07/26/08: EliteXC on CBS Live Recap

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Tonight 'Ruthless' Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith will rematch the fight that went unfinished on the FIRST EVER PRIME TIME ELITEXC ON CBS a couple of months ago. The middleweight championship is on the line, and Lawler's not going to be any less aggressive than he was the first time around - but neither will Smith! Cue the opening video with highlight reel punches and knockouts from EliteXC fighters, along with footage of Kimbo Slice, and the dramatic music, and we are underway!

We're in Stockton, California for Saturday Night Fights, with the fans readying themselves for a big night of MMA action. Lawler v. Smith is our main event, but we'll also see Stockton's own Nick Diaz in action, while Jake Shields and his crew made the short trip from San Francisco. Gus Johnson welcomes us to the second edition of the show, but as he does I can't help but note the canvas is already SOAKED with blood right over the EliteXC logo from a fight at some point earlier in the night. Gus throws to his broadcast partner Mauro Ranallo.

"Gus I expect Lawler and Smith to continue where they left off. Smith is known for his lights out power, hence the name Hands of Steel. These men have combined for 25 knockouts. They say the sequel is never as good as the original, but this fight should be the exception to the rule." Gus throws to Frank Shamrock on his right. "For Smith he needs to use lateral movement and the clinch to damage the champion. Lawler needs to tighten up that jab and cut off the cage. When Smith is in front of him he needs to avoid that right and stay in the pocket to knock him out." We see Lawler walking backstage, solemn in his expression, determined in his gait. Smith seems no less focused but he does take the time to widen his eyes for the camera following him, as we see an Affliction Xtreme Couture shirt on his chest. Tonight's big sponsor is "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" as we go to our first commercial break.

Airbourne's "Runnin' Wild" is our theme music as we come back for some more impressive knockout footage, as we're told Rockstar Energy is the official drink of EliteXC. This was only a teaser though, as we go back to more commercials. As long as we've got a minute though it occurs to me now UFC made the move to give away UFC 84 for free on Spike tonight SOLELY as a way to counter program against the CBS show. For me at least that doesn't work since I was AT UFC 84, but I am DVR'ing both shows simultaneously solely because 84 isn't out on DVD yet (we're still stuck at 82 on video, while 87 is coming up in just a couple of weeks, so they're still running pretty far behind).

Lawler v. Smith is again promoted as the main event, with Nick Diaz and Thomas Denny underneath, Jake Shields vs. Nick Thompson underneath that, and Shayna Baszler taking on Christiane Cyborg in our first fight of the evening. Gina Carano is sitting at ringside to watch the fight, and the crowd pops the moment she shows up on the big screen in the Stockton Arena. She winks for the camera just to play it up.

* Christiane Cyborg v. Shayna Baszler

Both fighters put over each other in the pre-fight video, but the most interesting thing to me is that Cyborg says she's from the Shooto camp in Brazil and met her husband there. Ahh! She must be Mrs. Evangalista Cyborg. Baszler weighs in at 139 and Cyborg weighs in at 140. Both are listed as muay thai experts on the tale of the tape. Ranallo reads us the EliteXC "Rules of Combat" as sponsored by Burger King, but if you're an MMA fan you already know the unified rules quite well by now. Let's go inside the cage!

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WELCOME TO THE STOCKTON AREANA FOR A BIG NIGHT OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS BROUGHT TO YOU BY ELITEXC AND CBS. WE PRESENT A WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT SPECIAL ATTRACTION, 3 THREE MINUTE ROUNDS. STANDING FIVE FEET EIGHT, 140 POUNDS, MUAY THAI AND JIU-JITSU, A RECORD OF 4 WINS AND NO LOSSES, MAKING HER US DEBUT, THE BRAZILIAN LIVEWIRE WHO IS THE TOUGHEST WOMAN SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR, CHRIS CYBORG! AND HER OPPONENT ACROSS THE CAGE FIGHTING OUT OF THE RED CORNER, WEIGHING IN AT A READY 139 POUNDS, HER RECORDS IS 11-4 WITH ALL 11 WINS COMING BY WAY OF SUBMISSION, THE QUEEN OF SPADES, SHAYNA BASZLER!! Mazzagatti is our referee in charge. "Now hook 'em up!"

"Bring it on, c'mon." Cyborg is in the clinch right off the bat and the fight goes to the ground with Shayna on top. Shayna's going for a kneebar, but Shamrock says this is very dangerous. We transition to a toe hold but Cyborg seems to be okay, even as the Metallica-theme attired Shayna grinds away on the attempt. Cyborg gets on top and gets a warning from mazzagatti about strikes to the back of the head. Cyborg tries to stand up and come over the top but Shayna's looking pretty dangerous with the upkicks. With one minute left we almost get to the feet but Shayna hooks a leg and holds her down, as Mauro describes her tenacity as a dog that won't let go of a bone. Pretty apt. Action goes to the ground and stalls as the commentators debate about whether five minute rounds should be allowed. Cyborg gets one more warning for strikes to the back of the head right before the horn ends the round, and just as we go to commercial you can hear Mazzagatti saying "THAT WAS YOUR LAST WARNING!"

We're back after a quick commercial for Pineapple Express. I wonder if Lars Ulrich gets a cut for Shayna's top having the lightning bolt logo. Shayna is trying really hard to get a takedown but loses her mouthpiece in the process. Mazzagatti almost stops it but Shayna gets it back in. A minute in and Cyborg is rocking Shayna with strikes and muay thai knees, and Shayna is visibly slowed down now. Gus notes that her mouth is open and she's sucking wind. Cyborg backs her up against the cage 90 seconds in and knocks her down, and Cyborg starts celebrating like the fight's over! She jumps up on top of the cage and for an awkward 20 seconds the ref is yelling at her HEY IT'S NOT OVER GET DOWN HERE AND FIGHT, and instead of pwning her dazed opponent she ends up giving Shayna 20 seconds to recover! Cyborg finally figures it out and comes back down, and is still getting the better of Shayna, but Shayna had a huge amount of time to get her wind and clear the cobwebs. It didn't help though because with just about 15 seconds left to go CYBORG FINALLY FINISHES HER OFF.

The refs are checking on Shayna's condition, shining a light in her eye, and Carano looks on at ringside nodding and smiling that she's impressed with the KO. Shayna is bloodied and bruised when she finally gets up, as we get a replay of Cyborg jumping up on top of the cage to celebrate even though it wasn't over yet. It was a straight right on the button that truly ended the contest. We'll get the official time and announcement at any second. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE TIME OF 2:48 IN R2 OUR REF IN CHARGE STEVE MAZZAGATTI STOPS THE CONTEST VIA TKO FOR THE STILL UNDEFEATED VICTOR CHRIS CYBORG!

Carano: "I think I got more nervous for this fight than my own. Cyborg, let's do this, Shayna so much respect she's amazing. Cyborg is the truth man!" Our cageside interviewer Karyn says Carano has a target on her back. "I don't mind. I've been a target all my life. I'm okay!" They promote Carano having an upcoming fight in Ft. Lauderdale, and show clips from her dominance in the last EliteXC fight. 'I'm jumping in the gym, let's do this. Welcome to female MMA because that was such an exciting fight. All I can think about is fighting right now!" Karen throws back to Gus and we're told that Jake Shields vs. Nick Thompson is for the welterweight belt, and that's up next!

Frank Shamrock gives us the same demonstration of technique and ways to win that we saw in the first EliteXC show. Honestly they should show this every time for the casual viewers who just happen to be catching this over the air on an antenna or surfing channels as they hit CBS.

* Nick 'The Goat' Thompson v. Jake Shields (EliteXC Welterweight Championship)

Thompson: "I take my bar exam two days after this fight.I enjoy both law and fighting, one you hurt people with fists, the other you do with words. The winner of this fight there's no doubt they're one of the best in the world. I don't want it to go to the judges but that said I'll do whatever is necessary to win." Ranallo says that Thompson is the only person to beat Eddie Alvarez. If true that's pretty damn impressive, as is the fact he's on a 12-fight win streak. Shields on the other hand is on a 9-fight win streak and is only the third man ever to earn a black belt from Cesar Gracie.

Shields: "A lot of my friends are coming. Fighting's my biggest passion right now. I have a 7-year old daughter, I try to spend as much time with her as I can, but hopefully in the end the fight will be worth the payoff. The title is something that's been coming for a while and I feel I deserve to get it. It belongs to me." Of the two neither one is a fountain of charisma, but Thompson was definitely the better interview. Shields speaks fast and mutters a lot. Both men weighed in one half pound under 170 for this fight.

FANS HERE WE GO AS CBS AND ELITEXC PRESENT A CHAMPIONSHIP ATTRACTION OF 5 FIVE MINUTE ROUNDS FOR THE VACANT CHAMPIONSHIP. IN THE BLUE CORNER AT SIX FOOT ONE, HE IS A BOXER WRESTLER WITH 12 STRAIGHT VICTORIES AND A RECORD OF THIRTY-SIX WINS, 9 LOSSES AND 1 DRAW, HERE IS MMA'S RED HOT NICK 'THE GOAT' THOMPSON. AND HIS OPPONENT IN THE RED CORNER, STANDING SIX FEET EVEN, A VIRTUOSO OF WRESTLING AND JIU-JITSU AT 20-4 WITH ONE DRAW AND 9 STRAIGHT VICTORIES, THE CONSENSUS TOP TEN WORLD WELTERWEIGHT, JAKE SHIELDS! He gets a big pop as the hometown favorite. Mazzagatti is once again our referee in charge.

"Bring it on, c'mon!" Shields is getting the fight to the ground right away and takes the full mount on Thompson. Mazzagatti has to warn him to watch the back of the head as Thompson clinches to the body tight to avoid strikes. Shields realizes that and rolls for a better position then sinks in a guillotine... AND IT IS ALL OVER!! Unofficially Shields picks up the win via tapout to a choke at 1:03 of R1. Thompson is clearly dejected as we go to a replay that Gus describes as "classic Gracie jiu-jitsu." We'll have the official announcement from Jimmy at any second.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN REFEREE STEVE MAZZAGATTI STOPS THIS CONTEST AT 1:03 OF ROUND NUMBER 1, A MODIFIED GUILLOTINE CHOKE ENDS THIS CONTEST FOR THE WINNER BY SUBMISSION AND NEW ELITEXC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, JAKE SHIELDS! Stockton is ecstatic as we go to Gus for the interview, as the champ puts the belt over his left shoulder. "I train with the best, I submit a lot of people, that's what I'm good at. I submit people in the first round and I'm gonna keep on doing that. All the waiting just made me stronger, and I'd love to fight the winner of St. Pierre and Fitch to unify the titles." That's a bold statement! I wonder if EliteXC is happy with that. Shields says Nick Diaz is up next and the crowd seems ready for it!

We're back at the Stockton Arena as our ringside interviewer Karyn says go to www.CBSSports.com and www.ProElite.com to get more information. She joins Kimbo at ringside. "Everything's been great. My life is no longer a secret. I enjoy going out, greeting fans, signing autographs." She says he'll be fighting again on October 4th and that it will be in his backyard. "Fighting at home for the second time will be great. Way more fans, way more friends, another KO and a big party." Karyn notes that his last fight was the longest of his career. "It's not just one thing you have to work on, you have to do a lot of things to make yourself a complete fighter. James Thompson, I got a lot of respect for him, he can train with me any time." Karyn asks who he's picking in the main, and he seems to favor Rob, but then says "I'm not going to decide on this one."

* Nick Diaz v. Thomas Denny

Denny: "Mental abuse, physical abuse, drug abuse, I knew if I stayed in that same position I would fall. I think Nick Diaz gameplan is to talk trash, but I'm a grown-ass man. Been on the run since I was 14 years old, been in a lot of fights, so it doesn't bother me that he talks trash, because he'll feel funny when that samy guy whoops his ass!" Denny comes out to "Stomp On Em" by Marz and the crowd might like to stomp on him too, because no matter how much Diaz pisses people off he's still the hometown hero in Stockton.

Diaz: "Stockton's my hometown and I'm happy to represent Pacific Coast Martial Arts. I'm Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and really competitive as a swimmer, but I stopped doing that in high school and went into MMA. I also do triathalons, it makes my kicks really strong. Denny is a strong opponent but I doubt he works as hard as me in the gym. I need to put him down in the first round." Ranallo reminds us that Diaz nearly started a riot in Hawaii not long ago, but his bad boy image is all good in his hometown. Shamrock says he can knockout Denny if he sticks to the gameplan as the crowd chants TWO-OH-NINE.

Diaz is 24, Denny is 37, Diaz is an inch over six feet, Denny is three under, both are 159 or a half pound over. Jimmy is here to do the introductions again for this three five minute rounds fight. Denny has twenty-six wins and sixteen losses. Denny has the most awful rainbow hairdo I've ever seen, and I've seen some bad hairdos. He's probably being booed just for that alone. Diaz is 17-7, with 1 no contest and nine knockouts. He's listed as a PRIDE and UFC veteran as well.

My apologies for the delay in this recap - something unavoidable came up and unfortunately that's what DVR's have pause buttons for. We'll just pick right back up where I left off, which was right before the Diaz fight. Stay tuned at the end of this recap and I'll also have up the dark match results not aired on CBS. Our referee in charge for this fight is Josh Rosenthal. Denny and Diaz start talking so much smack as Rosenthal is explaining the rules that they have to cut the audio altogether.

"Gentlemen are you ready - let's fight!" Denny immediately goes for a clinch and a muay thai kick. Denny attempts a takedown 25 or so seconds in and nearly gets it. Denny is being very aggressive, standing in with Diaz, throwing leg kicks, not fearing DIaz in terms of range or power at all. At about one minute in Denny pushes him up against the fence, goes for a takedown and secures it. Diaz rolls to escape and nearly gets an armbar but Denny gets back on top. Just past 90 seconds in we go back to the feet, and then Denny pushes Diaz down towards the ground. Diaz finally pushes apart at the two minute mark and looks like he's actually getting rocked a little with punches and in the clinch. Then again Diaz looks sluggish even when he's not getting rocked so it's very deceptive. Diaz pushes Denny up to the cage at the halfway point and peppers him with shots, although Denny clinches. Gus and Mauro debate whether Denn'y shorts are pink or salmon. Diaz is starting to look stronger with the jabs, and maybe Denny gassed himself a little trying so hard to get takedowns and submission position. Diaz eats a superman punch and comes back with lefts and rights. Dirty boxing in the clinch with 75 seconds to go, with both men exchanging position as to who has their back on the fence. 50 seconds in Diaz rocks Denny, he stumbles, falls down on his own and Diaz pounces. Huge rights! Elbow to the face. Denny weathers the storm but his face is bloodied and bruised. 10 seconds to go. Quick punch and elbow. Slugfest to end the round! Denny gets in one last shot after the horn and Diaz nose may have a cut.

At the start of R2 Denny's face definitely looks the worse for wear, as the corner is furiously trying to get him ready for more action. "Gentlemen, let's fight!" The Compubox style stats put Diaz way ahead in R1 and in R2 Denny is in trouble early as Denny eats punches in bunches. He falls down again seemingly on his own but clearly as a result of Diaz rocking him and Diaz jumps right in to finish him off and force Rosenthal to stop the fight. APPROXIMATELY 30 SECONDS INTO R2 DIAZ GETS THE TKO.

This may be the best Diaz I've ever seen. No "pitty pat" punches in this fight, he was tagging Denny repeatedly, busting him up and ultimately dazing him to the point he couldn't defend himself. The over-the-top camera on the replay shows Diaz was just loading up shots, waiting to drop the hammer on a helpless Denny over and over. Clearly the stoppage was the right idea. Shamrock calls the blows "massive" and notes that Denny was more or less out on his feet several times - he MAY be right. We'll get the official decision any second. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN REFEREE JOSH ROSENTHAL STOPS THE FIGHT 30 SECONDS INTO R2 DUE TO STRIKES, FOR THE WINNER BY THE WAY OF TKO: NICK DIAZ!

Gus is in the ring with Diaz. "Real quick please, I'd like to dedicate this performance to a few friends of mine that passed away. Stephanie Wise, Tony Booth, all from Stockton. I also want to thank my sponsors for always having my back when I needed it most. Afterparty at the Red Rhino! Real fighters are at Pacific Coast in Stockton." Gus kept trying to cut him off and Diaz just kept on thanking people and cutting a promo. At least he wasn't cursing on live primetime TV, you have to give him that much! A rematch with Noons has to be in the works now after this impressive performance. Scott Smith v. Robbie Lawler to settle the war and the ownership of the EliteXC middleweight championship is up next!

Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva is in the crowd with the EliteXC heavyweight belt over his shoulder, looking confidant and proud. You know, there could be some money in a cross-promotional fight between EliteXC and Affliction if the two companies could work together. We get a replay of the action from May 31st, when Smith and Lawler slugged it out to to toe in a war. I appreciate the replay but it almost feels like they're stalling for time, which makes me wonder why we can't see one of the dark fights from earlier in the night. Shamrock, Gus and Mauro spend several minutes previewing the match before we get quotes from champion AND challenger and go to commercial.

* Robbie Lawler {C} v. Scott Smith (EliteXC Middlweight Championship)

Lawler says he's going to war, Smith says he knows he can win because he was never getting hurt, and our ring announcer brings out Scott 'Hands of Steel' Smith to the Shinedown song "Devour." The crowd is happy to see the challenger, but they'll be even happier to see the champion in just a moment. During the introductions the camera finds Anderson Silva in the crowd, smiling and signing autographs for the fans, forcing EliteXC to acknowledge that he's the pound for pound best in the world. Nevertheless Mauro says that in a perfect world, Lawler (or if Smith beat him, Smith) would face Anderson Silva. I like that idea, but it could expose EliteXC pretty badly if their middleweight got totally pwned by Silva. Don't kid yourself - that's exactly what would happen.

Smith is 15-4 with 1 NC, and he has 13 KO's to just 2 submissions. Lawler's record is also 15-4 with 1 NC, he has 12 KO's and just 1 submission. On the tale of the tape alone it would seem pretty even, but I still think Lawler is superior to Smith in just about every way possible. Herb Dean is our referee in charge for the main event. "Protect yourself at all times. Follow my instructions. We will have a clean fight. Touch gloves let's make it official!"

Shamrock and Ranallo debate about Smith being "less ripped" than he was in the previous fight. Dean: "Let's do it!" Ranallo, God bless him the geek he is, says this is the biggest confrontation of the summer next to Batman and the Joker. I love MMA but after a $180 million opening weekend I think these two fights aren't even CLOSE in comparison. Lawler blocks a big kick from Smith with his shin, and Smith keeps coming forward with punch punch kick combos. Lawler throws out a high roundhouse kick to back Smith off a bit, and he does seem wary. The crowd is impatient 1:20 in but Lawler cuts through the boos with a roundhouse kick and then starts closing the distance on Smith. He pays for it with jabs and hooks. Smith keeps throwing out leg kicks and Lawler keeps coming forward. They clinch about halfway through the round and you can hear people in the crowd calling for knees. Smith nearly lands a big right roundhouse kick 3 minutes in but Lawler is able to check it and come back with jabs and a big straight left hand. Body kicks follow and Smith is backing up a little, feeling some pain. Now it's Lawler firing off leg kicks and coming in with punches. Smith throws out a couple more high kicks and an enraged Lawler comes roaring in with kicks and straight rights. Man that's a tough one to call either way - both men looked dominant in parts of R1. Smith may have landed more strikes but Lawler may have done more damage. Well we've got up to 4 more rounds to sort it out!

We take no commercial break and immediately go back to the action with the crowd chanting ROBBIE or maybe SCOTTY - I tend to think it's the former but the announcers think it's the latter. Both men are cautious for the first 30 of this round until Lawler comes forward and tries to push him into the cage. Smith responds with elbows but Lawler is loading up some big rights. Smith's elbows did cut the top of Lawler's head good though and there's noticeable blood coming out. They clinch up 90 seconds in and Lawler peppers Smith with body shots and dirty boxing. Mauro says there's so much blood coming out now that some of it just sprayed onto their announce desk. Muay thai kneees and Smith's in trouble! He gets up for a second and gets rocked and dropped again, and Herb Dean says OKAY THAT'S IT LAWLER YOU WIN SMITH YOU'RE DONE.

To Smith's credit he was doing damage with the elbows but once Lawler got the plum and unloaded those knees it was all over. The medical officials work to clean up the cuts on Lawler's head to make him look good for the post-fight presentation, and Shamrock says it wasn't a dangerous cut but it sure was an ugly looking one. By Compubox percentage Lawler landed more strikes anyway so it may have been inevitable no matter how much Smith cut him up. The knees to the body were brutal, and the follow-up knee to the head was the icing on the cake. Time for the official announcement! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN REFEREE HERB DEAN CALLS A STOP TO THE ACTION 2:35 INTO R2, FOR THE WINNER BY WAY OF TKO AND STILL ELITEXC MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION 'RUTHLESS' ROBBIE LAWLER!

Lawler puts over Smith as a tough fighter, coming after him with elbows and doing a good job dictating the pace. He even notes he kept the pace up because he didn't want to give a doctor any chance to look at his cut. Smith: "Give it up for Lawler how could you not love this guy, he's a great champion. He went to work on me with those knees, you live and you learn." Gus says that Smith fought valiantly in both fights, and Smith says it's his own fault he didn't finish when he had the chance. "Xtreme Couture, Fairtex, Rockstar energy, and to my kids we're still going to Disneyland." Gotta give it up to both men, Lawler is a class champion, Smith was a class challenger.

As we get the wrap-up for the end of the show we see that it was 61% to 42% in terms of who landed more. That's it for the live show, dark match results from Sherdog to follow in just a second!

* Brandon Tarns vs. Drew Montgomery
Montgomery def. Tarns via TKO (Doctor's Stoppage- Cut) at 4:22 of R3.

* Mike Cook vs. Carl Seumanutafa
Seumanutafa def. Cook via KO at 1:21 of the very first round.

* Wilson Reis vs. Bryan Caraway
All three judges score the fight 30-27. Reis def. Caraway via unanimous decision.

* Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante vs. Travis Galbraith
Cavalcante def. Galbraith via TKO due to knee strikes at 3:01 of R1.

* Antonio Silva vs. Justin Eilers
Silva def. Eilers 19 seconds into the second round via TKO.

* David Douglas vs. Marlon Matias
Douglas def. Matias 12 seconds into the first round via TKO with wild strikes.

* Jeremy Freitag vs. Anthony Ruiz
All three official judges see the contest 29-28. Anthony Ruiz def. Freitag via unanimous decision.