Showtime EliteXC Final Card

[LWPD]

Showtime EliteXC Final Card

Live Saturday February 10 at 10PM EST on Showtime

Official Site

The plan is for the undercard (which starts at 8 PM EST) to be streamed for free over the Internet.

Main Card

Frank Shamrock vs Renzo Gracie
Wesley Correira vs Antonio Silva
Joey Villasenor vs David "The Crow" Loiseau
Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett vs K.J. Noons
Julie Kedzie vs Gina Carano

LWPD (this will be Frank Shamrock's toughest fight in years...should be interesting)

[LWPD]

Here's an article on Showtime's new MMA venture...which debuts tonight!

Courtesy of Ottawa Sun
Destiny delivers a new MMA circuit
By Neil Davidson, CP

A new mixed martial arts circuit debuts tonight as the EliteXC Destiny card takes place in Southaven, Miss., with Montreal middleweight David (The Crow) Loiseau on the card and Frank Shamrock-Renzo Gracie headlining.

Elite Xtreme Combat shows will air on Showtime in the U.S. and The Fight Network in Canada (tonight, 10 p.m.).

In departures from the MMA norm, Elite is showing five undercard bouts for free over the Internet (www.ProElite.com, 7 p.m.). Plus there is a women's fight on the card, pitting Gina (Conviction) Carano against Julie Kedzie.

Elite XC president Gary Shaw, a veteran boxing promoter, expects a crowd of some 7,000 at the DeSoto Civic Center for the 10-fight card.

Shaw says a new player on the MMA scene can only help the sport.

"In the end, the fan will be the winner," he said yesterday from Southaven. "And the fighters, because now they have somewhere else to go and sell their trade."

It's worked for Loiseau, who fought for the UFC title last March only to have his UFC contract cancelled one fight later.

Elite has a three-year deal with Showtime. Shaw expects to put on six cards this year, 8-10 in 2008 and 10-14 in 2009.

Fighters will be signed to multiple-fight contracts, but Shaw says they will be allowed to compete on other circuits as long as Elite approves their choice of opponents.

Asked if other organizations will free up their fighters in the same manner, Shaw replied: "Probably not, but I would hope so."

AMAZING GRACIE

Gracie is coming off a Dec. 29 win in the International Fight League over Canadian Carlos Newton.

In other action, Loiseau takes on Joey Villasenor and hard-headed heavyweight Wesley (Cabbage) Correira meets Antonio Silva.

The rules are the same as the UFC, although the action takes place in a round cage rather than the Octagon. The only difference is referees will issue a warning if fighters are inactive on the ground and then give them 15 seconds to get busy or else he'll stand them up.

Shaw says MMA is appealing to a generation that grew up with computers, the Internet and video games.

"This is like a live Mortal Kombat," he said.

Shaw also believes women's MMA will catch on, explaining both women on his card are easy on the eyes and "both can really fight."

"It could steal the show," he said. "For men, who obviously like to look at pretty women, it's a win-win. And for women who like to be represented by women, this is a win-win."

Carano is the daughter of Glenn Carano, who was backup to Roger Staubach and Danny White on the Dallas Cowboys from 1977-83. He also played in the USFL and later served on the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Shaw said he chose Southaven because he had promoted fights like Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis in Memphis, just 15 minutes away. MMA is not sanctioned in Tennessee.

Commentary will be handled by Canadian Mauro Ranallo, a veteran of announcing Pride MMA shows, former pro wrestler Bill Goldberg and Jay Glazer, who works on Fox NFL broadcasts.

Elite's next card is slated for May 5. Shaw says Elite XC may hold a title fight either then or the card after.

[LWPD]

To give credit where it's due...few in the world of MMA 'journalism' can hold a candle to Dave Meltzer...here's his recent article on Frank Shamrock and tonight's main event.

Courtesy of LA Times

It's showtime for Frank Shamrock

He's perhaps the most polarizing figure on the U.S. mixed-martial arts scene and he has his biggest match in more than seven years Saturday night against Renzo Gracie.

By Dave Meltzer, Special to The Times
February 9, 2007

Frank Shamrock never practiced any martial arts growing up. He never did any wrestling, boxing or kickboxing. In and out of trouble, at the age of 21, he was working at a drug store and living in the small town of Lockeford, Calif., not far from Stockton, when his life changed.

Today, at 34, he's perhaps the most polarizing figure on the U.S. mixed-martial arts scene. He has his biggest match in more than seven years Saturday night when the sport takes its latest major step, debuting on Showtime at 10 p.m., as he faces Renzo Gracie in the main event from the DeSoto Coliseum in Southaven, Miss.

It's not a fight that will shift around the top ten rankings in the 185-pound weight class. But it could be among the most important, and intriguing, matches of the year.

Shamrock signed for his most serious challenge in more than seven years for the debut show of EliteXC, a new promotion headed by boxing promoter Gary Shaw and partially owned by the Showtime network. Shamrock is being promoted on the station as the face of the new brand. If everything goes as hoped for, at least by the promoters, this should lead to a joint pay-per-view show with the San Jose-based Strikeforce promotion, where he faces Pride star Phil Baroni. The date for the match will be announced next week.

Of course, what makes the match so intriguing is it will answer what has been an age-old question. Just how good is Frank Shamrock?

There is little argument that in 1998 and 1999, he was among the best fighters in the world, many would argue pound-for-pound the best. But he has gone a long time without being tested, and the quality of fighters has improved. In 1999, he was one of the few legitimate triple threats. He was good at kickboxing, he could wrestle, although that was clearly his weakness, and he was among the best at submissions. His skill level at submissions in 1999 would still be ahead of the most of today's fighters. As a kick boxer, he's untested. He can kick hard, as he once broke a man's arm with a kick in his only pro kick boxing match. But can he hang standing up with the top modern fighters who have trained in the sport and fought harder competition during the years he was largely inactive? Even in his prime, he was not that difficult to take down and out position, but still always found a way to win.

Renzo Gracie, 39, has remained active and is coming off wins over Pat Miletich and Carlos Newton, who were both major stars when Shamrock was UFC's king. Gracie can take people down and out position them, as he won a world championship in Abu Dhabi combat, which is submission and position grappling. On paper, Shamrock should have the advantage standing, but there is always the question of what happens to a fighter who has been largely out of top level competition for so many years. But if Gracie can get it on the ground, Gracie vs. Shamrock has the potential to be quite intriguing. They are two of the best submission fighters in MMA history.

A win by Gracie would take the luster off the PPV, and would force EliteXC back to the drawing board to come up with its top drawing card. Therein lies the importance of the match. There is no other fighter outside of UFC and Pride who is close to as marketable as Shamrock. His ability to promote a fight ranks with Tito Ortiz. In his prime, he had an exciting style, and the Shamrock name doesn't hurt.

It's being promoted as the latest chapter in MMA's biggest family feud, stemming from the two famous Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie matches in 1993 and 1995, a rivalry that was the foundation of today's UFC. Gracie won the first by choke in less than one minute on the first-ever UFC show on November 12, 1993, in Denver. The second was the longest match in UFC history, going 36 minutes to a draw, in a match that Shamrock would have likely won had their been judges. The most recent chapter was on March 10, 2006, in San Jose, when Frank knocked out Cesar Gracie in 21 seconds before 18,265 fans in what is still the all-time North American attendance record for the sport.

Ken Shamrock, who shared the same last name because both were adopted by Bob Shamrock and had been raised together as brothers, was a pro wrestler in Japan, who along with two famous Japanese wrestlers, wondered what would happen if pro wrestling was made real. No chairs to the head. No blind referees. They created an organization called Pancrase, and a few months before the first Ultimate Fighting Championship in the United States, debuted their new sport at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall. Ken quickly became the biggest star of this new sport, and they were looking for some new Americans, largely to get beaten up by the more experienced Japanese. Ken started training fighters in 1994 to bring to Japan, including Frank. Training in those days was primitive compared to what modern fighters do. They did wrestling and some basic submission moves handed down by the pro wrestlers who learned from Karl Gotch, a submission expert from the 50s. They did almost no stand-up training, and no cardio at all. Because Ken was so strong, and Frank became one of his main tackling dummies, the first style Frank learned was simply survival in bad situations.

He debuted as a fighter in Japan on Dec. 16, 1994, beating Holland's Bas Rutten. It didn't take long before Frank Shamrock became a main eventer in this world that blurred the lines between pro wrestling and real sport. On Jan. 28, 1996, before a sellout crowd in Yokohama, on a show that was the first U.S. pay-per-view airing of Pancrase, Frank Shamrock beat Minoru Suzuki with a kneebar to become the Provisional King of Pancrase.

A year later, things changed again. Ken had a falling out with the Pancrase organization. In the dispute, Frank was fired. Ken went into pro wrestling with the WWF. Frank ran Ken's Lion's Den gym for a while, and then caused a major rift within the family that never fully healed when he left Lockeford and the Lion's Den and went out on his own.

After a match in Honolulu with John Lober on Jan. 17, 1997, where he dominated the first 20 minutes and ran out of gas, losing a split decision, he reinvented himself. He learned kick boxing from champions Maurice Smith and Javier Mendez, and trained cardio as hard as anyone in the game. He became something of the prototype of today's cross-trained fighter. It was also the last time he lost a fight.

He got into the Ultimate Fighting Championships almost by accident. UFC had always wanted him, but in those days of no weight classes, they felt at 190 pounds, he'd make a great opponent for Tank Abbott, a 260-pound brawler who they were hoping to build for a big money match with Ken Shamrock that never ended up happening. There's no better way to hype a big grudge to the public than have big brother go for revenge against the oversized bully who beat little brother. But the fight never happened.

Instead he got in through the back door, so to speak. UFC had signed Kevin Jackson, who had won a gold medal in wrestling at the 1992 Olympics, and had just come off winning both the World Cup in wrestling, and the championship of the Extreme Fighting Championship, a short-lived rival to UFC. They were creating an under-200 pound weight class for Jackson to be champion. Because the Jackson debut was scheduled for Dec. 21, 1997, in Yokohama, Japan, they were looking for a Japanese opponent. The best contender was actually Hawaiian-born Enson Inoue, who was somewhat adopted by the Japanese as a native because he married Miyu Yamamoto, of the famous Yamamoto wrestling family. Miyu was a multi-time world champion, whose father represented Japan in the 1972 Olympics and later became the national team coach. Her brother is the Japanese MMA star Kid Yamamoto. However, three weeks before, Inoue was scheduled to main event a Shooto show against Frank Shamrock, so the UFC decreed the winner would face Jackson to become the first under-200 pound champion.

Shamrock knocked out Inoue with a knee to the chin in a match that had perhaps the most exciting last few minutes of any match up to that point in the fledging sport. He followed that up by locking an armbar on Jackson in 14 seconds and becoming the first UFC middleweight champion (the division is now called light-heavyweight, and it's the championship now held by Chuck Liddell). His first defense was against another champion of EFC, Russian Igor Zinoviev. One hard slam and Zinoviev was knocked out in 22 seconds.

In 1998 and 1999, he was the UFC's biggest star. His timing couldn't have been worse. He had far more tools than his more famous older brother, who became a huge name as a pioneer of the sport, or Royce Gracie, the original pioneers. But due to bad publicity over perceived violence and brutality, virtually every cable company had stopped airing UFC pay-per-views. Very few people were aware of his run as champion, and even fewer saw the matches. His most famous fight was his final UFC fight, on Sept. 24, 1999, when he stopped Ortiz.

When he stepped into the cage with Ortiz, he was giving up somewhere between 25 and 30 pounds, and was on his back the entire fight, just like he was when facing in brother in practice daily. It was his ability to survive in a bad situation without being hurt, combined with his movement on the ground and superior cardio, that spelled the difference. By round three, Ortiz was tiring, but Shamrock had spent the first three rounds on his back, taking some punishment and dodging most. He suffered a broken foot early, and had a nasty cut on his forehead, made worse as Ortiz stuck his finger in the cut and tried to widen it, to get a blood stoppage.

Because nobody had ever done such a thing, there was no rule in place against it, although after that fight it was made illegal. In the fourth round, Ortiz was out of gas, just like Shamrock was against Lober the night he learned one of his most valuable lessons. It's one of the greatest fights in UFC history.

Shamrock quit the UFC after his biggest win, at the age of 26. He did some fighting, but never against any top level opponents after a late 2000 win over Elvis Sinosic on a huge event at the Tokyo Dome. He went to Hollywood to try acting. He tried promoting. He opened a gym. When UFC was purchased by Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, and Dana White was put in charge, in 2001, he was with them, working as a television announcer and resident legend. There was a nasty falling out. Although he was one of the greatest champions the company ever had, all his records are for the most part erased. His existence is never acknowledged. In a UFC-commissioned book on the history of the sport, his name is barely a footnote. In the weekly marathons of UFC programming, his groundbreaking matches never air.

One of the reasons Frank Shamrock is so polarizing is because he builds up his fights like he's a pro wrestling bad-guy. He claims nobody can beat him. Since the match with Sinosic, he's faced opponents that were way below his level, and turned down huge money offers to fight in Pride and UFC. His most recent fight with Cesar Gracie was so successful because of the tremendous job he did in the local media of building up the fight. But Cesar Gracie, while a successful teacher, had never had a serious MMA match, and was 40 years old at the time. Shamrock won by knockout in 21 seconds. It showed that with the right rivalry, a company other than UFC can pack a stadium in the U.S. It also led to the California State Athletic Commission to be far more vigilant when it comes to sanctioning mismatches. The reality was, he could have fought a tougher opponent, but a tougher opponent wouldn't have drawn nearly as well.

New MMA promotions are springing up weekly. A television barrage is just weeks away to where there will be MMA events on national television by mid-March five nights per week. Almost every top level fighter is under contract to UFC or Pride.

From a business standpoint, it was suddenly great to be Frank Shamrock, particularly after he drew the crowd in San Jose, a success that no independent MMA organization has ever come close to. While many would say Matt Lindland is the best free-agent fighter on the market, he doesn't have nearly the charisma or potential drawing ability for a new company as Shamrock does. But charisma won't be enough once the cage door shuts. A great deal of the potential of success for the new promotion depends on Shamrock's ability to be the fighter he was.

Notes: Two years ago, there was barely a such thing as MMA on television. By the middle of March, it will be hard to avoid it. One month from now, the television schedule will look like this: Monday: The International Fight League from 8-10 p.m. on MyNetworkTV; Tuesday: UFC Unleashed from 9-11 p.m. on Spike TV; Bodog Fight from 11 p.m. to midnight on Ion (formerly the Pax Network); Thursday: Inside the UFC on Spike TV at midnight; Friday: IFL on Fox Sports Net at 11 p.m.; Saturday: IFL on MyNetwork TV from 8-10 p.m.; Bodog Fight on Ion 11 p.m. to midnight. That's not to mention Pride on different nights on FSN, various major event specials on Showtime, Versus (starting in June), Ion and Spike, and at least two PPV offerings per month.

[LWPD]

A pretty good first effort show. Goldberg did a decent job on color while the other two carried the slack. The guy who played AC Slater was set to due commentary...but quit shortly before the live broadcast due to money issues. Some good young talent on the show...heavyweight Antonio Silva looked impressive...as did Villasenor and Krazy Horse. It's always good to see talented fighters getting a chance to step up to a larger stage.

Frank Shamrock tried to milk the 'new' 15 second 'no activity' stand up rule almost immediately after being taken to the ground...then claimed that he didn't know the 'new rules' after he got dq'd for throwing knees to the back of the head/neck. He was active on the ground from the bottom and was working an effective knee to the ribs strategy while underneath from side control...yet Renzo took him down repeatedly and controlled positioning. RG won the first round and deserves a rematch.

Courtesy of Wrestling Observer

Tim Persey b Bo Cantrell in a heavyweight battle. Persey won via a series of punches standing in 1:33.

Mike Pyle b Ross Ebanez. Pyle took Ebanez down and choked him out in 1:55.

Javier Vazquez b Adriano Periera via split decision after three rounds. Very strong fight.

Edson Berto b John-David Shackelford via ref stoppage in round two. Berto won the first round. Second round saw him connect with a body kick, followed by a left hook that put Shackelford down. He threw punches on the ground. Shackelford went for the leg, which left his head open and Berto threw ten punches on the ground while Shackelford held the leg. The ref stopped it. Crowd booed the stoppage, partially because Shackelford was the Memphis fighter. Shackelford was taking serious punches and not blocking, but was not out of it.

Riki Fukuda b Chris Gates. Gates was a last week replacement and outclassed here. Fukuda took him down and pounded him on the ground in just 1:18 before Gates tapped out as he couldn't stop the punches.

There will be an intermission now before going live on Showtime at 10 p.m.

Update from England. Butterbean knocked out James Thompson in 43 seconds in the main event of today's Cage Rage in London. So much for Thompson vs. Bob Sapp.

K.J. Noons vs. Charles Krazy Horse Bennett opens the show.

Noons was making Bennett look like an amateur with leg kicks and ducking Bennett's wild swings. But Bennett connected with a punch to the body and a right hook to the face and Noons went down and he was out. Ref Herb Dean stopped it immediately.

Bennett did two back flips off the top of the cage after the match. Total Memphis pro wrestling crowd, quick to boo. They didn't like Bennett so fans booed him afterward.

Gina Carano vs. Julie Kedzie is up next.

They are doing 3:00 rounds instead of 5:00. Carano dominated with punches and low kicks. Kedzie got it down briefly and tried an armbar but Carano punched out of it. Carno finished strong connecting with several strong punches. 10-9 Carano.

A hell of a round. Carano connected with a lot of hard punches to the head. Kedzie stayed up but she was hurting. She's got a mouse and cut under her right eye. Carano put her down with an overhand right late in the round. Kedzie actually got a takedown at the end. 20-18 Carano.

Kedzie took Carano down and went for some submissions. Carano was able to get to her feet. Some good exchanges that heated up as time ran out. Kedzie won the round so it should by 29-28 for Carano.

Crowd gave them a standing ovation. UFC really missed out on this one. Kedzie's face is bruised up. Final scores were 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 for Carano. Carano made herself a national name here.

Jay Glazer interviewed Renzo Gracie. Gracie came across very likable, as always.

David Loiseau vs. Joe Villasenor is next up.

Villasenor schooled him the entire round. He scored three takedowns, used a lot of knees to the body, some punches and kept getting side and full mounts. Loiseau did get on top with a throw once. Villasenor went for an armbar and Loiseau did a nice escape from it, but 10-9 Villasenor easily. Very good round.

Three more takedowns by Villansenor. He dominated the whole round. Loiseau is being yelled at by his corner because he's just doing nothing. 20-18 Villasenor.

Most of the round was standing and Loiseau did better. Villasenor still knocked him down on a counter punch and it should be 30-27 for Villasenor. Strong performance by Villansenor in another upset.

Scores were 30-27 across the board for Villasenor.

Antonio Junior Silva vs. Cabbage Correira are next up.

Shamrock did a combination Nick Bockwinkel/Buddy Rogers promo.

Cabbage said he came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and he's all out of bubble gum. I think I may have heard that line before.

Silva knocked out Correira in a one-sided match. He scored two takedowns and some ground and pound. He finished Cabbage with a high knee and a left hook knocking him down ans several more punches on the ground until it was stopped.

Frank Shamrock vs. Cesar Gracie is up next.

Shamrock got a superstar babyface reaction. So much for the idea that people hate him. It's only the Internet. Of course, none of that matters if he loses.

Renzo scored two takedowns and got mounts. He never hurt him, though but Shamrock couldn't escape when taken down. Frank did more on the ground with knees to the body and did better when they were standing. I expect the judges to give it to Gracie but Shamrock threw a lot of knees on the ground and threw more blows.

Frank knocked him with two knees to the head when he was on his back. I don't know if those are legal and right now the match is being stopped. You can't knee to the head, you can knee to the body so it was an illegal blow. I don't know what's happening next.

The fight is over. I don't know if they'll call it a no contest, a DQ or a win for Shamrock. If the knee was to the neck it was legal. No, that knee hit the head, no question it was illegal.

It looks like a DQ on Frank. Herb Dean said that he warned Shamrock once for doing it, so if he was knocked out, he felt Shamrock had been warned.

Cesar Gracie said everyone is aware of the rules. Frank tried to put over the idea that he was about to finish Renzo. Renzo got a concussion. Cesar said he thought Renzo won the first round and was about to win the second round. Shamrock was trying to act like Renzo left because he was trying to sell it, but there was a real concussion and acting like he was fighting old school. Of course Shamrock is always trying to sell and it looks like a rematch is inevitable. Well, I'm expecting a rematch. Bill Goldberg said Herb Dean should have stepped in after the first knee if he thought it was illegal.

Shamrock came out of this post-match as a super heel. But this was not the same Frank Shamrock on the ground, even though Renzo could do nothing to hurt him.

But this was a bad ending to what had been a good show.

[sickman]

I watched this one. It wasn't a train wreck at least.

Silva looks awesome and Carano....very hot and could kick the crap out of most guys. I would probably let her!!

That being said its not UFC but a decent first effort. Have to see where it goes from here.

[Pride]

Shamrock peed me off. i wish i had the skills to fight like that because i would change my last name to Gracie and kick the living crap out of him !!!


Shamrock needs to pay me my 3 dollars back!!!!

[dukedave]

sickman74 said:

and Carano....very hot and could kick the crap out of most guys. I would probably let her!!

Not to steal Tito's schtick but I would let her get me in a triangle choke.

Good card, bad main event.

[Darth Turkish]

I am glad for Villasenor. I like him.

[LWPD]

Renzo Gracie's Elite XC Post Fight Interview

Frank Shamrock's Elite XC Post Fight Interview

[habbalah]

It was a good show. Hay for all the new found Frank haters come aboard the New York Bada$$ band wagon. This april we'll watch him give Frank some retard intellegence to go with that retard strength he brags about.