Elite XC CBS: 'Unfinished Business' Recap, Robbie Lawler Retains Title

The second installment of the joint Elite/CBS Saturday night fight events, while lacking the participation of popular stars Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano and Phil Baroni, offered several very exciting fights and relatively strong production.

Essential interviews with Kimbo and Gina offered continuity and the promise of future high-profile wars. The controversial officiating which plagued the first event in May was not present, and, whatever condition their books are in, the promotion appears both vibrant and viable.

Below is the account of four very fine fights which were aired on CBS.

Shayna Baszler vs. Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos

Shayna Baszler, a catch wrestling pupil of Josh Barnett, entered this bout, 11-4, with all 11 wins coming by submission, while Cristiane Santos’s foundation is in Muy Thai striking, under the tutelage of the Chute Box camp. A very promising contrast in styles, each fighter began the match aggressively in her own way—Cristiane letting the leather fly and Shayna immediately taking the fight to the ground.

Within seconds, Shayna caught her opponent in a toe hold, but ‘Cyborg’, well-known to be an extraordinary physical specimen, was fresh, limber and able to avert submission.

The opening three-minute round continued in this manner, with Shayna attempting submission after submission, and Cristiane escaping, overpowering, and delivering punishment when she had the opportunity. At one point, caught in a leg hold from behind, Cristiane twisted her folded leg quite disturbingly—and for a very long time—to face her opponent. Seconds before the end of the opening round she freed her leg and she and Shayna traded blows on the canvas until the bell sounded.

Both women seemed slower in the second round, but Cristiane was able to impose her will with brutal striking and knees in the clinch. Battered, and with her back to the cage, Baszler was dropped by a vicious straight punch. In a surprising and perhaps unprecedented turn of events, ‘Cyborg’ began to celebrate her victory before Mazzagatti had actually called the fight.

The clock still running, Cristiane mounted the side of the cage and raised her hands while the referee continuously attempted to restart the match. Upon further review, it seemed that Baszler, while clearly hurt, was still alert and had her hands raised defensively even after being knocked down.

A very confused and somewhat winded Cristiane Santos eventually dismounted the cage and resumed her destruction of Shayna Baszler unto completion, again dropping her with a powerful combination of straight punches and clearly knocking her out at 2:48 into round two.

As a side note, Cristiane Santos’s viciousness and posture during the fight was textbook effective Chute Box brawling, and she seemed the very likeness of Wanderlei Silva.

After the bout, in an interview with the very famous Gina Carano, Gina immediately confirmed her intent to fight ‘Cyborg’. Should that fight take place, it would truly be an epic encounter between two of the most dominating female fighters in MMA.

Jake Shield vs. Nick Thompson

Seconds into the first round, Shields took Thompson to the ground and immediately assumed a dominant full mount. Thompson bucked, twisted and rotated but was unable to escape his position. He was able to create some distance, but Jake caught him in a one-armed guillotine. Thompson could not escape, and he was forced to tap out, making Jake Shields Elite XC’s first Welterweight Champion.

In the after-fight interview, Gus Johnson kept referring to Jake Shields’s ‘champion-chip’, or perhaps my ears deceived me…

Nick Diaz vs. Thomas Denny

Denny quickly took the center of the cage and attacked Diaz. Diaz missed a takedown throw, landing on the ground and finding Denny on top of him. Diaz immediately attempted an armbar, and then another after Denny escaped.

Again on their feet, Denny landed damaging shots to Diaz, whose face was cut and bruised. Denny seemed to be getting the best of Diaz with a strong clinch game, knees, kicks and strikes. Denny landed a superman punch but Diaz, unfazed and patient, continued to weather the storm and return his own shots.

Halfway through the round, Denny appeared gassed and Diaz, not known for possessing blinding speed, looked particularly slow. Diaz began to land effective strikes and before long, Thomas Denny began to look like James Thompson in his epic war with Kimbo Slice – barely conscious, but continuing to move forward and throw punches as though on autopilot. Somehow, Denny survived the round.

Round two was an almost seamless continuation of the end of round one, with Diaz intent on finishing what he had started. Denny absorbed an astonishing number of flush shots before finally dropping to the canvas. Diaz continued to reign down punches until the referee stopped the fight, awarding Diaz a TKO. Diaz’s experience, durability and patience proved essential in this very exciting bout.

Observation I

Frank Shamrock, previously concealed from view, offered a variety of opinions with regards to the possible outcomes of Lawler and Smith’s rematch, revealing indisputably that he had recently had dental work.

While speaking quite engagingly, Shamrock’s mouth moved rapidly, opening and closing, flashing again and again the silvery braces which had been applied to his evidently-freakish teeth. We are happy that Frank’s newfound affiliation with CBS has afforded him with a good dental plan.

Observation II

Amusingly, the UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson ‘Spider’ Silva was found in the audience by a cameraman. Silva subsequently received unanimous acknowledgement as being pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world by Elite XC’s star-struck commentators, who even credited the UFC organization by name in a surprising professional faux pas.

And this would be right before the Elite XC Middleweight Champion Robbie Lawler’s title defense commenced…

‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler vs Scott ‘Hands of Steel’ Smith

In their epic bout in May, Lawler and Smith battered each other for three and a half rounds, never once slowing their pace. While many feel that Lawler was the superior and favored fighter, and that he was more effective in their first match, Smith never backed down nor could he have ever been considered out of the match until the unfortunate accidental digit he took in his eye.

With Herb Dean officiating, their rematch commenced. Both fighters, each remembering the dangerousness of his opponent, began tenuously, circling each other uneventfully for more than a minute.

Smith landed a dangerous combination ending in a head kick, and Lawler playfully feigned being rocked. After much more circling, Smith applied a clinch, but Lawler turned and pinned him against the cage, using some dirty boxing and elbows.

Once separated, Smith landed another right roundhouse kick, but Lawler again appeared unfazed. Lawler threw some dangerous kicks of his own, and Smith appeared affected. Both fighters were slow and cautious even in the final minute of the opening round. With 30 seconds to go, Smith unloaded on Lawler with a barrage of strikes, and Lawler appeared to be in trouble. He weathered the round, though, and came out fresh for round two.

Round two also began tenuously, and Lawler still appeared to be searching for his sense of range. Smith cut Lawler’s head badly with elbows as the two got into a heated exchange. In a mutual clinch, both fighters became coated with blood, even splattering   the commentators as they boxed and elbowed each other at close range.

Suddenly, Lawler threw several vicious knees to the body, causing Smith to double over and setting up a knee to the head which dropped Smith. Even as Lawler went in for the kill, Smith managed to stand up, only to find himself again in Lawler’s clinch and to be dropped by more knees. Lawler threw a few seemingly-illegal kicks to his downed opponent before Dean stopped the fight, awarding Robbie Lawler a win and a successful title defense.

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