EliteXC lightweight fighter K.J. Noons has confirmed that recent X-rays revealed a fracture to his left hand. According to Noons, the injury took place during the first round of his victory over Edson Berto and he’ll be sidelined 6-8 weeks as a result. He hopes to resume training in some capacity within six weeks.

With the injury, any chance of a bout with Nick Diaz on September 15 in Hawaii is off the table. EliteXC is believed to be exploring other options right now but they might already have a fighter in mind. More when it becomes available.

A source close to EliteXC informed me today that plans are in the works to make a match between K.J. Noons and Nick Diaz for September 15 in Hawaii. There is some internal concern about reports stating Noons may have suffered a hand injury vs. Edson Berto last Friday night and the match likely won’t become official until they know for sure that he’s 100 percent healthy.

In regard to an earlier report about a match in San Francisco between Frank Trigg and Jake Shields in October, it looks like Shannon Ritch may have spoke too soon. Apparently, Shields has signed a bout agreement and Trigg has not, according to MMAWeekly.com.

Additionally, there are reports circulating that the match was offered at a catch weight of 175 lbs. and Trigg is maintaining that he has no desire to fight below 185 lbs.

I was a guest on Fight Network Radio with Mauro Ranallo today. Mauro and I discussed a number of topics and Mauro revealed that K.J. Noons has been discussed as a possible opponent for Nick Diaz on EliteXC’s next card slated for September 15 in Honolulu.

I want to stress that Mauro didn’t say the match was signed, only that Noons is receiving consideration for the bout. He did mention that the bout would be contested at 160 lbs., if signed.

The potential matchup makes only a little bit of sense to me. Noons is a strong prospect who was finally able to show off his boxing skills to a mainstream MMA audience this past Friday vs. Edson Berto. The performance was impressive, but Noons simply isn’t ready for Diaz. Not by a long shot.

On the other hand, I understand the potential logic. Diaz won’t be fighting for Zuffa so right now he’s contracted only to EliteXC. Coming off what had been a win this past February against Takanori Gomi (the decision was overturned after Diaz tested positive for marijuana), Diaz has a chance to be one of EliteXC’s signature stars. They need to have him start fighting again as soon as he’s eligible.

With the way their roster is aligned now, the only other candidates to face Diaz are Victor Valenzuela, Edson Berto, and Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett. Berto is coming off a loss and Bennett is rumored to be finally rematching Valenzuela on the 9/15 card. Unless EliteXC brings in a fighter off roster, Noons is really the only choice.

I apologize for being late with my thoughts but I had to get up at 6 a.m. in order to get ready to haul ass to Princeton, NJ so I could do my show for ESPN 920.

If you were looking for a no-frills, meat and potatoes MMA show then I don’t see how you could have an issue with last night’s telecast of ShoXC.

I was thoroughly impressed with last night’s show from top to bottom. Pro Elite did a great job of booking new talent and making strong matchups for them so that they could show their skills. I don’t think there was a bad match on the card.

I thought that the announcing was top notch. It was the first time that Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros had ever worked together but you wouldn’t know it by listening to them. It sounded like they were old friends that had been broadcasting shows together for years. For my money, they are the best announce team out there even after only doing one show. I’m looking forward to them working together more in the future.

I also couldn’t help but notice that Gary Shaw didn’t come into the cage after any of the matches. Not even after the main event, which featured two EliteXC fighters. I applaud him for taking a step back and letting the fighters have their moment.

Here are my thoughts, match-by-match…

Muhsin Corbbrey vs. Lee Gibson - Solid match. It seemed to pick up steam as time went on. The two wanted to feel each other out (Corbbrey more so than Gibson) and perhaps that’s because these guys have been flying under the radar and there simply isn’t much footage out there. Corbbrey is a cerebral  fighter and it appeared that he didn’t like facing a guy he didn’t know much about. It also looked like he was getting frustrated when he couldn’t find a glaring weakness to exploit.

I like Corbbrey’s athleticism and his hand speed. It also looked like he was tough to hit from an extended distance. His boxing was top notch and he was quick enough to use a lot of head fakes and shoulder movement without setting himself to be caught with a kick or a knee. Not everyone can incorporate basic fundamental boxing into their MMA game like that.

Gibson just seemed like a dude that was tough as nails. It was obvious to me early in the fight that Corbbrey wasn’t going to be able to finish him.

I’d love to see both of them brought back for future shows.

Jefferson Silva vs. Aaron Rosa - Wow, did I really call Silva a prospect? It was a good stoppage, as he took some nasty elbows. But even before he ate those elbows it seemed as though Rosa broke his will. Those grimaces when he was getting hit in bottom position were ridiculous. You really can’t show that type of pain to an opponent or a referee.

Rosa was the most impressive fighter of the night, in my eyes. I wasn’t sure about his perfect record because he hasn’t fought any top guys. But he’s a rugged guy who enjoys fighting and at only 24 years of age, I think he has a bright future. EliteXC should sign him to a deal if they haven’t already.

Scott Jorgenson vs. Chris David - David fought with a lot of heart but Jorgenson was just too much for him. Next to Rosa, Jorgenson was the second most impressive fighter. I don’t know what EliteXC has planned for the 135 lbs. division, but whatever plans they have, Jorgenson will obviously need to be a big part of it. He also seems pretty marketable.

Jaime Jara vs. Jeremiah Metcalf - Jara’s standup wasn’t pretty but it was effective. He deserves a lot of credit for taking the fight on such short notice  and cutting weight. He deserves even more credit for agreeing to defend his 185 lbs. title while fighting at 175 lbs.  Middleweight means you fight at 185 lbs. and if I was in his shoes, maybe I would have taken the fight but I would had at least said that if they want the title to be on the line, then Metcalf needs to make my weight in order to compete for my title.  But Jara is 37-years old and I’m sure he realized the value of being about to get exposure as a champion.

It’s really hard to form any kind of solid opinion of Metcalf because the fight didn’t last long. I know he’s a very tactical fighter, so perhaps the fact that he didn’t have time to scout his opponent hurt him. Hopefully we’ll get to see Metcalf vs. Aaron Wetherspoon rescheduled for the next ShoXC in August.

K.J. Noons vs. Edson Berto - I’m not buying all the talk that Berto’s conditioning was off. There’s no way his father would let him get away with that. I think he got hurt in the first round and continued fighting when maybe he shouldn’t have. I think he definitely suffered a concussion early on. Not only was he winded but it looked like he was just out of it in the second and third rounds. He had a hard time focusing on Noons.  He’s just a much better fighter than what he showed.

I got the prediction for the fight wrong (I went 2 out of 5. Man, I suck. I want to stop doing predictions) but I knew Noons was no joke. I had been taking some flak for touting the guy but you saw just how crisp and fluid his boxing and Muay Thai is.

His ground game from a defensive perspective was good, but he needs to learn how to be able to go on the offensive. I think he’s way off base thinking he can train both boxing and MMA and still reach his full potential. Maybe when he’s mastered everything, I might agree with him. However, boxing reinforces a lot of fundamental bad habits when it comes to MMA standup.

I can understand an MMA guy who comes from a ground background trying to train boxing to improve his hand speed, footwork, defensive skills, learn to work angles, and just get used to taking punches. But Noons already has a lot of the standup basics down.

I guess Shaw doesn’t mind it because he’s a boxing and MMA promoter and the moon lighting could pay dividends from a marketing perspective. But do you think Dana White would let a young fighter try and pursue two full-time fighting careers? He doesn’t even want Kurt Angle to wrestle.

Alright, I’m out because I need to head up to North Jersey to see more young MMA fighters who could be breaking big soon. Matt Makowski from Philly MMA and Wilson Reis from Philly MMA/BJJ United are both making their pro debuts for Ed Hsu’s Combat in the Cage/Extreme Challenge show. I’ve trained with both briefly (and I mean I sparred with Matt for a round once last summer and took one of Wilson’s BJJ classes) in the past so I’m looking forward to it.

BTW, I’m going to be going to East Rutherford this Thursday to cover the IFL semifinals for CBS Sportsline. If you’re reading this and will be attending and want to meet up, drop me a line at SCaplan8@comcast.net.

EliteXC and Showtime will partner for the debut of ShoXC on Friday night live from the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif.  at 11 p.m. ET. The five bout card is expected to end sometime around 1 a.m. ET, at which time ProElite.com will telecast five additional fights via the Internet.

ShoXC is patterned after Showtime’s boxing series ShoBox, which has been a springboard for the career of many young boxers. Showtime is hoping that ShoXC will have the same impact on mixed martial arts.

If nothing else, the show has great timing in the sense that it feels like it’s been months since we’ve had live MMA to watch. While the card doesn’t boast any huge names, there are fighters on the card with a lot of potential. On paper, I also think the matchmakers have done a good job as far as styles are concerned.

The show will also feature the debut of Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros as an announce team. The team garnered strong fan support on an individual basis during their broadcast stints with Pride. However, they had never been on the air at the same time until this show.

Here’s my breakdown of what to watch for:

K.J. Noons vs. Edson Berto - This fight could prove to be a sleeper in the mold of Sam Stout vs. Spencer Fisher. You have two lighter weight guys with strong striking backgrounds.

In the case of Berto, he also has a strong ground game and is notorious for tapping guys with his heel hook. Berto is a true mixed martial artist and it boggles my mind why more people don’t talk about him. If he was in UFC, people would be drooling.

As for Noons, he’s a hell of a boxer who had a buzz surrounding him heading into his fight against Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett during EliteXC’s debut show on February 10. Bennett caught Noons and dropped him cold and Noons hasn’t fought in an MMA bout since (he competed in a pro boxing match, and won). This is his chance to regain some of the momentum he lost after losing to Bennett.

If Noons gives up boxing and focuses solely on MMA, he could be a star because his boxing is unreal. We didn’t get a chance to see it vs. Bennett but hopefully we’ll get to see it Friday.

My prediction is that Berto will win in the second round via submission.

Jeremiah Metcalf vs. Jaime Jara - This match was originally supposed to be a rematch between Metcalf and Aaron Wetherspoon in a bout that would unify the Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage welterweight titles. However, Wetherspoon is injured and pulled out of the fight yesterday.

Stepping in for Wetherspoon will be Jara, a 37-year old tough as nails fighter who took the fight on next to no notice. Jara is the Gladiator Challenge middleweight champion and has also held the GC heavyweight and light heavyweight titles in the past. He has to cut to fight at 185 lbs. and now is faced with the task of cutting to an agreed upon match weight of 175 lbs. That dude’s life must have sucked the last few days.

Jara is a good wrestler who has worked hard to improve his boxing. He’s fought Rashad Evans (lost), Carter Williams (won), and Anthony Ruiz (holds three wins over him) so he won’t be feeling any pressure fighting for Showtime.

There’s been some talk that the match could be title vs. title but I don’t see how the state of California would allow a 170 lbs. title be on the line against a fighter weighing in at 175 lbs. We’ll have to see how this plays out.

Metcalf is a 26-year old freestyle fighter who trains with Gene Fields out of Team Voodoo. He’s a very well-rounded fighter who has good Greco-Roman wrestling skills. He’s going to be giving up a lot of size to Jara so who knows if he’ll be able to utilize those wrestling skills.

Metcalf has great cardio so his best bet may be to keep the fight standing and try to wear Jara down since he’s coming into the fight on short notice.

I’m going to pick Metcalf by unanimous decision. If Jara had more time to prepare, the outcome would be different.

Aaron Rosa vs. Jefferson Silva - Watch out for Jefferson Silva! He has a K-1 background and trains with Mario Sperry out of Brazilian Top Team. He’s a rangy Muay Thai striker with some Jiu-Jitsu training that has star potential written all over him. The only thing that is holding him back is his conditioning.

That could be a problem for Silva because Rosa has been a sparring partner for Tito Ortiz for Ortiz’s last two fights. His conditioning is excellent and he has a lot of heart.

Rosa likes to stand up but he’s got some ground skills. If Silva has top position and gets sloppy, Rosa will be a threat to triangle him.

These two will stand and trade early and if Silva doesn’t take Rosa out early, we easily could see an upset. In spite of that possibility, I’m still picking Silva to win the fight and come out of the show with a lot of people talking about him.

Muhsin Corbbrey vs. Lee Gibson - Besides Silva, Corbbrey is the other fighter on this card that people need to watch out for. I’m really impressed with him as he’s a smart guy who is extremely competitive.

Corbbrey is a professional boxer who has competed in professionally in Muay Thai as well. Don’t stereotype him though because he’s not just a striker. He also competes in grappling tournaments and has won events such as NAGA and ISCF. He trained Jiu-Jitsu with Lloyd Irvin and now works on his ground game with UFC fighter Din Thomas.

Gibson is a tough dude who is a former Army Ranger and served 16 months in Iraq as a private security contractor. He splits his time between Kansas City and Las Vegas. He works in KC as a fireman and trains MMA in Vegas with Tony Fryklund.

Gibson just recently fought for Richard Steele’s Steele Cage Promotions on July 7, defeating Talon Hoffman via TKO at 2:25 in the second round. He’s a solid fighter and Corbbrey will have to bring his A-game in order to win.

Finishing Gibson won’t be easy, which is why I am picking Corbbrey to win via unanimous decision.

Chris David vs. Scott Jorgenson - David is trained by UFC fighter David Terrell out of the Nor Cal Fighting Alliance. He has a record of 8-5-1 and is a perfect 3-0 when fighting for the Gladiator Challenge promotion.

David has been training in martial arts since the third grade and wrestled during high school. When he first got involved with MMA he was almost exclusively a wrestler, however, he’s made strides in recent years in all other aspects of MMA.

It’s good that his stand up has improved because that’s where he needs to keep the fight in order to win. Jorgenson has much better wrestling credentials, having been a three-time All-Pac 10 selection as a freestyle wrestler while at Boise State.

I expect Jorgenson to win the fight in the first round via ground and pound.

Pro Elite and Showtime conducted a conference call this afternoon in order to promote the launch of ShoXC this Friday night at 11 p.m. ET from the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif. The main event will be a clash of 155 lbs. fighters Edson Berto and K.J. Noons.

EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw, Pro Elite CEO Doug DeLuca, and Showtime’s Senior V.P. of Sports Programming Ken Hershman were all on the call.

Here are some of the most notable developments:

- There will be a total of four ShoXC telecasts this year, including Friday’s show. The next one after Friday is slated to take place in the middle or end of August with the two other shows tentatively planned for October and December.

- The first ShoXC had been planned for December but Showtime is so excited about MMA right now that they asked for the debut show to be moved up.

- The next full-scale EliteXC show is scheduled for September 15 in Honolulu, Hawaii. It will be televised on Showtime. The main event being discussed right now is Murilo “Ninja” Rua taking on Robbie Lawler. However, Shaw made it clear at several points during the call that bout agreements have not been signed. Rua is EliteXC’s middleweight champion while Lawler is Icon Sport’s middleweight title holder. However, only Rua’s title was mentioned as being at stake.

- The rumors of EliteXC possibly buying King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge, and Icon Sport were brought up. Shaw said he couldn’t comment on possible acquisitions because they are a public traded company. There was no flat denial when the question was asked. A reporter also tried to re-phrase the question in a creative fashion by asking what promotions EliteXC was interested in working with. The name of GC, KOTC, and Icon were all brought up by Shaw as companies EliteXC has an interest in working with.

My personal take is that there appears to be a lot of fire to the smoke when it comes to the rumors but I don’t have any hard evidence to support my claim.

- The Internet telecast will take place on ProElite.com but the matches won’t be held until after the Showtime show. If you’re on the West Coast or are an MMA junkie, you’ll be able to watch some early morning MMA.

- Nick Diaz is also being talked about as fighting on the September 15 card.

- In regard to Thierry Sokoudjou, Shaw said they thought they were close to a deal that Jeremy Lappen help put together. They flew Sokoudjou out for the 6/20 show and wined him and dined him. When Sokoudjou returned home he received an offer from another promotion that Shaw wasn’t willing to match. He said any deal with Sokoudjou is “off the table.”

- Shaw talked about his concerns with extreme weight cutting in MMA and hasn’t ruled out the introduction of new weight classes. He said one class they are considering is a 160 lbs. class. I think that would be perfect for Diaz.

- I asked Shaw if there was any interest from EliteXC in Frank Trigg and he said they were indeed interested.

- There are two more shows with Frank Shamrock and Strikeforce left as a part of the agreed upon settlement that allowed EliteXC to keep Shamrock on the card of their debut telecast on Feb. 10.

- Steroids were brought up. Shaw said he is concerned and spoke out against the use of performance enhancers in MMA but said he doesn’t plan to test steroids. He then said fighter safe is a concern and wouldn’t rule out the possibility of implementing testing in the future.

- When the IFL deciding to test its own fighters in ‘08, Shaw sort of took what I considered to be a veiled shot. He said he wants to see how they react when a major star of theirs tests positive — if they ever get a star. Ouch. I’m not sure if Shaw meant that as an insult or if it just came out funny. It sure sounded like a shot to me. If he meant it, he should watch their program because they’ve got a lot of good young fighters on their roster now. I guess he hasn’t seen Chris Horodecki because Shaw would love to have that kid fighting for him if he saw him.