After Saturday night put Seth Petruzelli on the map, he had a few things to say about his fight with Kimbo Slice and his dealings with EliteXC. Here's a snippet from his interview with an Orlando based radio station:

"The promoter kinda hinted to me, and they gave me money to stand and trade with him.  They didn't want me to take him down.  Let's just put it that way." 

First, let's be honest, does this actually surprise anyone? EliteXC has been grooming Kimbo Slice from his very first fight, and they have promoted him to become a cash cow and to create interest from his back story. The problem that presents itself now is that, as fans, we can no longer trust EliteXC or any fight they put on in their promotion.

It's been obvious since day one that they have played favorites in their organization. They have "the face of women's MMA" in Gina Carano. They even stepped outside of the Unified Rules of MMA and created a 160lb. weight class for Nick Diaz. It's just now starting to come to light that they would go to extreme measures to protect their investments. It's a little bit different with Carano, because in her case, she can at least fight. Diaz? Well, that planned backfired after he was TKO'd by KJ Noons. What'd they do next? They stripped Noons of his belt when he wouldn't fight Diaz a second time after he considered Nick not to be the number one contender. Not saying I agree with Noon's in this instance, but it does lead us to believe that there have been plenty of sketchy things going on in EliteXC for some time.

Look, I'm all for giving bonuses to fighters that have great fights. But whether it was implied or even flat out stated that Petruzelli would receive adequate compensation for standing with Slice, there's no room in this sport for those kinds of business practices. MMA is just now starting to break into the mainstream, but it still has a long way to go before it is recognized by the masses. Events like this are setting the sport back, and are giving opponents of MMA even more leverage against it's legitimacy.  

EliteXC would be best served to quickly realize that this is a sport, and no matter how bad you want to control the outcome, you simply cannot do it. Do you think the UFC wanted Matt Serra to defeat Georges St. Pierre? Hell no. Do you think they wanted Rashad Evans to knock out their poster boy, Chuck Liddell? Not a chance. But, as any good organization does, they roll with the punches, and do their best to market the fighters that win. 

EliteXC has a lot of work left to do, and for our sake, let's hope that the work their doing isn't fixing fights, but promoting fighters that deserve it. 

EliteXC returns to network television a week after some of the best action we've seen this year. DREAM, Affliction: Banned, and UFC Fight Night 14 all provided some intense battles for the MMA fanbase to enjoy. Will EliteXC be able to overcome a fantastic weekend of MMA the week before to put some solid ratings up? It'll definitely take some luck as this card isn't providing the punch that they did in the past. Nonetheless, there are a few betting lines for the card on Saturday that should entice some of the gamblers in the community. Let's take a look.

Wilson Reis (-160) vs. Brian Caraway (+140)

This definitely isn't an underdog bet for me. Wilson Reis is an absolute monster when it comes to grappling or hitting the floor in general. He has a smaller, compact body, but makes up for it with tremendous strength and skill. He'll be a handful for anyone when this battle hits the floor. Caraway will also be looking to hit the ground, and at only -160, I think Reis is a solid bet. He's only favored slightly, and this could potentially be a big money bet that should pay out.

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (+165) vs. Shayna Baszler (-190)

I haven't seen a lot of footage on Santos, but I do know she has tremendous knockout power. She's also brutally tough to take down at times, but Baszler is a very good grappler. She has the tools to beat nearly anyone in the division with her grappling pedigree, and having Josh Barnett as your trainer can only help. Whatever you feel, a wager isn't a bad beat by any means. Santos has the knockout power to put Baszler down instantly, and the losses that Baszler has had over the years have normally been from powerful competitors with the punch.

Robbie Lawler (-230) vs. Scott Smith (+220)

I'm still convinced that Lawler will wait out Smith and catch him with a huge blow, but Smith's chin is the x-factor once again. Smith showed an amazing determination in his last bout with Lawler, and his chin was the surprise in that fight. If he can land a solid punch, he may be able to floor Lawler. I'd still wager some money on Lawler. If it goes to the floor, Lawler still has much better wrestling skills. Look for this to be a real barn burner of a fight though.

Stay away from...

Feijao is at -480 to -550, and he should steamroll Galbraith quickly. Antonio Silva is listing at about -550 to -600. The odds are much too large to wager any money and make a killing.

Potentially dangerous...

Nick Diaz has had some very lackluster matches lately. Can Thomas Denny actually submit Diaz? Doubtful, but Diaz isn't exactly invincible from being cut and defeated. I'd still stay away from this one. Jake Shields should have the wrestling and jiu-jitsu to defeat Nick Thompson, but Thompson is a very smart fighter. He'll come in with a great gameplan, and he definitely has a shot at winning. Ballsy enough to bet it? I'm not.

EliteXC’s inaugural event on CBS paid off big time. According to the numbers posted at MMAPayout.com, Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson garnered a viewership of 6.51 million people while Smith vs. Lawler hit 5.53 million and Carano vs. Young moved into 5th all-time at 4.68 million. Only Jackson vs. Henderson (5.93m) and Ortiz vs. Shamrock III (5.89m) were behind Kimbo and above both Smith and Young on the list:

1. Kimbo Slice v. James Thompson - 6.51 million
2. Quinton Jackson v. Dan Henderson - 5.93 million
3. Tito Ortiz v. Ken Shamrock III - 5.89 million
4. Robbie Lawler v. Scott Smith - 5.53 million
5. Gina Carano v. Kaitlin Young - 4.68 million

Note: I'm going to assume this is North America only. Akebono vs. Sapp had ridiculous ratings in Japan:

1. Akebono vs. Sapp: 42.5 rating, 54 million viewers
2. Masato vs. Kid Yamamoto: 31.5 rating
3. Lebanner vs. Sapp: 28.6 rating
4. Ologun vs. Abidi: 28.1 rating
5. Kaneko vs. Bennett: 27.7 rating
6. Rulon Gardner vs. Yoshida: 25.9 rating
7. Ologun vs. Akebono: 25.8 rating
8. Yoshida vs. Ogawa: 25.5 rating
9. Sakuraba vs. Akiyama: 25.0 rating
10. Kid Yamamoto vs. Majoros: 25.0 rating

Source: Dave Meltzer at Yahoo! Sports... here

To be perfectly honest, it disappoints me that Kimbo Slice is the most viewed fight ever in the sport of mixed martial arts especially when we had so many great fights in PRIDE and in the UFC. However, I understand why the three CBS fights moved into the top 5. It’s all about marketing and exposure and Kimbo Slice has had marketing from EliteXC, CBS, and the Internet surrounding him as well as all the media attention he has received. Gina Carano used American Gladiators and her overall sex appeal to grab up the male demographic. One fight on that card was able to produce numbers by simply being in between the two stars, Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith.

Not only was Smith vs. Lawler a great battle of two punchers, but it also could have potentially been EliteXC’s Griffin vs. Bonnar. Unfortunately, it was stopped prematurely via an unintentional eye poke. The surprising aspect to the numbers in relation to the fight is that it still outdid Carano vs. Young, signaling that people were intrigued by the sport enough to stick around and watch Smith vs. Lawler before Kimbo’s battle. That’s at least a plus in the eyes of some fans.

There is a hope that we will see even bigger numbers and a better production and that’s the UFC. While these numbers are impressive for fans, they could turn some heads at the other networks looking for something new for casual fans to latch onto. Can the UFC get a suitor from the potential ratings it could produce in competing with EliteXC on CBS?

I don’t see why not. WEC produced over a million viewers on a network that is basically a part of a sports package on most cable providers. The production was better, had much more exciting fights (Torres vs. Maeda alone was enough), and provided some good commentary. UFC events are ran much the same, and highlight even bigger stars in the MMA world. If the UFC can push a marketing campaign that would amp those fights up before every event with the Countdown shows and media coverage, there is no reason why the UFC couldn’t surpass those numbers by a large amount. Their most desirable trait is that most people see MMA as the UFC, and most casual fans recognize the UFC as being the top dog.

Let’s hope that Kimbo vs. Thompson doesn’t remain the most viewed fight ever. It wasn’t a great fight, and it would have been unbelievable had we seen Pulver vs. Faber or Torres vs. Maeda in the primetime spotlight.

Michael Rome over at BloodyElbow.com has a piece rounding up all the quotes that have been blurbed by various people involved on EliteXC and the commission's end of the Young vs. Carano fight as well as some quotes from Young herself. Head over to BloodyElbow for the complete lowdown on the quotes, but I'll summarize.

Kaitlin stated that she never had an open wound, and that Dr. Sherry Wulkan cleared her to fight. In the end, she said the commission simply said “No” to continuing the fight. She went on to say it would have likely broke open in the third, but she believes that CBS didn't want to have a bloody face of a woman blasted on television.

Wulkan emailed Sam Caplan with a different explanation. In short, she said that in the locker room after looking in the mirror, Young said she was glad the fight was stopped. Wulkan believes that Young was mad about being shunned from having a post-fight interview or being invited to do so.

Young reiterated later her original story and that she was simply never told about the interviews or after party. Gina Carano, in fact, invited her and gave her tickets.

So, what's all the arguing about? Did Young have a chance to continue, and should she have been allowed to continue? The placement of the bruising suggested an orbital fracture, and it isn't out of the realm of possibility that the bruising led to the stoppage.

Would Kaitlin Young have actually won? Probably not. That isn't the entire point though. Fighters should always be given a chance to win a bout no matter how dominating their opponent is in the matchup. Carano was faster, bigger, and had a tired Young on the ropes of losing. We can't assume that the outcome would have been Carano winning, but in my mind, it was a safe bet after two rounds. Kaitlin wasn't quicker in any of the striking during the fight, and it was actually impressive to see Carano overcome the hype that Kaitlin Young had been given leading up to the fight.

In the end, I believe the stoppage was justified. Her face was mincemeat, she was clearly losing the fight, and it didn't look good for her in continuing the fight with Carano being so crushing in the standup. Should those be reasons to stop the fight? No, they shouldn't. There were no open wounds according to Young, and they were not placed in positions to allow for blood to blur her vision.

We can argue all day whether or not she should have been allowed to continue, but Carano won the fight. She was dominating the standup for two rounds, and Kaitlin didn't have the quickness to catch Carano. Regardless, I suppose Kaitlin should have been given the opportunity, and the commission and Dr. Shelly Wulkan disappointed us with that decision. The fact is that MMA doesn't have portable x-ray machines out in the cage to make split second decisions. Let's move on.

Photo courtesy of BloodyElbow.com

While I won’t admit that EliteXC’s primetime debut was a spectacular event, ratings don’t lie when it comes to how well the show actually did. According to Adam Swift at MMAPayout.com, the ratings for the evening’s show started out at a 2.4 and rose to a 4.7 by the time the main event hit the screen. The gate wasn’t exactly great at only a bit over 8,000 attending, but the point of the show was to produce primetime numbers.

The media ripped EliteXC apart on Sunday with articles ranging from calling the event a “mockery” of the sport to columns focusing on the exposing of Kimbo’s weak skills, the referee stoppages, and the highly far-reaching notion that some of the fights were “fixed”. Overall, the media deemed the event unsuccessful in portraying the sport as legitimate and professional.

As we know, however, the casual fanbase has a strong pull in producing ratings for these shows. It’s amazing how many writers have denied the very existence of the type of fans that Luke Thomas pointed out were in attendance at the event. Luke stated on his blog in reviewing the event:

I hate mixed martial arts fan. Not all of them of course, but I can't even describe to you how much I loathe the functional retards who come to these shows. It's as bad at UFC events as it is at any other. I wish there were a way to offer free tickets to some of these people in exchange for castration (the women are generally not the problem).

In general, this is the casual fanbase. While a lot of fans don’t fall into this mold, there are a majority of casual fans that do fall into this mold. Do you think I’m kidding? As I’ve stated in the past, find a bar in your hometown that broadcasts a UFC event on the big screen and see how many fans are completely oblivious to the notion of a ground game and how much they boo at every instance a fighter tries to shoot for a takedown.

Those may be the fans that we as hardcore fans don’t want to associate ourselves with, but in order to keep this sport making money and attracting new fans; we have to put up with that crowd. Eventually, that crowd may move into the hardcore fan grouping, but it obviously takes time to analyze the ground game and see the beauty in the reversal or transition game.

EliteXC cashed in on the casual fanbase on Saturday. While the hardcore fanbase and writers in the MMA community mocked the spectacle of EliteXC’s inaugural event, people still tuned in to see Kimbo Slice take on James Thompson. Some of those fans actually believe Kimbo destroyed Thompson and became instant fans of the Internet sensation.

Kimbo’s game was exposed, and he was shown to have a lot of weaknesses on the ground, but in the end was able to get the stoppage that secured EliteXC’s chances of using his name to promote another event. In some odd reality, EliteXC’s inaugural event was technically a success from a standpoint of purely ratings. We will be seeing another go at it for CBS and EliteXC, and their success may only help other networks see the reality in MMA being on primetime television. Specifically, one of the other networks may want to promote an MMA event more professionally, and that’s where the UFC could come in and turn around the unprofessionalism that EliteXC displayed on Saturday. We can only hope.

If there is anything that people should have watched this weekend, it was the crisper broadcast at WEC 34. Lots of action, good commentary, decent production, and two unbelievable title clashes that lived up to the hype. EliteXC should take notes, or other networks should see what the UFC can produce.

Once again, I bring you some of my thoughts after the weekend of everyone rambling on about “fixes” and “dives”. Let’s look at the show as a whole, and see what some writers thought about it as well.

• Production: I don’t really need an opposing viewpoint here. The production was absolutely garbage in comparison to the UFC or WEC. It amazes me that CBS allowed EliteXC to keep the trashy dancers and horrible association with the hip-hop scene in the show. It’s been criticized time and time again, yet EliteXC continues to integrate it into the sport. Enough is enough.

• Commentary: Gus Johnson was phenomenal and with Mauro Ranallo by his side, the commentary team for the event was above average across the board. This was probably the only aspect of the evening that was done right. I hope Gus will continue to commentate for the sport because he was flawless in his deliveries. Frank Shamrock didn’t do a bad job either.

• Quick stoppages: First and foremost, Kaitlin Young’s stoppage was not bullshit like some fans believe. Here’s one view from a BloodyElbow reader:

The women's fight was even worse. Young made it through a rear naked choke to survive the round. She looked beat up, but the mouse below her left eye was...below her left eye and did not appear to obstruct her vision.

Young was, in fact, overhyped by everyone. While I don’t want to toot my own horn, I’m going to because I did the research. Most people haven’t seen Kaitlin Young fight, but I did get the feedback from her fight with Sarah Schneider. Schneider was mostly fighting amateur fights before her battle with Young, but she exposed Young’s ground game through slipping Young’s easily seen kicks. Carano’s strikes were much more powerful and quicker than the smaller Young, and I think the assumption that Young must be powerful and quick came from her impressive record of KO’s and video showing her training. It’s interesting to see how heavily people were relying on Young to upset Carano even though Carano had a significant size difference with actual striking credentials.

Smith vs. Lawler was a great fight for three rounds. Smith’s chin was tested and Lawler’s brawling seemed to be getting the best of Smith for most of the fight. When the eye poke occurred, we should have seen Smith given a recovery period of five minutes. When it was explained that Smith said he could not see, I immediately came to the assumption that Smith said the wrong thing at the wrong time. It was an early stoppage by the doctor, but you don’t tell someone you cannot see twice when they are questioning whether you can continue. You cannot do that and expect things to go your way.

Thompson was slowly being beaten to a pulp by the third round of his fight with Kimbo Slice, but I do in fact think it was an early stoppage considering Thompson looks like he’s KO’d before he even enters the cage. Nonetheless, I think Kimbo was going to win the third round if it had continued, although Thompson may have been ahead on the scorecards had it gone to decision.

Lawler vs. Smith could have been an epic showstopper for the promotion, the Griffin vs. Bonnar for EliteXC. It’s too bad it was stopped early. Carano lived up to the hype and could potentially be the driving force for EliteXC in the future. Kimbo was exposed, and Rogers will probably work him hard if they fight on the next card.

• Villasenor vs. Baroni was an early stoppage?

Sam Caplan thinks so: The Joey Villasenor vs. Phil Baroni stoppage was early, as was the main event. But maybe he’s not entirely to blame. NJAC always has had a strong track record of acting in the best interests of a fighter.

While I think Kimbo vs. Thompson was slightly stopped early, Villasenor vs. Baroni was a done fight. It still baffles me that people were hard up for Baroni destroying Villasenor even though Joey has had some hard fought wars in his past. His chin issues haven’t shown up lately, and Baroni has absolute garbage striking for someone with so much power.

Nonetheless, now I have to put up with opinions revolving around that fight being an early stoppage. Baroni got hurt from a blow, backed into the fence, and was pummeled with a couple more shots. It was over, plain and simple.

• Ratings and another show?

Sam Caplan is on point here: People can say all they want about the ratings, but the bottom line is that CBS is happy with the results, which means that we will see a second EliteXC show on network primetime television. The question is, are other networks happy with the ratings? If so, then the UFC will have improved leverage when it goes to the bargaining table to negotiate deals with networks that are looking to get into the MMA game.

CBS will likely do another show, and hopefully EliteXC won’t have the problems they did at this most recent show. The fact is that as horrible as hardcore fans and analysts might think it is, people still watch it.

Ratings hit some highs during the event. MMAPayout reported this breakdown:

9:00-9:30PM - 2.4 / 5
9:30-10:00PM - 2.5 / 5
10:00-10:30PM - 3.2 / 6
10:30-11:00PM - 3.7 / 7
11:00 - 11:30PM - 4.0 / 8
11:30 - 11:45PM - 4.7 / 10

I’ve read some reports around that CBS may have almost hit 5 million viewers toward the end of the evening when Kimbo Slice fought. It’s obvious that his Internet fame was tapped into for this fight, and I’m sure EliteXC will be more than happy to do so again to produce some higher draws.

Overall thoughts

EliteXC on CBS wasn’t what I wanted to see. The production was incredibly similar to that of their Showtime shows, and I thought for sure that we would see less trashy hookers dancing and more professionalism. I was wrong.

The broadcast team was solid, and I’m glad to see it clicking so well for once. If this could translate over to Showtime, it would at least improve that aspect of EliteXC’s woes.

Quick stoppages ruined the Smith vs. Lawler fight, and I think Thompson may have potentially been able to squeak out a win against Kimbo had he been given a chance. Exploding ears aren’t that serious, but the notion that it was going to hurt his chances was overblown in my eyes. Carano crushed Young, and her orbital is probably broken. Justified stoppage.

The ratings did well enough to garner another show happening on CBS. Will other networks see the success and bring the UFC into the mix to make this sport get the deserving production and professionalism it needs on network television? It could happen if sponsors begin knocking on the doors at CBS and other networks see that.

I’ve refrained from commenting on Kimbo Slice’s main event tussle with James Thompson for the mere fact that I had a premonition as to the absurd comments that other writers would begin making when it came to who likes Kimbo and who doesn’t. It seems that the blogosphere is beginning to become what many Chicago radio personalities and opinion-editorial columnists call “a haven for absolute crap rumors and analysis”. While I think my analysis has been fairly accurate over the years and it shows in my betting account, I do take offense to the assumption that hardcore fans are outraged that Kimbo will be representing MMA in this new era of network television.

Reading posts day in and day out and reading Wetzel’s rant about how Kimbo isn’t good for MMA right now, I’ve come to the conclusion that I really don’t care what happens with Kimbo Slice in the long run. Analyzing the current landscape of MMA, it continues to grow, but will stalemate without some type of progression in how it is perceived by the general public. Moving to network television is a step in helping others accept it as a legitimate sport. We can go through the numbers: deaths are lower, more skills are used, safety is first, and the list goes on and on for hours. The fact of the matter is that Kimbo Slice isn’t going to kill MMA’s chances of growth. Eventually, the UFC will make its way to network and put on a show in a more professional manner with some of the best fighters in the world at their trade.

While I’m not discounting the CBS and EliteXC can pull off that kind of show, I will say that I’m skeptical. However, I’m not going to bitch and moan about the main event between Kimbo Slice and James Thompson. People are writing long posts about how Kimbo Slice is horrible for this sport because of his appearance, his attitude, how he has had a low amount of fights, and how he hasn’t fought a single competitive fighter. Here’s a scenario…

CBS comes to you, asks if you’d like to buy some time on Primetime television, and you jump at the chance to get your promotion major coverage. At the time, Kimbo Slice just knocked out Tank Abbott and grabbed the largest gate ever for the promotion. What are you going to do? Go with your hottest product at the time coupled with other hot products (Gina Carano). Many fans act like they don’t understand why Kimbo is the main event, but it’s obvious. It's so obvious that it's unbelievable that we have hundreds of articles littering the blogosphere that can't believe it!

Don’t be ignorant. That’s the lesson. Hardcore fans really don’t care what happens with Kimbo Slice. He will either win and continue to cruise until he fights someone legitimate, or he’ll lose and fade into the black. Either way, what does it matter to those of us who’ve followed this sport for so long? Why should I be bitter that Kimbo made a splash into the sport without really paying his dues by fighting competitive competition? It isn’t his record that gets him a paycheck; it’s his legacy on the Internet, his drawing power, and his style of fighting.

His fate will be determined in the coming year. Hardcore fans watch tons of MMA every year, and we see more than our fair share of spectacle fights. Japan is great for a plethora of spectacle fights that are there to sell events. This is no surprise to us. The sport could be damaged, but it won’t die, and it’ll always have a solid drawing in the United States, especially for the UFC.

BloodyElbow writer Collin Welsh writes:

Hardcore fans dislike his quick rise to main event status, don't trust his skill outside of hitting hard, and firmly believe that he will fight over hyped tomato can after tomato can. Time will only tell if this will be true or not, but for now appreciate his story. MMA hasn't ever had a story like this or a character with such universal superstar potential. So sit back ,relax, and  enjoy the fight. People like Kimbo Slice don't come around too often.

Actually, I don’t dislike Kimbo for his rise to main event status. I understand the business, and I’m not going to dislike the guy because Gary Shaw felt he had the most drawing power. It’s absurd to believe fans as knowledgeable about the sport and about the business would believe that.

Do I think Kimbo will fight can after can? Probably, but what do I care? He will eventually have to fight a legitimate opponent, and EliteXC will eventually have to produce better fights. If he continues to fight can after can, the promotion will die. It’s like the universe will self correct itself. Why should we be so worried?

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t want to know a hardcore fan that is as stressed out as Collin has described above, nor do I know any who are that crazy about how Kimbo is a main event fighter. The view being portrayed in that article is likely that of the MMA blogosphere, and not necessarily that of hardcore fans everywhere. Sure, I want this sport to succeed and CBS/EliteXC could portray is badly, but telling me that hardcore fans dislike a certain fighter because of his quick rise against tomato cans is a stretch. If anything, we understand the reasoning behind it.

Our last betting preview paid off big for us. Parlaying Yoshida, Palhares, Carwin, and Kim was extremely profitable, and betting hard on Palhares put us in some pretty good profits. We're up big this year so far, and hopefully we can continue this weekend with the CBS/EliteXC card. Here's a few lines I think you need to look at:

While I'm not a firm believer that Thompson can protect his chin, his line is very favorable for anyone hoping Kimbo makes a grave mistake. Thompson does possess some size and power along with an aggressive style that could prove to be a problem if he can work Kimbo in the clinch and get him to the floor. I believe Kimbo's power will stun Thompson, but if you are looking to make big bucks on minimal investment, this may be the line for you.

This will likely be the most bet on line for the event, so get your bets in now before the lines move closer. The hype behind the underdog bet here is Kaitlin's training. She has some heavy hands, and an unbelievable training regiment straight out of Sean Sherk's textbook. We've seen videos of her pushing the Caveman workout, and Gina likely isn't going to be in the same shape. Regardless, Gina possesses some nasty counters and standup striking. I'm still inclined to put some good money on Kaitlin to win here, but Carano may surprise us with a ground game that Kaitlin could be unready for.

It's interesting to see Haselrig favored with only one fight professionally, and Moreno will be a tough opponent. It may be worth a small bet, but I'm not entirely sure that Moreno can end this one.

Other fights

Rogers vs. Murphy won't win my dollars for me. While Murphy has some power, I still believe Rogers has the massive body and power to stave off attacks from Murphy and end his night with a big blow. I also believe Lawler will have a distance war with Smith for a bit and land a huge punch later in the bout. Joey Villasenor vs. Phil Baroni has the closest lines out of all the fights, but Baroni would have to come in with some much improved cardio to have a shot at beating Villasenor in my opinion. Joey may be worth laying some money down.

Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson

There is no real reason to believe that James Thompson can change the past or his chin. Unless he's chewing on pine bark like Jack Dempsey was once rumored to do in order to strengthen his jaw, Thompson's huge weakness will likely be exploited.

Thompson does however have some wrestling ability in his background, and he has spent some time training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas with its veteran stable of fighters. It's likely his gameplan will involve trying to put Kimbo to the floor, but I firmly believe that Thompson won't be the guy to test Kimbo's ground guy. Kimbo has the added bonus of being very powerful to blow through submission attempts. I doubt we'll see Thompson get to that position.

Leland's Prediction: Kimbo Slice via TKO/KO, Round 1

Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith

This could very well be the most talked about fight of the evening. Two veteran strikers will go toe-to-toe in the cage, but I'm going to favor Lawler for a few reasons. Smith has had some problems on the ground, but he's been rather dominant in the standup game. The only problem for him in this fight is that Lawler has monster power to counter Smith's hands as well. He's also shown some patience in the standup game that really favors him in the later rounds.

An added bonus is that Lawler has great takedown defense and some solid wrestling ability if he gets into trouble. Look for Lawler to keep his distance, find his range, and explode. It's going to be very hard for Smith to avoid those huge arms on Lawler.

Leland's Prediction: Robbie Lawler via TKO/KO, Round 2

Joey Villasenor vs. Phil Baroni

For some odd reason, I think Phil may be taking this fight much more seriously than he did Kala Hose. Will his cardio have improved significantly is the real question, and Villasenor is a survivor in the cage. He has a solid chin, great cardio, and the ability to land some big punches. Baroni will likely come out with an onslaught of attacks, but Villasenor has the skills to outlast Baroni.

I can't exactly pick Baroni after his performance against Hose, but he could prove me wrong in saying that he's lost a step.

Leland's Prediction: Joey Villasenor via unanimous decision

Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young

A lot of writers are giving Kaitlin the nod here, and it can be justified when looking at her training regiment and striking. She'll likely be a cardio machine, but can she equal Carano's tenacity in the striking game. Sarah Schneider proved that Kaitlin's ground game needs a lot of work, but Carano probably won't be a force there.

Kaitlin has some strong striking, but Carano is known for being a powerful, yet accurate puncher.  She will also have some strong kicks, and hopefully some good wrestling ability on the ground. Kaitlin will be a great bet for those of you looking cash in, but I have to pick Gina Carano. While I know she's mentioned the layoff of training leading up to this bout, I still think her striking will be hard to deal with, but I'll be laying some cash on Kaitlin in case I'm wrong.

Leland's Prediction: Gina Carano via unanimous decision

Brett Rogers vs. Jon Murphy

This should be a good matchup. Murphy is explosive while Rogers possesses heavy hands as well. Murphy does has 2 losses on his record, one being to Houston Alexander, so he is susceptible to the onslaught, but Rogers likes to be patient. I'm more inclined to pick Rogers due to how tough it is to move him around to the floor, and the fact that his power is going to be a huge problem if he catches Murphy.

Leland's Prediction: Brett Rogers via KO/TKO, Round 1

Quick Picks
Justin Robbins vs. Wilson Reis: There's some hype surrounding Reis, and he has a slick grappling pedigree that could present problems for Robbins. Robbins is a nice solid opponent for Reis, but I think Reis has this one. Reis via submission, Round 2

Nick Serra vs. Matt Makowski: Serra has the grappling advantage, so look for him to get this to the floor quickly. Makowski is fairly green in the MMA game so far, but he's proven to be a tough opponent at 2-0. Serra via submission, Round 2

Andres Soares vs. Zach Makovsky: Soares finishes fights, and Makovsky can't seem to finish. Soares via submission, Round 1

Joe Sampieri vs. Mike Groves: Battle of the winless, pick'em. Sampieri via TKO, Round 2

Jim Bova vs. Chris Liguori: Chris has had some absolute wars with Jim Miller before, and I don't see how he won't be bringing that kind of heart to this fight. Bova will be a load though, and he's definitely an upcoming prospect. I'll pick the upset. Bova via TKO/KO, Round 1

James “Binky” Jones vs. Calvin Katter: Gotta go with Jones here. He may have a .500 record, but it's mostly losses to talent that's headed to the UFC or higher promotions. Katter is just starting out. Jones via submission, Round 1

Carlos Moreno vs. Carlton Haselrig: Moreno is weak on the ground, but Haselrig likely won't present any danger in that capacity. Moreno should get the knockout in this one. Moreno via KO/TKO, Round 1