight Two: Edson Berto (158.25) vs. Yves Edwards (160)

They started off by exchanging some kicks and punches. Both guys are really quick and Berto is borderline lightning quick and showed a ton of promise with some of his kicks and one punch combo in particular. They went to the ground and Berto briefly got a guillotine submission but Edwards brillantly slipped out of it and got a Kimura but couldn't hold it. Edwards took control here as he was on top and controlled this portion of the fight and landed one particularly nasty elbow to the chops. The ref stood them back up towards the end of the fight and Berto came at Edwards again with a real quick combo and in my opinion looked to be the dominant fighter when both guys were standing (while Edwards was clearly the better wrestler). Berto went inside for a takedown and grabbed Edwards leg but Edwards countered with a vicious knee for the KO. I enjoyed this fight a lot as both guys showed a lot of good things and Berto looked really talented just overmatched on the experience side of things.

Fight Three: Kyle Noke (184.75) vs. Scott Smith (184)

First round of this one was real uneventful and the crowd mildly booed throughout. Noke won Round 1 from what I saw because he dominated the first half of the fight with jabs. Smith started to come on in the last 30 seconds as he finally got aggressive. I think Smith is going to open up and take this one as Noke really didn't seem like he wanted to do anything even though he had the early advantage except stand there and hit one jab and then back up.

Seven seconds into Round 2 Scott Smith got a quick knockout of Kyle Noke. This was the exact opposite of the first round and to me showed a great adjustment made by Smith and his corner. He came out and took Noke's jab and then laid into him and knocked him out cold.

Fight Four: Ricco Rodriguez (262.75) vs. Antonio Silva (259.75)

First round was kind of even with the edge going to Silva but neither guy really inflicting any damage onto their opponent. Silva controlled the early portion of the match as he landed most of the punches in Round 1. Ricco got a nice takedown but didn't do much with it once he got on top and in fact Silva landed several blows from the bottom.

Round two picked up a little bit with Silva controlling this one much more than Round One and being the clear winner of this round from my point of view. Silva controlled the stand up and take down game and landed some nice blows from a top but both guys seemed pretty gased and Silva didn't follow-up as well as he probably should have. The ref stood them up and then stopped the fight to check on a cut above Ricco's eye.

Third Round was probably the closest of the fight as Silva controlled early but couldn't put Ricco away and then Ricco came back and had a decent showing with a takedown and mount.

Silva won a split decision and I definitely think it was the right decision although Silva didn't look as good as I thought he would based on how the announcers were pimping him. Only having seen him once I'd say he really needs to work on his conditioning- as he didn't really look winded but when he was on top he couldn't put together sustained offense. I'd also say he needs to work on his gameplan as he looked much better standing up but continued to try to take down Ricco late in the fight. Overall, it was a tough fight for Silva due to Ricco's experience but I'd say it was a good win for him even if it wasn't in impressive fashion.

Fight Five: Tank Abbott (263) vs. Kimbo Slice (234)

This one was really fun although very short but I think that's pretty much what was expected. Kimbo looked great as he avoided a takedown and wailed on Tank. It will be very interesting to see how Kimbo matches up against other MMA guys as Tank's style fit his. Kimbo seemed to overwhelm Tank with his punches and rocked him with quite a few so it will be interesting to see who can stand up with him or can out gameplan him.

Verdict:
This was a good show. My Fight of the Night went to Edwards/Berto as I just really liked both them and the energy and fast paced match that they had. Second was Kimbo/Tank just for the atmosphere and crazy haymakers being thrown. Other than that Brett Rogers looked good, Scott Smith had a great knockout and Silva survived a tough fight. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some of these guys again.