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By Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor Let me start off by saying that I'm a big backer of Kimbo Slice. I really like the guy and I think he's great for MMA, in the right context. I don't think that he should be main-eventing any MMA cards right now, however. Possible exceptions to that would include a special "Stand-up Only" fight or something of that nature. Right now Kimbo just doesn't have the all-around game to justify being placed in the final match of a card. He can be a special featured attraction and sell tickets and bring in viewers but you can't hang your hat on his fights right now. Asking a fighter with 3 fights under his belt to carry a card is a daunting task.
Another daunting task is trying to generate enough publicity for the next EliteXC card. EliteXC doesn't have any other big-name stars except for Kimbo Slice. A lot of MMA fans know the names of the guys in the organization, but the casual fan doesn't. Their best bet might be to highlight Scott Smith and showcase the amazing way he knocked out Pete Sell. However, the odds of the UFC allowing EliteXC to show that footage are about as good as Jay Mariotti not sucking.
The reason I bring this up is that on July 26th we're going to be treated to a night that promises to be everything May 31st was supposed to be. May 31st was the very first EliteXC Saturday Night Fights. I'm not going to detail everything that was wrong with the show but I believe EliteXC has learned from that experience and will put on a better show next time. That next time comes on July 26th.
As it stands, the show is slated to be 2 hours on CBS, with Showtime airing one hour of the undercard before that. The card is headlined by a rematch from the first show between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith, generally considered the best match on that first card. This is definitely a fight that's worthy of headlining a MMA card that could be the most watched ever. This should be an exciting fight, as Lawler defends his Middleweight belt for the first time in a fight that should have an actual ending this time.
Second from the top is a Welterweight title fight between Jake Shields and Nick Thompson. Both men have at least 25 fights under their belts each so we should see a good fight. Combine all this with a Nick Diaz fight and a women's bout and this card has the potential to be even better than the first Saturday Night Fights. If EliteXC can shore up a few areas like shortening the entrances and doing away with the dancing girls and having much better time management we can get a card that's worthy of being the most-watched MMA show ever. That is, if they can get enough people interested enough to tune in.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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