I was always taught that if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all. Unfortunately in regards to Saturday night’s EliteXC-CBS event I have to go against this (sorry Mom). I knew before watching this not to expect too much, what I saw was less than I expected. I’m all for protecting fighters and stopping fights if someone is in serious trouble but this was ridiculous. In the Robbie Lawler-Scott Smith fight (which by the way was actually a pretty good fight), Smith who inadvertently was poked in the eye seemed ready to continue when the Doctor stepped in calling the fight off. I didn’t see any cut that would have prevented him from continuing and Smith was ready to go.Gina Carano looked impressive (despite not making weight) as she battered a very tough Kaitlin Young, in what was another fight with a questionable stoppage. I believe the only reason this fight was stopped was because she is a female. This by the way was arguably the fight of the night.Phil Baroni proved he may still be able to sell a fight with his “trash talking” but his fighting skills are fading fast. Joey Villasenor overwhelmed the brash Baroni, getting the TKO at 1:11 of the 1st rd. Maybe Baroni would be better suited for the WWE, (he does put on a good show, until fight time).Brett Roger’s continued his winning ways with his TKO win over Jon Murphy. This wasn’t much of a contest, Murphy landed an early shot, and then it was all Roger’s. Rogers is the best of a very weak heavyweight division.Now for the Main Event, what a joke! Kimbo was exposed, as we all knew he eventually would be. He has zero ground skills and had trouble getting the knockout on a guy with a notoriously weak chin. In fact the first 2 rd’s went to James Thompson, then sticking with the pattern of the night, the ref stepped in a little too early yet again. Yes, Thompson looked out–on-his feet as Kimbo landed some solid shots in the 3rd but doesn’t Thompson always have that look? The fact is, Kimbo is the face of EliteXC and Gary Shaw is not going to let him lose. He’s not even the 2nd best heavyweight in EliteXC, there’s no way he gets past Brett Rogers or Antonio Silva, just how long can they ride the Kimbo wave? I don’t begrudge Kimbo or EliteXC for doing this, it’s working (they received 6.5 million viewers) but this event seemed like some sort of sideshow. From the announcing to the refereeing to the cheesy dancers and ring entrances, I was actually embarrassed. Was this a real sport I was watching? Or Pro Wrestling? It’s a good thing EliteXC has hooked up with CBS to air free events because after this debacle there’s no way anyone would order these fights on pay-per-view.
