Elite XC’s Jared Shaw takes a little shot at yours truly in this MMA Rated interview, calling me Ben “UFC” Fowlkes, which I suppose is an implication that I’m pro-UFC and anti-Elite XC, although I like to think that my record as an equal opportunity critic speaks for itself. If an organization does dumb things, it’s my job to point it out. If one organization does more dumb things than others, they’re going to receive more criticism. That’s just how it works. If it makes me a hater, I can live with that. But since when do we all have to like everything?

$kala says he just wants some love for his fighters, not himself. Fair enough, Jared. You do have some good fighters in your organization. Guys like Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, Wilson Reis, Nick Diaz, and “Ninja” Rua, just to name a few. These are all fighters that I enjoy watching. But your fighters aren’t what you’ve been criticized for, and I think you know it.

Let’s take the event you’ve got this Saturday, for example. On the undercard you’ve got a few interesting scraps between guys like Paul Daley and Jake Shields, Benji Radach and “Ninja” Rua, and a sweet little co-promotional joint between Affliction fighters Andrei Arlovski and Roy Nelson (nice work scoring that, by the way, whether you had anything to do with it or not).

But your main event features a 3-0 fighter in Kimbo Slice, who has yet to face an opponent coming off a win, taking on a forty-four-year-old legend of the sport who hasn’t won a fight or even made it out of the first round in over four years. And that’s your main event.

(Champion Robbie Lawler with the most amorphous MMA CEO in town)

Word out of EliteXC (and reported on by MMA Weekly) is that the November 8th showdown between Robbie Lawler and Joey Villasenor will be for the 185 pound title. This is fantastic news for EliteXC and MMA fans alike. Lawler hasn’t faced any true tests since winning the title from an over matched Murilo Rua and so it’ll be good to see him go against some top flight talent in Joey Villasenor. A more recognized name than Scott Smith, Villasenor should provide the EliteXC execs with the paycheck they’ve been looking for.

The now-Greg Jackson taught Villasenor is undefeated since losing a battle to Rua in 2007, and has looked very impressive over increasingly difficult competition. “Smokin’ Joe” suffered a flying knee loss to Lawler back in 2006 PRIDE competition, but both men would attest that they are much different fighters. At any rate, the fight represents a fascinating match from all perspectives.

Both men love to strike and it’s no surprise that most expect this to avoid a decision end. Additionally, the 185 pound title represents EliteXC’s most legitimate division and it’s encouraging to see that the promoters are competent enough to book solid fights when it matters.

10. Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
(UFC 74, 8/25/07)

At 44 years of age, Randy Couture was the one who was supposed to look busted up after his heavyweight championship match with 29-year-old Brazilian wrecking ball Gabriel Gonzaga. But in one of the greatest triumphs of his career, Couture broke down the bigger, younger fighter with his wrestling and dirty boxing. About three minutes into the first round, blood began to pour out of Gonzaga’s shattered nose, giving Randy’s back a nice, red coat. The steady flow interrupts the challenger’s breathing and vision, leading to a brutal ground-and-pound finish in the third.

9. Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
(EliteXC: Unfinished Business, 7/26/08)

In the second round of their EliteXC middleweight championship do-over, Scott Smith nailed Robbie Lawler with a series of standing elbows that opened up an ugly gash on the top of Lawler’s head. With blood pouring out of the wound, Lawler turned up the intensity, doing his best to finish Smith before a doctor could stop the fight. About 90 seconds later, he succeeded — but not before a spray of “plasma” fell into commentator Mauro Ranallo’s lap. The video doesn’t really do it justice; you should also check out this photo from the fight, and this photo of the aftermath.

8. Chase Beebe vs. Eddie Wineland
(WEC 26, 3/24/07)

It may have been the most grisly demolition of a cauliflower ear in MMA history. Midway through a five-round bantamweight title match, challenger Chase Beebe dropped an elbow from the top that burst Eddie Wineland’s overripe right ear, causing it to spray blood several feet across the mat. Wineland, who had already suffered multiple cuts near his eyes from Beebe’s precision striking, soldiered on to the fifth-round bell with what appeared to be a gaping hole in the side of his head. Beebe took home the belt and Wineland hasn’t fought in the WEC since.

After the jump: Things really start to get disgusting.

(Guess who’s getting promoted to the position of Kimbo’s Official Gold Chain Holder. Photo courtesy of Esther Lin.)

When news dropped that Gary Shaw had resigned from Pro Elite just shortly after everyone within the company, including his son Jared, assured the media that things were just fine and nobody was going anywhere, we naturally assumed that Jared was on his way out too. It’s like when you’re the son of a third world dictator and you get some cushy do-nothing job. When your dad is overthrown by a power-hungry general in a bloody coup, it usually means you’re on the next flight out with a briefcase full of cash or you get killed in your sleep.

But according to new Pro Elite Chairman Charles Champion, whose name is awesome and maybe fake, Jared is going to be sticking around in some capacity:

Jared has been with the company from the beginning. Gary has often said that it was really Jared that brought Gary into it. Jared has continued to work on making matches and continue to promote ProElite and ProElite athletes. He’s continuing to work with the fight team. I haven’t talked to Jared about what he’s going to be doing ten years from now but I have talked to Jared about what he’s going to be doing for the next while with us. He’s enthusiastic and others are enthusiastic about his approach and what he’s doing now, so we think that is all going to work out well.

Seriously? So the lesson here is, nepotism works? Man, this is why I hate learning lessons.

(Robbie Lawler does his best Joe Stevenson impression at EliteXC: Unfinished Business. Photo courtesy of Esther Lin via Fightlinker.)

The California State Athletic Commission has released figures on the attendance and gate revenue for Saturday’s “Unfinished Business” show, and good Lord are they awful. Of the 8,541 seats available for the event, only 2,871 — or 33.6% — were purchased by fans. Of the remainder, 3,701 were given away as comps, and 2,023 went totally unused. The 2,871 paid tickets brought in $268,715 in revenue, which is less than the dollar value of the tickets that were given away ($340,960).

So, not only was “Unfinished Business” a ratings disappointment, but its live attendance (6,752 Stocktonites in total) was destroyed by other major MMA events held in California recently. For example…

Affliction: Banned — 14,832 total attendance, 11,242* paid (Anaheim, 7/19/08)
Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson — 7,288 total, 6,750 paid (San Jose, 6/27/08)
WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver — 12,001 total, paid figure unavailable (Sacramento, 6/1/08)
Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le — 15,192 total, 14,710 paid (San Jose, 3/29/08)
UFC 76 (their most recent event in California) — 13,770 total, 11,817 paid (Anaheim, 9/22/07)
* figure is debatable.

Back in May, EliteXC’s “Primetime” card — held at Newark’s Prudential Center and starring Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano — drew a respectable 8,033 spectators. EliteXC plans on holding their next CBS show in October at the 20,000-seat BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. Of course Kimbo is going to be a big draw in his home state, but unless EliteXC likes hearing the echo of thousands of empty seats, they might want to think about scaling back a little.

(Nick Thompson spices up the weigh-in, courtesy of Combat Lifestyle)

It’s another Saturday night of MMA, Potato Nation. We may not have Fedor or Anderson Silva this time around, but we have got Robbie Lawler and a can-do spirit, so we’re going to make the best of it. Like my grandfather used to say, when life gives you Nick Diaz and Thomas Denny, make lemonade. My grandfather may have been completely insane, but he was wise in his own special way.

Anyway, it’s free so we’re going to stop complaining and start writing. We’ll be liveblogging all the Elite XC on CBS action as it unfolds, so jump on board and let’s do this thing. Remember to hit refresh every so often to keep from getting left behind.

So Robbie Lawler is clearly not into doing this interview with MMA Rated’s Ariel Helwani. That’s nothing new for the Elite XC middleweight champ. Media shy isn’t quite the term for how Lawler deals with the press. More like media contemptuous. But to hear Ariel tell it, Lawler isn’t the only one who seems unenthusiastic about this event:

We just came back from the EliteXC press conference at the Stockton Arena and the only word that comes to mind is “surprised.”

Surprised that there was virtually no media there. Seriously, maybe a handful…tops.

Surprised that the Shaws (Gary and Jared) were no where to be found. Surprised that no one is willing to give a straight answer as to where they are hiding. Trust me, I asked around. Surprised that there appears to be zero excitement online, around town or even in the local media for this event.

What’s going on here? Elite XC broke a major barrier with their first show on CBS, but now they’re on the verge of their second and already people are treating it like their grandparents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary party. Not that we’re saying this is necessarily wrong on the part of the media or the fans or even the fighters. We can definitely relate to those feelings. It’s just odd.

Is it bad timing, coming on the heels of the biggest MMA weekend of the year thus far? Is it the line-up? The promotion itself? The lack of a big media build-up? Lack of MMA lightning rods like Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano? What’s the deal?

(Insert lame “picture in a picture” joke here.)

I’ll admit it, I’m having a hard time getting excited for this Elite XC event tomorrow night. Part of it is the hangover from the huge MMA weekend we just had with Affliction, UFC, and Dream all crammed into a couple of days. After that sensory overload, I feel like a teenager who took way too much acid: there are no highs and no lows for me right now, plus I’m frightened by bright colors and strong breezes.

Another part of it is the fight card. It’s not a bad card, just kind of uninspired. Nothing leaps out at you as a match you absolutely have to see. As an attempt at making things more interesting, here are some unreasonably specific predictions for Saturday night’s show. I look forward to hearing how hopelessly wrong I am in the comments section.

Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith

I’d like to say that I predicted stoppage by accidental eye-poke for the first meeting, but it isn’t so. TKO by Lawler seems to be the smart choice, even though Lawler seemed unable or unwilling to really go after Smith and finish him when he had him hurt the last time. That won’t be the case this time. Lawler will stun Smith with an uppercut, then finish him off with a left hand that will drop him without putting him all the way out. The ref will move in to stop it just a little bit too soon (this is on CBS, after all) and Smith will make that I-just-can’t-catch-a-break face. The CBS commentators will then attempt to claim that it was the fight of the year.

When Will It Happen: 3:14 of round two.

What to Watch For: After the victory, the stone-faced Lawler will look only about as happy as a man who just found a good parking space at the mall.

Nick Diaz vs. Thomas Denny

Maybe you’ve forgotten all about this, but Elite XC’s second live event on CBS is this Saturday, headlined by the Scott Smith-Robbie Lawler rematch. While that’s a bout worth getting excited about, the rest of the card really makes you wonder whether we won’t see a tremendous drop-off in ratings and whether CBS won’t rethink this crazy MMA experiment as a result.

It’s not just that the card lacks the mainstream star-power of the first one, though that is indeed the case. It’s also that there are precious few meaningful, competitive matches. Just take a look at the line-up and the betting odds and you’ll see what I mean:

Scott Smith (+180) vs. Robbie Lawler (-220)
Thomas Denny (+450) vs. Nick Diaz (-600)
Nick Thompson (+320) vs. Jake Shields (-400)
Christiane Cyborg (+125) vs. Shayna Baszler (-155)
Justin Eilers (+400) vs. Antonio Silva (-550)
Travis Galbraith (+275) vs. Rafael Feijao (-345)
Brian Caraway (+140) vs. Wilson Reis (-170)

Check out the intro to SpikeTV’s “Countdown to UFC 86″ special, which features Juanito Ibarra vowing to retire if Rampage loses. Finally, this fight matters!

Here’s a segment on Patrick Cote from the “Countdown” show, which details his hard luck in the Octagon before putting together consecutive wins against Scott Smith, Kendall Grove and Drew McFedries.

And finally, a slam-packed Rampage Jackson highlight clip, courtesy of the UFC.

(Let the search for an opponent begin.)

Elite XC officially announced its July 26 event in a press release sent out to the media today, noting that the card will feature three title fights: Robbie Lawler-Scott Smith for the middleweight title, Jake Shields-Nick Thompson for the vacant welterweight title, and Antonio Silva-TBA for the newly created Elite XC heavyweight title. Because nothing says ‘this belt isn’t very important‘ like announcing a title fight with only one participant a month out from the fight.

The Silva bout, along with two others, will air live on Showtime. The other two title fights will air live on CBS alongside two other bouts.

Said Pro Elite Executive Chairman Doug DeLuca, “One venue, two networks and seven exciting world class fights adds up to an entertaining and memorable mixed martial arts event in prime time.”

That one venue is the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif., home to such sports teams as the Stockton Thunder and the Stockton Lightning.

As you may have guessed, the Nick Diaz-Thomas Denny bout is one that Elite XC is relying on to drive ticket sales, and it is expected to be one of the four bouts featured live on CBS. We had originally hoped that Diaz would face Elite XC 160-pound champ KJ Noons on the card, but after Noons’ father’s negative remarks about the Diaz brothers and the city of Stockton, it’s may be best for that not to happen.

There’s also word that CBS is using its increased financial stake in the company to try and influence matchmaking. CBS apparently felt there weren’t enough stars on this card and MMA Payout claims it has sources attesting to “significant internal pressure” to put a big name like Gina Carano on this event in order to generate more fan interest.

(Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith will have another chance to go at it next month.)

Dave Meltzer at Yahoo! Sports is reporting some early details on the next EliteXC/CBS “Saturday Night Fights” broadcast, which is slated for July 26th. Word is:

The company’s plan is to stage an event that would start at either 7:30 or 8 p.m. (ET) on Showtime — with either a 60- or 90-minute show that would feature three or four fights — leading into the 9-11 p.m. CBS show. The venue has not been finalized, although the Savvis Center in St. Louis is under consideration.

A middleweight title re-match between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith is already expected to headline the broadcast, while other likely bouts include Jake Shields vs. TBA (for EliteXC’s vacant welterweight title), Antonio Silva vs. TBA (possibly for EliteXC’s vacant heavyweight title), and matches featuring Shayna Baszler and Wilson Reis.

Particularly astute CagePotato readers might think “Jake Shields vs. TBA? Hasn’t he been trying to fight Drew Fickett for like a year?” And you’d be right. Except Fickett might be getting bounced from EliteXC for being an absolute moron.

(Comin’ for that #1 spot…)

2008 is shaping up to be the busiest and most exciting year in MMA’s history — which is a great thing, unless you’re trying to keep your top ten lists current, in which case it’s a total pain in the ass. Though there aren’t many profound changes in the latest update to our Power Rankings page, recent events have caused some fighters to drop due to losses (i.e., Matt Hughes, Sean Sherk, Hayato Sakurai, Masakazu Imanari) some to jump up after big wins (Wanderlei Silva, Thiago Alves, Power Rankings newcomer Gegard Mousasi), and some to secure their already impressive positions (Lyoto Machida, Urijah Faber, Robbie Lawler). Give it a look, and click on each weight class for additional notes and to leave comments. And stay tuned, as Sunday’s DREAM.4 card could produce some changes in the middleweight list, and July 21st’s Affliction event could lead to a massive re-shuffling of the heavyweight deck.

(BG)

Though Gary Shaw previously stated that EliteXC was tentatively looking at early Fall for their next “Saturday Night Fights” card on CBS, the impressive ratings that the May 31st show pulled in has the network wanting to bring it back in the summer. As Dave Meltzer reports:

Shaw said the date of the next CBS card is expected to be finalized this week in a joint decision with CBS. Due to the success of the first show, CBS wants to have a return date in late July to capitalize on the momentum. Shaw feels Lawler and Smith wouldn’t be ready for a July date, nor would Slice.

As disappointing as the Kimbo Slice/James Thompson fight was, Kimbo is still EliteXC’s biggest draw, and CBS may be shooting themselves in the foot a bit by scheduling the next SNF broadcast before he’s ready to return. To ensure strong ratings for their second CBS event in his absence, EliteXC would probably need to bring back Gina Carano, and stack the rest of the card with recognizable names. Unfortunately, Nick Diaz, KJ Noons, Yves Edwards, and Murilo Rua are already booked for this Saturday’s EliteXC show in Hawaii, which will be televised on Showtime. Outside of setting up a Brett Rogers/Antonio Silva bout for EiteXC’s vacant heavyweight title, there aren’t many compelling matchups that Shaw & Co. could schedule for six weeks later. Waiting until early Fall definitely seems like the best option — but good ratings tend to make people do crazy things…

(Fist bump: BloodyElbow)

(Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson)

(Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young)

(Joey Villasenor vs. Phil Baroni)

Smith/Lawler is here and Rogers/Murphy is here. James Thompson, Phil Baroni, and Gina Carano react to their matches after the jump.

To finish off your St. Patty’s Day hangover, here are some news morsels from the MMA world:

— World Victory Road‘s next event, “Sengoku II”, is scheduled for May 18th in Japan. MMAWeely has the rumored fighters — although no opponents have been named: Roger Gracie, Satoru Kitaoka, Yoshihiro Nakao, Yuki Sasaki, and Kevin Randleman.

— A Jaime Fletcher and Aaron Rosa fight has been included in ShoXC’s Friday show, scheduled to be aired on Showtime at 11:00 p.m. (ET). The match-up is a light-heavy fight between two up-and-comers. Fletcher is 5-3, losing his last three fights, and Rosa had his ten-fight win streak snapped recently, dropping his record to 10-1. The battle has been added to replace a chick fight between Cris Cyborg (aka, Cyborg Santos‘s wife) and Jen Case. Apparently, Cyborg — the chick version — wasn’t able to get into the states for the fight (taking place in California), hence the cancellation. Her record is 4-0…her husband was 2-2 in his first four pro fights. Ouch.

— 5oz of Pain is reporting that Robbie Lawler might be close to signing an extension with EliteXC. He is currently the organization’s middleweight champ. Lawler is reportedly going to be fighting in EliteXC’s debut on CBS in two months. Robbie has not fought since September of last year and has been battling an injury since December.

— It’s just days away and “The Ultimate Fighter 7″ preview is already floating around cyberspace. Check it out below:

Peace, Bitches.

(Phil Baroni and Kala Kolohe Hose.)

Yesterday, we reported that middleweight free-agent Phil Baroni had signed a multi-year contract with EliteXC after weighing offers from six different organizations. It now looks like an immediate title-shot could have been a major factor in Baroni’s decision. ICON Sport — the prestigious Hawaii-based MMA organization owned by Pro Elite — announced that it has stripped Robbie Lawler of his middleweight championship belt because of his ongoing inability to defend his title due to injuries, and the vacant title will be on the line in a March 15th fight between Phil Baroni and top ICON contender Kala Kolohe Hose.

Baroni’s last fight was a submission loss to Frank Shamrock at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni in June of last year. He’s a veteran of both the UFC and PRIDE, and holds notable wins over Amar Suloev, Ryo Chonan, and Yuki Kondo. Hose (5-1) has won his last four fights by first-round KO/TKO, and defeated Frederic Belleton at last month’s ShoXC Elite Challenger Series. He was originally scheduled to face Lawler for the ICON title in December, but Lawler was forced to pull out, leading to the entire event being canceled.

In an article on TheFightNetwork, Lawler was quoted as saying, “I’m disappointed and upset, but I understand why this happening. In 2007, I did well when I was healthy. I accept the decision, but I promise everyone that I will return. And I will get my belt back.” On his next opponent, Baroni said: “Kala is like a younger version of me. I like him. It’s too bad Lawler was afraid to fight him, but I’m not. I’ve been fighting top guys my entire career, and I’m going to show the Hawaiian fans what a real middleweight champ looks like.”