So Elite XC made their national MMA debut on CBS Saturday with a card full of shocking stoppages and all around oddities while WEC held 2 title fights with high caliber fighters and great fights. Guess which one people are talking about today? Kimbo Slice KO'd that huge British guy with the jacked up ear! Well, there was a bit more to all of it than that but barely anyone sniffed the WEC 34 event while whores jiggling along the entrance ramp and a score of just awful music and that Daily Show/ESPN News odd blue and red lighting that seems to be so popular, dilated pupils and captured the viewers in droves as the ratings claim success for Elite XC and CBS.
1st the good. Scott Smith and Robbie Lawler just went to war in their Middleweight Title fight and each seemed able to hurt the other in a pier 6 brawl. The fight was exciting with non-stop action on the feet which the moron crowd still boo'd. Then an accidental eye poke and Scott Smith made the mistake of telling the doctor that he "couldn't see." What he wanted was 5 minutes to recover, but if you tell a Doctor that, they stop the fight before you suffer worse damage. He didn't want to stop fighting but you can't say you are basically blind and expect to continue. A poor choice of words as Smith did wish to continue but once they call a fight it is over. Lawler and Smith will do this again though and this will all just hype it up even more for the rematch benefiting both men and Elite XC as well. By the by, Matt Hughes will be slapping around Lawler in practice for letting Scott off the hook when hurt not only once, but twice. Maybe the bright lights of CBS got to him but I think next time he puts Smith away in the 2nd round.
Also good, Gina Carano defeated Kaitlin Young when the doctors called the fight because her left eye was grotesquely swollen and the doctors thought it could be an orbital fracture and were not taking chances. The bad is that now Young is stating the fight should not have been stopped and she wanted to continue. Dr. Sherry Wulkan who attended to Young ringside, remembered things slightly different. "When we saw Kaitlin in the cage, we were concerned about an orbital fracture. Both she and her corner were grateful that the fight was stopped and actually thanked us for stopping the fight. When she first returned to the dressing room, she said she wasn’t sure why the fight was stopped, but after looking in the mirror, she was glad we did. That is almost a quote verbatim. She said she was overwhelmed and that Carano definitely got the better of her on this occasion." Uh yeah, she did, and that was an out of shape 3 weeks of training Carano. She is not swearing a re-dedication to the sport but we shall see. Missing weight for a fight is a big no, no in the MMA community.
1st the good. Scott Smith and Robbie Lawler just went to war in their Middleweight Title fight and each seemed able to hurt the other in a pier 6 brawl. The fight was exciting with non-stop action on the feet which the moron crowd still boo'd. Then an accidental eye poke and Scott Smith made the mistake of telling the doctor that he "couldn't see." What he wanted was 5 minutes to recover, but if you tell a Doctor that, they stop the fight before you suffer worse damage. He didn't want to stop fighting but you can't say you are basically blind and expect to continue. A poor choice of words as Smith did wish to continue but once they call a fight it is over. Lawler and Smith will do this again though and this will all just hype it up even more for the rematch benefiting both men and Elite XC as well. By the by, Matt Hughes will be slapping around Lawler in practice for letting Scott off the hook when hurt not only once, but twice. Maybe the bright lights of CBS got to him but I think next time he puts Smith away in the 2nd round.
Also good, Gina Carano defeated Kaitlin Young when the doctors called the fight because her left eye was grotesquely swollen and the doctors thought it could be an orbital fracture and were not taking chances. The bad is that now Young is stating the fight should not have been stopped and she wanted to continue. Dr. Sherry Wulkan who attended to Young ringside, remembered things slightly different. "When we saw Kaitlin in the cage, we were concerned about an orbital fracture. Both she and her corner were grateful that the fight was stopped and actually thanked us for stopping the fight. When she first returned to the dressing room, she said she wasn’t sure why the fight was stopped, but after looking in the mirror, she was glad we did. That is almost a quote verbatim. She said she was overwhelmed and that Carano definitely got the better of her on this occasion." Uh yeah, she did, and that was an out of shape 3 weeks of training Carano. She is not swearing a re-dedication to the sport but we shall see. Missing weight for a fight is a big no, no in the MMA community.
Good to see Joey Villasenor knock the crap outta Phil Baroni as everyone tends to do and at 10-10 professionally, I look forward to seeing Baroni fall into the joke category where Tank Abbott resides. Nice job Joey.
Then there's the Kimbo fight. Ok the stoppage was early I grant you that, but I still think it was about to be over and you cannot come into a fight with cauliflower ear that bad and not expect it to affect you. Damn man drain that shit! If your ear is flopping around like its about to come off of course they are going to stop the fight. On the other hand, Kimbo looked as though he had not learned anything from Bas Rutten on the ground as he had zero defense or offense on bottom. Kimbo was exposed with awful cardio and bad takedown defense as well. We knew ya could punch so this fight didn't do a whole lot for me.
Now Mr. Brett "The Grim" Rogers called it at the press conference saying Kimbo's match was "garbage" leading him and Kimbo to almost get into a snit right there in front of the cameras. Fact is the 7-0 Rogers called out Kimbo in front of everybody and I think he would beat him thus the fight won't happen. Still pretty funny stuff if you saw it. Watch for the IFL's Heavyweight Champion Roy Nelson or Paul Buentello to get the next nod for Slice. Paul has the best shot at winning.
Now how about that WEC 34 (crickets......crickets), well you people are stupid. Featherweight Phenom and WEC Champion Uriah Faber 21-1 went to war with the Lightweight Legend known as "Lil Evil" Jens Pulver in a 5 round action filled fight! Faber came to throw with Pulver which is usually a mistake, but the wrestling based "Kid" was just to fast and accurate for the older Jens. Still a great fight from two of the best in the world at 145 lbs. showing amazing technical skill and heart through their 25 minute battle. It was the 1st time Faber has gone 5 rounds and the 1st time Pulver has lost at Featherweight. Now if we could just get Kid Yamamoto versus Uriah Faber we'd really have a show! Great fight people watch it!
How about some upsets you say? Jeff Curran a former #1 Featherweight contender got beaten by Mike Thomas Brown who also holds wins over Yves Edwards and Mark Hominick. This ATT fighter is definitely one to watch and in title contention now! Chase Beebe lost a razor close decision against Will Ribeiro a Brazilian who has only been bested once in his career. Flashy stand up earned him the victory. Mark Munoz at 3-0 gave up almost a foot in height to the more experienced, taller, heavier, and scarier looking Chuck Grigsby 15-3. However, Munoz made his debut count with looping right hands to his downed opponent and a just straight vicious ground and pound out. Close odds but all upsets!
Bantem weight Champion Miguel Torres is just plain sick. 34-1 with 21 submission wins and retains his belt Yoshiro Maeda by swelling his eye shut! Former Lightweight Champion Rob McCullough had more trouble than I had predicted squeaking out a Split-Decision win over the very game Ken Alexander. I thought "Razor" would take him to the shed early for this one.
Pretty damn good card but its also more little fellas and everyone loves the Heavyweights even when its an ugly/sad bout between Slice/Thompson and it only leaves people with more questions. I have no problem with people liking the Elite XC version better than the more skilled though less colorful WEC, I just want people to understand the appeal of both, and give em all a chance. Either way, MMA fans and fighters were the winners Saturday and Sunday with two great cards that bring MMA that much closer to the mainstream and prominence.
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