Former middleweight number one contender Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (13-5) and Cuban Judo Olympian Hector “Shango” Lombard (17-2-1) will soon duke it out the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada, adding another exciting bout to the main card of Elite XC’s November 8 Showtime event.
Smith has been busy over the past few months feuding with division champion Robbie Lawler. The two competed against one another in the “Fight of the Night” during the debut for Elite XC on CBS back in May before having the bout ruled a no contest in the third round after and inadvertent eye poke.
The rematch went down two months later during the second CBS event. This time, however, Lawler proved to be too much for the challenger, handing him a second round technical knockout with some vicious body kicks and strikes.
Smith’s road back to a title shot will not begin with an easy fight — Lombard is a highly touted prospect with a solid mixed martial arts resume.
“Shango” — the reigning Cage Fighting Championships (CFC) middleweight title holder — will be making his debut for the promotion after inking a deal nearly six months ago. He captured the CFC belt with a unanimous decision win over Jean Francois Lenogue last November and has successfully defended his strap three times this year.
His last loss was in 2006 at Pride: “Bushido 13″ against the 2008 DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix winner Gegard Mousasi. ince that time, he’s put together a streak of 11 straight bouts without a defeat.
November 8 will mark his debut fight on United States soil.
The event will be headlined by a middleweight championship match between Lawler and number one contender Joey Villasenor. The vacant company lightweight title will also be decided in Reno when Nick Diaz and Eddie Alvarez clash in the co-main event.
The action will be aired live on the premium cable channel Showtime beginning at 10 p.m. ET.
39 Comments »
Aired on Showtime, not CBS. That is interesting.
No, its not really.
EliteXC said they wanted to put on a huge card for Showtime before the year is done. If anyone buys them out, it will be Showtime, since EliteXC has boosted Showtimes ratings and subscriptions heavily since they started showing EliteXC in Showtime.
should be a good fight. Cant wait to watch Fejao destroy the snake!
This card is looking of the hook!!!!! Diaz/Alvarez could be the main event and they can have Wayne Weems fight Marlon Simms 4 times for the undercard and it would still be a GREAT event. Diaz/Alvarez can easily turn out to be the greatest fight to ever take place in EliteXC – look for it to be a fight of the year candidate!
Hector Lombard is very strong and is a GREAT Judo guy. I find it interestting that he is fighting at MW with EilteXC. I remember the UFC was trying to get Lombard and had him booked to fight Karo at WW. OR is my memory wrong on that one?????
Regarding Rafael Feijao Cavalcante, I have been swinging from hit NUTS since his destuction of Wayne Cole which was the 2nd time I seen him fight live (on tv). He is soooooooo for real and he is young, he moved down form HW so he is big LHW and he trains with ummm, Anderson Silva, Nogueria’s, Machida…. The sky is the limit for Rafael!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Agreed on all counts VM!
I believe that you are correct about Hector fighting Karo at ww
Lombard had visa problems because he is cuban, right now he is australian citizen and has his visa problem solved
What a great fight and an even better card!
Lawler vs Joey
Diaz vs Alvarez
Hector vs Smith
Young vs Kaufman
Feijao vs TBA
Feijao is the one guy from elite that i think could actually make a run as a contender in the ufc, and thats saying something being that he is a lhw. i think he is their best young fighter (yes even over shields).
You dont mention Lawler, Villaseor, Eddie Alvarez, Hector Lombard (who the UFC was trying to get) in those regards as well?
eddie alvarez is the real deal son!
alvarez is the real deal, but im pretty sure he is a Dream fighter on loan to elite. my comment was on elite’s fighters.
JOESEPH. lawler already had his chance in the ufc at ww and couldnt cut it. i think he is benefitting alot from fighting lesser talent. after seein him struggle aginst scott smith, who was like the 15th best mw in the ufc when he left, i dont see him or villasenor as viable ufc contenders. i dont know enough about lombard to make a comment about him, but will watch him fight come friday. im just really high on feijao rigth now. wilson reis and abel cummings would both make nice additions to the wec’s bantamnweight division as well.
No B.W.,
Eddie Alvarez is an EliteXC fighter that was being loaned to DREAM.
Also B.W.,
Lawler has improved a lot since he was in the UFC.
I hope you are not one of those people that think a Fighter cant improve. Lawler and Diaz were both in their late teens, early 20’s when they were in the UFC YEARS ago. Since then, Diaz beat Gomi and Lawler killed Trigg.
i know that fighters can improve, i just dont think lawler or diaz have. diaz was well on his way to losing to noons and got a gift decision against aina. if anything, nick has regressed (wierd being that he’s only 25). i think if lawler was fighting in the ufc’s mw division over the last few years, he would have alot more losses and would’nt be close to being a champion. just my opinion.
and how has Lawler improved? I don’t believe he has a ground game. His stand up has always been great but who cares when not everyone will stand and bang with you like Scott Smith.
and alvarez has only fought once for elite and 3 times for dream, wich is why i considered him a dream fighter not elite. both websites list him as 1 of their fighters.
No, B.W.
His contract is with EliteXC, not with DREAM.
If EliteXC told him he couldnt fight for DREAM, he won’t do it. He only did, like Diaz, because EliteXC gave them permission.
and therein lies the problem with elite. why did they let a fighter like alvarez go fight for another org. instead of putting him on a cbs card instead of a bum like kimbo. i can tell you it wasnt for the good of the fighters. and lawler still hasnt improved since the last time i blogged to you.
Feijao was supposed to face Cyrille the snake i though.
Not yet confirmed, but yeah, those are the rumors.
Sweet. Finally some good fights coming to Reno. I’m goin’ for sure.
that is a solid card, i hope no drama follows
wasnt lombard supposed to come over and fight the heat at ww but was refused a visa?
Yup. He signed with EliteXC afterwords, when he became an Australian citizen.
Lombard is the guy who was suppose to fight Karo sometime ago.. but he had problems getting a visa.. I hope he got that squared away for this fight.. and I hope Scott gets his conditioning done right.. he looked sluggish in his rematch against Lawler.
Scott Smith looks a lot like Manu Ginobili onthe pic above…
what the he ll is that
Manu Ginobili is an argentinian basketball player and one of the best in NBA..
I may make a trip for this card. I am a huge Alvarez, Villasenor, Lombard and Feijao fan. All of these fights should be very competitive.
Where are the guys like Mexi (I do not dislike him, he is just very opinionated) who usually talk sh*t about EliteXC?
Absolutely.
This is a great card. Can’t wait.
i met scott smith in the bathroom line at ufc 73. he was with his son. seemed laid back and cool. he’s got heart and heavy hands which ususally makes a decent fight. go scott!
B.W is so bad lol anyways this card looks great.
About time Lombard has fighting someone decent. He has been fighting sub-standard guys down here in Australia for a while.
Solid card.
He has fought the best in Australia and watch him go in the States.We are lucky to have seen him fight here.and watch him go in the States TO MY MATE HECTOR THE SHANGO GO GET THEM AND WILL SEE YOU BACK IN SYDNEY AT THE LIONS DEN.MANUEL(TAPOUT)BECAUSE WE CAN BRO ALL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mate i have been training at the lions den in sydney were hector lombard has been a while.i’v seen him train for a very long time,if he could train in his sleep he would.watch out who ever crosses his parth in the cage,ring.here comes the THE SHANGO go the SPARTAN. GOD SPEED MY FRIEND
Hector is one of the most talented fighters I have ever seen and what I see in middlewieght opponents at elite xc hector will be wearing that title belt very soon,Very good ground and stand up you will be seen a great fight on the 8th and Hector will be walking out of the ring a winner Yes he had visa problems now he is over that he is a permenant american residant as well as an Australian Citizan so visa problems no more just bring your toughest middle wieghts