Passing the Guard 10.04.08: Weigh-Ins Never Looked So Good
Posted by Stephen DeAugustino on 10.04.2008
This week we take a look at EliteXC: Heat, with break downs and predictions on every single fight on the main card. Not only that, but all of the latest news from around the sport. As always, you don't want to miss out!
Oh why hello there, fellow MMA fanatics and followers! This week on Passing the Guard we are going to preview some of the action that will be going down in south Florida, as well as some of the biggest stories breaking this week in the sport. If your reading this far, what are you waiting for? Scroll on down and let's get started!
Preview
EliteXC: Heat
Kevin Ferguson vs. Ken Shamrock
Chances are, if you're reading this article, you are enough of an MMA fan to know just how silly this fight is; this is clearly an attempt to draw casual fans in by using big names in the main event. Anyone that knows anything about MMA already sees the error in this fight. For one, Shamrock has failed to be competitive for years; "The World's Most Dangerous Man" hasn't been so since the late 90s. Shamrock has failed to win in his past five fights, and his only two victories in the past 8 years are over Kimo Leopoldo and Sam Adkins. Not only that, but Shamrock is outweighed by Ferguson. Easily passable as a middleweight, Shamrock is facing a younger opponent that is well into the heavyweight division.
Granted, Shamrock's ability as a fighter is much greater than that of his opponent. Shamrock not only has years of fighting experience over Ferguson, but his submission game is leagues ahead of anything Kimbo has to offer. With that said, Shamrock should easily be able to claim a submission here, with the keyword being should. Ken may have the upper hand in that department, but nowadays it seems that anything with two fists could easily put away the aging veteran.
Essentially what this comes down to is a battle of strength and youth against technique and age. I don't approve of what the EliteXC has done with Slice, spoon-feeding him opponents to build him up into a cash cow, so I would love nothing more than to see Shamrock tap Slice here. But, usually when this kind of fight happens, it is the more physical fighter that comes out on top, and Ferguson is way more imposing than Ken. Much to my dismay, I'll have to take Ferguson here. Second round TKO.
Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley
The under card just might take the cake this evening as number five ranked welterweight Jake Shields takes on the always dangerous Paul Daley. A fight for the title, the Caesar Gracie student in Shields will be looking to force the tap on Daley and his background in muay thai in what will prove to be one of the better fights of the evening. Shields has looked amazing in his past three fights, ousting Nick Thompson, Mike Pyle, and Renato Verissimo, all big name opponents, with relative ease. These three victories push his win streak to a total of ten, a streak that has been alive since late 2005.
Paul Daley has looked very impressive himself lately. The accomplished striker from across the pond has racked up six stoppages with strikes in as many fights, including a TKO victory over UFC veteran Duane Ludwig. Shields has never been known for his striking ability, so any attempt to stand and trade with Daley has the potential to be devastating for the current champion. On the same note, Daley has lost four of his six losses by way of submission. Daley may have improved his ground game since his last submission lost in 2006, but it is still high unlikely that he would be able to hang with Shields on the ground.
I expect this fight to be a good one, but I also expect the champion to pull it out in the end. Daley hasn't show a huge hole in his ground game, but when you are facing a high caliber grappler like Jake, any hole is big enough to cost you a fight. Daley will manage to keep the fight up and may cause some damage in the first round or so, but eventually this fight is going to the floor, where Shields will claim the W. Submission, round 3.
-Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson
It's a bit disappointing to see Arlovski here after rumors were circulating that the fighter from Belarus was about to bump heads with either Josh Barnett or current WAMMA champion Fedor Emelianenko. While this still may be the case, we will have to wait a bit longer as Arlovski has taken up a bout with Roy Nelson. On a brighter note, this fight adds even more depth to the EliteXC card, and will probably end up being one of the more entertaining fights of the night.
Arlovski has had a rather tumultuous career, but has found himself on the lighter side of things lately with four wins over names like Fabricio Werdum, Jake O'Brien, and Ben Rothwell. Arlovski seems to have finally found his rhythm in his striking game as well, as demonstrated by the dominating performance he had over Rothwell.
Lions Den team member Roy Nelson has been having his way with things lately as well, racking up his most impressive win earlier this year against Brad Imes. Because of his heavy grappling background, Nelson has acquired a healthy mix of submission and TKO victories. However, I can't see him being able to out maneuver and take down the much faster Arlovski. I hate to point to MMAth to weigh a fighters skill, but after watching Arlovski dismantle Rothwell, the same Rothwell that defeated Nelson a few years back, you have to figure that "The Pitbull" is the heavy favorite. I'll take the favorite; Arlovski wins by major decision.
Kelly Kobald vs. Gina Carano
The women's division gets a bit more spotlight as Gina Carano, arguably the best female fighter in the world, takes on Kelly Kobald. EliteXC seems to be building up Carano's fight with Santos, with Santos also fighting on the evenings card, however this fight shouldn't be over looked; it has the makings of a great one.
Gina Carano has easily become the face of women's MMA. Carano is still sporting an undefeated record at 6-0, and has claimed stoppages in all but two of them. Her last fight against Kaitlin Young, a former Hook n Shoot champion, was possibly her best performance, despite the fact that Carano failed to make weight for the bout. Carano, an accomplished muay thai competitor (12-1-1), has proven to be a strong striker in the cage and will undoubtedly be looking to repeat past striking performances tonight.
Kelly has a bit of an interesting history as a fighter; the Minnesota native has had no previous training in the martial arts before taking up MMA in 2002. Despite that, Kelly
has been fighting much longer than her opponent, making her debut in 2002 vs. Gina's debut in 2006. Also, Kelly has fought over three times as much as Carano, compiling an impressive 16-2-1 record. It is interesting to note that Kobald did not lose a fight until 2007, going 16-0-1 in her first 17 fights.
On paper you would figure that Kelly would be the sure favorite, but the way Carano has been fighting says otherwise. Carano seems to be getting better and better while Kelly has looked mediocre in her last two outings. The fight will be close, but Carano takes this by second round TKO.
Benji Radach vs. Murilo Rua
The older Rua makes his return to the EliteXC arena and this time it's against fellow striker and IFL standout Benji Radach. Benji has been fighting since 2001, eventually making an appearance in the UFC where he went 1-1-1. Benji, and excellent boxer, was sidelined in 2004 when he suffered a broken jaw in a fight with Chris Leben. Three years later, Radach made his appearance in the IFL where most people know him from; Benji went 5-0 until he lost his last fight to Matt Horwich in the IFL Grand Prix Finals.
Rua, another dangerous product of the feared Cute Boxe academy in Brazil, has been having a rather hot and cold career over the years. While not as skilled or consistant as his younger brother, "Ninja" has been fought names such as Denis Kang, Paulo Filho, Quinton Jackson, Ricardo Arona, Sergei Kharitonov, and Kevin Randleman. The only catch? Rua has lost every single one of those fights. Rua had been doing a bit better now, snagging five wins in six fights and his last win over Tony Bonello was very impressive.
What we're going to see here are some fireworks. Rua may try to take it to the ground if he understands that Radach will be looking to trade, but chances are this fight is going to end by knock out. What it really comes down to is who is going to catch who, and who is going to be able to turn it on in the last few minutes. Rua has been in some wars over the years, and has proven he can stand and bang just as well as anyone in the sport. My pick is "Ninja" by KO, round 3.
News
Alvarez, Diaz For EliteXC Title
DREAM talent and rapidly rising lightweight Eddie Alvarez has recently been called upon to do battle with promotion bad boy Nick Diaz for the now vacant lightweight title according to MMAWeekly. The fight is said to be taking place on November 8.
"I got back from my honeymoon about a week and a half ago and as soon as I got back I was on the horse that Monday….I'll be fighting Nick Diaz, we're about 90-something percent positive I'll be fighting Nick Diaz for the EliteXC title at 160 (pounds)."
"Nick's a great opponent, he poses a lot of threats. Very good striking, as well as good jiu-jitsu, so he's been in the game a while, he's a pure fighter and I like that….He gets a lot of bad rap from a lot of people with his attitude, but deep down he likes to fight, he enjoys to fight and I consider myself the same kind of person. I enjoy to fight, my heart's in this."
"I like 160, I feel like at 160 I'm stronger, I'm faster, I'm not as depleted as I am at 155," he said. "I'm excited, I can't wait for this to happen."
Alvarez has had a meteoric rise to stardom after putting on an impressive performance during the DREAM lightweight tournament. Alvarez started turning heads with a decision victory over future tournament winner Joachim Hansen, a fight many consider a fight of the year candidate. Another upset victory over Tatsuya Kawajiri added to his popularity, but a cut sustained during his semifinal fight would prevent the Philadelphia native from competing in the finals.
Barnett, Emelianenko Not Happening in January
As apparent by Arlovski's appearance in tonight's EliteXC show, Josh Barnett will not be facing him anytime soon in Affliction. This comes as a surprise to many as the rumored fight was suppose to go down by the end of the year, however complications from within the promotion pushed the event back to next January.
"I was disappointed, yes," Josh told MMAWeekly.com. "That was supposed to be my fight. We talked about it at some point prior to going to Japan, and I found out that I didn't get the fight while in Japan. I continued to work on some business there, especially after I found out I wasn't getting the fight."
It was then rumored that a potential fight with Fedor and Barnett was in the works for said January event. However, this too was recently put to rest by Josh himself, who recently commented on the situation to MMAWeekly.
"It would be (logical) for the fans, but the fans don't understand contracts or the way things have been put down on the back end in terms of the business aspect of it," he said. "Or the details between both of the fighters. So, it's not really that we want to rob the fans of something, it's just that I don't think it's possible."
"There's just some times it's better to keep your mouth shut and just not really talk too much about things," he said. "I'm not trying to make anybody look bad or talk about the details of it, but it's just not a fight that's going to happen in January. And I think that the feeling is actually mutual."
Random Pass
So it appears that MMA fans will be treated to a second bout between UFC hall of fame member Mark Coleman and Brazilian muay thai sensation Mauricio Rua at UFC 93. In honor of that future fight, here is a look at how the first meeting ended. Interestingly enough, Quinton Jackson makes a pretty funny appearance in the video as well as Wanderlei Silva, so you're really getting a preview of two future UFC fights. Thank me later.
Ugh, so it seems I'm finished for now. Apologies all around for the briefness of this weeks column, but after an unfortunate chain of events unraveled upon me, I struggled to even get this much up. Thanks for coming by and reading, enjoy the evening's fights, and as always, we hope to see you again next week. Until then, you've passed the guard!
