ELITE XC ON CBS PART TWO REPORT

ELITE XC ON CBS PART TWO
By Chris F.

Coming into this night the promotion of Elite XC had almost no hype going into the show. The promotion’s top star Kimbo Slice wasn’t available for the show given the time in-between his last fight in May. The card banked on a rematch from the first CBS card, Robbie Lawler against Scott Smith. The first fight was a war and probably gained the two some more noterity. However, it probably wasn’t the smartest deal to expect Smith, and Lawler to be headliners on a major program. With Elite’s hands tied they did do a good job of putting together a card that could make up for the lack of star power. Now, it all matters if people flipped the channels and liked watching a MMA fight instead of watching for a character like Kimbo Slice.

Shayna Baszler Vs Cris Cyborg 140

This was a fun women’s match to kick the show off. Shayna was trained in catch wrestling by Josh Barnett. This mattering to me, because there was a chance Baszler could pull out a crazy pro wrestling style submission. Frank Gotch, and the STF was even mentioned in commentary by Mauro Ranallo. Unfortunately, Cyborg had other plans for Baszler. She came from the Chute Box camp and had some solid Muay Thai skills. Not only that, she totally stopped Baszler from being able to take her down.

Cyborg in a weird scene pretty much won the match twice. The first time after a bunch of punches Baszler crumbled to the ground. Cyborg, thinking she had won, jumped on top of the octagon in celebration. Meanwhile, ref Steve Mazagatti hadn’t called the fight, and had to yell for about 30-40 seconds to get Cyborg back. Cyborg then came back and delivered even more unresponded punches to Baszler to the fight was finally stopped.

Baszler in RD 2.

Jake Shields Vs Nick Thompson 170

Shields finished this won quickly in just over a minute. It was a pretty much a BJJ clinic. Thompson got taken down Shields put his hooks in and got the mount then guillotined him for the win. Shields made a note to put a challenge out to the winner of the UFC bout between GSP and Jon Fitch. Shields won the EliteXC Welterweight belt and wants to unify it with the UFC’S.

Jake Shields in RD 1 via Sub for the Welterweight Championship

Nick Diaz Vs Thomas Denny 160

Diaz was a huge favorite coming in and a huge favorite being in his hometown of Stockton, California. Diaz is unbelievable heel, and probably one of the most hated fighters in the sport. The older brother of Nate is known for his boxing and dangerous Ju Jitsu. Diaz coming into this fight wanted to make it another boxing match instead of using his ground skills. Thomas Denny was more than happy to stand with Diaz being his best chance of winning. Denny stayed in early and made it a fight, but later in the first round Diaz found his boxing rhythm. Diaz came out in the second round guns blazing again very relaxed and picked his spots. He knocked out Denny and the crowd was more into this then anything tonight. Diaz should be used better by Elite XC, the man has incredible charisma inside and outside the cage.

Scott Smith Vs Robbie Lawler 185

This Middleweight championship fight is the rematch from the first show. Two punchers who usually put on the kind of fight fans love to see. Scott Smith won me over while in the UFC when he won an epic standup fight against Pete Sell. Robbie Lawler also had a stint in the UFC where he was very good but ended up going on bad streak of fights. Lawler came back from that and was the Middleweight champion going into the fight.

The first round was just as expected another standup war. Lots of kicks and punches and both got stunned in the first. Hard round to judge, Lawler was ahead in the first but Scott ended up coming back with a flurry at the end.

The second round they came out throwing again. This time, Smith got Lawler in the clinch and busted him open with his elbows. After that, Lawler turned the tables in the clinch using punches and finally knees to drop Smith. Great brawl.

Robbie Lawler RD 2 TKO

This show was another good offering by Elite XC. You could not ask more from a MMA show. This time there was a better mix of technical fighting and brawling. A lot better representation of MMA from Elite XC. Elite XC does a fantastic job with the way they cover their fights. The commentating with Frank Shamrock, Mauro, and Gus Johnson is one of the best teams covering any sport. Fun show, not a bad match on the card.