
With less than six weeks until next installment of “Saturday Night Fights” event on CBS, Elite XC doesn’t have much time to make this thing happen. Accordingly, the wheels are in motion to put together a solid card on July 26 that will appeal to a nationwide television audience just three days removed from Elite XC: “Return of the King.”
As we mentioned earlier, “Unfinished Business” will feature a rematch between Elite XC Middleweight Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler and Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith. The pair put on a show in their first encounter last month, only to have the bout halted in the third round because of an inadvertent eye poke, resulting in a disappointing “No contest.”
Had the bout been able to resume it could have turned out to be the best fight in the history of the young organization. Therefore, a rematch was a must … and is definitely worthy of main event status.
Top welterweight stand out Jake Shields has also been tapped to make an appearance; however, he will likely not take on Drew Fickett. Several reports have indicated that Nick Thompson, Jay Hieron or Paul “Semtex” Daley are all possible opponents to fight Shields for the vacant welterweight crown.
In addition, Elite XC is considering a heavyweight fight — that could also have heavyweight title implications — that includes Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, according to SI.com. An opponent for Bigfoot is also unknown at this time, but IFL champ Roy “Big Country” Nelson’s name has been mentioned by numerous outlets as the top choice.
And a female match between Shayna Baszler and Kelly Kobald is also being talked about. The promotion’s most marketable female fighter, Gina Carano, will likely return to action for the third televised CBS show sometime in the fall. It could possibly mark the first-ever woman’s championship in the newly designed 145 pound weight class.
The winner of the fight between Baszler and Kobald, in theory, would be a likely choice for that spot.
Besides having two (or possibly three) title fights headlining the network broadcast, Elite XC is also exploring additional options to spice up the action — a joint CBS/Showtime telecast. The plan being discussed will have Showtime air a 60- to 90-minute show with three or four fights starting at 7:30 p.m. ET that would serve as a lead-in to the CBS main card telecast at 9 p.m. ET.
Wilson Reis — who competed on the under card of the May 31 show and dominated Justin Robbins with his sensational Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills en route to winning with a first round rear naked choke — is expected to be featured on the Showtime portion of the joint-telecast.
It seems like a great idea on paper, but Elite XC had a lot of problems keeping the last “Saturday Night Fights” event within the scheduled two-hour time slot. And that card was set up for a lot of quick finishes. With this event looking to be more of a competitive one, and having three potential five-round fights, those time problems could certainly persist.
The Sawis Center in St. Louis, Missouri, is being looked at as a possible venue for the night. However, no location has been made official at this time.
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I don’t give a rats ass about Elite XC. I may or may not watch this fight however. Puls Jake Sheilds is a great Welterweight and will destroy any of those fighters. I’m still undecided abou twatching this and I hope it doesn’t turn into another disaster
Jake will be a favorite over all of those fighters, but I REALLY want to see him fight Paul Daley. However, if they fought, Jake wouldn’t even bother standing with him. I don’t see Daley being able to defend a Sheilds take down. Anc once he’s on his back, I’d expect Jake to pound him out.
Jay Hieron is a has been.
I actually think that the Goat might be the best fight of the three, but still Jake will dominate.
I am rooting for Daley to get the fight.
I gotta admit, I can’t wait to see this rematch.
Roy Nelson vs. Big Foot would be incredible, and I would love to see Jay fight Jake.. that would be an INCREDIBLE fight. Got to give Elite XC credit, they put on good fights, on paper.
Mr. NC 17: wHY? Wouldnt u rather see Jake vs. Semtex? It cant get mnore exciting than that!
Yeah, Hieron is the least of the 3 I want to see him fight.
But I agree that Big Foot vs Big Country should be exciting.
This card is REALLY shaping up and I’m looking forward to it.
And I know that the mexecutioner already got his Tivo all set to record it.
EliteXC ….yawn.
I honestly couldn’t care less about Elite XC. No disrespect ment to the fighters, but the org is a joke and Gary Shaw is a POS.
How can anyone take EliteXC serious when they obviously try to “manage” the outcome of their fights (e.g. Kevin Ferguson vs. Thompson)? They are tainted.
Jake Shields top 10 in the world
Robbie Lawler top 10 in the world
I’d watch this show.
Lawler is not top 10…maybe 25.
He’s no. 4 on MMAWeekly and no. 9 on Sherdog. Pizowned!111 imo.
What rankings are those, WAMMA, another joke organization?
WAMMA is not an organization. You are the only joke around here.
Has anyone on here ever thought of Boycotting EliteXC? Oh yeah, my bad.
I’m on board, F**k Gary Shaw.
LOL, that was funny mex.
The Kimbo fight was pretty disgraceful and it was the doctors fault for stopping Lawler/Smith – NOT Elite’s
i would boycot but i gotta watch scott smith just because of the local fighter shit but other then that im in
That’s because all of you are only UFC fans. You are not MMA fans.
Implying that to be an MMA fan you must watch/like every other oganization out there putting on a show??
Gary shaw is using these two again, cause he has to.He only has a handfull of “primetime” calibure fighters. wouldnt surprise me if he told the doctor to stop it so he could sell again.
I don’t trust Shaw he’s all about the smoke and mirrors.
The only fight on the Elite XC: “Abortion” card that took place in May was the Robbie and Scott fight. As much as I dislike the Elite XC, I’ll have to toon in to watch that rematch.
The only fight that I liked on the Elite XC: “Abortion” card that took place in May was the Robbie and Scott fight. As much as I dislike the Elite XC, I’ll have to toon in to watch that rematch.
-Edited, missed a few words.
Quite the bandwagon here.
is it bad that their card is no where near finalized and the event is next month?
you mean this card or the one thats a week before it called ultimate fight night 14?
sad thing being that ultimate fight night 14 is probably a better card…
Gary Shaw looks like that uncle they warn you to stay away from.
This next event will be tons better for sure. Big Country vs Big foot=HELL YES been dying to see them both face some tougher competition. After this win they will both be knocking on the top 10’s door. More like banging on it actually but yeah this next even is a must watch.
Your kidding right?
Silva is garbage, he should have lost that last fight to Ricco, and Ricco looked ridiculously out of shape.
The only one of those two who’ve fought anyone any where near the top 10 is Big Country cuz he got his ass beat by Rothwell.
I mean, it might be an entertaining fight, but I don’t see these guys making anyones top 10s anytime soon.
Antonio Silva could quite possibly be the future of the HW division. He is only 28 years old and has TONS and TONS of potential. The fighter he is today is not the finished product. When he reaches his prime, he will be insanely scary.
sadly i have never heard of him
Antonio “Big Foot” Sylvia has all the talent required to terrorize the future of the heavyweight division in mma. My beef with him is that he lacks agression! If he could get that furociousness in him, he will be a very tough guy for any heavyweight to deal with.
Didn’t James Thompson beat his ass in pride? or am I thinking of another giant guy…
u r thinking of someone else. Big foot has never fought in pride
He did NOT get his ass beat by that loser Rothwell. it really could have gone either way and many saw Big Country as the winner, but because Rothwell was the IFL’s posterboy at the time the judges gave the decision to him.
i also thought that Big country should have been awarded the decision, but like u said, IFL was slurping Rothwell’s nuts so they gave him the decision.
Does IFL do something different?
Cuz normally that call is made by judges who have no affiliation with the promoter.
i just want to see semtex fight jake shields both are exicting fighters but i think shields would submit him!
Get Dan Miragliotta ready for another Elite XC event. I wonder who he will screw over this time.