Yahoo!Sports.com reports that CBS has asked Elite XC if the mixed martial arts promotion can put together an event for late July — most likely July 26, which is the last Saturday of the month.
The ratings for the initial “Saturday Night Fights” show on May 31, which peaked at more than 6 million viewers, exceeded the network’s expectations. In fact, it was the most watched MMA show ever on television in North America. And apparently CBS is eager to see if it has something that can pull consistent ratings or if the program is a one hit wonder.
Make no mistake: The second helping is perhaps more important than the debut (See XFL).
This is perhaps troublesome for Elite XC because July 26 is about six weeks away, which doesn’t give Live Events President Gary Shaw and his team much time for match making. And the depth of the roster is nowhere near as impressive than say the UFC.
However, that doesn’t mean Elite XC can’t slap this thing together on short notice and still have some great fights.
Of course, the top draw Kimbo Slice will not be ready in time. He’s dealing with some minor injuries from the James Thompson fight during the main event of the inaugural show. Nick Diaz is fighting in Hawaii tonight and Hayato “Mach” Sakurai for the welterweight championship at DREAM 5 on July 21.
That rules him out.
And Gina Carano — who defeated Kaitlin Young in sensation fashion last month — has said that she doesn’t want to fight again until fall.
Even though those are the company’s three biggest draws, there is more to Elite XC.
There’s been talk of adding a heavyweight title recently, which would likely include Antonio “Big Foot” Silva, and the fight for the vacant welterweight crown between Jake Shields and Drew Fickett has been a long time coming. Let Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith run it back for the middleweight strap, and CBS would have three title fights with which to work.
Not too shabby.
The fact is, having this card on short notice like this might actually give Elite XC a chance to please the hardcore fans with better MMA fights as opposed to just fights that are designed to be stand-up wars.
When all is said and done the second show might not get the ratings that the May 31 show received. That might be a foregone conclusion. But fixing some of the minor things that went wrong the first time and showing improvement in the quality of the second show will help win back some of the hardcore fans and certainly help the ratings in the future.
Though Gary Shaw previously stated that EliteXC was tentatively looking at early Fall for their next “Saturday Night Fights” card on CBS, the impressive ratings that the May 31st show pulled in has the network wanting to bring it back in the summer. As Dave Meltzer reports:
Shaw said the date of the next CBS card is expected to be finalized this week in a joint decision with CBS. Due to the success of the first show, CBS wants to have a return date in late July to capitalize on the momentum. Shaw feels Lawler and Smith wouldn’t be ready for a July date, nor would Slice.
As disappointing as the Kimbo Slice/James Thompson fight was, Kimbo is still EliteXC’s biggest draw, and CBS may be shooting themselves in the foot a bit by scheduling the next SNF broadcast before he’s ready to return. To ensure strong ratings for their second CBS event in his absence, EliteXC would probably need to bring back Gina Carano, and stack the rest of the card with recognizable names. Unfortunately, Nick Diaz, KJ Noons, Yves Edwards, and Murilo Rua are already booked for this Saturday’s EliteXC show in Hawaii, which will be televised on Showtime. Outside of setting up a Brett Rogers/Antonio Silva bout for EiteXC’s vacant heavyweight title, there aren’t many compelling matchups that Shaw & Co. could schedule for six weeks later. Waiting until early Fall definitely seems like the best option — but good ratings tend to make people do crazy things…
The preliminary ratings for the Elite XC: “Primetime” telecast that aired last night on May 31 from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. are in … and the numbers look promising.
It is too early to tell if last night was a a huge success for the network debut of mixed martial arts on CBS because the final numbers will be released on Tuesday.
Here’s what we do know:
The 18-49 year old demographic showed a strong increase in viewers over the first two hours of the broadcast. The first half hour showed 1.4 million viewers, which increased to 2.4 between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m. ET.
That’s a significant increase.
In addition, the second hour of the show was the highest rated in the 18-49-year-old demographic of any other show on television in that timeslot.
Keep in mind that these preliminary numbers are only for the first two hours of the show and probably increased even more over the last hour or so (most people often wait and tune-in for the main event).
The final numbers will certainly play a big role in whether or not we see another event on CBS. There were an estimated 4.3 million viewers that tuned in overall last night, according to THR.com. But that’s just an estimate … take it with a grain of salt.
Regardless, for the sake of comparison, the numbers were good enough to surpass those of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals game four that was being showed on NBC.
And CBS has to like that.
Elite XC signed on with CBS to air four LIVE broadcast television events this year, but the network station has the option to move those shows to its sister company, Showtime, at any time.
Only time will tell if that’s what eventually happens, but if these estimates are right, we’ll be sure to see at least one more show on CBS … at least.
Click the banner above or right here for LIVE up-to-the-minute results and blow-by-blow coverage of Elite XC: “Primetime” coverage of “Saturday Night Fights” on CBS.
Quick results of the prelim action will begin to flow around 7 p.m. ET and LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of the main card action is set to coincide with the television broadcast at 9 p.m. ET.
If you’re going to leave comments and discuss the fights with all the other MMAmania.com readers be sure to do it on the main Elite XC: “Primetime” results post and not this one.
Elite XC “Saturday Night Fights†is set to go off live from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., this Saturday, May 31 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. To get us prepared for the historic event, we plan to showcase a daily feature for each main card fight leading up to the historic mixed martial arts debut on network television. These features will include information on the fighters, predictions, as well as training notes and quotes from each fighter.
The main event of the historic Elite XC event is a heavyweight scrap between Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson (2-0) and James “The Colossus” Thompson (14-8). There are several folks who feel this fight is unworthy of main event status. Mainly because Kimbo hasn’t earned the right to be there and because a lot of people look at James Thompson as a fighter with a weak chin who has been hand-picked for Kimbo.
We’ll find out tonight how it all works out and corresponding reaction. For now let’s breakdown the bout.
Here’s a little background on each fighter:
Kimbo Slice — Slice made his name knocking out thugs in backyard Miami-area street fights, then posting the video footage on YouTube.com. People took a liking to him right away. His trademark beard and “Give me my bread” quote are just two of the things that made him so popular so fast. His 15 minutes quickly turned into possible long-term stardom when he decided to turn his act pro.
Fight promoter and Elite XC Live Events President, Gary Shaw, jumped at the chance to put Kimbo in the cage. Since joining Elite XC, Kimbo has made short work of his two opponents, Bo Cantrell and Tank Abbott, winning both fights in a combined one minute and two seconds.
Shaw — who is a long-time promoter in the boxing world — has said numerous times that Kimbo has the ability to not only be a champion in mixed martial arts, but he could also be the next big boxing heavyweight champion.
That’s how talented some people think this guy can be, whether it’s actually to be believed is up to you.
At 34 years old, the clock is ticking for this guy to make his mark in MMA if he’s going to. And to do that he can’t fight “has beens” like Tank and “never will be’s” like Bo for too much longer. Eventually he’s going to have to be tested.
Perhaps James Thompson is that test.
James Thompson — “The Colossus” is a 29-year-old British-born fighter who has recently moved to the United States to concentrate more on his mixed martial arts career.
He made his professional MMA debut in January of 2003. He won six of his first seven fights, including a win over UFC Hall of Fame inductee, Dan Severn. That streak caught the eye of the people over at Pride FC and offered him a chance to fight Aleksander Emelianenko — the little brother of Fedor. Aleksander went on to knock him out in 11 seconds.
He rebounded from that loss to win his next six fights, including three more for Pride FC.
From there Thompson has kind of gone on to be the guy who gets knocked out a lot. He’s lost six of his last eight fights. And five of those six losses were knockouts.
He has surprised people in the past with upset wins in Pride over Don Frye and Hidehiko Yoshida, but Thompson is literally hit or miss. It’s anyone’s guess which James Thompson will show up Saturday night.
Training notes and quotes:
Kimbo Slice — Since turning professional, Kimbo has been training with one of the better heavyweight fighters of all time, Bas Rutten. “El Guapo” is legendary for calling the fights in Pride as an announcer and just being an all around crazy guy. His fight resume isn’t too shabby either … 28-4-1.
Kimbo is in good hands with Bas.
Bas has said many times that Kimbo has the work ethic and the natural talent to become great in this sport. We all know he can hit hard and that he’s got a great left hook, but a lot of people want to see if he’s learned anything else from Bas.
Here’s a quote from Kimbo on his trainer Bas Rutten:
“Bas is the man. You know what I’m saying? Can’t get a better trainer, a better coach a better adviser of the sport and of the game. I mean he explains everything to me why. And to my knowledge I can pick it up better. I can understand the cause and the effect of everything, and I wouldn’t want to change that.”
Here’s more from the recent press conference on Thompson:
“I don’t underestimate any fighter. Just because he has lost a couple fights, doesn’t mean he isn’t going to come out strong.”
And on all the hype surrounding him:
“Well, I look at it like this. Those type of things are more for the fans than anybody, and I continue to concentrate on my training and what I have to do. Like he said, I know what is at stake here and I know what it means to me you know, so to take a few minutes or an hour out of my time you know that’s fine, that’s cool. You know when I get back to training you know I train and that’s what’s up.”
Finally, on his ground game:
“I think each fighter (is effective) and I never underestimate our opponent. You know, if I was training someone to fight me, that’s what I would work on. I would have my opponent try to take me to the ground, but that’s where they’re going to underestimate me you know.”
Perhaps Slice can shock the world and demonstrate his ground skills if Thompson can get him there. That’d be something.
James Thompson – “The Colossus” trained mostly with the Wolf’s Lair in England for the beginning of his career, but moved over to the states and joined Extreme Couture to help train for the Brett Rogers fight. He said the guys he was sparring with weren’t big enough in England and he needed a change to help take his career to the next level.
The move didn’t help him too much as Rogers was able to win with a first round knockout. Since then Thompson has left Extreme Couture and has moved back to his native England. For this fight he’s been training out of a gym called London Street Fighters.
Here’s a snip from Thompson on the move again:
“I’m training with a team called London Street Fighters at the moment in England. You know I spent some time actually (deciding where to train). I joined a great team with great people. I learn from them. The problem was Shawn Thompkins has done a lot of work with Bas and Kimbo. I didn’t want to put him in such an awkward position. Shawn is a great guy. So I started looking for all the teams and followed up on one in England. It’s all been going great for me.â€
Here’s more from Thompson leading up to the fight:
“You know, obviously, I’m being brought in to – I’m mean I’m a big guy, I’m an exciting fighter, I look big and mean but you know they’re hoping I get knocked on the chin and that’s not over for me. I mean fans will call me ‘James See You Later.’ It doesn’t matter to me. That doesn’t bother me at all. It doesn’t bother me because it gives me a chance (to make amends). I mean after my last few fights, I don’t think I really deserve the chance. But to get this chance (is massive) to me. I mean it really is a big thing and I intend to take full advantage of it.”
And his prediction for the fight:
“There are so many different elements in it. I wouldn’t even like to predict where the fight’s going to go. All I know is I’m training hard. I’m sure Kimbo’s training hard. You know we both come to fight, we both come to entertain and we both come to give our all. So all I know is it’s going to be one exciting fight.”
Let’s just hope it lasts longer than one minute.
How the fight will go:
Kimbo wants to knockout Thompson and Thompson wants to stay awake.
Thompson is known for bum rushing his opponents from the opening bell. He did that against Brett Rogers and immediately went for the takedown, which he was successful in getting more than once. The problem was he couldn’t hold him there. However, Rogers is a lot bigger than Kimbo. If Kimbo gets put on the mat, Thompson might have an easier time controlling him.
But that’s the mystery of Kimbo Slice as a fighter. We know he can hit. We’ve seen he can take a hit. But what’s his ground game like? Bas Rutten raves about his work ethic and fast learning pace, but is that all talk to hype up his fighter?
I think Thompson will be looking for the takedown and Kimbo will be looking to avoid that. Either way, we know Kimbo has knockout power and Thompson has a glass jaw. That combination usually only leads to one outcome.
Sorry, Colossus.
Here’s what I see happening:
Thompson will give his classic staredown and as soon as the bell rings, he’ll do his bull charge thing. Kimbo knows that’s coming and he’ll be ready … Bas will have him prepared.
But it’s one thing to train to defend that kind of attack, and it’s a something else to actually be in a cage with a 6′5″ 255-pound man rushing at you trying to hurt you in front of millions of people. If in fact Kimbo does get taken down, the fight could get interesting. But if it doesn’t, it won’t stay interesting for long.
I say as soon as Kimbo hits Thompson, he’s going to sleep, and that’s going to happen really early in the fight.
Elite XC “Saturday Night Fights†is set to go off live from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., this Saturday, May 31 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. To get us prepared for the historic event, we plan to showcase a daily feature for each main card fight leading up to the historic mixed martial arts debut on network television. These features will include information on the fighters, predictions, as well as training notes and quotes from each fighter.
The co-main event for the Elite XC debut on CBS this Saturday is one that many hardcore MMA fans feel should be the main event. “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (15-4) will put his Elite XC middleweight title on the line against The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 4 alum Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (13-4).
Here’s a little background on each fighter:
Robbie Lawler — Lawler is a 26-year-old fighter who has been fighting professional MMA for more than seven years. He has seven career fights inside the UFC Octagon, as well as one under the Pride FC banner.
He’s 5′11″ 185 pounds and is known for his knockout power. His list of victims include Frank Trigg, Ninja Rua, Chris Lytle, Aaron Riley, Joey Villasenor and others. His four losses were at the hands of, Nick Diaz (knockout), Mayhem Miller (triangle), Evan Tanner (triangle) and Pete Spratt (injury).
In 2007, Lawler had a fantastic fight season. On March 31, he become the Icon Sport middleweight champion when he defeated Frank Trigg with a late fourth round knockout in what was one of the early candidates, at least in my eyes, for fight of the year. Then on September 15 Lawler won the Elite XC middleweight belt when he stopped Murilo “Ninja” Rua with strikes at Elite XC: “Uprising.”
Icon Sport later stripped Lawler of his title for inactivity because of injuries. Kala Hose then won that vacant belt in March of this year with a win over Phil Baroni. That is definitely a fight Lawler is going to want, win or lose against Scott Smith, and what a great one that would be.
Lawler was also a coach on season six of TUF.
Scott Smith — Smith is a 29-year-old fighter who, like Lawler, also has seven years of professional MMA experience under his belt.
In the early part of his career he was fighting at heavyweight before being invited to compete in the WEC middleweight championship tournament. He won the tournament and held the title of WEC middleweight champion, defending the belt once successfully against Justin Levins.
After his hot streak with WEC, he decided to try his luck in the UFC. But he lost his first fight against David Terrell. After only one fight in the UFC, Smith still competed on TUF 4 “The Comback.” He lost in the quarter finals to eventual champ Travis Lutter. He fought three more times in the Octagon, going 1-2.
Smith is undefeated in Elite XC (1-0), with a second round knockout of Kyle Noke this past February at Elite XC: “Street Certified.”
Training notes and quotes:
Robbie Lawler — Lawler trained for years out of the prestigious Pat Miletich Fighting System (MFS) camp, but recently left to start up his own gym, HIT Squad, alongside Matt Hughes. HIT is an acronym for Hughes Intensive Training.
Matt Pena is the main boxing coach there, Marc Fiore is the primary wrestling coach and Kyle Watson is the head jiu-jitsu instructor at HIT Squad — all quality coaches to have, but Lawler is the fighter he is today because of his years training with the MFS.
Here’s a quote from Lawler during a conference call leading up to this fight:
“I’m not too worried about ring rust. I do well when I have some layoff. I’ve been training hard. I’m in shape. I’m ready to go. I’m mentally prepared and that’s all that matters. I hadn’t even sparred for the last two years, and I’ve been sparring for the last month and a half. So, I feel pretty good.”
And yesterday at the press conference:
“I don’t have much to say. I’m ready to fight. It is nice to be on CBS. I am going to put on a show.”
A fighter who is all about business … nothing wrong with that.
Scott Smith — Smith bounces around a lot with different camps for different fights. He sticks with the Fairtex Muay Thai coaches in San Fransisco, Calif., for his Muay Thai, but other than that, he mixes his training partners and coaches up frequently.
For this fight Scott enlisted the help of former UFC light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz, and his training fortress in Big Bear, Calif., to hone his wrestling skills and cardio.
Here are a few quotes from a conference call leading up to this fight:
“This would be huge. This would put me right where I want to be. I’ve been knocking on the door to the Top 10 so many times, and then I lose a big fight. Winning a big fight like this would put me right back there. If you gave me a list of the top-20 185 pounders in the world, I would hand-pick Lawler. So, this is a huge opportunity for me.”
On what would happen if the fight went to the ground:
“If Lawler gets in trouble, he will take the fight to the ground. Not enough people give me credit for my wrestling background. I took fourth in state in junior college in California, which is a pretty good accomplishment. I’ve been doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a lot longer than Muay Thai. I haven’t been able to show that in my fights as much. If this fight does go to the ground, which I believe (because) I will get him stunned, get him rocked. I see him trying to take the fight to the ground.”
And when asked to make a prediction for the fight:
“I will win by knockout. I have no secrets about my game. Not only would I be willing to give my opponents my fight film, but they can come in and film me practice. There are no secrets about my game.”
A fighter who is extremely confident … nothing wrong with that.
How the fight will go:
It’s a no-brainer that this is going to be a stand up fight. Both guys like to hit and both guys have serious power. That means there’s two ways this thing can play out. Either we’re going to see a quick knockout, which isn’t likely because both have solid chins, or we’re going to see a back and forth stand up crowd pleasing war.
I’m going with the latter.
We’ve also seen from both guys in the past the ability to get stunned in a fight and still come back to win. That could be a big factor in this fight. Both guys are going to be crazy amped up and looking for the highlight reel knockout for the network television viewers.
This is a title fight though so we’re not going to see two guys just going out there swinging for the fences. These guys are talented fighters with very good technique to go with their God-given power.
Here’s what I see happening:
A title fight means five rounds, but I can’t see this fight going past the third frame. Both guys are big strong powerful strikers. They’re pretty equal all across the board, which means who’s going to execute better, and who’s more man.
I see both fighters getting rocked at some point in this fight. The winner is going to be the one who can persevere through that and still execute their gameplan.
These guys are going to be swinging and hitting hard. And that takes a lot of energy out of a fighter. We’ve seen Lawler look way past tired in a few fights, the Trigg fight comes to mind, and still fight through and execute. We’ve also seen Smith in the Pete Sell fight get hurt bad, but still have the little bit extra to throw one last knockout punch to win the fight.
I give credit to both fighters in that category, but I give the edge to Lawler. He just seems like he can take more punishment and keep coming, and for that reason I’m calling Robbie Lawler to retain his middleweight title with a third round knockout.
Final prediction:
“Ruthless” Robbie Lawler via knockout in round three
Make sure and check back later on today as we take an in-depth look at the main event of the evening, Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs. James “The Colossus” Thompson.
The official weigh-ins for the Elite XC primetime special “Saturday Night Fights” from just OUTSIDE the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., are now in.
And it didn’t go all too smooth.
In particular, the “female face” of mixed martial arts, Gina Carano, failed to make weight on her first attempt.
Normally, she would have one hour to lose 3.5 pounds (she weighed in at 144.5); however, MMAmania.com learned from Nick Lembo, the New Jersey Athletic Control Board (NJACB) Deputy Attorney, that the regulatory body didn’t want her to cut anymore weight.
Therefore, prior to the official weigh-ins, a deal was struck between the Carano and Young camps that the fight would go on and “Conviction” would surrender a 12.5 percent purse penalty.
Here are the official scale-tipping results:
265 lbs.: Kimbo Slice (235.5) vs. James “The Colossus†Thompson (257)
185 lbs.: “Ruthless†Robbie Lawler (184.5) vs. Scott “Hands of Steel†Smith (184.5)
185 lbs: Joey Villasenor (184.5) vs. Phil “The New York Badass†Baroni (185)
140 lbs: Gina “Conviction†Carano (144.5) vs. Kaitlin Young (140.5)
265 lbs.: Brett “The Grim” Rogers (263.5) vs. Jon Murphy (260.5)
265 lbs.: Carlos Moreno (261) vs. Carlton Haselrig (263)
160 lbs.: Chris Liguori (161) vs. Jim Bova (160.5)
170 lbs.: Nick Serra (167) vs. Matt Makowski (171)
140 lbs.: Wilson Reis (140.5) vs. Justin Robbins (140.5)
155 lbs.: James “Binky†Jones (154.5) vs. Calvin Kattar (155.5)
135 lbs.: Zach Makovsky (135) vs. Andre Soares (134)
155 lbs.: Mike Groves (154) vs. Joe Sampieri (155)
*Note: Fighters are allowed to weigh one pound more than the division limit in non-title fights.
Remember that MMAmania.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of the main card action, beginning at 9 p.m. ET with the CBS broadcast on fight night. In addition, we will post the latest quick results of the prelim action at around 7 p.m. ET.
The MMAmania.com crew will be on the scene all weekend, which means that you can expect some great coverage of the first-ever mixed martial arts bout to air on network television.
Definitely check in before, during and after the the “Primetime” event for all the coverage and discussion you can handle.
Elite XC “Saturday Night Fights†is set to go off live from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., this Saturday, May 31 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. To get us prepared for the historic event, we plan to showcase a daily feature for each main card fight leading up to the historic mixed martial arts debut on network television. These features will include information on the fighters, predictions, as well as training notes and quotes from each fighter.
The third fight set for the historic Elite XC mixed martial arts event on the CBS broadcast this Saturday is the only woman’s match on the card — Gina Carano (5-0) vs. Kaitlin Young (4-1).
Elite XC Live Events President Gary Shaw has recently revealed his plans to create an Elite XC woman’s championship belt by the end of this year. He has also been quoted saying this fight would determine one of the competitors in the first-ever woman’s championship match.
Here’s a little background on each fighter:
Gina Carano — Gina is the most recognized female fighter in the world right now. Her combination of good looks and certifiable talent makes her an easy face to remember … and market.
In fact, she’s been able to parlay the combination into a role on NBC’s American Gladiators as “Crush.” The show was successful enough to be brought back for a second season.
As far as her fighting credentials, she’s been fighting professionally in mixed martial arts for less than two years. However, her successful Muay Thai and kickboxing background have transitioned very well to the sport, as she’s undefeated including back-to-back wins inside the Elite XC cage.
Carano was a part of the first woman’s MMA match ever sanctioned in Nevada against Rosi Sexton, as well as the first Elite XC female match against Julie Kedzie. It only makes sense she be a part of the first female fight on network television.
Kaitlin Young — Kaitlin is a 22-year-old mixed martial arts fighter out of Circle Pines, Minn., and full-time student at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities where she majors in Kinesiology.
She has a Muay Thai and kickboxing background as well, and has trained extensively in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling since making the transition to mixed martial arts in October of last year.
Young won her debut with a second round technical over Lindsey Frandrop. A month later she competed in a Hook n Shoot tournament, during which she defeated three other women in one night — all by first round knockouts.
Riding high on the impressive tournament win, she took on Sara Schneider in a February BoDog Fight event. Kaitlin, however, fell victim to a late second round armbar in that fight, but her showing combined with the dominance in the Hook n Shoot tournament was still enough to earn her a spot in the first ever woman’s MMA fight on CBS.
Training notes and quotes:
Gina Carano — Carano trains in Las Vegas, Nevada, out of the Extreme Couture camp. Randy Couture is known for designing great game plans for fights and has turned to passing on his knowledge for now while he waits for another chance to fight. There are now six Extreme Couture gyms in the United States.
Notable fighters and instructors out of Extreme Couture are Forrest Griffin, Tyson Griffin, Karo Parisyan, Martin Kampmann, and Gray Maynard among others.
Gina has admitted recently that she hasn’t been able to devote the amount of time and energy she would have liked into training for this fight with Young.
Here’s a quote:
“My training has been pumped up for the last two weeks. I had a little side shot with ‘American Gladiators” so we’re going to see how I perform with this crunch-time training. I wish I would have had nine weeks completely to focus on it like Kaitlin. But there’s not going to be any excuses. I just chose to do ‘American Gladiators’ and take my time away from it. So am I concerned? No. I feel more mentally clear than I’ve probably ever felt in my life. I think I’m good. I think I’m confident. I’ve got the next two weeks to kind of sharpen everything up and I’m ready to fight.”
And when she was asked to make a prediction:
“I think this fight could go either way and I’m planning it on favoring me. But we’re pretty equal in our stand up. I’m expecting a pretty equal match up. As soon as I get in that cage with her then I’ll be able to kind of gauge where we’re at.”
Hopefully for Carano, it’s not a case of too little too late.
Kaitlin Young — Kaitlin trains out of Minnesota Martial Arts Academy in Brooklyn Center, Minn. The gym was founded in 1992 by ex-collegiate wrestler, Greg Nelson. Some notable fighters out of this camp are former UFC lightweight champ Sean Sherk, UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar, Nick Thompson, Derrick Noble and Brock Larson.
Everybody remembers Sean Sherk’s insane workout on “All Access.” If that’s anything close to the way Kaitlin Young is working to get ready for this fight, Gina Carano might be in trouble.
In fact, see for yourself, here’s a link to a video of Kaitlin doing what she calls her “Cave Man” training routine:
Also, here’s a quote from Kaitlin during a conference a couple of weeks ago about how she feels representing female MMA on such a big stage:
“I’m honored to be fighting on the CBS card and fighting her as well. I think it’s going to be a great match up, a great stylistic match up. The beauty of our sport is that styles make fights. I really think this will be a great one. Training’s been going very well. I had a lot of notice for this fight so I’ve been lucky to be able to put in more time for this one than ever before. So I’m really excited about that and really excited to be representing women’s MMA for the first time. It’s going to be seen by such a large (audience). I think a lot of people don’t realize there are so many women fighters. Fortunately, EliteXC is there to showcase women’s fighting. It’s a great honor to be part of it.”
And when asked to give a prediction on the fight:
“Like I said, it really is such a great honor. I do feel a tremendous obligation to perform well and represent female fighters well. I think it’s going to be a really good fight. She’s tough and very athletic. So I think it could go other way. Obviously I’m going to do everything in my power to make it go my way. But I can’t give a sure-fire prediction on that one.”
Talk about diplomatic.
How the fight will go:
There’s a common theme for all the main card fights on this show — none of the fighters are completely comfortable on the ground and would much rather prefer to stand.
This fight is no different.
Both women have extensive backgrounds in Muay Thai and kickboxing and both have made the move to MMA a successful one.
We’ve seen from Gina in her two fights in Elite XC the ability continuously push the pace. She’s also not scared to hit or be hit. Most of us haven’t seen much fight tape on Kaitlin, but three knockouts in one night is beyond impressive.
Gina will be the bigger fighter, but not necessarily the stronger fighter. Kaitlin’s training is nuts, and she’s had a long camp. Gina, on the other hand, can’t say the same thing. That could make all the difference.
Both will be high as kites on adrenaline, and that should carry them through a hard fought three round war. I see this one being a back and forth affair with the better cardio prevailing.
Here’s what I see happening:
They’ll come out swinging, but under control. They both respect one another’s game, and neither wants to get put down early. I think the first round will be very close, but Gina has more to prove with all the hype she’s been getting. She’ll be pushing the pace more and will probably score more points with the judges.
I look for Kaitlin to come out in the second a little fresher and a lot more assertive. I can even see Gina getting rocked pretty good in this round. I want to call a second round technical knockout for Kaitlin, but I can’t see Gina getting stopped in this fight — it’s too big of a stage.
Therefore, I have Kaitlin’s training and cardio giving her the edge to out strike Gina in the last two rounds and pull out a decision. I think she’ll have to prove her case a little more with the judges than Gina will because of all the hype, but I think she’ll do that.
Keep in mind this fight is three three-minute rounds, instead of three five-minute rounds.
Final Prediction:
Upset special! Kaitlin Young via split decision.
Tune in tomorrow as we take an in-depth look at the Elite XC middleweight title fight between champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler and challenger Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith.
The official weigh-ins for the Elite XC primetime special “Saturday Night Fights” are set for tomorrow (Friday, May 30) at 2 p.m. ET OUTSIDE the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Be sure to bring the Kevlar.
Bad jokes aside, the event, which is located at 165 Mulberry St. in Newark (just two blocks from Newark Penn Station), is free and open to the public.
Therefore, if you’re in the area be sure to stop by and check out the festivities.
Here’s the card for the historic event in its entirety:
Main event:
265 lbs.: Kimbo Slice vs. James “The Colossus†Thompson
Main card (televised):
185 lbs.: Elite XC Middleweight Champion “Ruthless†Robbie Lawler vs. Scott “Hands of Steel†Smith
185 lbs: Joey Villasenor vs. Phil “The New York Badass†Baroni
140 lbs: Gina “Conviction†Carano vs. Kaitlin Young
265 lbs.: Brett “The Grim Rogers vs. Jon Murphy
Under card (may not be broadcast):
265 lbs.: Carlos Moreno vs. Carlton Haselrig
185 lbs.: Chris Liguori vs. Jim Bova
170 lbs.: Nick Serra vs. Matt Makowski
140 lbs.: Wilson Reis vs. Justin Robbins
160 lbs.: James “Binky†Jones vs. Calvin Kattar
135 lbs.: Zach Makovsky vs. Andre Soares
155 lbs.: Mike Groves vs. Joe Sampieri
If you’re in the area, come down and check out the fighters as they go through with the last of the formalities before getting down on Saturday night. I’m pretty sure Gary Shaw will be emceeing this thing, and he’s always good for a few laughs.
Remember that MMAmania.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of the main card action, beginning at 9 p.m. ET with the CBS broadcast on fight night. In addition, we will post the latest quick results of the prelim action at around 7 p.m. ET.
