As I mentioned last night immediately after the fight card ended...I thought the show was a major improvement over their first foray onto CBS. All the fights were pretty entertaining for the most part and I'm not even gonna mention the shock and awe factor of watching EliteXC's largest flag bearer going down in flames. The pacing between fights was good and Gus Johnson was great once again. However, somebody please shoot Mauro and choke him with that wack ass pink tie he was wearing last night. I kid I kid....but damn he was annoying as usual. Anyways..on to the fights:
Rua vs. Radach-The fight went pretty much how I called it, but with the wrong guy going down in the end. Rua just wings those punches too wildly and Radach capitalized with punches right down the middle. Both fighters showed incredible chins...I still don't see how Rua survived the first round...he has madd heart. This was a great fight to open up the card with.
Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald-Yep, called this one perfectly...except Kobald had way more heart than I gave her credit for and went the distance. Then again, if she didn't spend 75% of the time going for a takedown she would have gotten finished on the feet. Also, why the hell was she staring into camera with that crazy ass look on her face? Anyways, I'm not the biggest supporting of female MMA...but I definitely interested in seeing Carano/Cyborg. That could be a classic standup war...too bad Elite probably won't be around to show it.
Arlovski/Nelson-Decent fight here...I picked Arlovski to win by decision as Nelson was using the gameplan I thought he would....which was smart. I swear when the referee stood Nelson up when he was in side control trying to work that kimura I almost shit myself. So who knows how that blunder changed things...not to say it really matter..but it's the principle of the matter....that was HORRIBLE. Arlovski does seem to be fighting with more aggression(like his UFC championship run)...so that's a good thing. Nice KO win for the "Pitbull".
Shields vs. Daley-Oh wow...Paul Daley has zero ground game. I picked Shields to win via RNC in the first round. Shit, had Daley known how to give up his back after being mounted...I have no doubts that is exactly what would have happened. He did manage to expose Shields for his standup which was pretty bad. I'll have to consider that when I update my fighter rankings.
Kimbo/Petruzelli-Since I had no way to predict that Shamrock would go and do something stupid like getting himself injured...I'll just have to give my thoughts on this one. How do you get KO'ed by a jab from a 205'er when you have a beard that's like 6 inches thick? That was incredible and a crucial blow to EliteXC as a whole as arguably their biggest 'star' got demolished by a unknown...and even worse...a fighter that was on 'The Ultimate Fighter' show. So I guess that show is validated once again huh?
On to other things like Tito Ortiz....I wrote about him possibly signing with EliteXC here. I said then that I didn't think it would happen, and I still don't even after last night. Didn't looked bad last night...his face was all fat and ish...and that suit was wack. Anyways, what people with good sense sign a fighter:
- When that fighter is about to have major back surgery.
- They don't know if he'll be able to perform afterwards.
- they don't have any money to pay that fighter with.
Then again, the folk over at EliteXC haven't exactly shown they are Warren Buffet with the business acumen either. As I mentioned previously, I see Ortiz either re-signing with the UFC or retiring to do some "C" class moveis.
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