Every mixed martial arts fan that knows anything about the sport knows EliteXC pulled the rug out from under itself.
The EliteXC was given the opportunity to express the dedication and pride of one of the most challenging and exciting sports in the world and completely failed to do so.
The first two fights of the night: Brett Rogers vs. John Murphy and Phil Baroni vs. Joey Villasenor deserve no recap or mention because they were that awful. Seriously Gary Shaw, where did you find these guys and who told you they were a good idea?
[Not to reader: I am a huge Central Michigan Wrestling fan—but seriously Phil Baroni, get your act together before you step into the cage.]
Kaitlin Young was the biggest disappointment of the night. Young was slated as the one to beat Gina Carano. The second that Carano connected with a good hit Young droped her hands in defeat.
Carano having five fights prior to the Young fight understood that there was an outlet to pound on Young. Young, seriously, who gives up in the middle of the round because of one good knock to the face? Lesson learned I hope: if you get hit hard do not drop your hands like you are done for the day.
And now Carano still holds her title as "female face of MMA" when really, what evidence has she shown that she is a well-rounded fighter who deserves to speak for all women fighters? She said herself that she does not have her act together and needs to hit the gym. And the MMA community has slated her as the best there is. That is garbage.
Both Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith believed that the no contest decision they faced was idiotic. They fight for the organization and see the stupidity in that decision. Not to mention good job EliteXC, because that was the most exciting fight of your night. And you stopped it. Intelligent, really.
And Kimbo Slice lost that fight in the end of the second round when James Thompson had both of Kimbo's arms pinned and his head cornered against the cage. But in the EliteXC over 20 seconds of getting your head bashed while you are not defending yourself is not good enough to end the fight. Or really not good enough because the win was obviously rigged.
Since we all know this there is no point in wasting more space than the rant that just did, the rest should be devoted to the two best fights of this year. Hands down, no contest. Thank you Miguel Angel Torres, Yoshiro Maeda, Jens Pulver and Urijah Faber.
Maeda my hat is off to you. Torres is one of the best fighters in the world. Torres is a solid striker and grappeler and great on the ground. Maeda hung with him for all three rounds.
If his eye did not swell as it had, the fight would have continued. I commend Maeda's submission defense and striking ability and I look forward to the rematch.
Faber, like Torres, is also a proven fighter and one of the best in the world. And he has proven that he is not only a grappeler, wrestler, and submission artist, but also that he can bang.
Pulver took punches better than most and delivered some wicked hands. In the end it was not enough to beat Faber but Pulver gave Faber the hardest fight of his career. I am looking forward to that rematch as well.
Congratulations guys on some excellent fights!
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4 months ago
How did you just manage to push the EXC reults into the WEC results? Maybe I've been awake too long but the way I read your article it seemed confusing where your rant left off and your "good fight boys" merged together into "Congratulations guys on some excellent fights!"
At least your feelings about Gina Carano were plainly stated. You were extremely hard on Kaitlin who I feel did her best, gave a good showing and would have continued if she had been allowed. Maybe YOU have appeared on both CBS and NBC, as Gina has, but Kaitlin has not. A televised event of this size must have been as daunting as having a live audience. This could account for jitters as much as a first time UFC appearance, don't you think? And the way everyone talked about a "fat out of shape Gina" could have surely lulled Kaitlin into a false sense of security which quickly vanished when Gina fought back. For some reason Gina's fighting came as a surprise to a lot of people who should know her better than to think she would simply fold and go home.
from 4 months ago
ya I must be a journalistic mess to be passing my major with a 4 point. seriously?
4 months ago
I hope that true fans of Female MMA know that Gina Carano is in no way the #1 right now. She would get destroyed by the likes of Amanda Buckner or Megumi Fuji. It all goes back to Gary Shaw and Elite XC fooling the American public into thinking what they saw was top-level talent.
Carano won the fight and beat Young (who I took to win as well) in a good display of female MMA. But in no way was that the best of the best.
On a side note: The Torres vs. Maeda fight was by far one of the best fights of the year. It was good to see a real show of MMA after the crap that was served Saturday night.
Give Joey Villasenor a little credit, he is a well-rounded fighter from a stellar camp and he proved Baroni can't hang in MMA anymore.
4 months ago
Don't be so hard on Elite XC. As a long time MMA fan I realize they were far from the best fights we have ever forked out $40 to $60 for but they were free and the sport is trying to reach a new and different audience. The general public has never heard of 90% of the good quality fighters so highlighting them would have been silly. Kimbo was a marketing tool. We all know the fights sucked but it was better than watching some boring sitcom rerun. I could watch MMA every day, so even bad free fights are better than no fights. I still believe the UFC has the best fighters but they have also been around a lot longer than the other guys. On another note, WOW! what a fight between Pulver and Faber! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Personally I was rooting for Pulver and thought he could do it but he didn't seem to be as aggressive as he used to. Anyway I can't wait to see Kimbo get destroyed by a quality opponent.
4 months ago
I wish people would stop talking about Elite XC already. We get the idea. They suck. Nothing against you, but I'm just sick of all the Elite XC articles that have mostly been written by people who lack a lot of MMA knowledge and attract a bunch of idiots that flame each other.
I wish you would have talked more just about the WEC since you article seemed to be leading in that direction by the pic and title. The Torres vs Maeda fight was amazing. I can't remember the last time I've seen a fight that good. And the Pulver vs Faber fight also leaves me in anticipation of a rematch.
As for the other televised fights... Kenneth Alexander and Razor Rob put on a mostly lame fight. I don't know what's up with the razor but he doesn't look the same. Meanwhile Alexander didn't really show me anything. Chuck Grisby was dissapointing, and Munoz has a long way to go in terms of jui-jitsu and stand up, and he probably needs to work harder on translating his wrestling ability and natural grappling strength to MMA-applied-wrestling ability. And Cerrone is really impressive.
from 4 months ago
I had the same impression that you did in reading the title, seeing the picture and then reading all that was wrong with EXC only to arrive at what was great on Sunday's WEC events. The way it was all lumped togetherwas very disorganized and gave the impression all fight were on the same night. What a journalistic mess!
4 months ago
Haha, I kind of liked the Elite XC take on MMA, they kinda combined it with the dying ideas from WWE. All in all I though the showing on CBS was a worthwhile event. They were all good fights and everyone is still talking about it today. Oh and that was a bad article.
4 months ago
This article is a sham. Obviously there is an agenda here to smear EliteXC. Anyone who can read between the lines can plainly see that EliteXC will eclipse the ufc & anything related to them.
Pulver is a bum fighter who couldn't win even one fight in Japan over many years of matches. If anyone saw Jenns appaling loss to Joe Lauzon you have to know that Jenns is a no talent hack who can't defeat or match skill with a D level fighter like Lauzon.
from 4 months ago
You have absolutely no clue what you're talking about. I won't be able to prove it to you subjectively, that's clear -- so let's just go from a completely factual stand point that you are uninformed:
1. Pulver fought 4 times in Japan over a span of about 17 months. He lost to a man widely considered #2 lightweight in the world, Takanori Gomi, by KO. He also lost to PRIDE legend Hayato Sakurai by TKO due to strikes. In his other two fights in Japan he won by KO over both Tomomi Iwama and Kenji Arai.
2. Elite XC lost 27 million dollars last year. In addition, they have less talented fighters than the WEC and UFC according to everyone on planet earth who has watched at least a couple MMA shows.
4 months ago
Sorry Jen, I have to disagree with the Gina comment. She is the best female fighter out there and deserves to be the face of female MMA. I read that you are a MMA fighter, maybe one day you'll be lucky enough to touch gloves with her.
I have to know how long have you been studying journalism? I think you might need a bit more practice and learn to be a bit less bias.
The article was OK, but you should have left out the EXC comments for another posting, keep it WEC. Keep to one topic and lose the biasness.
from 4 months ago
It's called an editorial for a reason. :/
from 4 months ago
im graduating in December and it was an editorial they are supposed to be bias. and I won't touch gloves with Gina because I fight 105 so that isn't even a hope of mine. Nor do I think it is privilege. She is the most widely know mma fighter for one reason, she is pretty. Enough said.
from 4 months ago
Obviously Smiley you don't follow Female MMA. If you are saying that Gina is the best (which means she deserves to be ranked #1) I would love to hear you defend your claim. How is she better than Amanda Buckner or Megumi Fuji? She may get there but in no way is she the best.
4 months ago
Since I'm really lazy, I'm just going to post what I wrote in another article on Gina:
I think there are a couple of female fighters in Bodog who could beat her, like Tara Larosa, Amanda Buckner or Julie Berezikova. Nobody has really tested Carano's ground game yet.
Gina looked a little tired at the end of the second round, and I wonder what would have happened in the third. Still, it was a good showing, and I wouldn't mind seeing Young fight again either.
Carano is doing what she can to make money, and you can't blame her for using her looks and ability to get a step ahead of the competition. If she has a good manager or agent, I think she will be fine in balancing multiple career paths (American Gladiators, MMA, possibly modeling and acting, etc.).
4 months ago
Yeah, I forgot to add Megumi Fujii to my list. She is definitely at the top of the female MMA food chain. There are lots of good videos of female fights online, and I find her to be one of the most entertaining.
North America needs its own version of SmackGirl. Once the stable of top women fighter grows and they gain market appeal, I think an all-female promotion will be established stateside.
This way the talent pool is all in one promotion, ensuring the highest-quality fights instead of dispersing the fighters among different organizations. This might take awhile though, as the first female fight on live t.v. just happened on this Elite XC card.
I think women are capable of providing fast-paced, entertaining, skillful matches. Carano and Young proved that. Once male MMA becomes more accepted in mainstream media, the door will open for female fighters to really establish their mark.
4 months ago
Jen, I thought you wrestled at 138#--have you cut that much weight? You look great in your picture. Gee I wish I could find my picture in a swimsuit at 129# when I was 22 and in college. I was still the same height 5'8" and carried all my weight in my breasts. Oh well, as you and I have discussed, that was 1968 and they didn't let women fight then. I missed it by a few decades! And I know how much you would like to throw down with me.
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