Last night, Elite Xtreme Cagefighting put on a show that, while it was made up mostly of low profile fights, proved interesting and showed why, exactly, these smaller shows can be so much fun to watch.
To continue the year of upsets, Nick Diaz (15-7-0), considered one of the best fighters in the world at 155 pounds, lost when the doctor stopped his fight due to two nasty cuts he recieved from tough up-and-comer KJ Noons (6-2-0). The upset was impressive, especially given the recent upset Diaz pulled off over the divisions #1 ranked fighter Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi (27-3-0). While the fight was ruled a no contest after Diaz's tests came back positive for marijuana, the gogoplata that Diaz used to finish Gomi was one of the most impressive submissions we've seen in a while.
In the other main event fight, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (brother of grappling and conditioning legend Rhadi Ferguson) knocked out Bo Cantrell (10-11-0) in 19 seconds. While there has been alot of speculation about Ferguson as a gimmick internet fighter, it is well understood that beating a fighter like Cantrell won't make it all disappear. After all, Cantrell is not in even the third tier of the heavyweight division. Both look like gimmick fighters at this point, and not even really solid gimmick fighters like Hong Man Choi. While I would like to see Kimbo make something of himself, I'm not sure if that will happen, given his age and the fact that he problem has a few more Bo Cantrell-like fights lined up.
Jake Shields (20-4-1) continued his rampage through the 170 pound division, and the Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu student choked out Mike Pyle (14-5-1) less than 4 minutes into their fight.
Also on the list of first round, rear nake choke victories that littered the card:
Yves Edwards (30-13-1) sunk his in on Nick Gonzalez (13-6-0) at 3:05 in their fight.
Antonio Silva (9-1-0) used his to finish Jonathan Wiezorek (11-2-0) at 3:10.
Geoff Bumstead (1-1-0) picked up the quickest choke out, catching Robert Ruiz (1-2-0) at 1:30.
Jae Suk Lim (8-2-0) rounded out the night with a 2:42 choke out of Daniel Pineda (0-1-0).
There was only one decision on the card, and the judges hand Matt Lucas (8-0-0) the unanimous nod over Jon Kirk (10-2-0).
Brett Rogers (5-0-0) TKO'd Ralph Kelly (2-3-0) at 1:43 in their fight and Kyle Noke (14-3-1) got a doctor stoppage win over Seth Kleinbeck (8-4-0) in the final minute of the second round.
Overall, it was a pretty good doing night, with the judges doing what they should, for the most part: nothing.
Elite XC's most recent even wasn't the most intersting, and the absent of top fighters like Robbie Lawler kept me seated on my couch, instead of jumping up constantly. Still, the fights were pretty impressive and I was satisfied with the quality of the smaller name fighters that Elite XC has been picking up. I hope that the UFC event coming up is at least this good, with the amount they are charging.
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