Before we take a look at Saturday night’s Elite XC event, let me give you my take on the bigger stories of the past week.
What is it about Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s groin that makes it a magnet for knees? First, it was Cheick Kongo that repeatedly used Cro Cop’s “nether regions” as a place to plant his knees. Now, during their match at Dream 6, Alistair Overeem did his best Kongo impersonation. Only this time it was severe enough to end the fight, resulting in a no-contest. The thing is, Overeem was clearly winning the fight. Bas Rutten was told by Cro Cop’s corner that his “right testicle went up inside” his body. So you wanna be an MMA fighter? The funniest quote of the whole scenario was Overeem saying of Cro Cop “he was looking for a way out”, I think if my testicle was rammed up inside of me I’d be looking for a way out too.
Tito Ortiz will be sidelined for up to 6 months following his upcoming back surgery. The surgery will be similar to that of Nate Quarry’s according to Ortiz. “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” is also close to signing with Elite XC and will be doing some commentary Saturday night. I can see it now, Ken Shamrock will actually beat Kimbo and then call out Ortiz who will then rush into the cage, thus resulting in Ortiz/Shamrock 4. Let’s hope not.
UFC 92 is quickly becoming one of the greatest cards of all time. Dana White has confirmed this week the addition of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva 3, and Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans. The main event of the evening will be Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, this will be for the interim heavyweight championship. Jackson will be looking to avenge the previous 2 losses to Silva while both were fighting for Pride in Japan. I suspect this match will also be for #1 contender to the light heavyweight belt. Looks like Lyoto Machida will have to wait a little bit longer.
UFC 93 is starting to take shape as well, this week it was announced Rich “Ace” Franklin will take on Dan Henderson, the fight will be at light heavyweight. Also at light heavyweight will be a grudge match between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Mark “The Hammer” Coleman. I always find it funny how organizations hype fights, take for instance the Coleman/Rua fight. On the official UFC website it states in their first match that Coleman pulled off a stunning upset by breaking Rua’s arm in the 1st rd. Now correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t Rua break his arm when falling and landing awkwardly on it? I’m not quite sure how that was Coleman’s doing.
Now on to tonight, if Ken Shamrock has half a brain in his head he will shoot..shoot..shoot in on Kimbo Slice. If he doesn’t get a takedown and quick, this fight could be over real early! Unfortunately for Shamrock his pride may get in the way, he may think he can out-strike Kimbo, which would be foolish. Now, I’m not sold on Kimbo, it’s just a matter of time before he fight’s someone not hand picked for him. Personally, I would love to see Shamrock get a submission victory then call it a career. That is not how I envision this playing out though, Kimbo by KO 1st rd.
Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski will be taking on “Big Country” Roy Nelson. This is virtually the same opponent he just faced in Ben Rothwell. I also see the outcome being the same. Don’t get me wrong, the right punch from Nelson could put anyone to sleep. I see the difference in this fight being Arlovski’s athleticism and reach. I also see Arlovski becoming the star in EliteXC, he was supposed to be in the UFC.
Jake Shields will defend his welterweight title against Nottingham, England’s Paul Daley. Daley has heavy hands as his 18 wins 13 by (T)KO suggests. However, Daley will have his hands full with Shields, who can beat you a number of ways. Shield’s was very impressive in his win against Nick Thompson and I believe he’ll look equally as impressive tonight. My bet is Shield’s by submission.
Benji Radach will be making his return after a lengthy absence and will be tested right away when he faces Murilo “Ninja” Rua. I can think of a couple of other guys I’d rather face after a long lay-off. Radach is no slouch however, he has a record of 18-4 with 14 (T)KO’s but is coming off a KO loss to Matt Horwich. Rua who has a record of 16-8-1 is coming off a TKO win over Tony Bonello. Don’t be fooled by Rua’s 8 losses, they’ve come against guy’s like Dan Henderson, Rampage Jackson, Ricardo Arona and Kevin Randleman to name a few. This has the makings of the “fight of the night”, I’m going to go with Rua in this one, by some sort of submission.
If the Rua/Radach fight doesn’t get fight of the night this one may. Gina Carano always seems to put on very entertaining fights and this one with Kelly Kobold-Gavin should be no different. Look for an all out slug fest with Carano improving her record to 7-0. If so Chris “Cyborg” Santos will be waiting.
Enjoy the fights!
