May 31: EliteXC on CBS

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

That was the only stoppage tonight that bothered me, because the fight had me really into it. But if they make good with a rematch down the road...that's fine with me. That's the one thing on tonights show that can be easiest fixed to fans.

 

The first 3 fights I had no problem with the endings.

 

I didn't care about how the main event ended because the luster came off of Kimbo in the second round anyway...and that's all there was to look at.

[Guest]

The stoppage in Lawler/Smith was the only one that bothered me.

 

I sure would like to see Kimbo in there with a guy that is better on the ground...but it's safe to say we aren't going to see that for a long time. Oh well. All I've wanted all along was to see him fight someone that could get him down. He's got a lot of learning to do.

 

If anyone doesn't think MMA made new fans, I don't know what to say about that. Not everyone can "test the waters" by ordering a PPV.

[Damaramu 0]

I think any heavyweight in the UFC (even the worst ones) would completely wreck Kimbo after what I saw tonight. I mean WRECK him.

 

I haven't seen the dregs of MMA. I've seen UFC, I've seen PRIDE, I've seen WEC, I've seen local stuff and I've seen random small shows that come on DVDs. This was by far the worst MMA show I think I've watched.

 

I'm pretty much on with Tigeraid. I don't think the fights were fixed or anything. I don't agree with him on that. But the rest seemed about right to me. Yeah she had a large mouse under her eye, but I guarantee if that was a men's fight it would've kept going.

Smith didn't get his 5 minutes and that was complete bullshit.

And the Kimbo fight, that was just fucking absurd. He sucks. End of story.

 

Dana White had to be laughing his ass off watching this shit.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

I thought it was a fun show to watch. I'm a little surprised at the hate for the cheerleaders and "hip-hop"...I don't see how music or ring girls take away from anything. Hell, NFL has cheerleaders, does it ruin the sport? This isn't UFC and I'm glad they tried to do things differently than UFC.

[Angel_Grace_Blue 0]

I guess I'm an idiot because I thought Kaitlin decided not to continue the fight. From the memory I probably just made up, she didn't have the typical "No! I can continue!" moment that usually comes after a doctor stoppage.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I've seen way worse shows then this from UFC, PRIDE, and so on. This show wasn't bad. It just wasn't great. That's not even including abortions like Strikeforce Tacoma or YAMMA. I *know* this show was better then those.

 

In the end, this show's success or failure has nothing to do with hardcore fans, the large percent that are tearing the show a new one. Just like how a UFC PPV has to appeal to the casual fans, if this show succeeds it will be because Elite got casuals. If it fails, it's because they didn't.

[Markme123 0]

I thought this was a tremendously fun show.

 

The first hour was boring with only 4 minutes of action the whole 60 minutes. Women's fight was great drama and great back and forth drama. Title match was a great, GREAT fight, but the BS stoppage was unbelievably unfortunate. Why they wouldn't give Smith his 5 minutes and then check on him is beyond me. Blame the commison for that. Kimbo fight is probably my favorite heavyweight fight in a long while. I was divided at the end of R2: for one Kimbo was not answering at on the ground for a full minute. On the other hand, Thompson's blows had almost nothing behind them as he was dead tired. I don't think the stoppage was that bad because a) James looked practically out on his feet b) he was bleeding an awful lot from the ear and c) he would have been knocked out within the next 10 seconds I think.

 

 

Examples of the announce team being awesome:

 

-Gus on his feet with his hands behind his head the whole main event.

-Mauro mentioning a DDT~!

-Frank, Mauro, and Gus not stepping, interrupting, or contradicting the each other like I see in the Showtime shows and in the UFC.

-Gus not being a company shill, becoming livid, and railing against the bad stoppage in the main event.

 

 

Having said that, UFC is a WWE, while EXC is a TNA in terms of putting a show together.

 

 

EDIT: Hey, Elite XC results on the local news!! Cool "A Slice of Pain" says the cyron. Clever.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

Gus Johnson is always awesome. I was pretty happy to see him calling the show, as he's one of my favorite announcers. Nice choice by CBS.

[Hawk 34 0]

Gus Johnson would get excited calling a chess game in the park.

[MFer 0]

I haven't watched too much MMA before but I checked this out and thought it wasn't too bad. Sure, Kimbo had his rough moments, but what did ya expect? I'm no expert by any means but I'm pretty sure a guy with his lack of experience is gonna look shaky at times. I enjoyed the women's match and the title match (despite the questionable endings). I agree with Hawk; the show's future comes down to how the casual fans respond to this event.

[Blade2kxx 0]

I haven't watched too much MMA before but I checked this out and thought it wasn't too bad. Sure, Kimbo had his rough moments, but what did ya expect? I'm no expert by any means but I'm pretty sure a guy with his lack of experience is gonna look shaky at times. I enjoyed the women's match and the title match (despite the questionable endings). I agree with Hawk; the show's future comes down to how the casual fans respond to this event.

 

Exactly... this show was sorta my first major experience with MMA. I had seen a few fights before, but they were always isolated. This was the first full show I've seen. Was it bad? Maybe for the MMA regular, yeah. But, for the casual or newcomer, it was a decent introduction I thought.

 

I was rather meh on the production. The commentary was excellent, with Gus being a class-act throughout. His professionalism gave the night a bit of class that was ruined by the Nitro girls on stage. I didn't really notice the overuse of rap, since Avenged Sevenfold was used twice anyway... Some of the camerawork was bad, but really, for a first time on the national stage, it was ok. I liked them giving each fighter an introduction video, as it clued us in on who each one was instead of just sending them out there to fight.

 

Frank being on hand helped tremendously as well. The video of him explaining MMA rules was really good for those that are total MMA newbs, as it was clear and concise.

 

The first two fights were fairly routine, but I did enjoy Baroni getting KTFO like he did.

 

Carano/Young sorta saved the show on my end... I'll admit, seeing Carano fight got me to watch tonight, and I was pleased with the fight. The doctor's stoppage didn't bother me too much because it was clear that the giant fucking shiner on Young's face was going to close up her left eye some-time in the middle of the third round or sooner. Good solid fight with good drama that woke me up after the 3 minutes of fighting and 57 minutes of hype in the beginning of the show.

 

The Lawler/Smith fight had me baffled at the crowd... It was shaping up to be a great fight, and they're booing because the fighters are trying to out think one another? Isn't MMA supposed to be MORE than just two people punching and kicking at each other? The stoppage bothered me alot, since the fight was really starting to hit a groove. It was total BS that it got stopped without him getting his 5 minutes and everyone in the arena and watching at home knew it. That being said, the promise of a rematch will get me back for sure. Make the best out of a bad situation.

 

Kimbo was overexposed tonight... but at the same time, I think it's better for him to suffer this sort of humbling now than it would be later. He's still a fresh face... he looks like a 3-0. He's got alot of work to do, but I think there's some talent in there to be used. His punches look like BOMBS when they hit, especially the blow he hit to Thompson's ear. I really question them sending Thompson out there with such a massive and potentially dangerous target like that ear. Both the non-stoppage and stoppage didn't bother me too much... Thompson was getting good shots on Kimbo at the end of the second round, but every time it seemed like Thompson would get into a rhythm, Kimbo would put his hand out to stop him. He was still actively, if a little weakly, defending himself. The blows he was hitting were great for points, but weak overall. As far as the stoppage, I would have liked to seen Kimbo get the KO that was clearly coming, but Thompson was DONE. Glass eyes, wobbly stance, instinctively going for the ref, blood flowing from his ear. One or two more of Kimbo's right hand bombs and he would have been OUT. Now, go back to training Slice, you've got a long road ahead of you.

 

I know many in the MMA community are hating the show right now, but I don't think it was designed for them in particular... this was for the general audience, it in that regard, I think the show worked. Now all we have to do is wait for the ratings to come in.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Fuck you guys, this show was awesome just for Gus and his, "WHERE'S THE JIU-JITSU, KIMBO??!! YOU GOTTA WORK ON THAT!!!" comment in the second.

 

The second round sort of bothered me.... Kimbo eats about 20 elbows with no answer to them, but there's nothing on those fucking elbows... not one thing. Those were some of the weakest elbows I've seen.

 

And if Shaw is smart, he'll also try to invest in Thompson. Big muscular freakshow dude like him who you can easily hype. Yeah... you could easily build up for a rematch between the two in a year and a half or so if your promotion hasn't gone bankrupt yet.

[The Niggardly King 0]

I have come to the conclusion that Gus Johnson is already the best play-by-play man in MMA. I didn't expect any sort of knowledge and he starts creaming himself over bullshit Kimbo jiu-jitsu.

 

And I gotta watch the second round again of that fight. I know Kimbo gave the ref a thumbs up that he was okay in that guillotine attempt in the 1st, so I don't know if he did something similar where he's just eating "elbows" unanswered for a minute.

 

Not a bad stoppage overall. Thompson's eyes were rolling into the back of his head, ear just got busted, and he's generally out of it. But fuck, I've seen Thompson go to sleep so many times that it feels weird he didn't even drop to one knee... but he was on fucking dream street.

[evilhomer 0]

Thompson was certainly rocked and on dream street, but no worse than he was in the second round when Kimbo tagged him with a couple. He recovered then, he could have recovered again because Kimbo was so gassed, I don't think he could have thrown another punch. I watched the end of that and couldn't help but think the ref was told to stop it at his first opportunity.

 

It looked to me like Kimbo got too caught up in his own hype. On the ground in the first and part of the second he was muscling his way out, picking up Thompson and whatnot. You can't do that with someone in the 250 lb range. He expended so much energy doing this, believing that he is this unstoppable monster that he had nothing left towards the end.

 

 

[NoCalMike 0]

It's too bad the show isn't broadcast live on both coasts. Oh and I had to watch the main event on youtube because the program guide only had the show alloted for two hours and I forgot to extend the time(I was out during the actual broadcast)

 

I will post my thoughts on the show later, probaly tomorrow when I have more time, time for a round of frisbee golf then time to head to Arco Arena for WEC: Pulver vs Faber.....Whoo!!!

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Gus going on about hip escapes was classic.

 

I didn't see the show, only caught Gina/Young, Baroni/Villa, Kimbo/James. The chick fight was really good, but a bad stoppage, and the 3 minute rounds hurt it abit as they were having a nice back and forth goin there. Gina's boxing and fat-enhanced power really overwhelmed Young, plus it's easy to forget that Gina is actually a good fighter underneath the fame, hotness, and fat. If Kaitlin was a dude they would have never thought to stop it, but I guess they can't risk having a girl look too beat up on national television. So progressive, this EXC.

 

The Kimbo stoppage was aight, but what I call shenanigans on is it not being stopped earlier when James had Kimbo in beatdown position and landed like a dozen unanswered elbows. Also, it getting stood up when James had side was bullshit as well. Both these factors in conjunction with the early stoppage should make it clear where the favouritism lay. Dana is going to have a field day with this stuff.

 

The commentary was a million times better than before. Which doesn't say much given how bad it was before, but it still says something.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Oh and Kimbo vs. Jamesie was such an awesome fight. Kimbo sweeping Thompson was ridiculous. As for his viability as a competitive fighter... what's Zulu doin right now?

[Lord of The Curry 0]

NEWARK, N.J. – While millions of viewers around the country were able to tune in to a night of live mixed martial arts action on network television, far fewer were able to witness a verbal exchange turned near-altercation between victorious EliteXC heavyweight fighters Brett Rogers and Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson –- and Ferguson's entourage.

 

The tension began to brew before Ferguson had even made his way to the post-event press conference that followed Saturday's "EliteXC: PRIMETIME" event.

 

Rogers, who defeated Jon Murphy in the night's first televised bout, was one of the first fighters at the conference to address the media, and he made it a point to discuss what he felt was a less-than-stellar performance by headliner Ferguson.

 

"I seen some [expletive] today," Rogers said. "I seen some [expletive], some garbage-ass [expletive]. I'm a heavyweight, and I feel I'm a true heavyweight. (James) Thompson? Much respect. But I'm saying it like this. Kimbo Slice, man, that was just garbage, man."

 

The conflict continued to grow when Ferguson took to the podium 20 minutes later. Before speaking, Ferguson shook the hand of every fighter on the panel. Rogers did so reluctantly and with a disgusted look on his face as he refused to look Ferguson in the eye.

 

When a reporter brought Rogers' earlier statements to Ferguson's attention, the YouTube legend did his best to defuse the issue.

 

"Everybody's entitled to their opinion," Ferguson said.

 

Moments later, with Ferguson still at the podium, Rogers was asked directly if he would like to match up with Ferguson in his next bout.

 

"Looking at the fight tonight, man, yeah," Rogers said. "A man is man. And what I saw in this man today, it was just garbage."

 

Rogers then turned and addressed Ferguson directly and brought up a controversial "phantom tap" that some believe occurred at the close of the second round.

 

"I'm going to speak it real," Rogers said. "It was garbage. You did tap. You did tap out (and) I was right there."

 

Ferguson responded immediately.

 

"That sounds like a challenge, big dog," Ferguson said.

 

As Ferguson and his entourage converged on Rogers (and the entire stage), "The Grim" refused to back down. Media members, including a certain MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reporter who sat just a few feet from the stage, soon found themselves -- literally -- in the middle of the melee.

 

"It is a challenge," Rogers replied.

 

As the EliteXC staff worked to restore order, the two fighters glared intently across the podium. Ferguson was being restrained by EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw and Vice President Jared Shaw, as well as members of his entourage, while Rogers was being held back by fellow panelist Phil Baroni.

 

Despite the best efforts of many, the verbal tirade between the two continued.

 

"I ain't letting no bush [slur] call me out like that, man," Ferguson said.

 

"You talking all hard, and you bring that garbage-ass [expletive] today," Rogers replied.

 

Ferguson was quickly calmed by Gary and Jared Shaw, but members of Ferguson's entourage continued to shout at Rogers.

 

"You a hater," the group directed repeatedly at Rogers.

 

"I'm a hater?" Rogers asked. "I'm a hater because I'm putting [Ferguson] on the spot?"

 

A member of Ferguson's management was finally able to corral the majority of the entourage, telling Ferguson that, "We'll get our chance in the cage."

 

The tense moment was finally over as Ferguson and his entourage left the room, and further questioning resumed for the remaining panel members.

[Lei Tong 0]

Someone at BK summed my feelings up pretty well...

 

I'm just glad I didn't convince my friends to watch this card, or else I'd be looking like an ass right now.

 

I'll invite them over for the WEC card though.

 

And for what it's worth, the post fight-talk at the clubs was pretty much lackluster at the bars. Comparatively, you can usually hear people talking excitedly about the night's UFC event. Pretty much the only two references I heard to the event was:

 

-"Hey guys, did you see Kimbo tonight?"

*silence*

"...hey, guys. Did you see Kimbo fight?"

*friends continue talking about something or other*

 

- *as IFL replays on big screen TV*

"This actually a bit better than what they had on CBS."

 

[tigeraid 0]

The Woman's fight was seemingly stopped because the other chick had a HYOGE mouse under her eye which seemed to be affecting her ability to see. There's also the fact that Gina had beaten her half to death right before then. If a fighter isn't responding well, then it's the correct decision to end the fight. The fight could have been quite frankly stopped when Gina was teeing off on her standing, and the chick had no response other then to punch herself in the face due to Gina hitting her arms. She was *done*.

 

The main event was awesome. It was just two relatively unskilled guys throwing shots. Some people might not like it, I dig it when it's fast paced like this. Kimbo's punches looked good, and he was teeing off for most of the fight, but he's GOT to work on his sprawl if his ground game is that bad. The end was fine. I dunno what people want, really. Thompson was clearly on his way out anyway, and there's the fact that his ear was mutilated and pouring out goddamn blood to help spur the ref to get in there. I'm sorry, but if a fighter is about to go down and is suddenly almost SPURTING blood out of his fucking ear, I'd probably stop it anyway. Why risk it? He's going down, he may suffer permanent damage in the meantime.

 

I'm perfectly fine with the women's fight stopping due to the mouse being too bad to see... (even though I've never seen a real fight doctor in the UFC stop it because of swelling under the eye)... My problem is that the broadcast made NO effort to show it (again, CBS can't have us see that violence--they only briefly showed her, ONCE, and then never put the camera back on her), and no efforts to explain to us why the fight was stopped.

 

As far as the main event, the stoppage FOR Kimbo didn't bother me, the lack of stoppage for the OTHER guy feeding a dozen unanswered elbows TO Kimbo bothered me. It's clear they had the ref let it go to give Kimbo a chance to get out of that mess, because he WAS done.

 

[tigeraid 0]

Oh and I *will* give them props for putting together great video packages, ESPECIALLY the one at the beginning explaining MMA rules and techniques. THAT part was an excellent way to introduce MMA to the masses.

 

[Youth N Asia 0]

NEWARK, N.J. – While millions of viewers around the country were able to tune in to a night of live mixed martial arts action on network television, far fewer were able to witness a verbal exchange turned near-altercation between victorious EliteXC heavyweight fighters Brett Rogers and Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson –- and Ferguson's entourage.

 

The tension began to brew before Ferguson had even made his way to the post-event press conference that followed Saturday's "EliteXC: PRIMETIME" event.

 

Rogers, who defeated Jon Murphy in the night's first televised bout, was one of the first fighters at the conference to address the media, and he made it a point to discuss what he felt was a less-than-stellar performance by headliner Ferguson.

 

"I seen some [expletive] today," Rogers said. "I seen some [expletive], some garbage-ass [expletive]. I'm a heavyweight, and I feel I'm a true heavyweight. (James) Thompson? Much respect. But I'm saying it like this. Kimbo Slice, man, that was just garbage, man."

 

The conflict continued to grow when Ferguson took to the podium 20 minutes later. Before speaking, Ferguson shook the hand of every fighter on the panel. Rogers did so reluctantly and with a disgusted look on his face as he refused to look Ferguson in the eye.

 

When a reporter brought Rogers' earlier statements to Ferguson's attention, the YouTube legend did his best to defuse the issue.

 

"Everybody's entitled to their opinion," Ferguson said.

 

Moments later, with Ferguson still at the podium, Rogers was asked directly if he would like to match up with Ferguson in his next bout.

 

"Looking at the fight tonight, man, yeah," Rogers said. "A man is man. And what I saw in this man today, it was just garbage."

 

Rogers then turned and addressed Ferguson directly and brought up a controversial "phantom tap" that some believe occurred at the close of the second round.

 

"I'm going to speak it real," Rogers said. "It was garbage. You did tap. You did tap out (and) I was right there."

 

Ferguson responded immediately.

 

"That sounds like a challenge, big dog," Ferguson said.

 

As Ferguson and his entourage converged on Rogers (and the entire stage), "The Grim" refused to back down. Media members, including a certain MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reporter who sat just a few feet from the stage, soon found themselves -- literally -- in the middle of the melee.

 

"It is a challenge," Rogers replied.

 

As the EliteXC staff worked to restore order, the two fighters glared intently across the podium. Ferguson was being restrained by EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw and Vice President Jared Shaw, as well as members of his entourage, while Rogers was being held back by fellow panelist Phil Baroni.

 

Despite the best efforts of many, the verbal tirade between the two continued.

 

"I ain't letting no bush [slur] call me out like that, man," Ferguson said.

 

"You talking all hard, and you bring that garbage-ass [expletive] today," Rogers replied.

 

Ferguson was quickly calmed by Gary and Jared Shaw, but members of Ferguson's entourage continued to shout at Rogers.

 

"You a hater," the group directed repeatedly at Rogers.

 

"I'm a hater?" Rogers asked. "I'm a hater because I'm putting [Ferguson] on the spot?"

 

A member of Ferguson's management was finally able to corral the majority of the entourage, telling Ferguson that, "We'll get our chance in the cage."

 

The tense moment was finally over as Ferguson and his entourage left the room, and further questioning resumed for the remaining panel members.

 

 

Sounds like a WWE press conference.

[randomguy 0]

On the basis of the fights themselves the show was pretty good.

 

The problem was that one fight had a chick who didn't make weight and a stoppage that was not explained very well, followed by two fights where the stoppages didn't really make sense.

 

I missed the first part so I missed the dancing strippers.

[Darthtiki 0]

CBS punches Saturday ratings

Mixed-martial arts strikes blow for network

By RICK KISSELL

Mixed-martial arts has helped CBS bring some young viewers to broadcast television on a sleepy Saturday night.

The increasingly popular sport made its network debut Saturday night with the first of four planned "Elite XC Saturday Night Fights." Ratings for the live event from Newark, N.J., grew with each half-hour and peaked in the hour following primetime, with CBS the demo leader from 9 to 11 p.m.

 

According to preliminary Nielsen estimates that will be finalized Tuesday, CBS led the two-hour block from 9 to 11 p.m. in adults 18-49 (1.9 rating/6 share) -- a 36% improvement over what the network averaged with its crime programming on the night during the recently concluded 2007-08 season.

 

But it was in younger and male demos that the fights hit a bull's-eye: Among adults 18-34, the event's 1.9 rating more than doubled the Eye's season average (0.9), while in men 18-34, it more than tripled the net's average (2.6 vs. 0.7).

 

In total viewers, the Elite XC event averaged 4.3 million from 9 to 11 p.m., leaving CBS neck and neck with both ABC's repeat movie "The Rookie" and NBC's coverage of hockey's Stanley Cup Finals. Fox's "America's Most Wanted," airing from 9 to 10 p.m., was the most-watched program of the night, with 5.4 million viewers.

 

The final program averages for "Saturday Night Fights" are expected to rise in the nationals, as the final 45 minutes of action -- in which hyped heavyweight king Kimbo Slice defeated James Thompson in the main event -- were easily the highest-rated, according to metered-market overnights.

 

The top local markets in the meters were Oklahoma City (11.1/18), Nashville (10.3/19) and New Orleans (9.7/15).

 

Elite XC events have previously aired on Showtime, while NBC recently announced plans to air programming from another organization, Strikeforce, in latenight on Saturdays. The UFC, home to most of the sport's marquee names and a big player in pay-per-view, has a cable deal with Spike.

 

The next "Saturday Night Fights" event on CBS is scheduled for July 26.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

All Elite XC has to do is draw the key demo. That's it. It's what network's want. It's what sponsors want.

 

They succeeded. Doesn't mean the next one will though. For now, Elite can celebrate. So...Yay Elite XC~!

[Hawk 34 0]

What exactly do they have planned as a draw for the second show?

[CanadianChris 0]

At least that means I get to hear Gus Johnson announce MMA again. He was so awesome, it's like he was born to do it.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I have no idea what they'll do for the next show. Their only hope would be to get Tito involved in some form, if he's contractually able to be there. Elite doesn't really have many "names", which is why they've been riding Kimbo so hard. Nick Diaz is their next biggest name, and I'd hardly consider him a top guy name power wise.

 

Might be time to try and shell out money, but with Affliction signing people to near million dollar deals, I dunno who they could get right now.

[Angel_Grace_Blue 0]

I just wish Mauro would get replaced. His horribly forced little jokes and whatnot are really annoying (The line during the Kimbo/Abbot fight about what kind of Tank would show up, Sherman or Septic was one of the worst) . Plus, if I were an EliteXC exec, I'd be pissed at him mentioning other organizations. Don't promote the competition.

[milliondollarchamp 0]

The Carano/Young & lawler/smith were the two best fights.

 

I thought Carano/Young could of gone another round but when the doctor was checking out Young she clearly said that she couldnt see so there was no choice but to sop the fight.