By the Way, the Latest EliteXC Show Sucked

And I normally enjoy their product. Here are some notes:

- Bill Goldberg's gotta go. Period. I thought he did a decent job during September's "Uprising" card, but the broadcast came to a stand-still every time he opened his mouth Saturday night. Particularly awful were his post-fight interviews, which were laden with awkward pauses and his professional wrestling delivery.

- I can deal with the EliteXC dancing girls, even though at one point, a few of the girls were dancing when there was no music in the arena. But the guy dancers in the middle of the ring? Come on now...

- Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva looked good, disposing of a very sloppy Jonathan Wiezorek in Round 1. For a big fella, Silva moves well, especially on the ground.

- Jake Shields is for reals! I thought Mike Pyle would give Shields a tough fight. Nope. Pyle landed 2 solid knees early in the first round, but Shields shook them off, reversed a takedown attempt by Pyle, mounted, and then choked out Pyle via RNC in Round 1. Shields said he was pissed that this turned out not to be a title fight, and he seemed to have taken it out on Pyle.

- Nick Diaz didn't look bad in defeat. Sure, he took some big shots, but he also took some punishment early on against Mike Aina, Gomi, and just about everyone else he's faced professionally. As expected, he started out in a very tactical, methodical, almost precise manner. Unfortunately, KJ Noons did not and landed some very damaging right hands that busted up Diaz early on and eventually prompted the ringside physician to call the fight before Round 2. The best part of the evening was Diaz storming out of the cage, throwing up double middle fingers and slapping away a camera on his way to the showers.

- I'm a huge Nick Diaz fan, but hats off to KJ Noons. This guy loves to throw his hands, and he does it well. He also did a good job of stuffing Diaz's takedown attempts, which did not look particularly crisp. I look forward to more from Noons.

- Kimbo Slice didn't show me much, simply because he didn't have to. Bo Cantrell opened the fight with a spinning backfist (that didn't connect), and Kimbo repsponded with a right uppercut and a close-range right elbow. And that's all she wrote. If you ask me, Cantrell was psyched out before he even entered the cage.

- The Kleinbeck-Noke fight was also stopped as a result of a cut, but damn did Noke look good! Kleinbeck is a strong, powerful middleweight, but Noke gave him fits on the ground and seemed to be just as strong, especially from inside Kleinbeck's guard. I'd love to see these two meet again soon.

Overall, there just wasn't enough fighting for my liking; 5 matches gave us only about 18:30 of actual action. Luckily, I didn't have to pay for this card.

EliteXC Press Conference Recap: New Weight Classes, New Opponent for Kimbo

EliteXC held a conference call for the media yesterday to promote their November 10 card. Here are some highlights, courtesy of Sam Caplan:

- EliteXC has made official its weight classes: 140 lbs, 150 lbs, 160 lbs (LW), 170 lbs 9 (WW), 185 lbs (MW), 186-205 lbs (LHW), 206-265 lbs (HW), and 265+ lbs (SHW).

- A broken left clavicle will keep Mike Bourke from fighting Kimbo Slice on November 10. Bo Cantrell has been signed as a replacement.

- President Gary Shaw said that he'd welcome Randy Couture with open arms into EliteXC in virtually any capacity.

- Jake Shields and Mike Pyle will not be fighting for the welterweight title. Apparently, Pyle is unhappy with EliteXC and that his fight against Shields on November 10 will be his last with the promotion.

- Shaw said that he’s trying to get Antonio "Giant" Silva cleared for the card and that Yves Edwards is also a possibility for November 10.

- Shaw said he is open to using the tournament concept, not that it’s been reinstated in California.

- Kimbo has been training hard with Bas Rutten and has put smoking, drinking, and sex on the shelf for the time being. He noted that although he used to get high before some of his street fights, he'd never do that in MMA.

- Shaw said he'd like talk to Kimbo about getting him involved in pro boxing.

- Kimbo said he'd fight Tank Abbott "anywhere."

- Shaw said that EliteXC hosted Josh Barnett as a guest during their September Hawaii show and that he definitely has interest in Barnett.

- Shields said that a match with Paul Daley would be an easy fight for him (Shields) and one that he’d finish in the first round.

Kimbo vs. Bourke at Renegade

Kimbo Slice (real name Kevin Ferguson) will make his EliteXC debut as part of the promotion's November 10 "Renegade" card against Mike Bourke (who?), Pro Elite reps are saying.

Also appearing on the "Renegade" card will be the following:
Jake Shields vs. Mike Pyle
Nick Diaz vs. KJ Noons
Seth Kleinbeck vs. Kyle Noke

EliteXC Snags Kimbo Slice

ProElite.com's Sam Caplan broke the news earlier that Kimbo Slice has signed with EliteXC and will make his debut for the promotion against either Tank Abbott or James "The Colossus" Thompson on November 10.

Also appearing on that card will be Nick Diaz and KJ Noons, who will fight for the lightweight (160 lbs) belt, and Jake Shields vs. Mike Pyle. Not a bad little card so far.

For more on Kimbo in EliteXC, click here.

Nick Diaz vs. KJ Noons for EliteXC Title in November

Nick Diaz, who just extended his deal with EliteXC by two years, will fight KJ Noons for the new EliteXC 160-pound title on the Nov. 10 event, MMAWeekly has reported.

EliteXC Signs Nick Diaz

Nick Diaz has signed a long-term exclusive deal with EliteXC that adds two years to his existing contract (Diaz had two fights remaining) and guarantees Diaz three to five fights in 2008 and 2009. Diaz will make his next appearance on Nov. 10 in Corpus Christi, TX against an unnamed lightweight who's already on the EliteXC roster. For more, click here.

EliteXC Officially Acquires Cage Rage

EliteXC president Gary Shaw announced today that Los Angeles-based parent company ProElite, Inc. has acquired popular U.K. mixed martial arts promotion Cage Rage.

"This is an exciting day for all of our organizations, but the biggest winners will be fans in the U.K. With the acquisition of Cage Rage Championships, ProElite and EliteXC continues to establish itself as the fast-growing, premier MMA organization in the world," Shaw said.

Cage Rage promoter Andy Geer said last month that Cage Rage and EliteXC will be engaging in fighter exchanges as early as next year.

For more on EliteXC’s latest acquisition, click here.

ShoXC Wrap-Up

The second installment of the Shotime/EliteXC Elite Challenge Series made for a decent night of fights that looked much less satisfying considering that I watched it immediately after UFC 74. Let's just get right to it.

Victor "Joe Boxer"Valenzuela vs. Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett - Both fighters came out swinging big in the first round, with the crisper boxing belonging to Valenzuela. Always the showman, Bennett showed little respect for Valenzualea's punching prowess and kept his hands very low. Bennett did a decent job of avoiding damage with some head movement, but the same hands-at-his-sides technique that excited the crowd would ultimately cost Bennett the fight. Joe Boxer found his range and began landing some solid shots. He dropped Bennett, punished his body, took his back, and pounded him out for the submission win (via strikes) at 3:23 of Round 1. I like Krazy Horse, but any promotion that's looking to make waves on the MMA world should not feature him in a pay-per-view main event. Krazy Horse is becoming a caricature and needs to prepare for his fights like a professional athlete.

Seth "Mass Destrution" Kleinbeck vs. Jaime "El Cucui" Jara - Kleinbeck won a relatively uneventful Round 1 after landing some solid low leg kicks. Jara, on the other hand, mounted virtually no offense in the opening round against the larger Kleinbeck. Jara let his hands go a bit in the second round, but things were still slow. Kleinbeck continued attacking Jara's legs and, in the closing seconds, landed a vicious two- or three-punch combination that dropped and dazed Jara. The referee stepped in and called the fight with just one second left in thr second round, giving Kleinbeck the TKO win. I was rooting hard for my man Jaime Jara, who I'm sure will enjoy better success as a welterweight.

Jon 'Sherpa" Murphy vs. David "Bad Man" Huckaba - Although sloppy and frantic at times, Round 1 was an exciting one, with both men giving it everything they had. Huckaba, the Gladiator Challenge heavyweight champ, seemed to be the more effective striker, but Murphy showed some good wrestling and was aggressive in his late-round arm bar attempt. In the opening seconds of Round 2, it was the pony-tailed Murphy who landed a jab, followed it with 2 big hooks, and put Huckaba out for the night for the KO at :19 of Round 2.

Hector Urbina vs. Ray Lazama - Not fun to watch. From early on, both fighters seemed to tire and neither landed punches of kicks in any succession. Such was the case for all three rounds, and the judges awarded the unanimous decision win to Urbina.

Umar Love vs. Brendan Tierney - After both fighters spent a good part of the opening frame working for position, Love found Tierney's back, sunk in the rear naked choke at 4:08 of Rd. 1, and then broke down like a sissymary.

The highlight of the evening - without a doubt! - was the EliteXC girls. Compared to the UFC ring girls, the EliteXC gals are better built and they actually dance a little bit for you.

If Gary Shaw and the EliteXC want to offer cards on the same night of a UFC pay-per-view event, they're going to have to deliver something better than this.

Straight Talk

"I don't want to say I hate the guy because the word hate is a little harsh, but I definitely don't like him. He thinks he beat me in our first fight. I am going to hush him up. All he is doing is using my name to try to make himself look good and to make a name for himself. He's trying to take the spotlight away from me, but that's impossible."

- Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett talks about his August 25 opponent Victor "Joe Boxer" Valenzuela.

The Kodiak Talks with Jaime Jara

I first learned who Jaime Jara was a few years ago when I came across a Gladiator Challenge poster somewhere on the Internet, and since then, I’ve been telling my friends and anyone else who’ll listen about Jaime “El Cucui” Jara.

At the time, all I knew about Gladiator Challenge was that it was a West Coast MMA promotion where fighters like Urijah Faber, Tyson Griffin, Scott Smith, Rashad Evans, Hector Ramirez, and James Irvin, among others, honed their skills. But for some reason, I needed to know more about Jara, whom I still think has the best tattoos in MMA.

The more I learned, the more I became a fan. Jara’s highlight video is as vicious and as exciting as any you’ll come across, and in just five years of professional MMA, he’s managed to capture championship titles in four different weight classes, making him the only fighter in the history of MMA to do so.

If you’re not a fan of Jaime Jara, you should be, which is why I conducted this interview. His next fight will be on August 25 as part of SHoXC’s Elite Challenger Series, which will air on Shotime live at 11 PM. Undercard fights will be streaming live, as always, on ProElite.com.

Kodiak MMA: First of all, congratulations on knocking out Jeremiah Metcalf and capturing the Gladiator Challenge welterweight championship last month. Tell us about how you got that fight.

Jaime Jara: It’s kinda funny because he was supposed to fight Aaron Weatherspoon, and I got a call, like, two days out and they asked me if I wanted to fight; they asked me to drop down to 170. You know, I normally fight 185, but they asked me to drop to 170. I told them I wouldn’t be able to drop that much weight that soon, so we met at the catch weight of 175. His belt was on the line but because we met at the catch weight, he asked that I put my belt up too, so we both put our belts up and both were on the line. But that’s basically how it went. They called me and asked if I’d take the fight, and I told them I would.

Kodiak MMA: So you had to get down to 175 in two days. What are you walking around at these days?

Jaime Jara: I usually walk around at 205, and that’s what I was walking around at when they called, but I just signed a contract with Shotime, and I’ll be fighting at 185 next week. After that, they want me to fight at 170, so I’m walking around at about 185 right now. I’m going to be fighting 170 from now on, it looks like.

Kodiak MMA: You’re scheduled to fight Seth Kleinbeck on August 25 as part of ShoXC’s Elite Challenger Series. How are preparations for that fight comg along?

Jaime Jara: Everything is going good. I'm light; I'm underweight right now, but on Sept. 22, I’ll be fighting at 170, so I’m trying to keep my weight down. I’m sure I’ll be pushing some weight with him, but it’s not gonna matter.

Kodiak MMA: Like you, Kleinbeck is a big, strong middleweights with a great sprawl and some punishing power in his hands. What will you be looking for in this fight?

Jaime Jara: It looks like he’s a real good wrestler and he throws heavy hands. I think he’ll be hard to take down, but I’m going to stand with him, and if we don’t like how that’s going, we’ll take it to the ground. I’ve got great jiu-jitsu, so we’ll see what happens with that. I don’t know how his submission defense is, but…

Kodiak MMA: You’ve recently made MMA history by becoming the only fighter to hold championship belts in 4 different weight classes. you could, please take us quickly through your championship history.

Jaime Jara: I started and I was 240, and I got into that heavyweight tournament (Gladiator Challenge 13, 2/9/03), and there were some tough guys in that tournament – Carter Williams, Pete Werve – and I ended up taking the belt then. Then I ended up dropping down to 205, took that belt, and then dropped to 185 from there. I’m most comfortable at 185 right now, I’d have to say.

Kodiak MMA: You’re 38 years old, which I still can’t believe. How much longer do you hope to be fighting?

Jaime Jara: I want to fight as long as my body allows me to, but I’d like to think that I have four more years.

Kodiak MMA: You were a highly decorated high-school wrestler and later went on to earn a black belt. How did you get into MMA?

Jaime Jara: I always wrestled and was always doing some sort of wrestling or karate or something, and then I just met the right people. I met Cal Worsham, and he got me into it. He got me excited about fighting, and ever since then, I’ve been with Team X. I got a chance to get in with Ted Williams at the Gladiator Challenge, and from there, it just rolled. I started working on my boxing, I picked up jiu-jitsu. I’ve got this gift where I can look at something and pick it up quick, so I’m learning fast.

Kodiak MMA: For those fans who might not know too much about Jaime Jara, whose style most resembles yours?

Jaime Jara: Ooohhh…I think I’ve got my own style. I think I’m a little bit more unorthodox than most. I really can’t compare myself to anybody.

Kodiak MMA: Your nickname, El Cucui (The Boogeyman) – how did that come to be?

Jaime Jara: My dad gave me that name. You know, I scare a lot of people, man. The boogeyman is a monster. I scare a lot of little kids, and I scare a lot of people, so that’s how I got it.

Kodiak MMA: And if you’re scared, say you’re scared.

Jaime Jara: “If you’re scared, say you’re scared.” That’s tattooed to the palm of my hands.

Kodiak MMA: Jaime, thanks for your time, I’ll be rooting for you big time on August 25, and congratulations once again on becoming the only fighter in the history of MMA to hold championship belts in 4 different weight classes. Before we tap out, is there anything you want the fans to check out?

Jaime Jara: You can check me at my website at JaimeJara.com or you can go to KnockoutTV.net, and you can check me out there. Thanks a lot.

Elite XC Partners with ICON, ROTR

Yesterday at the Blaisdell Center in Hawaii, EliteXC’s Gary Shaw, ICON’s T. Jay Thompson, and Rumble on the Rock’s JD Penn officially announced their new partnership.

Their first card will be September 15th’s "Uprising," which will take place at Honolulu's Blaisdell Arena and will be broadcast live on Showtime.

The televised portion of the card will feature the following:

Murilo "Ninja" Rua vs. Robbie Lawler (middleweight championship match)
Nick Diaz vs. Mike Aina
Jake Shields vs. Renato "Cheruto" Verissimo
Joey Villasenor vs. Riki Fukuda
Gina Carano vs. Tonya Evinger

This is a good-looking roster. Rua and Lawler both hold the middleweight belts for their respective organizations, Nick Diaz returns as a lightweight, and Jake Shields - who holds wins over Yushin Okami, Hayato Sakurai, and WEC 170-lb. champ Carlos Condit - might be the best welterweight you've never seen fight.

Shaw explained that Nick Diaz had signed with EliteXC before he traveled to Japan to fight Takanori Gomi, which turned out to be a smart move. Nick Diaz, having beaten Gomi in such stunning fashion on the Pride stage, has certainly earned plenty of new fans and curious observers, which is a boon for EliteXC.

EliteXC will also be sponsoring the August 25 ShoXC Elite Challenger Series card (headlined by Krazy Horse vs. Joe Boxer), as well as Cage Rage 23 on September 22.

For a video clip of the press conference, as well as more about the September 15 card, click here.

Jara Returns for August ShoXC Card

Elite XC has announced additional fights that will be part of its second ShoXC/Elite Challenger Series event on August 25th, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The event will be broadcast on Showtime at 11:00 PM EST.

Returning to the EliteXC will be Jaime “El Cucui” Jara (pictured), who will take on middleweight Seth Kleinbeck. At last month’s inaugural Elite Challenger Series event, Jara filled in for Aaron Weatherspoon on very short notice and knocked out Jeremiah Metcalf to capture the Gladiator Challenge welterweight belt. Jara is currently riding a 9-fight win streak that dates all the way back to ’04, and he has the distinction of being the only mixed martial artist to hold championship titles in four different weight classes: welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight. I like Jara a lot.

In the main event, Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett and Victor “Joe Boxer” Valenzuela will finally get their rematch. These two fought brutally to a draw back in 2005, and there’s been plenty of bad blood since. This fight was ready to go as part of the Shamrock-Baroni card, but Krazy Horse's legal woes (and failing to then make his flight) kept him from fighting.

Also confirmed for the August 25 EliteXC card will be heavyweights Tony Bonello and Jon Murphy, light heavyweights Hector Urbina and Ray Lazama, and middleweights Umar Luv and Brandon Tierney.

EliteXC/ShoXC Results

- K.J. Noons defeated Edson Berto by KO at :45 of Rd 3

- Jaime Jara defeated Jeremiah Metcalf by KO at 4:15 of Rd 1

-Aaron Rosa defeated Jefferson "Tanque" Silva at 5:00 of Rd 1 (Silva unable to answer the bell for Rd 2)

-Muhsin Corbbrey defeated Lee Gibson by unanimous decision

-Scott Jorgenson defeated Chris David by unanimous decision

-Shayna Baszler defeated Jan Finney by arm bar at 2:40 of Rd 1

-Brian Cobb defeated John Reedy by rear naked choke at 4:09 of Rd 1

-Anthony Ruiz defeated Jason Geris at 5:00 of Rd 1 (Doctor stoppage between rounds due to Geris' injured knee)

-Josh Neal defeated Eric Beondo by TKO at 2:56 of Rd 1

-Anthony Rubalcava defeated Drew Montgomery by TKO at 4:19 of Rd 1

Morning Droppings

- In a new Sherdog.com interview, Vadim Finkelstein, Fedor Emelianenko's agent, discusses recent negotiations for the Pride heavyweight champion, the UFC's "very harsh" terms, and much, much more. It's definitely worth the read, so check it out.

- Elite XC president Gary Shaw has gone on record as saying that Thierry Sokoudjou "is off the table with EliteXC." Shaw said that EliteXC gave Sokoudjou "a very good offer" but "someone threw an astronomical offer at him that I was not willing to match." K-1, perhaps?

- Due to the many e-mail inquiries regarding my recent Luke Cummo interview and whether he drinks his own urine, I've decided to put the matter to rest for you all. The following was posted by Luke himself on the LukeCummo.com forums a few months back:

"I drink all that I can of my own urine. It has many advantages. It contains hormones, minerals, and elements that bind moisture to protein. Basically it is a recycling of things so that they can have another chance to get where they are destined. If you were to drink something, your body will want to excrete liquid in order to maintain a certain level of hydration. So it filters the blood and the urine may contain things that didn't get a chance to get where they were going."

For more on "urine therapy" and Luke's forum posts, click here.

Jara Replaces Weatherspoon for 7/27 EliteXC Card

Sam Caplan of FiveOuncesofPain.com is reporting that an injury to King of the Cage welterweight champ Aaron Wetherspoon has forced him out of tomorrow night's title unification bout with Gladiator Challenge champ Jeremiah Metcalf.

Filling in for Weatherspoon will be Gladiator Challenge middleweight Jaime Jara (pictured), who is riding a 9-fight win streak that dates back to 2004. Jara andMetcalf will meet at the catch weight of 175 lbs.

Jarra carries a 15-4 overall record and has held Gladiator Challenge middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight championship titles throughout his MMA career. According to Jara's web site, he is scheduled to fight on the Gladiator Challenge August 4 card, as well.

Tomorrow night's EliteXC card will kick off the new ShoXC EliteXC Challenger Series and will air on Showtime at 9 PM ET. After that, the show will air on Saturday nights. I'm going to check it out for sure.

New EliteXC TV Series on Showtime

I could have sworn that I posted this last week, but apparently I didn't. My bad.

EliteXC and Showtime announced last week that this Friday (July 27), a new show called ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series will make its debut at 11 PM (New York time) live from the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Yvez, CA.

After that, the show will air regularly on Saturday nights.

Basically, the show will feature young, up-and-coming mixed martial artists battling in a six-sided cage. Nothing too fancy. Handling the play-by-play and color commentary will be Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quadros. That's an excellent broadcast team, folks.

This Friday's debut telecast will run for two hours and will reportedly feature up to as many as five fights. In the main event, lightweights Edson Berto and KJ Noons will face off. Also fighting will be King of the Cage welterweight champ Aaron Weatherspoon and Gladiator Challenge welterweight champ Jeremiah Metcalf in a title unification bout.

Additional fights will be streamed and available at ProElite.com after the telecast. I'm certainly going to check it out.

Morning Droppings

- EliteXC president Gary Shaw says that the company's deal with Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou has fallen through and the Cameroon native is now expected to sign with K-1 Hero’s in Japan.

- With Wanderlei Silva off the UFC 76 September card, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell is expected to face Keith Jardine in the event's headlining fight. This is a lackluster main event, and Jardine is no substitute for Silva.

- Fighter/referee extraordiannaire Herb Dean had to pull out of his Cage Rage 22 fight with Dave Legano due to an eye injury. The big Herbivore later announced that he will retire from fighting and stick to being a mediocre referee.

- Speaking of this weekend's Cage Rage event, I came across this little gem on MMAWeekly.com: "Joe Mac vs. Jeremy Bailey did not happen due to Joe Mac's face being slashed by a knife the night before."

Trigg Signs with EliteXC

MMA veteran Frank Trigg reportedly told a Las Vegas radio station that he has signed a four-fight deal with EliteXC, which is ready to throw him right into the championship mix.

Trigg's first EliteXC fight will be on September 1, when he will take on Murilo "Ninja" Rua in a five-round middleweight title match.

The terms of Trigg's deal will also have him contributing fight commentary when he's not wearing his mouthpiece.

Morning Droppings

- My man Nick Diaz has signed a deal with Elite XC, and he's already begun chirping about a fight with Frank Shamrock. "I watched his last fight, and no disrespect intended, but I think I would whoop his ass," Diaz said. I love it.

- Travis Lutter will be making his octagon return against UFC newcomer Ryan Jensen at UFC 74, MMAWeekly.com reports. The middleweight division needs help.

- The Joe "Daddy" Stevenson/Kurt Pellegrino fight has been confirmed for UFC 74.

- Drew “The Master” Fickett has been removed from the July 7 UFC 73: Stacked card, for which he was scheduled to fight Chris "Lights Out" Lytle. Lytle’s new opponent has not been named.

Morning Droppings

- Congratulations to Frank Shamrock, Ninja Rua, Cung Le, Paul Buentello, and the rest of last night's Strikeforce/EliteXC winners. For complete details, click here.

- Lightweight Brandon Melendez did not make weight for last night's TUF 5 Finale weigh-ins, and NSAC doctors would not permit Melendez to try and lose the extra pound. Instead, they decided to let the match go on with 5% of Melendez's purse going to the NSAC and another 5% to opponent Joe Lauzon.

- Middleweight free agent Denis Kang says that he is in negotiations with the UFC, BodogFIGHT and EliteXC, just to name a few, and expects to make a decision this week. "It just depends on who is going to make the right offer,” Kand told FightNetwork.

- Renato "Babalu" Sobral defeated former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in a special grappling rules only Tuff-N-Uff exhibition match.