The Tuesday Leg Lock Report 06.03.08

Posted by Justin Thomas on 06.03.2008

Today I give my thoughts on EliteXC: Primetime and why I liked it. Also, I preview The Cursed Event UFC 85, which is still subject to change and talk about EliteXC's ratings and their future. All that and more, in this week's Tuesday Leg Lock.

Welcome to another edition of The Tuesday Leg Lock Report! Huge weekend it was with EliteXC CBS show and WEC: Faber vs. Pulver. I give my thoughts on EliteXC: Primetime – I thought it was a good show. Also I preview UFC 85, well I hope there will be no more changes to the card. Sorry for no review of WEC, unfortunately, I did not watch the show, but most of my colleagues did and they'll give their thoughts on it, so check their news reports/columns. Now Let's get it on with The Tuesday Leg Lock!




"EliteXC: Primetime" Review



It was nice that they explained the rules of MMA. I laughed that Frank Shamrock was doing it, especially the part about knees to the head (they showed footage of Frank getting disqualified for throwing knees to Renzo's head). The production is not on the level of UFC, but that's what you could expect out of EliteXC, no improvements really.

-Jon Murphy (4-3 MMA) vs. Brett Rogers (7-0 MMA). Rogers - it was short and the result was unsurprising. I said in the roundtable that Rogers is gonna KO Murphy in the 1st round and that's exactly what happened. Good opener, leaves you wanting to see more action after this quick bout. Rogers is still undefeated and a future match for the title could be soon for him, maybe against Kimbo Slice, because that would be "epic" for EliteXC.

-Phil Baroni (10-10 MMA) vs. Joey Villasenor (26-6 MMA). So Baroni loses even faster than in his last two fights. I actually wanted this fight to be a little longer, but Baroni certainly can't take a shot no more and Joey's striking power is really good. Villasenor caught Baroni with a solid punch and since then it was a destruction. Baroni defended the guillotine choke, but he was rocked and couldn't defend the punches thrown at him. Phil should consider retirement and Villasenor should get the next title shot, well maybe after Smith, because he really upped his game since that loss to Murilo.

-Gina Carano (6-0 MMA) vs. Kaitlin Young (4-2 MMA). Gina is wearing a Red Alert 3 t-shirt? Is she playing computer games or is it just a random sponsor? Well Red Alert 2 is one of my favorite games, certainly a classic. Anyways, exciting first round. I give a slight edge to Gina. They traded punches with each other, Kaitlin took Gina down, but didn't do anything while there and I feel that Carano did more damage to Young. There was a ton of action in the 2nd round. Gina dominated, landed some solid blows, knocked down Kaitlin but wasn't able to finish her. Young was in a really bad shape after that round and did not continue the fight. Well some non-stop offensive action from these two ladies and Gina remains the face of MMA and she's still undefeated! Looking forward to her next fight, perhaps next time she'll actually make weight.

-Scott Smith (13-4 MMA) vs. Robbie Lawler (15-4 MMA). "Someone's going down quick" - Johnson. Well, after seeing so many quick KOs, I want a longer, more technical fight, maybe some ground work, but that's probably just me. The fans were boo'ing in the first round, but I thought it was great. Scott threw some kicks and Robbie waited for his moment to counter punch. They picked up the pace, Lawler got the better of the exchanges, almost finishing Scott. Perhaps Lawler needed to be more aggressive, but I'm glad this is going to the second round. And it was spectacular. Surprisingly, Smith recharged his batteries quickly and landed some good punches, but Robbie's chin is also good and he absorbed those and never really looked rocked. I give this to Smith, he landed some nice clean shots and was more aggressive. Lawler could've tried for a takedown because I don't think Smith was expecting it and he was only looking to land punches. Third round was slower than the previous ones. Lawler wasn't aggressive, but he threw some punches which connected and the visual of blood floating from Robbie's forehead during the fight was amazing. The finish came out of nowhere and it's very unfortunate. Well, safety first, it was a very exciting and equal bout, I hope we'll get to see a rematch. Awesome job by both fighters.

-Kimbo Slice (3-0 MMA) vs. James Thompson (14-9 MMA). Wow a great first round and a grappling battle from these two, I certainly did not expect that. Thompson didn't want to trade punches with Kimbo, he secured a takedown, but Slice defended well. So he HAS some ground game. But I still got to give the first round to Thompson, he controlled the action, tried for some submissions and Kimbo was only defending for the most part. The second round was interesting, Thompson was rocked big time in the beginning of it, but he was able to take down Kimbo and did some nice GnP work on the ground, but his punches or elbows weren't strong enough. Slice had no answer for it though, he didn't try to escape and the fight could've been stopped right there, but Kimbo survived. Thompson definitely wins this one. In the final round, Kimbo was aggressive and he popped that monster ear of Thompson. James ate like 4 unanswered shots and the fight was stopped. At first it seemed way premature to me, but after looking at the replay, it's clear that Thompson was rocked, he was bleeding and was really on his way to going down to the canvas or being out on his feet ala Jackson in Rampage vs. Silva I. I see nothing controversial in this stoppage, because James took many clean shots and it looked like his ear is gonna fall off his head. Kimbo was exposed on the ground, but like he said, he still has a lot to learn and he should start with takedown defense. Obviously at Kimbo's age, he's not going to be an elite fighter, but he still could bring money to the promotion.

-Overall thoughts. This was a great event. The production could've been better, they should get rid of the dancing chicks, make the video packages and introductions a little better, the UFC always does a fantastic job at it and currently the same can't be said about EliteXC. The announcers were good, Johnson did not talk much during the fights and did not embarrass himself. And the fights were great, we got two quick knockouts and some longer fights, which were awesome and all of them delivered, despite the no contest, which, by the way, just showed that things like these can happen in MMA and that it is not a brutal sport, where everything is allowed. I don't understand where the hate is coming from, there were some problems with production and while it wasn't a perfect debut for MMA on network television, but it was certainly a solid one and I'm already waiting for their next CBS show.


UFC 85 Preview



UFC 85 is cursed! And you can see that by the picture above. I cut out the bottom of the poster because it was outdated, there's no Evans vs. Irvin or Bisping vs. Leben anymore. At first the main event was Liddell vs. Rua, then it was Liddell vs. Evans, then it was (not a main event anymore) Evans vs. Irvin, then Irvin got injured and finally Evans was just removed from the card. Maybe that's because Joe Silva didn't want Rashad to get injured too. When Liddell got injured, the UFC changed the card completely and made some nice match-ups, but now with Leben and Evans gone, this event looks more like a UFC Fight Night card, with no big names except Hughes. On paper it looks like the worst card of the UFC in 2008, but if the fights will deliver, then I'll have nothing to complain about.

-Nate Marquardt (26-7-2 MMA) vs. Thales Leites (12-1 MMA). I don't have much to say about this fight. Leites' only loss was to Martin Kampmann and he won decisively most of his fights. Nate has been on a role, he's 7-1 in his last 8 fights, with his only loss coming in the hands of Anderson Silva. Nate is well-rounded, I don't think Thales will catch him in a submission and I expect Marquardt to win by decision.

-Marcus Davis (14-3 MMA) vs. Mike Swick (11-2 MMA). Davis is on an eleven fight winning streak and he looked impressive in his last fights. Meanwhile Swick is coming off a loss to Yushin Okami and a mediocre performance against Josh Burkman. I'm not impressed with the quick one at all and I don't see him as anything else than a stepping stone for Davis. Marcus once again fights in England and watch out for him to get a quick victory again and then perhaps he'll be close to a title shot.

-Fabricio Werdum (10-3-1 MMA) vs. Brandon Vera (8-1 MMA). This is a fight I'm really looking forward to. Fabricio, in his short career, fought some notable names, including Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Rodrigo Nogueira, Gonzaga and he looked good in those fights, winning against Emelianenko and Gonzaga (twice) and he's never really been dominated, all of his losses are by decision. Fabricio has great BJJ skills and he's improved his striking a lot. He could be the next #1 contender if he wins against Brandon Vera. Brandon is a boxer, he's exciting to watch, but I don't see him winning here. Werdum is willing to trade punches, but he'll be looking for a takedown, where he could submit Vera or win a decision. I just don't think Brandon will KO Werdum and I don't think that he's good enough on the ground to avoid the submission attempts of Fabricio. After this loss, Vera should go down to Light Heavyweight where he'll be more dangerous.

-Michael Bisping (15-1 MMA) vs. Jason Day (17-5 MMA). Sorry, I do not care about this fight. Bisping fights in England and he gets a random opponent again. I understand that Leben could not fight, but I at least hope that this will not be the co-main event. British fans love Bisping, but I don't until he proves something against top competition. Leben would have been a good test and at least the fight would be exciting. I'm not counting out Jason Day, he's won 10 out of his last 11 fights, but he's just an unknown and Michael defeats all of the unknowns. I hope Day will prove me wrong here, but as of right now, I think Bisping will win it by decision.

-Matt Hughes (42-6 MMA) vs. Thiago Alves (14-3 MMA). This is a very interesting bout. It will show if Hughes has anything left in the tank or if it's time to retire for him. Matt was a dominating champion for so long, but GSP destroyed him twice and made him look weak. Hughes probably won't get a title shot in the near future, but if he wins this fight against Alves and the next inevitable bout against Serra, he could prove that he's still a top welterweight. Alves has everything to gain from this fight and not much to lose. If Thiago wins, he'll probably get the next title shot. He already has 9 fights in the UFC and while he has lost two of those, a victory against Hughes would make everyone forget them. Alves is still young, only 25 and with good striking and BJJ skills, I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls off an upset. But I would bet on Hughes to win. He won't dominate the fight, but he'll use his wrestling to take down Thiago, control him there and get the decision.

OTHER NEWS

EliteXC scores big ratings. Excellent news. As I understand, the ratings were similar to what UFC 75 got, but Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson was the most watched MMA match ever. You can blame EXC for a poor show all you want, but it got good ratings and that's what matters. Even if it'll get little lower ratings next time, it'll still be good enough to stay on network TV and make EliteXC profitable. All those haters will tune in next time to see "how bad the show will be" and to be able to comment something stupid like "OMG this is liek WWE". Anyways, this is a huge step for the organization. Now, with so much exposure, they have all the chances to sign some top fighters and become the #1 MMA promotion, they just need to work on that production quality.

Lawler vs. Smith could headline next CBS event. Well this is the only good thing to come out of the no contest - a rematch. It was a great battle and now with some story, Lawler/Smith could definitely headline the event. I think Lawler will take the fight next time, but as we saw in the previous contest, Smith has a good chin and he's not easy to knock out. Robbie should use the same gameplan, be cautious, use his jab and explode when the time is right. Anyways, I hope that both fighters will be healthy enough to compete. EliteXC needs to add a strong co-main event too, maybe featuring Antonio Silva and the other bouts won't be so important, maybe they need to add more grapplers next time to showcase the ground battle of MMA more.

Lashley signs with AFL. Good for him. AFL is an unknown organization, but if Bobby gathers some wins there, even if those are against cans, then he'll be spotted by EXC or UFC. Plus, AFL is now on the MMA map after this signing so it's a good deal for both parties. I think Bobby will be successful, he was a good wrestler and with his power, he should take down opponents easily and there finish them with GnP, or well LnP. Maybe he'll get a better looking record than Lesnar…


BYE BYE!

And that wraps up another edition of The Tuesday Leg Lock report. Thank you for reading and please leave some comments. Also be sure to check out "Fighter of the Month" column. See you all tomorrow in Fact or Fiction!