Denver – Good morning, everybody! The much-hyped debut of EliteXC on CBS Television’s Saturday Night Fights revealed the network is still stuck in amateur status. The mixed martial arts (MMA) card featuring (still) YouTube phenom, Kimbo Slice, had little to show in terms of entertainment and colorful commentary. Quick knockouts and controversial decisions marred CBS’ MMA opening entrance into prime-time television.

In a mind-boggling perversion of logic based on talent and abilities, the first televised fight of the night featured a man who onced knocked out James Thomspon – the opponent for Kimbo Slice’s fight. Brett Rogers, facing Jon Murphy, quickly made a mockery of the match-ups as he knocked out Murphy within 30 seconds after the start of the first round.

Joe Villasenor also quickly dispatched of a one-time New York badass, Phil Baroni, with a vicious pummeling of what may be Baroni’s last fight as an elite fighter. After taking Villasenor to the ground shortly after the opening round began, Baroni struggled to match Villasenor’s stick-and-move boxing skills. In displaying superior punching power and grappling skills, Villasenor finally dropped Baroni to his knees against the cage, and the fight was stopped shortly after Villasenor rained punches onto a defenseless Baroni.

In the lone women’s fight, Gina Carano overcame a slow start and brutalized a game Kaitlin Young. Carano, titled “The Face of Women’s MMA” by many fight fans and pundits alike, came into the fight 4.5 pounds overweight due to time spent on a film project.

The fight between Carano and Young was mostly a stand-up affair with a few take-down attempts by Carano thrown in for good measure. Kicks and stinging jabs pounded Young’s face into a pulp, and by the end of the second round, a visibly beaten Young could not continue.

Carano is now 6-0 in her MMA career.

In what may be arguably the most exciting fight of the night, Robbie Lawler retained his EliteXC Welterweight Championship belt with a controversial no-contest with Scott Smith. The fight featured hard punchers with eye-popping knockout ratios and they did not disappoint fans. In the first round, the two danced around the cage briefly before intermittent exchanges became the norm. 

The second round featured more action as the two fighters alternatively stalked one another while retreating on occasion. Flurries, sporadic during the first round, became increasingly common as the fight progressed. Lawler suffered a nasty gash to his forehead – possibly the result of an accidental head-butt – and Smith’s face was splotched with bruises.

During a flurry in the third round of the scheduled five-round fight, Smith threw punches at Lawler who defended himself with open hands as Smith moved in. Lawler mistakenly poked Smith in the eye, which caused Smith to immediately drop to his knees. According to press reports, Smith informed the fight referee after being poked in the eye that he could not see, and repeated the message to medical staff present during Smith’s recovery period.

EliteXC rules allowed Smith to take five minutes to recover from the incident, and by all appearances, the fighter seemed willing and able to continue. As Smith took a minute or two to recover, the fight doctor examined Smith and subsequently, the fight was declared a no contest since Smith was ruled unfit to continue with the fight, much to the chagrin of nearly everyone in attendance. An emotional Smith could be seen pleading with fight officials not to stop the fight, and a disbelieving Lawler expressed disappointment at the outcome of the fight.

The two did agree to a rematch – something supported by EliteXC president, Gary Shaw.

“We’re gonna redo the championship fight” – EliteXC President, Gary Shaw

Finally, the Main Event of the evening: Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson. To most fans familiar with Thompson, the huge fighter has a knack for either being knocked out in the opening seconds of a fight, or being knocked out in the opening seconds of a fight. To most MMA experts, Thompson’s heyday has long since passed, a once-shining jewel on the PrideFC circuit; his fights outside of that organization have since gone sour for him.

And Kimbo Slice, the much ballyhooed YouTube street-fighting phenom, had previously ended his first two MMA fights quickly, and expectations were high for a knockout, especially considering CBS and EliteXC built their fight card around the popular MMA fighter.

At the opening bell, Kimbo Slice charged towards Thompson and the two spent a minute or two feeling each other out. As the fight progressed, it became apparent that Thompson’s stand-up striking was inferior compared to Kimbo Slice’s heavy punches; however, once Thompson was able to get Kimbo Slice onto the ground, the momentum of the fight changed in favor of Thompson. By the end of the first round, it was evident to most observers that Kimbo Slice’s ground game is still in development as Thompson continuously imposed his will over Kimbo Slice on the ground.

In the second round, the two fighters were apparently fatigued as both seemed falter as the fight wore on with Kimbo Slice trying a submission attempt or two of his own.  While Thompson clearly had strategic and body control over Kimbo Slice on the ground at times, he was unable to capitalize as fatigue set in. During an exchange in the third round, Kimbo Slice connected on a number of haymakers and stunned Thompson, who stumbled around like a drunken sailor. The fight referee stepped in and stopped the fight.

An exhausted and grateful Kimbo Slice remains undefeated (3-0) in his brief MMA career. Thompson, meanwhile, was taken to a hospital after complaining of breathing difficulties after the fight.

To read an in-depth analysis of the fights, check out this article.

Paotie’s PostScript: The telecast was overhyped. It was overhyped beyond reasonableness, too. In many ways, the network tried to pass itself off as some sort of credible MMA content provider. Unfortunately, cable formats do not seem to transfer well to mainstream network television as the time between fights was horrendously boring and filled with obvious “filler” material.

I expect to be entertained at all times – even between fights – and I was not Saturday night on CBS. If it were not for the fact that I recorded the fight on my DVR, I would’ve changed channels and found something else to watch. The only fight I wanted to see was Villasenor’s bout; Kimbo Slice is a curious novelty for the time being and insofar as I can tell, he still has much to learn.

And, considering that Brett Rogers knocked out James Thompson during their own previous bout, it makes me wonder if Rogers would easily knockout Kimbo Slice out in a fight. Well, I don’t know but maybe Rogers should be paired against Kimbo Slice for their next fight?

Anyway, CBS screwed up its Saturday Night Fights; EliteXC needs to do some serious reflecting on the way the fights were called by the fight referees, namely the Lawler vs Smith fight – that fight should not have been stopped. I’m not so sure about Thompson’s loss to Kimbo Slice: I would have like to have seen the fight continue on at least another 15 seconds – either for Kimbo  to finish the fight with a knockout, or perhaps Thompson finally scoring a submission.

Finally, Joe Villasenor deserves another title shot. He’s done everything but win the title. And next time CBS holds a MMA championship card on national television, it might do well to heed the long-time traditions passed down from boxing: make the championship fights the main events and not a marketing gimmick in which an entire telecast is based on a fighter who still lacks a ground/grappling game and quite possibly could be easily submitted by many of the middle-tiered heavyweight fighters in MMA.

Read what others are saying about CBS’ presentation as well as the fights:

• Baltimore Sun
• FiveOuncesofPain
• MMAonTap

Paotie