MMA fans: anybody catch "Elite Xtreme Combat" on Showtime tonight?

Cafe Society
1

First off, and unrelated, I tivo’d it, and it ran long. So I missed the main event (Renzo Gracie vs. Frank Shamrock) :mad: One of only three or four times we’ve left our eight-month-old daughter with my mother for a night out on the town…

I don’t mind spoilers though… and even though I see that it’ll be on again tomorrow night at 7:00 central on one of the other Showtimes… that conflicts with The Apprentice, therefore I won’t see the replay until Wednesday. (my wife hates MMA)

So… if you didn’t didn’t catch it, and you’re a fan of MMA, and don’t want it spoiled, then just watch it tomorrow night before you ring in… It’s very close to UFC action IMHO, with an awesome CHICK FIGHT to boot :wink: Also it’s a cage format similar to The Octogon which I highly prefer to Pride boxing rings.

That said, in order to avoid spoiling it for those who might want to watch a replay before weighing in, I’ll add spaces for you:

Now then, I don’t claim to be an afficianado here, but I do love me some good MMA, so I’ll just post my opinions and then open the floor, hoping for some eventual feedback:

First fight: Lightweight bout, KJ Noons vs Charles Bennet, 3 five minute rounds

KJ has a Boxing Muay Thai background, Bennett has a “Street Fighting” background. That alone makes me root for KJ. I want the trained athlete to win. “Street Fighting” reminds me of Tank Abbott from way early UFC, and I think it might have been a mistake to use Bennett on the first non-PPV “main event” if they want credibility… and when Bennet acted like a total ghetto ass and showed his “grill”, then refused to touch gloves… well… I pretty much hated him instantly.

Maybe they did that on purpose to instill hatred and boos, but if so, I fell for it and wanted KJ to win.

Bennet caught him with a really nice right and I guess that just proves the experience of so many more pro fights? His after fight antics and tauntings were very low class. Pretty impressive backflips from the cage in celebration but still very unsportsmanlike.

Second fight: GIRL FIGHT! Womens 140lb bout, Gina Carano vs Julie Kedzie, 3 three minute rounds

Carano’s style is Muay Thai, Kedzie is Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. My early favorite was Carano, shallow I know, but because she’s cuter and I just liked her better. She reminds me of a tough Sandra Bullock.

Great fucking fight. My pick won, and I hope to see many more female MMA matchups. Both classy afterwards, though perhaps too huggy and hopy for acceptance of their sport. Can’t blame them though.

Third fight: Middle weight bout, David Loiseau vs Joe Villasenor

Loiseau: Kickboxing + Muay Thai, Villasenor: Boxing + submissions. I couldn’t form an opinion pre-fight, didn’t know what to expect.

The unaminous decison was spot on however, Villasenor dominated the whole fight.

Fourth fight: Super Heavyweight Bout, Antonio Silva vs Wesley Correira, 3 five minute rounds

Silva: Jiu Jitsu + karate, Correira: Muay Thai. Here I liked Silva, mainly because he just seems more intimidating to me. At 299 pounds to be cut like that… and that big square jaw… just WOW, plus his 7-1 record with 7 KOs is scary, too. Correira is kind of flabby but maybe that’s to be expected in this weight class…

Silva kicked ass right-quick-like, that flying-knee was devestating. It was pretty one-sided IMHO.
Fifth fight: Middleweight bout, Frank Shamrock vs Renzo Gracie, 3 five minute rounds

Frank Shamrock: Submission Fighting, Renzo Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I’m rooting for Frank just because, and I still don’t know who won… go ahead and spoil this for me :slight_smile:

All in all, I’m very happy to see MMA on Showtime, as I hate paying for PPV, and I want to see it become more mainstream.

I very much enjoyed this event.

2

I watched all the fights, but the Shamrock-Gracie was the shocker.

I don’t know enough about the rules. It is clear that Shamrock intentionally hit Gracie with his knee while in side control (I can’t believe the announcers call it side mount), but did he intentionally foul him? Does this mean no kicks toward the head when someone has you in side control, or just not the back of the head?

Also, was Shamrock just lying in side control because he could not escape? I saw that Renzo did almost nothing to submit Shamrock when he had him in side control.

Renzo has impressive take down and ground skills vs. Shamrock, no doubt about that, but I would have loved to see the fight go further.

3

I would have been more interested had it been the right Shamrock and the right Gracie, i.e. Ken and Royce.

4

So, uh, who won?

5

Shamrock was disqualified for the illegal kick, so Gracie won.

6

The unified New Jersey rules make knees to the head of a downed opponent a foul.

7

They fought (twice?) in the early UFCs, Spike broadcasts those matches every so often (they just showed a ton of knockouts from the early PPVs last night). Since Ken is retired and Royce seems pretty retired I don’t think that they’ll be repeating that showdown.

8

Not me, Ken Shamrock is ancient, and now a stiff, at least in the last few fights I’ve seen.

9

Against Tito Ortiz, sure.

Gracie still looked pretty good against Matt Hughes until he got caught in that armbar.

I think it would be an interesting fight.

10

Okay, thanks everybody who replied… I’ve finally seen that last fight, and SHIT am I’ disappointed…
Why the FUCK has that specific scenario never happened in the UFC?

Or, has it?

What happened then?
IMHO, the “downed opponent” is the one on his back, therefore, the knee should have been legal.

How many people have gone to the hospital for routine checks in the UFC? I’m guessing MANY.

Not even counting Patrick Smith vs. “the ninja” in the early days… or Tank Abbott… etc…

I don’t know now… What do you guys think about the event as a whole?

11

In order for any fighting league to be able to operate openly and not get banned all over the place on flimsiest pretexts and have two-bit politicians constantly scoring cheap points by ripping it, it has to be legit. That means the sanctioning body, the 50-page rulebook, the weight classes, and various alphabet soup organizations taking their cuts. One of the things that is invariably prohibited is lower-body strikes to the head of an opponent who’s not on his feet, mainly because of the risk of neck injuries.

Dem’s the rules; don’ matter none how things were done in the past. Controversial DQ? Maybe, but controversy has always been a part of this sport.

Ken’s got a whole set of forks sticking in him right now, and after the Matt Hughes debacle, I’m pretty sure a smart guy like Royce knows that it’s over. Yes, it’s lousy, maybe even a little tragic, that their rivalry never amounted too much. These things happen. The early days of American MMA were anything but fair. Ask Felix Lee Mitchell. :slight_smile:

What’s wrong with “side mount”? That what I’ve been calling it all this time.

(Might consider renting this if there’s a DVD release, but Eleusis didn’t make it sound like anything special. To be honest, though, what really puts me off is the title. “Elite Xtreme Combat?” Ever hear of the expression “trying too hard”, guys?)

12

Bumping this from mere curiousity…

Any word on the DQ, the league, or the show?

(still hoping for more)

13

IMO it was a pretty lame ordeal all in all, with the exception of the female fight. That was surprisingly good, the announcers were beside themselves with glee.

The Shamrock/Gracie fight was LAME! Worst ending ever! Who was the bigger douche, Shamrock for his two questionable strikes, or Gracie for playing the pussy card?

Both acted like assholes IMO. Shamrock said he “came to fight” but felt that the “rules” got in his way. (not a quote).

Gracie was hit with two knees that would have really hurt. Any MMA fan has seen people that have taken 40 punches that would really hurt. Was there reason for concern about his health, sure, was he playing up his pain, absolutely.

His post fight interview (available on sherdog.com) showed him looking beter than some fighters that have won fights.

Did Shamrock deserve to be DQ’d? Yes. Did Gracie have any right to be proud of his fight? No. They are both douchebags, they have both sullied their surnames.

I just can’t wait for the Pride invasion (Fedor, Wanderlei and the like). Too bad about Wanderlei, i heard he got KTFO, like badly. Nick Diaz is the man, say what you will, the boy can knock people out!

14

I couldn’t agree more, with regard to shamrock/gracie or the female fight.

There were two decent ones before that though, and one mediocre IMHO…

I just want it to become more legit.
(edited for everything)

15

It was Dan Henderson.

16

I guess that did sound like I was saying that the two fought each other, which they clearly did not, and could not. I heard that Diaz beat the shit out of Gomi and got him in a gogoplata (which I don’t even know if I’ve ever seen before, maybe once). I knew I should’ve gotten that fight.