Lucas drops a bomb in this one, but Santana uses some slick jiu-jitsu to come back to life.

Fabricio Camoes returns to the cage after a lengthy hiatus to dominate Joe Camacho. 

A quality matchup between former UFC fighter Doug Evans and Bao Quach. Quach took this fight on less than a week's notice yet still prevailed fantastically.

EliteXC's Challenger Series is proving to be exactly what it's been marketed as... a proving ground for up-and-coming fighters to test their skills against able competition in hopes of making their mark big enough to get a shot at the big show. ShoXC's event card on Friday evening provided us with a glimpse at some of those talented fighters. Malapeit and Thomas “Wildman” Denny were featured in the main event that unfortunately ended in controversy, but the other main card battles made up for fizzled anticipation.

Chute Box phenom Marlon Mathias and Conor Heun went to war in a matchup that tested both fighters' cardio. Jaime Fletcher's aggressiveness won over the judges in a three round decision win over former Team Punishment member Aaron Rosa, and Shane Del Rosario pounded out Gabriel Gonzaga look-a-like Analu Brash. In the lone featherweight bout of the evening, Hawaiian Mark Oshiro crushed undefeated Chris Cariaso with a right hook from hell that ended the fight instantly.

The event had some rather boring fights mixed in, but it successfully provided some great looks at some up-and-coming talent on the main card. Although the main event was tainted by Malapeit's devastating elbows to the back of Thomas Denny's head which disqualified him in the fight, ShoXC was a decent event to fill the mixed martial arts void in an otherwise weak weekend for MMA fans.

Malapeit's ground game will ruin his MMA career

The classic matchup between the striker and the grappler took place in the main event on Friday night and ended in controversy over the use of illegal elbows to the back of the head by Malapeit. In the minutes before the strikes occurred, Thomas Denny was earning his moniker as the 'Wildman” by absolutely dominating Malapeit in every facet of the ground game. Passing guard, landing strikes, and pounding Malapeit's face with elbows had the look of a massacre that many fans had predicted would happen to the strictly standup fighter in Malapeit. Unfortunately, the fight ended in a disqualification instead of a dominating win for Denny.

After some ground and pound from Denny and a subsequent back mount, Malapeit's neck was locked in a tight rear naked choke that Malapeit escaped. Once he escaped and took some more blows on the ground, Malapeit was able to get back to his feet. Denny attempted another takedown, but Malapeit suddenly took exception to hitting the floor again and savagely reigned elbows down on the back of Denny's head. Malapeit was eventually disqualified for the strikes, but his post-fight interview was baffling to say the least.

After being asked if he knew whether or not he could land those types of strikes, Malapeit answered Stephen “The Fight Professor” Quadros with a heavily accented “I don't know”. Clearly, those rules are gone over before the fight began, and maybe we could speculate whether it was just a “heat of the moment” situation. We could also speculate that Malapeit was looking for an advantage by hurting Denny, but obviously those strikes are devastating to any fighter's ability to continue. Is this a case in which the language barrier was a problem? Again, we'll never know, but what we do know is that Malapeit was given a dose of exactly the type of gameplan that will annihilate his striking skills in the future.

Malapeit is being touted by EliteXC's brass, but he apparently missed the news that MMA heavily depends on the ground game as well as the striking game. Successful strikers in the sport have excellent takedown defense by using the sprawl, or have a base in wrestling to counter being taken down. Malapeit has neither, and it was proven on Friday night. The rematch will likely be much of the same.

Up-and-comers at ShoXC

The weekend is finally here without a big event in sight, but don't be so sure that you won't be entertained. The “minor leagues” series known as ShoXC is holding an event on Friday night that will feature one of the better up-and-coming fighters in Muay Thai specialist Malapeit (3-1). Although he's strictly a standup striker at this point in his career, he does have knockout power, devastating leg kicks, and the ability to chop down standup specialists with his excellent Muay Thai skill. He'll be taking on King of the Cage veteran Thomas Denny. It should be a good test for Malapeit's sprawl. Also featured on the card will be former champion Aaron Rosa and former IFL fighter Conor Heun.  Here's our brief preview and predictions for Friday night:

Main Event: Malapeit vs. Thomas Denny

A fight that is actually pretty interesting when you look at both fighters on paper. Thomas Denny is a submission fighter with 14 total wins by submission in his 25 wins. Although Denny has a weak submission defense, Malapeit won't be a submission threat as he is a champion Muay Thai fighter. Another factor is that Denny has only been TKO/KO'd twice in 41 total fights. The simple stylistic matchup should be interesting to see because of Malapeit's strong standup vs. Denny's ability to put him to the floor. In fact, both fighters are near a -115 in the betting game. Malapeit has over 180 Muay Thai fights and world championship titles, so it'll be interesting if Denny can get through Malapeit's standup.

So, what's going to happen in this battle? Will Malapeit have some type of defense against Denny's takedowns and subsequent submission attempts? Can his sprawl be effective? That's the biggest question in this battle, but as always, I'll rely on Denny's ground tactics to push Malapeit to the floor for the submission win. This will be Malapeit's first major test, and I don't think he can overcome Denny's experience or submission ability. Denny may have 16 losses to his credit, but Malapeit hasn't faced stiff competition until now.

Leland's Prediction: Thomas Denny via submission, Round 2

Marlon Matias vs. Conor Heun

Matias hasn't fought in over a year with his last fight being a losing effort to Carlo Prater in Brazil. He does however boast a 5-1 record with some quick knockout victories over novice competition. Conor Heun is mainly a submission fighter, but has stated in some interviews that he has been improving his Muay Thai skills significantly. Heun may try to trade with Mathias, but he should have the advantage on the ground in this fight. Heun is fairly elusive in taking big blows, so I believe if he does get in trouble, he'll have enough sense to put this to the ground and defeat Matias.

Leland's Prediction: Conor Heun via submission, Round 1

Aaron Rosa vs. Jaime Fletcher

Rosa is looking to redeem himself after a loss to Jared Hamman in October of last year. A member of Team Punishment, Rosa has some skills in all areas of the game, but he's primarily a ground and pounder much like Team Punishment's founder Tito Ortiz.

Fletcher is most notable for being knocked out at Pancrase: Rising 6 by Ryo Kawamura. At 5-3, he's not the strongest opponent for Rosa on paper, but he does have some submission abilities on the ground. Rosa will likely be able to counter those skills, and he should be able to put Fletcher away.

Leland's Prediction: Aaron Rosa via TKO, Round 2

Quick Hits
Shane Del Rosario vs. Analu Brash: Shane is green to the mixed martial arts, but has an undefeated record at 3-0 and trains with Team Oyama (Razor Rob, Ian McCall, Hector Ramirez). Brash (1-1) looks to be a submission fighter, so he could be a problem for Rosario, but Rosario will have a decent sprawl if he's been training at Oyama. Rosario via TKO, Round 1

Mark Oshiro vs. Chris Cariaso: On paper, the fight looks fairly even. Oshiro is sitting at 9-1 while Cariaso remains undefeated at 6-0. Both guys have fought low echelon talent as they moved their way up to bigger fights, and it looks like this will be a good test for both fighters. My pick is Oshiro for the mere fact that he has finished most of his fights. Cariaso has only finished one of his six battles. Oshiro via TKO, Round 1

Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm vs. Vince Guzman: You can't make this stuff up. Fancy Pants impressed us at the Strikeforce at the Dome card by defeating Ray Perales. Okay, maybe it wasn't that impressive, but his “fancy pants” that he wears in the cage and the fact that his last name resembles “beer bong” has me wanting to pick Beerbohm. Beerbohm via decision

Brandon Tarn vs. Jason Williams: Pick'em fight with Tarn at 0-1 and Williams at 0-2. I'll take Tarns. Tarns via submission, Round 2

David Howard vs. Mark Kempthorne: Another pick'em fight. Howard is a newcomer, but Kempthorne is 1-4 with a lot of losses via TKO. Kempthorne has been fed to better talent, so I'll take him against a guy making his debut. Kempthorne via TKO, Round 1

Another installment of EliteXC's proving ground will take place on Friday night with a ShoXC event from the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The card features BodogFIGHT veteran Eddie Alvarez vs. Ross "The Boss" Ebanez, and the debut of British knockout artist Paul Daley vs. TUF contestant Sammy Morgan. Tonya Evinger, Julie Kedzie, Kala Kolohe Hose, and a number of newcomers will also throw down in the cage. Ten matchups will be featured, and the event will be aired on Showtime at 11 PM EST. Let's break this card down.

Eddie Alvarez vs. Ross Ebanez

Alvarez (11-1) is amazingly unknown to many fans throughout the MMA fanbase. His skills have only recently seen the light of day as he was one of the featured fighters in the BodogFIGHT promotion. He gained considerable recognition as the BodogFIGHT Welterweight champion producing some solid wins over Scott Henze and Aaron Riley. His lone loss was in April to Nick "The Goat" Thompson in a very heated battle that saw him lose his title. After a solid win over Matt Lee, Alvarez has moved his impressive record to greener pastures.

Alvarez doesn't have an easy task ahead of him. Ross Ebanez (16-5) is a solid veteran fighter who trains out of Hilo, Hawaii with BJ Penn. Although he doesn't sport the same skills that you would think are synonymous with Penn's skillset, Ebanez isn't a pushover. The only real problem in Ebanez's game is that he's went the distance in 6 out of his last 8 fights. It's obvious that he lacks the ability to finish opponents of higher competition. Alvarez will be no different.

Expect Alvarez to push the pace and throw a lot of leather. Eight out of his eleven wins are via TKO or KO, so it should be a straight forward win for Alvarez. Don't be too surprised if Ebanez can outlast the onslaught and take it the distance though.

Leland's Prediction: Alvarez via TKO/KO, Round 1
_____________________________

Paul Daley vs. Sammy Morgan

Daley (16-6-2) is a British striker with some impressive knockout power. He hasn't strayed away from the stereotypical style that many Brits have been labeled with, but it hasn't hurt him in his matchups as of yet. In his last 4 fights, he's won 3 of them by TKO/KO, and revenged a loss to Paul Jenkins by causing him to quit by a punch to the body at Cage Rage 21. With key wins over Duane Ludwig and Mark Weir recently, he's looking to make a splash in the American MMA scene.

Sammy Morgan (19-9) was on the reality series The Ultimate Fighter. He was unsuccessful in his UFC stint, but had picked up a good string of wins prior to the show. His primary skills revolve around the submission game, but he's recently taken to throwing ridiculously inaccurate haymakers.

In his battle with Cung Le, Morgan looked terrible in his standup game. It could prove to be his Achilles Heel against Daley. Daley's standup will be far superior, but Morgan will most likely look for the takedown and submission. Don't count Morgan out completely, but if he decides to stand, there's no reason Daley shouldn't put him away fantastically. Morgan also stated in the pre-fight interviews that he was going to knock out Daley, implying that he will play into Daley's strengths. Sounds like he didn't learn from Alessio Sakara vs. Houston Alexander.

Leland's Prediction: Paul Daley, TKO/KO, Round 2
_____________________________