Posts with the tag "Gina Carano"

There won't be a third round for EliteXC. After a two year run, it appears that EliteXC is closing it's doors. This wasn't a surprise to anybody, it was only a surprise in that it happened so soon. For more on the downfall, read the article Behind the Scenes of ProElite and EliteXC’s Demise.

Being a dedicated fan, I wonder about the fallout of such an event. My immediate reaction is that this is bad for mixed martial arts. There won't be any more Saturday Night Fights. MMA won't have national TV exposure. Worst of all, it may be sometime before we see Gina Carano fight again.

Then again, this might be a good thing for mixed martial arts. The few good fighters that EliteXC had under contract will now migrate to Affliction and the UFC. Fighters might start appreciating the pay they are receiving. Best of all, no more Kimbo hype.

In any case, the fallout will be interesting to watch. Time will tell how this truly impacts mixed martial arts.

The EliteXC Heat event was actually pretty entertaining. You can find more on the event here. Of course I watched it with the aid of digital video recorder, so I didn't have to watch all the fluff. For me, the highlights where...

• Ken Shamrock out of the main event - This sucked at first, but got all the more interesting when Kimbo lost. By the way, did anybody actually remember that Seth Petruzelli actually was on The Ultimate Fightar 2?
• Benji Radach fighting style "facesmasher-fu" (or something like that) - I still can't find a reference to what the hell his fight style was, but he sure looked good kicking the crap out of Murilo Rua.
• The weigh-ins - The Kimbo-Shamrock escapade almost looked scripted but Carano getting naked had millions of fans watching.
• Seeing Jake Shields fight - Having never seen Shields fight, I was impressed. I can now justify putting him in my rankings.
• Andre Arlovski looked aggressive - I don't think the Arlovski of old is back, but he definitely showed some of the signs.

I am still waiting on the fallout from this event. What happens with Kimbo now? Who will Petruzelli fight next? Will pictures of Carano surface? These are the important questions.

I have mixed emotions after watching EliteXC's Primetime event. In fact, I see a lot of similarities between the event and the fight between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith. It got off to a good start and was exciting to watch, but in the end it left something to be desired.

I won't rehash the whole event. If you want more details, see Ram Maramba's article over at Five Ounces of Pain. However, I will touch on a few of his points.

I agree that announcer Mauro Ranallo was horrible. When he started talking about the UFC and their fighters, I knew it was downhill from there. He did manage to make me laugh, specifically when he was describing Kaitlin Young's face. He said it was "put together like a ransom note."

Speaking of Kaitlin Young, her fight with Gina Carano put women's MMA fighting on the map. Not only was it an excellent fight, but it immediately caught the attention of the females in the room. I am guessing it was the only fight they paid attention to. Congratulations to Gina Carano, she should be a star for some time to come.

The best fight of the night went to Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith. Both fighters were throwing haymakers trying to end the fight. I actually thought Smith was winning the fight before it abruptly ended with an eye poke. This will prove to a good thing for EliteXC as they can show the rematch on their next show.

Finally, the main event was disappointing. Of course, I never thought Kimbo Slice was a top-twenty fighter, still I thought he would steamroll through James Thompson. Slice was eventually declared the winner, but the fight did little to make him a star. I must say, Thompson's ear was most disturbing. We kept laughing that it would explode at any minute and eventually it did. That image will be haunting most of our dreams for some time to come.

All in all, EliteXC did a fairly good job presenting the event. It still doesn't sit very well with, but I am not exactly sure why. I guess it's the nature of televised events. They are always longer than they need to be with all the extra fluff between fights. Still, I am intrigued enough to watch their next show.