Showtime MMA Debut

[snuffbox]

Showtime will start their MMA series on Feb 10. Main event will be Frank Shamrock vs. Renzo Gracie.

 

http://www.elitexc.com/

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

David Loiseau said he's fighting on the card as well, I don't know who though.

[NoCalMike]

The website also says Bill Goldberg is announcing....is this THE Bill Goldberg or just someone else with the same name?

[AboveAverage484]

The website also says Bill Goldberg is announcing....is this THE Bill Goldberg or just someone else with the same name?

 

Probably THE Bill Goldberg, since he did a couple UFC's in the past. He actually wasn't that bad if you can believe it.

[Insanity]

From Alvarez:

 

The other major news story was that Brandon Vera, the number-one contender to Tim Sylvia's UFC Heavyweight Title, showed up at the press conference to announce that he had only one fight left on his current contract. Bet Dana loved that one.

 

I would love to see them put his last match against CroCop so he can be sent packing with his first loss.

[Lord of The Curry]

People are acting irrationally stupid over this Vera thing. UFC will not give away one of their biggest young stars to an upstart promotion looking for a golden boy to market. Vera will get the money he wants, I imagine.

[Lei Tong]

LotC is on the money here. Vera knows how the game is played, and knows better than to overstep his bounds when he knows he's on the verge of making some serious money.

[AboveAverage484]

Anybody heard about the ground rules being implemented at this show? Supposedly, the fighters are only allowed 15 seconds on the ground before they are stood back up, which is a bunch of horseshit and pretty much assures us that Frank will win, if it wasn't apparent enough already.

[v.2]

I think fifteen seconds for "inaction" was the key, but that could mean anything. It's discretionary, and thusly left up to the whim of the referee.

[AboveAverage484]

I think fifteen seconds for "inaction" was the key, but that could mean anything. It's discretionary, and thusly left up to the whim of the referee.

 

Ok, I must have misread it.

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

I actually think Renzo should win if the rules aren't heavily stacked against him. He's been much more active and defeating Pat Militech is a pretty good sign. We'll see how he does against Carlos before I make a final prediction or anything though.

[Lei Tong]

Renzo will be giving up a bit of size against Frank, though. Renzo's always been somewhere between a welterweight/middleweight, while Frank has always been a decent-sized middle.

[Your Paragon of Virtue]

While Renzo is a smaller MW, I think his skill advantage on the ground more than makes up for it. I think he will get Frank on the ground eventually, and if he does Frank will be in trouble.

 

By no means am I saying he's the favourite, but I think the matchup is closer than alot of people assume.

[AboveAverage484]

I just think Frank should win this standing, as he's about fifty times better on the feet than Renzo, even though the latter is one of the "better" strikers in the Gracie clan. I think Frank's ground game is good enough to avoid anything that Renzo will throw at him, especially considering the time limits on the ground.

[Fökai]

The website also says Bill Goldberg is announcing....is this THE Bill Goldberg or just someone else with the same name?

 

Probably THE Bill Goldberg, since he did a couple UFC's in the past. He actually wasn't that bad if you can believe it.

He also did commentary for the WFA PPV in July.

[snuffbox]

4 undercard fights will be televised.

 

Mario Lopez is the other announcer.

[starvenger]

AC Slater and Bill Goldberg... wow, who thought of that pairing?

 

Undercard:

Live:

SHW: Cabbage Correira vs Antonia Silva

MW: Joey Villasenor vs David Loiseau

LW: Charles Krazy Horse Bennett vs KJ Noons

Womens: Julie Kedzie vs Gina Carano

 

Dark:

HW: Bo Cantrell vs Tim Persey

MW: Seth Kleinbeck vs Riki Fukuda

LW: Adriano Pereira vs Javier "Showtime" Vazquez

WW: Mike Pyle vs Ross Ebanez

LW: John Shackelford vs Edson Berto

[Lei Tong]

Wow... they sure went out of their way to make sure as little skill is televised as possible.

[NoCalMike]

Anyone watch the preview/countdown show last night? Pretty good stuff.

[Angel_Grace_Blue]

lollerz, KJ fall down.

 

Anyone else watching this thing? No? Feh.

[starvenger]

Watching the women's fight right now. They're showing this on Fight Network up here... but the wife doesn't like watching MMA, so this might be the only fight I see...

[Angel_Grace_Blue]

Hey, Canucks, have you fellas disowned the Crow yet? lollerpants.

[snuffbox]

Disappointing end, but I thought it was the right call.

[Hunter's Torn Quad]

The women's fight was really good, but I've seen Gina, I think, have better.

 

And regarding the main event:

 

By Loretta Hunt

 

Middleweight Frank Shamrock was ahead on two of the three judges’ first round score cards in his Saturday’s bout against Renzo Gracie, confirmed Mississippi Athletic Commissioner John Lewis this morning, adding another twist to the controversial bout that anchored Elite XC’s debut on SHOWTIME this past weekend.

 

Attendance numbers for the event are not yet available, though a Pro Elite press release announced the gate at 7,200 spectators.

 

Local judges Bill Clancy and Gary Ritter had given the outspoken former UFC Champion the nod with 10-9 scores for his first five minutes with the Brazilian jiu-jitsu standout. A third official, Keith Hughes, had granted Gracie the round with a 10-9 score.

 

The round saw Shamrock connect with punches and Gracie score two takedowns to establish cage control from side position.

 

Shamrock was disqualified two minutes into the second round for two intentional illegal knees to the back of a downed Gracie’s head while the Brazilian lay atop Shamrock in side control. Referee Herb Dean said he had warned Shamrock of the illegal move, yet Shamrock did not follow his instructions.

 

“I’m way too new in the mixed martial arts world to even give my perception on how this round should have been scored,” Pro Elite’s Gary Shaw said this morning. “It would be wrong of me to make a comment on the scoring.”

 

“I can you tell you at one point Shamrock told me he had won the round because he felt he had landed more punches and that Gracie had just taken him down and laid on him.”

 

Shaw confirmed both Shamrock and Gracie approached him for a rematch and that Pro Elite will honor their requests.

 

“I would probably look to do that fight somewhere in the fall,” said Shaw, citing their recently announced alliance with the Strikeforce promotion ensures Shamrock face New York brawler Phil Baroni first.

 

Strikeforce representative Mike Afromowitz said his organization is tentatively planning that event for May or June at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. Shaw and Afromowitz confirmed this event will be distributed by SHOWTIME on pay-per-view.

 

Pro Elite has tentatively proposed their next Elite XC event for May 5, the same night Oscar De La Hoya tangles with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Advance ticket sales for this bonanza boxing event recently yielded what could become a whopping 19 million dollar tally – a North American record. The event will be available on an HBO pay-per-view for a rumored $54.95. Pro Elite’s Shaw says he wants to offer a less taxing alternative that night.

 

“I want the MMA community to know I’m there for them and want to provide them with a free product they can enjoy,” he said.

 

Shaw says Pro Elite has not signed their main event for the proposed event at this time.

[Lord of The Curry]

Goddamn Frank Shamrock is a douchebag.

[snuffbox]

Local judges Bill Clancy and Gary Ritter should probably find different jobs.

[The Ill One]

A shitty way for it to end but Frank knew what he was doing (or at least I'm assuming so)... there have already been dumb rumors like Gracie faking an injury, Frank wanting out of the match, etc. but at the end of the day it's just Frank fucked up. Baroni versus Shamrock should be amusing though.