Gus Johnson tells us immediately that Ken Shamrock has been medically disqualified. He suffered a cut under his left eyebrow during warmups and the commission won’t let him fight. Ken mentions that he has fought through shoulder problems and a torn ACL and thinks this decision is stupid. Ken wants to fight and feels like it won’t effect him but that’s always easy to say when your participation in the fight has already been determined. Kimbo will still fight but will be taking on Seth Petruzelli. Petruzelli was a competitor on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter in the heavyweight ranks.
This certainly puts an early damper on the evening. Casual fans may not want to stick around to watch Kimbo face Seth Petruzelli. However, as Youtube has proven, people will watch Kimbo face any bum off of the street so it may not matter. Petruzelli is a more capable opponent than Shamrock. To the best of my knowledge, Petruzelli wasn’t recently knocked out by Buzz Berry. That’s the news, now on with the show. Oh, and Frank Shamrock still has braces.
Murilo “Ninja” Rua vs. Benji Radach
Referee: Jorge Alonso
Radach claims his fight style to be “Facesmashing Fu”. Great. Look what Yves Edwards started. That’s just stupid. Of course, I wouldn’t say that to his face or else he would face-smash my fu. These two absolutely wail on each other early. Radach seems to be getting the better shots in. Rua connects with a few but he’s been knocked off his feet three times. This is a crazy display of offense. Both men connect simultaneously and both go down on wobbly legs. I can’t keep up with this. Thankfully a clinch occurs. Ninja needs to take this down. Rua goes for a flying knee but ends up on his back. Radach gets on him but Rua goes for the armbar. Ninja grabs a leg and goes for a heel hook but Radach gets up and out of it. Ninja tries another heel hook but Radach rolls out of it. They grapple on the ground until the bell rings to signal the end of the first round.
Ninja opens the second with a leg kick. A knee from Rua. Radach is trying to counter Ninja’s leg kick with overhand rights but he’s not connecting. A straight right from Radach puts a hault to the leg strikes from Rua. Ninja goes for a high knee but slips on the canvas. Radach immediately lands a hammerfist that puts Rua on dream street. A couple of more accurate shots land before the referee steps in to stop the fight. Rua is out.
Winner – Benji Radach by KO at 2:31 of R2.
Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobold
Referee: Troy Waugh
Carano catches Kobold as she comes in on a half-assed shot. Kobold secures the clinch and has underhooks against the cage. Kobold grabs a leg for a takedown but it is a stalemate against the cage. They finally break and Carano tees off. Kobold returns some shots but doesn’t have as much steam on them. Kobold goes back to the single-leg but just can’t take Carano down. Gina remains standing throughout the first round despite Kobold’s attempts to take her down. They were lame attempts but attempts nonetheless. I still hate the three minute rounds for women.
Carano connects on some nice hooks early and immediately goes to a thai clinch. Kobold escapes the clinch and puts Carano against the cage. Kobold throws punches in spurts while Carano is getting into a rhythm and picking Kobold apart. Kobold gets her first takedown with 15 seconds left in the second round, which doesn’t leave her much time to do anything about it. Maybe if the rounds were 5 minutes like the men we wouldn’t have this problem.
Kobold charges Carano to start the third and final round. They struggle against the cage some more until the ref breaks it with 90 seconds to go. Kobold charges and Carano lands a nice knee that would have put a lesser fighter away. Kobold goes low for a takedown and Carano applies a side-naked-choke? It doesn’t work out as Kobold rolled out of it. She did, however, look to be in more trouble than you would think a side choke would cause. Carano finishes the round berating Kobold with kicks.
Winner – Gina Carano by unanimous decision.
CBS is using CompuStrike fight facts, which is similar to HBO’s CompuBox numbers for boxing. It’s a pretty cool feature and I’m glad to see it utilized in MMA.
Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson
Referee: Jorge Ortiz (2nd Jorge of the night)
This fight is in conjunction with Affliction. Roy Nelson is the former heavyweight champion in the International Fight League. Arlovski is a former UFC heavyweight champion and currently fights with Affliction. It’s good to see Arlovski on this card. This was a great addition. Tito Ortiz is in the building. Interesting.
Arlovski leads with low kicks until Nelson bullies Andrei against the cage. Arlovski trips Nelson but Nelson uses the momentum to roll into the top position on the ground. Nelson moves into side control. Nelson works for an armbar and they move into the 69 position. Nelson gets up and tries to measure a grounded Arlovski. That’s not happening so Nelson flops back on top. Nelson works for a kimura. He doesn’t try hard enough so the ref stands them up. Nelson punches his way into a clinch but gets caught by a hard Arlovski knee. This leads to more stalling against the cage and another restart in the middle. Arlovski lands a nice jab to Nelson’s chin. Nelson doesn’t seem to think defense or head movement is important against Arlovski.
Nelson lands a nice shot to start the second which of course leads to a clinch against the cage. Arlovski is picking Nelson apart. The big man is just not intelligently defending himself against a striker of Arlovski’s caliber. Arlovski pours it on and Nelson is in trouble. Nelson backpedals and Arlovski lands one more huge right hand that puts Nelson down and out. That seemed like an obvious conclusion to this fight.
Winner – Andrei Arlovski by KO at 3:14 of R2.
Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley (EXC Welterweight Title)
Referee: Jorge Alonso
Shields shoots but Daley has none of it as he sprawls beautifully. They tangle in the center of the cage for a bit but Shields shoots in and this time gets the takedown. Shields works on the ground, where he is best, and gets into a full mount. Shields is trying to land some punches but Daley is being elusive given his bad position. Shields has moved up higher in the mount with his knees practically on Daley’s shoulders. It may be teabag time. Shields goes for an armbar but is blocked by the cage. That’s pretty stupid. Daley turns into top position and lands a few punches from the top while holding the back of Shields’ head before the round ends.
Daley opens the second with a head kick. Shields goes for a heel hook from the ground but Daley squirms out of it. Back to their feet and Shields goes for another takedown but Daley is staying away from Shields. Just as I say that Shields gets a takedown and finds himself in full mount. Shields tries some elbows this time as the strikes weren’t all that effective from mount last time. Shields grabs an arm but then moves into side control. Back to full mount and Shields readjusts for the armbar. Daley tries twice to roll out of it but there is no escape, other than tapping. Daley does just that to give Shields his 11th straight win.
Winner – Jake Shields by armbar at 3:47 of R2.
Kimbo Slice vs. Seth Petruzelli
Referee: Troy Waugh
As stated earlier, Petruzelli is filling in for Shamrock who cut himself warming up before the fight. I’ve been an admitted fan of Kimbo’s chest hair designs and tonight he’s going with a single patch on his left pec. Not his best but as I say, “any chest hair artwork is good artwork.”
Kimbo denies the prefight glove tap. Petruzelli tries a front kick to keep Kimbo away. Kimbo tries to force his way in and Petruzelli catches him with a short right hand on the chin. Kimbo goes down and Petruzelli explodes with punches and Kimbo is done. The ref agrees this time and the Kimbo Experience is over.
Winner – Seth Petruzelli by KO at 0:14 of R1.
Final Thoughts
Petruzelli was gracious after the fight as was Kimbo. Gus Johnson called it the biggest upset in MMA history? Really? No one knew what Kimbo was capable of as an MMA fighter. His hype does not equate into actual ability. Seth Petruzelli was a step up in competition from Ken Shamrock but Seth is not a top heavyweight. He’s a decent fighter, but a Petruzelli win takes all the luster away from a Kimbo Slice fight. He just lost his Tyson-like aura.
Radach looked very good tonight and I would be interested in seeing him take on Robbie Lawler or even Scott Smith. The Carano win sets up a fight with Cris Cyborg Santos and that’s the only fight of consequence in the women’s division. Arlovski looked good but he wants to fight Fedor elsewhere and that means nothing for EliteXC. I wouldn’t mind seeing the fight, however. Jake Shields got another win but really showed a lot of holes in his striking. He wants to move up to middleweight but that’s not a good idea right now.
