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As many of you read yesterday, my entertainment plans for last Saturday were marred by accidentally ending my evening with the worst DVD ever… however, before that tragedy, I watched a great night of MMA fights and have compiled my premiere fight card review!
EliteXC put on their second card on CBS which was headlined by a rematch between champion Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith (their first fight ended in a no-contest after Smith was poked in the eye and couldn't continue).
Note: Only the main card fights were reviewed.
So, here's the basic criteria for me - It's a ten point grading scale, and I base my grades on relevance of fight, competitiveness of said fight, individual performances, and whether or not I'm entertained by the dang thing... in other words, it's a pretty subjective evaluation.
Rafael “Feijao” Calvancante (7-1) def. Travis Galbraith (15-6) TKO rd. 1 3:01
Most of the fight is spent along the fence with both guys jockeying for position in the clinch. Knees are traded but nothing of real significance lands. At the 2:45 mark, Calvancante lands a nice overhand right and follows with a knee from the clinch. Galbraith eats a few more on the chin and the ref stops the fight at 3:01 of the first round.
Fight Score: 4 out of 10
Antonio Silva (11-1) def Justin Eilers (20-8-1) TKO rd. 2 0:19 to win the EliteXC Heavyweight Title
If there’s one thing to learn from this fight… don’t go into a Heavyweight title fight weighing only 218lbs. against Antonio Silva who has to cut to make 265lbs. To Eilers’ credit, he’s come a long way from the guy who was best known as a highlight reel victim (and I know what that’s like) for Paul Buentello, Andrei Arlovski, and Brandon Vera.
Eilers does his best to make a fight out of it, but Silva is too much and finishes him off at :19 of round 2, claiming the vacant EliteXC Heavyweight crown.
Fight grade: 6 out of 10
Cristiane Santos (5-0) def. Shayna Baszler (9-5) TKO rd. 2 2:48
In the lone female fight of the night, a classic striker vs. grappler match up, Chris “Cyborg” was too big and too strong for Baszler. The fight played out on the feet where Cyborg had the advantage and pummeled Baszler. Though no fault of the fighters, there was a touch of controversy at the end of the fight when Cyborg dropped Bazler for the first time, referee Steve Mazzagatti jumped in as if to stop it and Cyborg backed off and celebrated as if she won.
Instead of calling the fight, Mazzagatti let it continue, which only resulted in Baszler eating another combination and crumbling against the fence for the final stoppage.
Fight grade: 8 out of 10
Jake Shields (21-4-1) def. Nick Thompson (36-10-1) Submission rd. 1 1:03 to win the EliteXC Welterweight Title
It only takes Shields 1:03 to end Thompson’s 12 fight win streak. Shields gets a single leg right away and passes to full mount. Thompson tries to buck, but Shield grabs a one armed guillotine choke. Shields ran a clinic on a very talented Thompson. Class dismissed.
Fight grade: 5 out of 10 – Great performance by Shields against Thompson who had nothing to offer in this fight.
Nick Diaz (18-7, 1NC) def. Thomas Denny (26-17) TKO rd. 2 0:30
In arguably the highest profile match of his long career, Denny brought everything he had against Diaz, but it wasn’t enough to win the fight. Denny went toe-to-toe in the first round with Diaz bringing everything he had on the feet and in the grappling exchanges. In the process though, he made the cardinal mistake of combat sports… getting tired.
In the second round, it was all Diaz who overwhelmed Denny with punches for the stoppage win.
Fight grade: 8 out of 10
Robbie Lawler def. Scott Smith TKO rd. 2 2:35 to retain the EliteXC Middleweight Title
In a rushed rematch of their May 31 fight, Lawler and Smith took to the cage once more to continue where their no contest first fight left off after an unintentional eye poke suffered by Smith.
Lawler opened the fight by patiently finding his range. The first round had plenty of competitive back and forth action between the two. In the second, Smith opened a huge cut with an elbow on top of Lawler’s head from the clinch, but Lawler ultimately wins the clinch battle and fight with knees to the body and head.
Fight grade: 8.5 out of 10.
Overall grade: 39.5 out of 60 = 6.6 out of 10
This card was a huge improvement over EliteXC premiere showing in May (which featured Kimbo Slice in the main event). Overall, the fights were entertaining from top to bottom and even in the fights with lower scores, there were solid performances from the winners.
- Tonto Balboa, real name unknown, is a former prizefighter with a record of 48-10. He is best known for getting his ass royally whupped by Larry Holmes in Madison Square Garden. Since then, Balboa has toured the country as a salesman, attempting to cash in on his 1/64th Native American heritage, by selling Indian artifacts. He is currently the editor and chief (after all, he Native American) of Tonto and Friends.
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