Wow, that didn’t take long. Seth Petruzelli single-handedly took down EliteXC  by knocking out their primary superstar, Kimbo Slice, in 14 seconds. Not only that, but there was controversy after the fight when it was found out that EliteXC paid Seth Petruzelli to keep the fight standing up. It sounds like the EliteXC parent company, Pro Elite, is officially done now, with the November 8th show cancelled and a fight between Nick Diaz and Eddie Alvarez that will not happen on that date.

It will be interesting to see where some of the EliteXCstar fighters end up. Gina Carano will probably go to Affliction. What will happen with Kimbo Slice? Will we ever see Gina Carano vs. Cristiane Cyborg?

…and with that, EliteXC’s major investment takes a hit, but they’re already giving Kimbo excuses. Mauro Renallo suggests giving Kimbo a “mulligan” for taking the fight on short notice and Seth Petruzelli filling in for Ken Shamrock. I want to see the replay again, because supposedly Jarrod Shaw can be seen in the background screaming something to the referee…probably not wanting to see his companies biggest star lose.

A reliable source has confirmed that Seth Petruzelli will be fighting Kimbo Slice in place of an injured Ken Shamrock at tonights EliteXC event live on CBS.

WARRRRR SILVERBACK PETRUZELLI FTMFW!

According to MMARated.com, Shamrock was cut above his eye and doctors wouldn’t clear him to fight. Damn. But there is some hope! MMARated has updated their site to say that EliteXC may have found a doctor to give Shamrock the OK to fight, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed, and also they say Seth Petruzelli was offered as a replacement. Seth Petruzelli, in my opinion, has a better chance of kicking Kimbo’s ass. Frank Shamrock is also rumored to have stepped up and volunteered, but will not be fighting.

Wow. The fight is scheduled to take place October 4th in Sunrise, Florida for EliteXC’s fourth “Saturday Night Fights” show on CBS. I am still a big Ken Shamrock fan, and would love to see him pull out a victory over Kimbo Slice, but I don’t see it happening. I think Shamrock will rush in and meet a punch that sends him to the mat. Referee will stop the fight, Shamrock will protest an early stoppage.

I was hoping some of the other rumors about Kimbo’s next opponent would be true. I had heard possibilities of Wesley “Cabbage” Correira, Sean Gannon, or Brett Rogers. Unfortunately, they’re feeding Kimbo a legend in Ken Shamrock.

Cristiane Cyborg vs. Shayna Baszler

FEMALE MMA STANDOUTS SHAYNA BASZLER AND CRISTIANE CYBORG ADDED TO THE CARD FOR SECOND PRIMETIME BROADCAST OF “CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS” SATURDAY, JULY 26 ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

SHOWTIME To Televise Three Live Fights Preceding CBS Broadcast, Including EliteXC Heavyweight Championship Featuring Antonio “Big Foot” Silva vs. Justin Eilers.

The female bout between Shayna Baszler of Sioux Falls, S.D. and Brazil’s Cristiane Cyborg has been added to the lineup for the second primetime broadcast of CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS, live from the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif. on Saturday, July 26 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Baszler and Cyborg, who are fighting in the 140 pound weight class, complete the primetime matchups for the CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS on July 26. Other CBS fights include:

•”Ruthless” Robbie Lawler vs. Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (for EliteXC Middleweight title)
• Jake Shields vs. Nick Thompson (for EliteXC Welterweight title)
• Nick Diaz vs. Thomas “Wildman” Denny (Lightweights)

Nicknamed “The Queen Of Spades,” the talented Baszler is 9-4 and has won her last four starts. All of Baszler’s victories have come via submission; her last four outings ended in the first round.

Regarded as one of the roughest and toughest women in MMA, Cyborg has a record of 4-0. This will be the United States debut for Cyborg, who has scored first-round technical knockouts in her last three fights.

SHOWTIME will televise three live fights preceding the CBS broadcast from 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT including:

Antonio “Big Foot” Silva vs. Justin Eilers (for EliteXC Heavyweight title)
Wilson Reis vs. Brian Caraway (140 lb. weight class)
Rafael Feijao vs. TBD (light heavyweight fight)

CBS Sports play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson, cageside analysts Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo, and reporter Karyn Bryant will return as the “CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS” broadcast team and also have the call for the SHOWTIME telecast.

CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS will be produced by SHOWTIME Sports. The executive producer is David Dinkins, Jr. For more information on the first CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS, visit cbssports.com

Nick Diaz was supposed to be fighting Hayato “Mach” Sakurai at DREAM, but Gary Shaw forced Diaz to withdraw from that fight so he could schedule a Diaz vs. KJ Noons rematch for a live EliteXC show on CBS. However, for some reason KJ Noons isn’t going to fight Diaz, and has been replaced with Thomas Denny. Big disappoinment.

Don’t get me wrong, Thomas Denny is a veteran fighter, and may possibly even be a tougher opponent for Diaz, but it’s just not the rematch fans wanted to see, especially after the altercation with Karl Noons, Sr. and the Noons posse at the last EliteXC show.

The Diaz/Denny EliteXC event will be in Stockton, California — Nick Diaz’ hometown.

Bas Rutten Discusses The Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson Fight

Thanks to The Smoking Gun:

Street-brawling YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice (real name: Kevin Ferguson) was arrested by Miami Beach cops in May 2002 on gun and open container charges. The felony weapons rap against Slice, 28 at the time, was eventually dismissed. He entered a no contest plea to the booze charge and was ordered to attend an alcohol education course. After gaining notoriety via online videos showing him pummeling opponents in brutal backyard fights, Slice made his debut in a sanctioned mixed martial arts (MMA) contest in June 2007, when he defeated former heavyweight boxer Ray Mercer. In May 2008, Slice headlined the first MMA card to be shown in prime time on network television (he defeated James “The Colossus” Thompson in the CBS broadcast).

Gary Shaw tells everyone that James Thompson was having trouble breathing and is being taken by ambulance to the hospital, Gary Shaw then asks for prayers for James Thompson’s family, like James Thompson was almost dead or something. LOL. Meanwhile, James Thompson is standing just a few feet away and seems completely fine with the exception of some bruises on his face.

Here is a photo of James Thompson‘s ear before the fight started and he got it popped open. Also, below that is a picture from his PrideFC days, and his ear looked normal then.

The Kimbo/Thompson fight was stopped early, in my opinion, but it’s debatable. However, I think the Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith stop was definitely too early, a very bad call on the part of the doctor. First off, the fighter (Scott Smith) was supposed to get 5 minutes to recover, as is usually the case with fouls such as groin strikes or eye pokes, but the doctor came into the cage immediatley after the bout was paused and started asking Scott Smith if he could see. Well, of course he couldn’t see yet, he just got poked in the eye. Give him a couple minutes to recover and he’ll be fine, but no, this doctor decides she needs to make a championship fight a no contest. Scott Smith and Robbie Lawler beat the hell out of each other for no decision. At least Gary Shaw said he would pay them both their win bonuses.

The Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson result is going to be bad controversy for EliteXC. Many people suspect a “fix” in that it’s possible Gary Shaw approached the referee before the fight and told him to stop it at the first signs of trouble for James Thompson. Obviously Gary Shaw has invested a lot of money in Kimbo, and didn’t expect the fight to go past the first round. I doubt Gary Shaw would want Kimbo to lose yet, that’s why Thompson was hand-picked for him. Do I think it was a fix? I don’t know, I guess I don’t really care. Regardless, Kimbo Slice was exposed. He is not a top heavyweight fighter yet in terms of skill.

I think it’s safe to say that Kimbo Slice would not be able to hang with the current top MMA heavyweights. Judging from his performance tonight, Kimbo has a long way to go, as he himself admitted. Luckily, Kimbo has Bas Rutten training him. Any of the top heavyweights such as Randy Couture, Fedor, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, Ben Rothwell, Roy Nelson, and many more would be able to handle Kimbo fairly easy, if tonight is any indication. Hell, even Dana White may have been right when he said BJ Penn would beat Kimbo. However, James Thompson came to fight, as he always does. Somehow, Thompsons chin survived the fight, although he was wobbled several times, he was able to take the fight to the ground and control it there for the most part. I actually gave rounds 1 and 2 to James Thompson. What the hell was up with his cauliflower ear though? That thing was gnarly. Anyway, Kimbo popped Thompsons ear and wobbled him with more punches, when referee Dan Miragliotta foolishly stopped the fight. Bad call, ref.

The ref’s stoppage further shows me that MMA is probably quite a bit safer than boxing. If that were a boxing match, I don’t think it would’ve been stopped, I think Thompson would’ve gotten a standing 8 count and been allowed to continue fighting. I imagine non-MMA fans watching tonights show and seeing a popped ear, thinking “wow that is brutal” or maybe even arguing about the shots Thompson was taking to the head, but all of those things happen in boxing as well.

I don’t even know where to begin with his article, but I’ll start by pointing out that the writer thinks MMA and UFC are rival companies, so his opinion really isn’t credible. Here is a link to his complete article, but I’ve voiced my opinions about it below.

Here are some of Greg Cote’s ignorant statements:

“This form of fighting is all but bare-fisted, with less-than-gloves covering the knuckles. Anything goes,including kicking. (I suppose eye-gouging might or might not be frowned upon).”

Even kicking? OOOOH NO THE END OF CIVILIZATION! What is his opinion on kickboxing? I’m guessing Mr. Cote has really never watched an MMA event, he obviously has no clue about what the rules are. He also says:

“Pardon my not swelling with civic pride over one of our own hitting the big-time at last for what amounts to legalized criminality”

Legalized criminality? Give me a break, so is boxing if that’s the case. So is auto racing (speeding), and much more. He thinks boxing is “refined and genteel” in comparison to mixed martial arts. Does he not realize boxers are trying to knock each others heads off? Sure, that sometimes happens in MMA, but there are so many other ways to win, I would have to say the science of MMA is way more refined, and possibly more genteel considering a fight can end in 30 seconds with neither fighter being seriously injured. As true fans know, in the sport of mixed martial arts, a fighter can simply get caught in an armbar and tap out before he is seriously hurt. Not possible in boxing, where the loser must stand in there for 12 rounds and get his head busted repeatedly, or get knocked unconscious before a winner is declared.

Mr. Cote also asks in his article “Whatever happened to Chuck Liddell?” — more evidence he has no clue about the sport of mixed martial arts. Here is more:

“(Michael Vick), by the way, staged dogfights not much more vicious, or less civilized, than the type of combat that Kimbo and these other so-called ”freestyle fighters” shame themselves to practice. (And that we shame ourselves to watch).”

Wow, I really don’t think I need to explain the stupidity of that sentence. He is taking the subject of trained athletes who consciously make a decision to compete in sport, to Michael Vick forcing abused animals to fight each other to the death via bite wounds to the throat. Michael Vick also tortured injured animals via hanging and electrocution. I can’t believe Greg Cote is ignorant enough to make that comparison. Here is more wisdom from Greg Cote:

“It’s (MMA) sort of an adult version of teenagers beating up a homeless guy.”

Wow, this Cote idiot is full of intelligent comparisons, huh? Really man, you’re comparing the sport to multiple attackers beating a defenseless homeless person? Mr. Cote, you are out of control. Your article in the Miami Herald showcases your ignorance very well. You should be ashamed of some of your statements, particularly the ones that minimize the torture of homeless people and animals. Greg Cote should suffer the wrath of a Fedor armbar.

I have nothing against Kimbo Slice, but I would love to see James Thompson run right out and smash Kimbo in this fight. However, I don’t think that is going to happen. Both fighters are exciting to watch, I predict James Thompson will rush out and try to trade punches with Kimbo, and inevitably Kimbo will connect on Thompson’s chin, ending the fight. I bet the staredown will be tremendous, though. In the meantime, here is video of James Thompson’s epic fight with Don Frye in Pride. Also, sign up on our MMA forums, we need new conversation and MMA expert fans.

Supposedly, Kevin Ferguson aka Kimbo Slice is set to be an award presenter at tonights CMA Awards show on CBS (8pm EST). Yeah, he might not seem like he fits in at a Country Music Awards show, but if he’s there, it will obviously be to promote the upcoming May 31st EliteXC: Primetime show on CBS, in which Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson will be the main event.

MAY 19th FIGHTER AUTOGRAPH SIGNING @ BEST BUY IN HOLLYWOOD

LOS ANGELES, California –
EliteXC in conjunction with Image Entertainment and Best Buy will be holding an autograph signing with EliteXC superstars on Monday, May 19th from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the La Brea Best Buy store in West Hollywood, California.

Fighters scheduled to appear include:
Gina Carano
Frank Shamrock
“The New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni
Nick Diaz
Jake Shields

DATE AND LOCATION
Monday, May 19th
6:00pm to 8:00pm
BEST BUY
1015 N. La Brea Ave.
West Hollywood, CA 90038

The autograph signing will feature the debut of the first two EliteXC DVD releases: “Destiny” (2-disc set) which showcases Frank Shamrock vs. Renzo Gracie & Gina Carano vs. Julie Kedzie and “Renegade” (2-disc set) which features a lightweight championship match of KJ Noons vs. Nick Diaz & the MMA debut of street-fighting legend, Kimbo Slice.

A free, limited edition EliteXC poster will be available with the purchase of any EliteXC DVD (limited stock on hand).

Fighter appearances are subject to change.