- We finally got to see Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson in a real fight and Kimbo proved his worth against James Thompson tonight. Thompson was winning the fight after two rounds and Slice definitely looked in trouble entering the third and final frame. In my opinion, the fight was stopped early after Slice landed a left hook in the opening minute of the third round. Thompson was on his way to a solid victory and seemed like he was able to continue without a problem. For his efforts, “Colossus” received a nasty cut on his ear but came close to pulling off an excellent upset.
- Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith took full advantage of the national audience and put on the fight of the night. Lawler and Smith stood toe-to-toe and slugged it out, neither one wanting to back down. Smith was saved by the bell at the end of round 1 and literally stumbled his way back to his corner after the bell. Lawler appeared to gas a little during the second round, but continued to bring the heat to Smith, with Scott returning the favor. An excellent fight and a shame the fight was ended early and ruled a no-contest. Smith wanted to continue but wasn’t given the opportunity. You can be pretty confident, their rematch won’t be able to match the action and intensity of tonights fight.
- The Gina Carano vs Kaitlin Young fight was excellent. Young looked great for about 4:30 minutes and then started eating punches that she wasn’t able to recover from. Carano used her front snap-kick effectively to keep Young at a distance and picked her spots to attack. An excellent fight regardless of gender.
- Phil Baroni continues to solidify his place as a mid-level stepping stone fighter with his loss to Joey Villasenor. Villasenor looked composed and fought a good fight and landed a solid hook when Baroni’s hands were down. Baroni will continue to get fights because he can create excellent hype for any match with his antics and sound clips. It’s disappointing to know that Baroni has the potential to be a better fighter but will never realize that full potential.
- The Brett Rogers vs Jon Murphy fight was pretty disappointing. I was expecting quite a bit more from both of thes guys, but when the fight ends in about 60 seconds there isn’t much that can be taken out of the fight.
- Gina Carano clearly has a problem making weight, even at the special “catch-weightclass” that EliteXC specifically created to accommodate her. If Gina wants to be taken seriously as a fighter, she needs to take fighting seriously. I don’t care about her being on American Gladiators filming just three weeks ago, or having to cut weight while on a period. She needs to make weight. Period.
- Gary Shaw continues to amuse me, especially after the Baroni-Villasenor fight when he told “Smokin Joe” what to say regarding wanting a title shot.
- The production level of the show was good and I was really impressed with Gus Johnson as the lead commentator. I am, of course, familiar with his other work from CBS and March Madness, but he did well for a first time MMA commentator. To be honest, the combination of Johnson, Mauro Renallo, and Frank Shamrock was probably the best commentating team I’ve ever heard for an MMA event. I’m so glad we didn’t have to hear a single word from Bill Goldberg all night.
- I think we could do without all the rappers and dancers and just focus on the athletes and matchups. But then again, I have to realize that I and those that read MMA HQ and other MMA sites are not the target audience for an event like this so CBS and the EliteXC really aren’t concerned with the perception among the MMA “hardcore” fans. In my opinion, the show could have been a lot better, but it also could have been much, much worse.
guys was it just me or were the medics to involved in these fights?young could of continued,i think.And they didnt even give smith his five minutes,sure at first he said he couldnt see but why not wait till ask him after the five minutes.Now thompson was probably going to get koed but i think even though thompsons ear was looking terrible he could of continued,at least for a couple seconds till he was going to get koed anyways.
Everyone involved with this card was jumpy that night…and who can blame. Like it or not history was being made, and everyone was feeling the pressure. Nobody wanted to be the one that caused controversy. Though ironically by being so quick for fighter safety they created it anyway.
“Thompson was on his way to a solid victory and seemed like he was able to continue without a problem”
I completely disagree. Watch that fight again Doc. I do believe it was stopped early, but the early stoppage only prevented Thompson from being dropped to the mat. After the last punch before the ref stopped it, Thompson was out on his feet and looking int he completely wrong direction…that’s what the ref seen. Thompson came back around just as the ref stepped between them.
I’m with ya on the Gina Carano frustration. She’s the BJ Penn of women’s MMA. She’s lucky she has enough natural talent that she is able to pull out these wins with out ever really training as had has her opponent. Young was ripped and ready for a fight. Gina was over weight, slow, and generally out of shape. If she would just fricken show up 100% for one fight….just one…it would shut the critics up.
So I think what I wrote might have come across incorrectly. I was saying that Thompson clearly had the first and second rounds on the scorecards in my opinion and therefore was on his way to a victory regardless of whether or not he won the third round.
All that changed of course at the start of the third while he was being battered by Kimbo. I think the ref stopped the fight early, but I think the end result was the same. Even if it wasn’t stopped, Thompson was dazed enough that Kimbo would have finished him with strikes anyways.
Guys if u watch when the ref stops the fight u can clearly hear him say “his ears falling off”thats why he stopped the fight not cuz he was taking those big shots
seriously?? i never heard that Richard, if thats the case, the refs an idiot man.. his ear was flopping around before the fight even started.. but still his ear should have no bearing on the fight, it wont bleed into his eye or something..
dam man.. why didnt he drain that thing? they could have brought one of those trucks they use to empty septic tanks lol.
yup after checking it again Richard is right, you can clearly hear the ref say “his ears falling off” thats what made him decide to call the fight. Also of note, Shaw went up and talked to the ref before the start of round 3, who knows what he said, but its looking real shady guys..
Heres a clip of the last round Kimbo vs Thompson
http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=4ccc4428-a9e6-4e0f-ad8f-52e815f40ed2
at the VERY END of the clip you can hear the ref mention the ear thing..
was that the ref or one of the announcers?
over all i think the show was good for what it was supposed to accomplish. the world needed to see MMA shown in an exciting but safe manner and you got to see that last night. was it a bit of a perversion of the sport we all love dearly? yes, yes it was, but it was worth it? it was worth not giving the stuffed shirts anymore ammo, it was worth not having squeamish people throwing up at the brutality of a Silva/Jardine like finish, and it was with out a doubt worth what i spent to watch. later on today or tomorrow if you hear that the mainstream has become even more disgusted by MMA then we will have reason to complain about a crappy show with early stoppages.
i agree with that RJ, it was a very entertaining night of fights. Besides some early stoppages (which happen in every mma event) it turned out to be a solid event overall, and ofcourse the price was right heh.
I just read Ioles review of the EliteXC event yesterday, hes completely bashing Elite like crazy. Saying the production was terrible, the fighters are tomato cans and it hurt mma. Then he goes on to praise WEC.
This guy is a douche man.. as doc likes to say, Kevin Iole is a zuffa robot, he will praise anything zuffa does and condemn everyone else.
Talking about Baronis record of 10-9 calling him a tomato can, this guy just looks at stats on paper and he thinks he knows about mma. Baroni was a lot more competative some years ago, though now it seems the sport has mostly passed him be but i would NOT call him a tomato can. Like Doc said, hes a legit gatekeeper at his weightclass, id like to see Iole say that to Baronis face, or thompson for that matter.
Question Dr. J… Are you gonna put up a preview for the WEC event tonight?
Sorry Lam, but I wasn’t able to get my writeup finished and its too late now to throw it up.
I’m hoping to be able to do a full recap after the show though.
@DOC suggestion for a post,you might want to elaborate since i just kinda outlined it but one things for sure june is looking good for MMA fans!!
1. Elite last night
2. WEC today
NEXT WEEKEND
3. UFC 85
4. Sengoku 3
IN 2 WEEKS
5. EliteXC
6. Adrenaline
7. Dream 4
IN 3 WEEKS
8. TUF finale
IN 4 WEEKS
9. Strikeforce
10. K1 (though technically not mma)
wow i never really though of it but damn there is a lot going on in the near future.
yup! mma has come a long way since the days of 1 event every 3 months. Im loving this man!
Ive realized more promotions are a MUST! the UFC proved that with the caliber of guys theyre releasing from contracts. They simply cant afford to keep all these guys around AND make the ridiulous profit margins they are used to.
someone has to absorb these guys, because simply, we want to see them fight! theres demand there and money to be made. If one other group doesnt have the budget to handle them, they have to be spread out through other promotions.
yeah as long as we dont end up seeing one or two good fighters in each of 30 or 40 orgs. i would like to see different brands focus one one or two weight classes and have the rest for supplement. you know like GSP and Jake Sheilds and the welterweight division is the showcase in UFC, Anderson and Lawler in Elite, Fedor and Barnett in DREAM you know what im sayin’ and it would help with cross promotion too, if the UFC comes across a good HW they offer him up for a card or to and DREAM uses him and flies a little UFC flag for the night and everyone wins.
thats an interesting idea about an org. focusing on a specific weightclass. The problem is that too many people still think the only weight that matters is heavy, i guess cuz the guys are big and your thinking, dam that guy can whoop some azzz like Kimbo.
Cross promotion is always great, the problem with THAT is that the UFC clearly doesnt know how to negotiate. All these problems and disputes fighters have with the UFC are not coincidence, its simple they try to screw people, thats business.
I seem to recall Pride never having any problems like that and they often collaborated successfully, just not with the UFC because theyre unreasonable..
ofcourse they went out of business though hehe..
I have to say that I was pretty entertained last night, getitng to watch Kimbo fight live for the first time. I wasn’t too impressed with his cardio, especially against a guy like Thompson, who real MMA fans know has a glass jaw.
I was so pissed when my DVR stopped recording the main event because it ran too long.
Hey Doc,
Did you read Kevin Assholey’s article review of last night? it so comical how far he has Dana White’s balls down his throat. I do agree they should get rid of the cheerleaders, or as Iole calls them, “******”.
lol ya i noticed that too amir, i mentioned it in a post earlier, but can you believe that guy?
he didnt like the level of production, he didnt like the commentators, he didnt like the fighters and apparantly, he doesnt like girls lol.
I didnt realize that shamelss level of zuffa nuthugging was possible even for Iole..
Iole needs to stop pretending his a legit MMA writer and just goto work for UFC.com, he would be doing the same thing as hes doing right now except people wouldnt be dooped in to thinking he is an unbiased MMA journalist
hes like the mole zuffa has in yahoo heh
I stopped reading any of Iole’s articles a long time ago. They simply aren’t worth the webpages they are written on
Heres a link to the Elite post-fight presser for those of you who didnt see it..
http://www.mmatko.com/kimbo-video-elitexc-primetime-post-fight-press-conference/
oops wrong link, its this one
http://www.subfighter.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=72026
its got the “drama” lol
i watched a couple different versions (different angles) of the presser now and the thing that stands out for me is Robbie Lawlers role during the commotion, at first he jumps up and is going to hold one of Kimbos boys back (till he sees he not a problem) then he climbs over Gary Shaw and goes right over to Rogers to try and defuse the situation. pure class and professionalism displayed by Lawler. Rogers and Kimbo should take note and learn how to act right.
you watching WEC now RJ?
nah man i wish, its not available here. im stuck reading the play-by-play. you watchin?
you dont have TSN???
it says on my guide it NBA play-offs, f*uckin dirtbags made me miss some of it f*ck!!!!!
thankx B your the man, im glad your on right now or i would have missed the whole thing lol
LOL ya mine too, i was just gonna mention that to you in csae you didnt notice the marked it wrong.. hehe your welcome :)
well you didnt miss much, pretty lackluster fight, went to the cards.. McCulluh should have done much better.
this is f*ckin great two nights in a row of free MMA im so happy i think i just pissed my self a little bit lol.
has there only been one fight so far?
not sure, i almost missed it myself cuz of the stupid guide..
Zapastas Blood…. i love that song!!!!!
Zapata i mean, sorry Senor Zapata! lol
that was a pretty interesting fight, with that big reach difference, kinda strange position for Munzo to setup his offense from.. but hey! it worked heh
yep as long as you get the W it doesnt matter much how you set it up.
stiffened up, nice lol.
oh sh*t i just noticed im only a few post away from the Dennis mark, im so proud of my self lol.
wow he snapped that on out of nowhere man.
ya, must be tough to lose like that man, one little mistake and its over.. dam!
love the brokeback Tapout hat lol.
lol i wonder if they call it that in the catalog
its from there brokeback line lol for the fan who REALLY likes his his favorite fighter lol.
ROFL!! i wonder if they have the assless chaps LOL
yeah and Jorge Gurgel is there new poster boy lol.
HOW BOUT THESE LITTLE GUYS! man what a great fight, its got it all, well except for KO power, but thats whats keeping it going!
man you gotta love the little guys they come to fight no joke. this is close one so far.
p.s. this post puts me past Dennis, it feel good to be back in the top 5 lol.
oh congratz on topping the icefan hehe
this is what we been waiting for.. i hope Jens can stop the takedown! then what would Faber do?
wow, just wow! that was a good fight man.
every 30 seconds i though someone else was about to get dropped. Faber is good dude he picked Jens apart on his feet and when it hit the ground he work him over there too. but there was so many moments where Pulver came back and looked like he was gonna knock Faber out. it was just an intense fight.
theres the answer to THAT question lol. Dam that was a tough fight man, Faber just got a ton of respect from me.
Notice how at first Faber would throw that overhand right and clinch up immediately, then he started getting comfortable and didnt bother clinching anymore.
He was just waaay too fast for Jens, he looked like Sugar ray Leonard in there man. Jens had the power and chin, but he barely landed very many shots because of fabers speed, foot work, head movement.
man.. he picked Jens apart bigtime.. i dunno why but Jens looked like he was just sparring or something, making a comment after every punch or kick that landed.
it looked like Jens knew he was outclassed and he was trying to get in Fabers head a bit.
ya i was definately on the edge of my seat knowing Jens is always dangerous and Faber was throwing serious bombs man!
I think Faber could have finished the fight on the ground if he wanted to.. but he wanted to showcase his striking vs pulver.
it was a great fight, tho Jens got kinda beatup. No doubt that Faber won every round of the fight..
this is the reason the UFC needs to co-promote even if it was just with WEC, could you imagine if that fight had been on UFC 85 along with the Yoshiro Maeda vs. Miguel Torres instead of some of the lesser fights there showing.
you think Faber would ever move up to 155? i think he should man.. now that he beat Jens, who else is he gonna fight at 145? theres SOOOO many good fighters at 155 for him to fight.
but he wont because hes 5′6 same height as Sherk, but not quite as big as Sherk hehe.
yeah hes just a little guy i dont think he could deal with a guy like Penn.
well im out brother i gotta start a big job tomorrow… peace\\//
Hey RJ,
That whole Kimbo press conference confrontation seemed a little staged for me.
yeah it did have a WWE feel to it, the way things went down. but if the rumors are true (i will fill you in about it when i know more) then it kinda proves that it was real and Rogers f*cked up.
here this might help a bit.
http://www.yardbarker.com/mma/articles/Brett_Rogers_Interview_post_post_fight_press_conference/273142
GUYS
ive just seen something that to me means that elite xc tried to rig kimbos fight on saturday,on mmamania they have a score card that actually says that kimbo won the second round now anybody who watched the fight knows that there is no way kimbo won the second round in fact on the score card the other two judges scored the round for thompson one even said it was 10-8.
ya there were alot of things that made it look like they were ensuring Kimbo would win one way or another.
- the ref standing them up
- the ref not stopping the fight when kimbo was eating those bows
- Shaw talking to the ref right before round 3
- the premature stoppage
- the bias scorecard
its pretty clear whats going on, i dont think its Kimbos fault tho, the guys paid to fight, if they overhype him, or cheat to help him win, nothing he can do about it.
While I don’t think the “fix was in” I definitely think the fight should have been stopped during round 2 when Kimbo was just getting continuously elbowed in the head while up against the cage. He couldn’t defend himself at all, and while he obviously didn’t get KO’d in that position, I’ve never seen a fight go nearly 60 seconds while one fighter is just getting elbowed in the head.
Doc i agree the elbowing thing was unprecedented, but considering they were VERY light elbows, i understand the arguement to keep it going, being the main event etc..
Thompson was trying to “get the stoppage” instead of actually trying to finish Kimbo. Instead of pitter patting away for 60 sec, he would have been more effective throwing 2-3 BIG shots, maybe cut Kimbo or something.
the PROBLEM i had, was after being very lenient with Kimbo and letting him survive till the 3rd, he suddenly became over protective of Thompson and called the fight lol.
the ref has to be consistant, treat both guys the same way, wether its protective or lenient.
one thing that makes me believe the fight was not fixed is the idea that Shaw and Elite have to buy a lot of people to pull it off. think about it like this they would a least have to pay off the ref, and there is no way ANYONE is going to help fix a fight for nothing. if it was discovered that Dan Miragliotta helped to fix the fight imagine sh*t he would go though, i dont believe for a second that he would do it just because Shaw asked him to, or even if he offered a couple hundred grand, judges are the same story. these people have lives and families and reputations to look after, and i know most everyone has there price but do you really think Shaw is going to break the bank just to make sure Kimbo wins against a guy that he was supposed to run over anyways?
Im not saying it was fixed and everyone was bought off, im saying theres favortism going on and alot of people wanted Kimbo to win that fight.