EliteXC “Primetime” Recap: Controversey Reigns
Though the face of EliteXC, Kimbo Slice, emerged victorious last night, it was controversy that reigned supreme in front on 8,033 fans at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey for EliteXC “Primetime”, the sport’s first-ever network television card.
In the main event, former internet street fighter turned mixed martial artist Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson was tested by journeyman James “The Colossus” Thompson but secured his third professional victory via a controversial early third-round technical knockout. Slice battered his opponent with several powerful combinations in their opening frames but Thompson was ahead on the majority of the judges’ scorecards heading into the final round after taking Slice down multiple times and pounding on the popular, albeit controversial, heavyweight.
After narrowly surviving the opening rounds, in which he was thoroughly tested on the ground, Slice bloodied his opponents ear before connecting with a series of blows that referee Dan Miragliotta deemed enough to halt the bout in favor of Ferguson. Thompson, who was never dropped to the canvas during the series of blows, showed his frustrations with the decision by pushing Miragliotta away while Slice, winded, recovered while laying on the mat. Replays of the controversial stoppage showed Slice landing a series of unanswered blows that sent Thomson staggering when the fight was called, though many wonder why Slice wasn’t given the opportunity to finish off his foe.
The co-main event EliteXC middleweight championship bout between current champion Robbie Lawler and challenger Scott Smith ended in a no contest after Lawler accidentally eye gouged Smith during an exchange. Because it was a championship fight and had not gone three complete rounds an judge’s decision could not be rendered and the fight was declared a no contest. The first-ever network MMA championship bout appeared to be history in the making. Lawler won round one of the back-and-forth bout with agressive striking that nearly finished off his opponent. After recovering between rounds, the pair fought a memorable stand-up second round that appeared to be mere moments away from being stopped in both fighter’s favor on multiple occasions. The bloodied pair were patched up between rounds and went toe-to-toe to start the third but Lawler accidentally poked Smith in the eye midway through the round and the fight was halted.
A doctor examined Smith’s injury and declared him unable to continue, ruling the championship bout a no contest. Smith protested the ruling, stating he wanted the full five minutes typically granted to recover from accidental injuries but it was not be had and the first-ever network MMA title fight was over in very controversial fashion.
Both fighters expressed their disappointment in the ruling and praised the other’s performance during the post-fight interview while EliteXC President Gary Shaw announced that the pair would immediately rematch, likely at EliteXC’s next CBS show later this year, and that both would be receiving their win bonus.
In the night’s only female MMA fight, the face of women’s MMA, Gina Carano, emerged victorious over Kaitlin Young despite failing to make weight one day earlier and having little time to prepare for the main card bout. The pair fought a closely-contested opening round before the still-undefeated Carano battered Young for the better part of the second before attempting to finish her off via rear naked choke just before the bell. Though Carono couldn’t finish her opponent with the submission the doctor quickly called the fight due to a likely broken nose and swollen eye suffered by Young.
In other main card action “The New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni was quickly defeated via first-round TKO by Joey Villasenor while Brett Rogers opened up the televised main card with an early first round TKO of Jon Murphy.
At the post fight press conference, Rogers heavily criticized Slice’s performance in the main event which resulted in an altercation between the pair that nearly turned physical. Though the situation was eventually resolved a Slice-Rogers matchup could be part of EliteXC’s next network television broadcast later this year.
Though the debut event opened with the fireworks many had hoped for, it will be the controversial finishes to many of the main card fights that will live on as the legacy of the sport’s first ever network television event.
ELITEXC “PRIMETIME” OFFICIAL RESULTS
- Kimbo Slice def. James Thompson via TKO – Round 3, 0:38
- Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith – No Contest
EliteXC Middleweight Championship - Gina Carano def. Kaitlin Young via TKO – Round 2, 5:00
- Joey Villasenor def. Phil Baroni via TKO – Round 1, 1:11
- Brett Rogers def. Jon Murphy via TKO – Round 1, 1:01
- Chris Liguori def. Jim Bova via TKO – Round 2, 4:31
- Carlton Haselrig def. Carlos Moreno via TKO – Round 1, 5:00
- Matt Makowski def. Nick Serra via TKO – Round 2, 3:57
- Wilson Reis def. Justin Robbins via submission – Round 1, 4:06
- James Jones def. Calvin Kattar via submission – Round 1, 4:49
- Zach Makovsky def. Andre Soares via unanimous decision
Tags: Andre Soares, Brett Rogers, Calvin Kattar, Carlos Moreno, Carlton Haselrig, Chris Liguori, gina carano, James Jones, James Thompson, Jim Bova, Jon Murphy, Justin Robbins, kaitlin young, kimbo slice, Matt Makowski, murilo rua, Nick Serra, Phil Baroni, Robbie Lawler, Scott Smith, Wilson Reis, Zach Makovsky
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Very good article Kris. Remember when Terry Martin knocked Chris Leben staggering into the cage? Chris Leben came back with bombs and connected for the KO. Thompson looked to be in the same position a Leben which is why I feel this match was ended too quickly. Like I said in the other post, Kimbo was going to most likely KO Thomspon at that point but looking back at the Leben vs Martin fight, this fight was called too early. Elite XC will do all it can to build up Kimbo and protect his record. Gary Shaw is running his promotion just like a boxing promoter would. CROOKED! Let’s build up the popular fighter by making him fight bums. Anyway, good article Kris.
I agree… But I dont care one bit for KIMBO.. Id like to see him fight CRO COP… or a real MMA fighter.. Thompson is ok.. but he is not even a to 20 HVY Weight.. Hell Id even put Cabage in with Kimbo… LOL
Lawler and Smith impressed me, the both came to fight in shape and ready…The New Jersey state athletic commission didn’t impress me.
Baroni also really disappointed me, now hes got a 10W – 10L record …. horrible.
Kimbos fight was controversial in a lot of ways but what disappointed me most was Kimbo’s cardio and Ground game….. He is knowhere near a top MMA heavyweight yet and he pissed me off laying on the ground after that fight…..going 3 rounds with Thompson doesn’t merrit that crap as if it was the 5 round war of their lives.
Ok I feel better now………..
Terrible show. I can’t express how disappointing the whole cheesy show was last night.
My issues:
– Announcers: They couldn’t explain the action as it was happening. Rogan is 1000 times better.
– Dancers: They gave it all the polish of the XFL
– Music: Who picked this crap? We’re they going for the ghetto demographic? Why can’t the fighters pick their own walk in music?
– Fights: No ground game at all.
– Kimbo: Even he seems embarrassed by his level of skill versus the over-hype.
Last night proved Kimbo is a bum. He could not beat any top 20 heavy weight
Thuwak,
Kimbo is not an MMA fighter by MMA standards. He is an MMA fighter according to some because he fights for a MMA promotion. I admire Kimbo’s heart, aggression, strength and desire but not his MMA skill.
protect their fighter they did, kimbo is gonna get even more heat now than he ever did before, guaranteed dana white watched that fight and was pissing himself laughing the whole way through, if thats the ufc’s best competition than i’m more than sure they are pretty safe, as soon as kimbo fights someone legit thats gonna be the end of him.
Thanks for the compliments. Personally I don’t think the stoppage was all that bad. I would have liked to see Kimbo have the opp to finish Thommpson off but between the blood and the strikes he already landed I just don’t see Thompson coming back from that, though Kimbo did miss on a finishing shot earlier in the fight that led to a takedown.
Last night was the first, and last time I ever watched Extreme XC. I lost all respect for them; it was evident that they were protecting Kimbo from a loss. That’s the face of their company. In my opinion the fight should have been stopped in the second round where Thompson was pounding Kimbo on the ground against the cage. Kimbo wasn’t protecting himself. The whole show last night was like watching the WWE with all those fire works. Dana White is laughing,
It’s obvious Kimbo is new to the ground. Chuck Liddell, all those guys, have a lot of wrestling experience.
Kimbo would probably do better in boxing right now, but boxing is on it’s way out and MMA is on it’s way in.
I am sure he will get better at the ground.
punching-wise, he’s right there with Silva and Liddell. He may even punch harder, but on the ground he’s a novice.
all the fights except the lawler/smith fight were complete jokes. Carrano shows up overweight and out of shape and still knocks the **** out of her opponent, baroni has to be the cockiest piece of **** and his ass was done after a minute. Thompson never dropped once in that fight and the ref stopped it. This was a disgraceful way to introduce MMA into primetime. This whole event is going to leave a terrible mark on this sport. Hopefully the UFC can sign a deal with fox or someone and show the world what MMA really is.
First of all every single aired bout was nothing but striker vs. striker. They didn’t showcase any grappling or jui jitsu players. The whole thing was over cheezified. I felt guilty for watching it and helping their ratings. I’ll stick with the UFC PPV cards.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks fights were stopped early. Especially the last two fights. I’m thinking Elite wanted to make the sport come off as safer than most uneducated new CBS viewers would perceive. Because last night was a joke. Can’t wait for Faber/Pulver tonight.
I don’t know how any of the rest of you feel, but I definately felt like the fix was in all night. I definately think that that Doctor and the ref for sure were on the take.
Kimbo is a joke i wouldnt mind him if they didnt act like he was god reincarnated but they do and i dont see y i want a fight between him and anybody reputable but id really like to see him vs chuck cuz theyve both talked there trash and i personally think chuck would eat kimbo alive
What really killed me was after the fight when Kimbo said something to the effect of “this is now my job”. We’ve been hearing about you, and seeing you fight for how long? and NOW this is your job? Sounds half-assed to me.
KIMBO VS CHuCK?
chuck is also a slugger.
i see kimbo as a good boxer. kimbo might have a chance.
we saw that he has no stamina but he has power and can escape some situations.
knowing that, i thing thompson should have tried a bit of kicking in the legs and dancing around to soften him up.
but i think that kimbo is a pretty powerful slice
Pure BS…the promotion is a cheesy WWE promo…
Robbie Lawler was the only real MMA fighter out there. All the rest are UFC cast offs or MMAwannabes.
Slice is a joke, Gary Shaw is a joke…thanks for ’showcasing’ MMA for the whole world to see with that piece of crap show last night.
what a bunch of bs any outher fight would have been stoped after 38 elbows to the head kimbo sucks he could not even get up after the secound thay needed him to win total bs
What, I can believe that I am reading all of this ****. I Kimbo has been training MMA for less than one year now, It seems like you guys anticipating the second coming… Come on guys get real, I would like to see any of you **** talkers in the cage… Give him two more years…
@BeatDown:
If Kimbo has only been training MMA for less than a year, then why in God’s name is he is he being showcased in the first-ever primetime display? And did anyone else notice Kimbo tapping out in the standing guillotine? Quickly though, the camera panned out about 100 yards away from that. I don’t think anyone was expecting the second coming… anyone that knows anything knew that Kimbo was a tomato can.
This was an embarrassment for mma enthusiasts everywhere. I thought the Lawler/Smith fight was going well… until the doctor stoppage. They should have given him the full five minutes and THEN checked his eye out.
And why did the Carano/Young fight only have 3 minute rounds? If they were five minute rounds, Carano could have submitted Young with that RNC at the end of round two.
I could go on and on… the fluff in that show was absolutely unbearable.
give him two more years……well then make him the posterchild in two more years when he has beaten somebody with a heartbeat and doesn’t have a ref and a promoter making life easy street for him, sure you may have a point that he is tougher than all of us but thats not the topic of conversation here, piece of crap kimbo is, and last night just made him look bad, if he wouldn’t have had the internet exposure he’d be nobody and still out in back alleys earning a living, and just for the record kimbo would not give chuck a run for his money
ELITE XC SUCKS BALLS
time to move on
I think they didnt want to waste the air time to give Scott his 5 minutes. Im not sure if it was live or not.
Nobody went to the ground because the masses think the ground game is boring.
XFC is trying to be the pop music of MMA. Forget content, just play what people want. Kimbo is a perfect front man for them.
Kimbo did not tap…to tap out you have to “TAP†anybody else that thinks other wise just likes to hear themself talk…..ps. Im not a kimbo slice fan either
This is why dana white passed on the cbs offer…they focused more on the publicity then the fights…****in gay…and the announcers?? wtf were they talking about…they sounded like they learnd about mma right before the show…also didn’t like the cheerleaders..just doesn’t make sense, stick with the hot ring girls and toss the cheerleaders this is fighting, not football. Also where the **** where were the fighters camp shirts…all i saw was advertisement for elite xc sponsors….music was dumb too…hey listen to this song then come to our website…the whole thing was just a bigcommercial….I do give credit to the lady fighters tho…they can throw down…..but other than that I will be sticking with UFC…way better fights with out all the bull****