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Opinion & Analysis
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Staff Editorials
PELKEY BLOG: Thoughts on EliteXC, WEC, MMA in general By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist
Aug 1, 2008 - 8:26:56 AM
Well, now that last weekend's EliteXC on CBS event has finally slipped out of everyone's minds, I'd like to give my thoughts. This was a very good show. I'm actually considering the whole thing, starting with the first hour on Showtime. There wasn't a bad fight on the card, and while there were certainly some overmatched competitors (known 'round here as "showcase fights"), but EVERYONE came to fight. Thomas Denny came out swinging and put up a better fight than he had any business delivering, and it helped make Nick Diaz look like a star. The rabid hometown crowd certainly didn't hurt in that regard either. Diaz should be in line for a rematch against KJ Noons sometime around New Year's.
I'd like to take a second and commend EliteXC for one aspect they debuted that I absolutely LOVED. The only televised fight that went to a decision all night was the first fight of the night, over on Showtime, as Wilson Reis took on Brian Caraway. After three very solid rounds, we went to the judge's scorecards. For years we've simply been left to the whims of the judges as they, and only they, get to tell us who won the fight. Well EliteXC made us part of the process with their implementation of CompuFight (at least I think that's what they used). For the first time, we were treated to MMA STATS!! I'm an admitted stat-aholic for all sports, so this was near nirvana for me. It made the show feel very professional.
Speaking of professional, Gus Johnson took another step towards being the best play-by-play man in all of MMA after only his second broadcast. This guy has done his homework, and has blended in seamlessly with the rest of the team. I can't even think of any stupid things he said, which is more than I can say for Mike Goldberg, veteran of six million UFC events. Oh, and they got rid of the dancing girls. Thank God.
I also liked the CBS influence on the show. I've heard several people complaining about EliteXC constantly showing Anderson Silva in the crowd and touting him as the best fighter in the world. That, my friends, is CBS treating MMA like a real, live sport. Yes, they have a stake in whether or not EliteXC succeeds, but keep in mind this could be a cheap trial run for them to see if MMA can sell on network TV. If its a yes, then they can make a real run at putting UFC on their programming schedule.
I don't want to alarm anyone, but there's a WEC event on Sunday. Seriously, it has three title fights on it. The UFC's little brother is now suffering from having exhausted all of its big fights. I still can't figure out why Zuffa hasn't moved some of the UFC contracts over to WEC for a "big fish in a small pond" effect. There's so many good fighters in the UFC who are ten miles away from title shots, why not move them and try to make some money for the little guys. Who wouldn't want to watch Carlos Condit defend his belt against Marcus Davis or Mike Swick? What about Jamie Varner against Clay Guida or Spencer Fisher? Brian Stann vs. Houston Alexander or Sokoudjou? There's so many possibilities that are being wasted. Instead of those, we get Marcus Hicks, Hiromitsu Miura, and Steve Cantwell challenging those respective fighters for their belts. *sigh*
On the positive side of things, October is shaping up to be the best month in MMA history. Keeping in mind this is mostly rumor at this point, there will be a major event every Saturday of the month. On October 4th, EliteXC will return to CBS and they'll bring Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano with them. Here's hoping they have the cajones to throw Kimbo to Antonio Silva, realizing that Silva is the fighter to build that division around.
On October 11th, Affliction is expected to put on its second event, this time in the UFC's hometown of Las Vegas. Now THAT'S some cajones. So far the rumored fights for that card include Fedor vs. Andrei Arlovski, Tito Ortiz vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral, and Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort. Yikes!
October 18th will see the UFC's return to England as UFC 89 will be headlined by Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben. I'm calling it right now, if Bisping wins that fight, he'll be next in line for Anderson Silva, and that fight will do HUGE numbers. Write that down. Also on that card is Machida vs. Thiago Silva, Jardine vs. Vera, and Sokoudjou vs. Luiz Cane. Oh, and did I mention this card will be free on SpikeTV?!
And last, but of course not least, October 25th brings us the UFC debut in Chicago headlined by Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote and Diego Sanchez vs. Thiago Alves. I'd like to say I wish I could just go to sleep now and wake up in October, but then I'd miss the UFC's debuts in Minnesota next Saturday and September 6th in my hometown of Atlanta. My goodness, its good to be an MMA fan.
And thus concludes my state of MMA address. Yeesh.
