EliteXC: CBS Saturday Night Fights Preview
Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson – Kevin Ferguson (a.k.a Kimbo Slice) makes his third professional appearance in the first CBS main event and has quickly become the face of the EliteXC. Gary Shaw is doing his poster boy a big favor by throwing James “Colossus” Thompson against him.
James Thompson is really nothing more than a sideshow fighter who became famous during his PrideFC days for his brazen “bull rushes” to start each fight. Thompson does not have a single significant victory to his name, and is being brought in simply to showcase Kimbo Slice as a fighter. In actuality, I think this was a good move by Shaw and Co. as Thompson will provide energy and excitement, and ultimately, a spectacular loss.
For his part, we still do not know much about Kimbo Slice’s MMA game. He only has two professional fights to his credit and neither fight lasted more than 45 seconds. In fact, if you count his amateur fight against boxer Ray Mercer, Kimbo’s 3 fights have lasted a total of 2:14, less than half of a full round. We know Kimbo can throw punches and against Thompson that is all he will have to do. Until we see Kimbo fight an opponent who can take him down and put him on his back, I don’t think there is any awy we can consider him anything more than a mid-level heavyweight. That being said, Slice should win this fight easily by KO. Winner: Kimbo Slice
Robbie Lawler vs Scott Smith – I’m really looking forward to this fight. Robbie Lawler has been one of my favorite fighters to watch ever since his fight with Tiki Ghosen at UFC 40. Lawler is well known for his KO power and ever since moving from welterweight to middleweight, he seems to have found his comfort zone. Lawler has won seven out of his last eight fights including a brutal KO over Frank Trigg in ICON Sport.
Scott Smith is no slouch in the striking game however, and his “Hands of Steel” nickname seems appropriate. Smith made his name rising through the ranks of the WEC before joining the UFC in 2006. Since then Smith has been a mediocre fighter with a record of 4-3 and is looking to regain his footing in EliteXC. Unfortunately, Lawler is just too good of a fighter for Smith. I expect an explosive first round followed by a KO victory for “Ruthless” Robbie in the second round. Winner: Robbie Lawler
Phil Baroni vs Joey Villasenor – Phil Baroni has had a tough past 18 months with his steroid suspension and his two consecutive losses to Frank Shamrock and Kala Kolohe Hose respectively. With that in mind, Baroni still is a strong fighter who can show a decent level of skill when he is focused. My guess is Baroni is going to see this chance to fight on CBS in one of two ways. One, he sees this as a prime chance to showcase his “NYBA” persona in front of a huge audience and his glitz and glamour routine keep him from being mentally prepared to fight. Two, he sees what a huge opportunity fighting on CBS is for his career and comes ready to fight and puts a serious beating on Villasenor.
Joey Villasenor himself is an up-and-down fighter much like Baroni. The difference being Villasenor is not the level of fighter Baroni is. Villasenor will look to stand and trade punches with Baroni which will most likely lead to his undoing. Winner: Phil Baroni
Brett Rogers vs Jon Murphy – Not much excitement to this fighter other than both fighters choice of hairdo’s. Brett Rogers has some power in his standup game and is coming off a first round KO victory against James Thompson last February. Jon Murphy is coming off a victory at a ShoXC event last August and should put up a decent fight for Rogers. In the end, Rogers skills and power will be too much for Murphy to handle. Winner: Brett Rogers
Gina Carano vs Kaitlin Young – I’m not going to try and pretend like I have much knowledge of women’s MMA. Kaitlin Young is a Hook-N-Shoot fighter who is welcoming the chance to fight in EliteXC and defeat the new “face of women’s MMA.” Gina Carano’s career has taken off since signing with Gary Shaw and EliteXC. Carano works hard to play down the “just another pretty face” aspect of her fighting career, but appearances on NBC’s American Gladiators hasn’t helped her cause. To her credit, Carano has defeated some of the top women’s MMA fighers and I don’t expect her to fall short against Kaitlin Young. Winner: Gina Carano
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Dr J
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It will be funny if Thompson destroys Kimbo. I don’t think it will happen but they can at least give him an opponent with credibility. Maybe James can get the fight to the ground and take advantage of Kimbo’s lack of experience there. I just hope he puts up a fight. Lawler vs Smith should be a slug fest. I met Scott at the last UFC fight night and he was really cool guy. I know they both preffer to stand and trade but I have to go with Robbie in that one also. I hope Elite doesn’t do terrible on their debut on primetime because it will open the door to alot more free MMA programing.
I’m actually more looking forward to the Faber vs Pulver fight on Sunday. I still think Jens is going to be outmatched by a younger stronger and more skilled Faber.
I dunno what to say about this card.. very lack luster card.. Especially after this past UFC event that was STACKED.
Lawler vs Smith is the only fight that interests me and thats just to see Robbie back in the cage.
Why doesnt the UFC sign Lawler again??? and Frank too for that matter! Lawler, Shamrock and i guess Kimbo are the only thing keeping Elite afloat.
Wanna hear something strange guys?
Crocop set to Face Ralek Gracie at Dream 4 in a modified abu dhabi rules grappling match. Scheduled for 2 5 min rounds with no points, you can only win via submission, automatic draw if it goes the distance.
One question… umm why? i dunno about you guys, but i like seeing Mirko kick guys in the head.
maybe CroCop is trying to prove hes got ground game.
crocop sucks…he’s a man I believe to be a juicer forf sure…..
You have officially lost your mind.
doc….what happened at arlovskis conference ??have ne leads
havent heard anything yet but I’ll look into it
guys im saying this now UPSET of the night going to scott smith.And one more thing gina carrano is hot and she can fight,i dont think anybody consideres her “just a pertty face”if ur a true mma fan.
her fight with Julie Kedzie was f*ckin awesome. i wanna see that rematch so bad. and i think Smith is tough as hell but Lawler is a killer on his feet and i think Smith goes down hard in late round two, early round three when Lawler finds that chin.
rj
thats the fight i was talking about with carano.yeah lawler is a beast but something just wreeks upset
yeah man ive send Gina a bunch of messages begging her to push for a rematch with Kedzie, as far as womans MMA goes its kinda like there version of Chuck vs. Wand.
rj
actually to me there fight was like griffin vs bonnar it was like a coming out match for womens mma.
yeah there you go thats even better, i always forget how much of an impact that match had. i was a fan before Griffin vs. Bonner and i was still going to be a fan after, but that match was a selling point for a lot of fans who just started watching and your 100% correct about Gina and Julie being the female version of that.
[...] MMA HQ: Elite XC – CBS Saturday Night Fights preview [...]
@Dr.J
Im surprised you dont have the WEC preview up yet, you usually put it up on thursdays. Not that im complaining! hehe i dont really watch WEC events, but i definately want to see the main event this time around.
Best fight in WEC history, ill go along with that, mainly because of Jens.
so that being said, JENS or FABER??? what are your thoughts guys??
On the ground Faber has the wrestling advantage, i doubt Jens will be able to stop the takedown for very long. Im not sure if Jens will be ale to stave off submission attempts on the ground, but we will finally get to guage where Fabers BJJ game is at, we will see if he can submit Jens or not.
On the feet, i say its all Jens baby, he may not have shown it recently, but hes got some HEAVY hands for a small guy. Id be SO happy if Jens knocked him out in the first round.
i got a late fight TKO by Faber. i think Faber will take Jens down over and over till Jens get tired and Uriah knocks him out ground’n'pound style.
@BV
yeah sorry about that bro. Im out in Portland at a conference for work and I forgot to get it done before I left. If I get time I’ll try to do it tonight and get it up in the morning.
ya its cool doc, i figured you were just busy or something.
Gina, Gina, Gina, well my girl missed weight AGAIN. its not like she has no help in her camp, sh*t shes working with Xtreme Couture. i know there is not a lot of woman fighters around and you cant be all that picky about weight class but come on lets get real Gina Carano DOES NOT belong at 140lbs. has she ever made weight? she is probably the pound for pound best female fighter but people (including me) are going to start questioning if she winning these fights just because she just much bigger then her opponent.
RJ, from what ive read, Elitexc made that weight class just for her and she consistantly misses weight.
On another note, did you see the weigh-in pictures? Kaitlin Young looks RIPPED man.. alot of people are predicting she will upset Gina, though shes coming in smaller and 5 lbs lighter.
check this picture at the weight-ins.
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2008/5/30/542699/snapshot-of-the-day-kaitli
yeah she looks ready, and from what i understand she was an animal in training (flipping big asss tires, pulling trucks) but Gina is quite a bit bigger (Kaitlin fights at 135lbs.) and also Gina with the same amount of fights a Young has beaten the more experienced fighters AND 3 out of 4 of Kaitlins wins were in the same night and all under a minute so she doesnt have a huge amount of ring time. all in all it should be a good fight and Gina better be ready.
ya man, she looks like shes been training with Sherk or something hehe. I cant say ive seen much womens mma, maybe 3-4 fights, but this looks like it could be a good fight.
well boys here we go. i hope they put on a good show.
its kinda cool that they got Frank Shamrock explaining different positions, rules, and ways to win. it seems like there doing a good job letting the people know what there gong to be seeing.
sparing no expense Bret Rogers is led to the ring by a rapping Busta Rymes lol good stuff.
Ya im watching it too RJ, you notice whn they were talking to Bret after the fight, he took the mouthpiece out and he sounded like he still had one in there lol.
yeah i noticed that too lol.
lol Baroni is funny man did you see his walk in? the chicks TRYING to rip his shirt of was good, and man does he got some dance moves or what? lmao
Wow. this is just retarded. Phil Baroni is walking in right now, this is more like WWF. They wanted this to be an acurate representation of MMA. What better way to do it than announcing only baroni and not even mentioning villasenor until he is already in the ring. Yeah… this sucks so far…
you gotta remember there trying to cater to people who dont really know much about the sport but im sure they’ve seen wrestling before. i dont care much about what goes on besides the fights.
agreed, its about the fights and considering who they have on the card, its pretty decent for a free event. Im not complaining hehe.
i hope they make it just as cheesy as they have to so it makes it easier for non-fans to watch, give it some time and let people get used to it a bit then we’ll show em brutal KOs and bone breaking submissions.
true… but despite all of that they are taking forever to get the fights started. But they take even longer between fights than UfC does.
wow that fight changed fast!
anyone else here thats watching besides me, BV, and Lam?
i dont who here is/was a boxing fan but im just wondering is it just me or does this show seem like a boxing event or is it just me. it must the CBS thing.
boxing? you mean the way its set up? then ya it does look that way, but i guess its just the professionalism and the level of production that makes it look like that.
yeah you know its almost like an upscale thing, upper class or something.
THATS F*CKIN WOMANS MMA BABY YEA!!!!!
Definately man, that was a great fight man, though Gina clearly had her outclassed, but still, it was VERY entertaining.
on a side note.. it was also pretty hot! lol i wouldnt mind being in Ginas guard. :)
yeah man these girl dont f*ck around you know, they get in there and bang it out even if they’re gettin whooped they still throw like they mean it. and Gina trying a gogo lol that was cool sh*t.
side note: chick fights are always hot, nothing wrong liking the look of a chick with a black eye (unless you gave it to her) imagine some dude tries some bullsh*t with you in the club and your girl drops him fast and hard lol now thats hot.
I never have been a big boxing fan, but from what I’ve seen you’re right, either that or a kickboxing fight. There really hasn’t been a whole lot on the ground.
yeah maybe thats it the lack of ground work. im sure they made the choice to use mostly stand-up fighter in the hopes of not boring news fans.
I think its the matchups, they were intended as standup fights, even the next 2 fights are gonna be all standup. Probably what they had in mind to showcase big KOs and avoid the ground game to ensure new fans dont get bored.
you notice they mentioned that Drago was in SMiths corner, but they didnt bother to mention that Hughes is in Lawlers corner lol wtf?
WHAT A ROUND! smith gon piss blood tonight man..
OH SHT!! WHAT A 2ND ROUND!! cant believe Lawler is tired already, this is scheduled for 5 man..
WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!!! what a fight man, its a f*ckn war
FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LOL
man, i dont get it, both guys feel good and want to continue, if Smiths eye was THAT bad, i dont think he would have been so eager to continue, i think he could probably still see..
what a crime!
did you hear everyone chanting bullsh*t i’ll bet that doctor gets an escort to her car tonight lol.
that really suck man, i know they wanna be overly safe because of the situation but they should have at least given Smith his 5 minutes before they called it.
It sounded to me like there was some miscommunication between Scott and the doctor. Some 70 year old broad whos definately not a REAL fight doctor, im sure she didnt know the rules of the contest, like that he gets that extra 5 min.
If it was stopped because of her ignorance, they really have to make sure they get the RIGHT doctors in there.
you notice she kept examining the wrong eye? lol
When Lawler stopped attacking and just began to cover up and dodge shots, it was like a flashback of his fight with Ninja. Sure enough he weathered the storm and Smiths arms were jello then Robbie attacked.
The problem was, Smith has an iron jaw man! i think if Robbie took that opportunity to really hammer him to the body, he would have been more effective. Weve seen Smith get hurt to the body before and it appeared he was already hurt to the body in this fight.
but what can you say, in the heat of the moment, Lawler just wanted to knock his block off i guess lol.
no doubt Lawler could have finished if he went to the body till Smith dropped and then pounce on him. i cant wait for the rematch, im sure it’ll go quicker this one seemed like Lawler was playing with him a bit.
ya it did seem like he was playing with him.. plus he looked gassed in the 2nd round, im sure Robbie will train harder next time around knowing Smith is not a guy to sleep on.
Dam Smith is a tough dude to stand toe to toe with Lawler man, it was so kickass while it lasted!
so what do you think about this next one B? 10, 20 seconds? lol
you remember Tysons first fight back when he got out of Jail? vs Pete Mcneely? LOL. Thompson bumrushes Kimbo, then gets KO in like 13 sec lol.
thats too funny…. Peter McNeely lol for some reason all my friends (not boxing fnas) though McNeely was gonna win that fight and i laughed my balls of that entire fight (all 5 seconds of it) while my boys watched horrified lol i forgot all about that till now lol thank you for that lol.
DAM! is that Thompsons ear?? it looks like an unborn fetus attached to his head or something… that things gonna blow like a ripe watermelon from the first punch!
LMAO fetus lol it tells him what to do lol.
Thompson must wear queermuffs with only one muff lol.
tells him what to do LOL! i was originally thinking like the south park nurse, but now that you said that, im thinking quato from total recall lol.
haha what a end to the fight, with his fetus exploding haha
i think at the last second i heard it say, get to the reactor! or get to the chopper! or something like that lol
oh my gawd dude i didnt get to read this one last night (wifey stole the computer half way though the Kimbo fight) but thats gotta be one of the funny comments ever, and by the way everyone give BV a hand, he called it to a T, Kimbo by fetus explosion lol. man i just read it again i cant stop laughing i can just see it “get to the reactor Colossussssss” James says “its ok i can do this, dont worry” ear:”Colossussss lets **BOOM** uugghh” James:”Quato? Quato?!?! Quatoooooooooo!”
LOLOLOLOL
wow good show on both guys behalf.
lol wtf? Kimbo was taking unanswered shots for like a whole minute, but no word from the ref (which i agree he shouldnt have stopped it). Then Thompson takes 2 shots and the ref jumps in? lol no man give the guy a chance to fall down atleast if your gonna call the fight.
gotta hand it to Kimbo tho, he proved hes a legit basic level MMA fighter. We can clearly see the level he is at, which i think is higher than most people thought. Hes not just a brawler anymore, hes got a little wrestling in there now, a tiny bit of BJJ, but its clear that he IS learning.
I think the fight was stopped a little premature, but Thompson had that 1000 yard stare and was out on his feet. He didn’t look at the ref for a few seconds. If the ref had just waited 2 more seconds it would have ended it heap of Thompson on the floor. Overall a pretty good showing for the whole card. I wished it showcased some more ground game though. It’s pretty sad when the kimbo fight was the most technical ground fight of the night.
Its true about the ground game, but they dont have ground talent in Eltie, except Frank.
I thought Thompson was getting knocked out the first time he got the 1000 yard stare, but you know what, he recovered got the takedown and controlled the rest of the round landing elbows. Would he have gotten KO in the 3rd when he got rocked? who knows.. but they should have atleast given him the chance to comeback or get knocked out instead of assuming he was done lol. If it took one more punch, then let him eat wnother punch, most of the guys end up taking an extra 1 or 2 shots when theyre on the ground already out. They didnt even give thompson a chance to fall down man lol.
yeah its a bit crappy they didnt let Thompson at least try to recover, but again i’ll take it on the idea people didnt see Thompson hit the floor like he got shot and then take a skull crushing hammer fist or two. could you see the face of the person thats never seen MMA before if Kimbo cracked Thompson eye socket AFTER he got knocked out.