Elite XC on CBS, Sat. May 31
Main Card
-Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson def. James Thompson by TKO at 0:38, R3
-Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith ruled a No Contest (Doctor Stoppage) at 3:26, R3
-Gina Carano def. Kaitlin Young by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at 3:00, R2
-Joey Villasenor def. Phil Baroni by TKO at 1:11, R1
-Brett Rogers def. Jon Murphy by KO at 1:01, R1
Preliminary Fights
-Chris Liguori def. Jim Bova by TKO (Doctor's Stoppage) at 4:31, R2
-Carlton Haselrig def. Carlos Moreno by TKO (Unable to Continue) at 5:00, R1
-Matt Makowski def. Nick Serra by TKO (Unable to Continue) at 3:57, R2
-Wilson Reis def. Justin Robbins by Submission (Rear Choke) at 4:06, R1
-James Jones def. Calvin Kattar by Submission (Rear Choke) at 4:49, R1
-Zach Makovsky def. Andre Soares by Unanimous Decision at 5:00, R3
-Joe Sampieri def. Mike Groves by TKO (Strikes) at 4:58, R1
Saturday marked a mile-stone for Mixed Martial Arts: it would finally be aired on network television. I was anticipating the event as much (if not more) than every other MMA fan… only to be seriously let down. Don’t get me wrong, most of the fights were great. But, when Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson is headlining there can only be so much to expect. Personally, I was most looking forward to the Scott Smith vs. Robbie Lawler fight -as well as the Carano vs. Young bout. There aren’t many people that would argue against the thought that Lawler vs. Smith’s title fight should have been the main event… but we are in the digital age and the man with the YouTube fame took over the headlining honors.
When the airing first started I was, to say the least, highly critical. Having Brett Rogers being accompanied by Busta Rhymes and Chris “Big Black” Boikin was something more reminiscent of a WWF (WWE) show than anything in MMA. Phil Baroni didn’t help the cause with his outlandish robe; taking just a long to get to the ring as he did to exit with his 1:11 R1 TKO loss to Joey Villaseñor. My criticism subsided as soon as the women’s fight got on its way. I was much more interested in the happenings inside the ring that pointing out –say- how annoying the announcer was. I made it almost through the women’s match when my scorning of this pitiful broadcast was brought back by the doctor calling the bout due to Kaitlin’s massive right eye (more detail on that later). The belligerence came back for a third time when the same doctor stopped the Smith vs. Lawler bout prematurely.
Back to the women’s fight: After not making weight (4.5 pound over the limit, resulting in 12.5% of her purse going to Young) Carano came out ready. Gina kept her distance with front kicks, limiting Young to feel her out for a while. Soon the two were locked up and blows were delivered by both. The round was soon over and though she was visibly fatigued Carano started the second round with power. The two exchanged jabs and hooks when “Conviction” caught Young with a kick to the head dropping her to the mat. Carano pounced trying for a rear choke but the round came to a close before the submission was totally sunk in. Young looked frustrated but not beat. However, the kick to her face created a huge amount of swelling under her left eye. During the break the doctor called the fight due to the swelling of Young’s eye. Given I’m not a doctor, and I have no medical training, it did appear as Kaitlin could have continued given the chance. She didn’t balk much at the doctor’s call (doctor’s normally know best), but you could tell she would have liked to carry on.
The Smith vs. Lawler fight was the one I was most looking forward to seeing. I’ve been a Smith fan for quite a while and his fight with Pete Sell (Nov. ’06) is still one of my favourites. Following the opening bell the man with the “Hands of Steel” came out firing blows, trying to stun the champion early on. “Ruthless” Lawler wouldn’t be taken so easily though; he retaliated with a barrage of jabs and body kicks. As the first five minutes wound down Lawler attacked with blows that seemed to catch Smith.
The second round opened with Scott getting what appeared to be a second wind. He got the champion with powerful punches and kicks to the body. The challenger controlled most of the second round in this impressive fashion. I believe the judges had it at 10-9 for each at this point. Round three opened with Lawler back on the offensive. He battered Smith with more jabs and body kicks. One of the kicks caught the Elk Gove native in the right side of his rib cage (his Achilles’ heal after the bout with Drago) visibly hurting him. The blows were going back and forth when Lawler went to block a jab by Smith and caught the challenger in the eye with his left index finger. Instantly Scott grabbed his eye and the referee Dan Miragliotta called a time out. Smith was initially told he had 5 minutes to recover (as the rules state). After roughly a minute the ring-side doctor came in to look at the eye. The injured Smith stated that he could not see at that time but would be fine after the allotted 5 minutes. Apparently the doctor didn’t think he could recover in time and called a stoppage to the bout. Scott begged for the contest not to be over; both fighters were noticeably distraught when the stoppage was announced. Since the injury occurred in the second round the bout was ruled a “no contest” (bouts called to a stoppage before the conclusion of the third round are ruled a no contest, after the third round would have gone to the judges’ score cards) and Elite XC President Gary Shaw declared there would indeed be a rematch sometime in the future. As well as promising a re-match, Mr. Shaw also awarded both fighters the amount they would have gotten as a win bonus. A bittersweet end to a fight that was called all too soon.
Now, to the night’s finale: Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs. James Thomson. Let me start by saying that if this were any other person this would have only been a preliminary bout. But, since it was the Kimbo Slice, it was made the main event. Secondly, Did you see Thompson’s ear!?! Holy damn! How did the attending doctors not make him drain it before the fight began. They had to have known that after being hit with the right force it would explode like that. Being the that I am, I couldn’t wait for it to burst… just to see what was inside. However, I didn’t realize they would call the bout once it did burst. I can understand James Thompson being upset after the fight being called, but really, there was no need to paw the referee. As far as the action of the fight goes, it was boring. Ferguson was worn out before the first round was over; evident by how he just dropped to the mat and laid there after the fight was called. After a minute of is post-fight interview he was frank enough to say “I’m done talking”, obviously out of breath. To his credit, Thompson did his part, as much as you can when you have a 260 pound man mauling you. I think in the end it just gets chalked up to an out of shape, ove - , inexperienced fighter (Ferguson) being pitted against a mediocre -yet hungry- fighter (Thompson) putting on a show that was sure to bring the network ratings but leave real MMA fans with something to be desired.
To see Baroni's entrances go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu9htdwes4M
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