by Joshua Ottley of mma-underground.com
I have chosen to begin with the main event and work my way down what seems to be the main card. Although, it seems that the event's two-hour time slot will be affected if most of these fights end up going the distance.
The main event of the evening will feature Kevin Ferguson a.k.a. Kimbo Slice, the notoriously tough as nails, former street fighter and Youtube sensation. Kimbo is originally from Miami, Florida and he now trains out of Thousand Oaks, California with the legendary Bas Rutten. He is slated to face a mountain of a man in James "The Colossus" Thompson from the U.K. I would like to say that Thompson will give Kimbo a run for his money, judging by his own striking ability but given what I know about Slice, it's hard to believe that Thompson will make it past the first round. If he does then I will give him all the respect I can possibly give if he can make it through to the second. But as it stands for me, I'll have to go with Kimbo by K.O. in round 1. A left field scenario for either of these individuals would be if one manages to make the other submit. Although, with Bas training with Kimbo on his ground skills, as well as watching his Ray Mercer fight, I can find it somewhat safe to say that it wont be overly hard to believe if such a thing does indeed occur.
The precursor to the main event will be devastating striker "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler to take on the ever-talented Scott Smith. This one is sort of tough to call with Smith having only 4 losses on his record to some very noteworthy opponents, I might add. I can easily say that he will give the tough Lawler a go, as he seems to have the better of the ground game. But, if Smith decides to drop his hands or not protect himself properly while standing, then he will most likely be put to bed. So suffice it to say that it will be Lawler by K.O. in the second round, due to his "swing for the fences" mentality. Although I'm not counting out the chances of Smith doing the same. If both of these men keep the hands up and chins tucked, it will be quite a fight, indeed.
Next I will make my picks for the forerunners of these two match-ups. Beginning with the first women's MMA match to ever be broadcast on network television. This will pit Gina Carano a.k.a. Crush from American Gladiators against Kaitlin Young, one tough lady in her own right; having suffered only one loss in her career thus far. For this fight I would just like to state, as I'm sure most fans would agree, that this seems to be one of the more historically important match-ups in an already historical evening for MMA, in and of itself. First off, my personal opinion going off of Young's record, it is obvious that the submissions game is her kryptonite, if you will; having won all of her other fights by K.O. or T.K.O. with her only loss coming by submission. Whereas Carano, the more well rounded of the two fighters, remains undefeated as a pro, winning in every fashion possible. On top of training out of a world-class caliber camp at Xtreme Couture, Carano seems to have a far superior game overall. It's hard to say how the fight will end, but in my opinion this fight will go to Carano; as hard fought as it may be.
We will also see Brett Rogers take on Jon Murphy in their own heavyweight collision. Rogers currently undefeated has also defeated Kimbo's opponent James Thompson via K.O. and with all of his wins coming by strikes including one by tap out due to strikes, he seems to pose quite a threat to his opponent; who is 4-2 as a pro. Jon Murphy as a submission grappler seems to be pulling the short straw, as his opponent will most likely be looking for the K.O. while standing and sprawling, in one of the earlier rounds and my guess is he will succeed at doing so. If the game goes to the ground I can say that Murphy would stand a closer chance there, definitely. All in all, I give this one to Rogers doing what he does best!
Another fight that I am looking forward to personally will be UFC vet Phil "The New York Badass" Baroni vs. Joey Villasenor. With Baroni being a hot and cold fighter in my opinion, it all comes down to whether or not he's passed his prime or not, which to be honest, I truly think he is. With a record of 25-6, Joey Villasenor seems to be an individual who is always on his game, having suffered most of his losses to the cream of the crop in Pride. Even recently defeating my fellow Canadian, David "The Crow" Loiseau by unanimous decision. I personally feel that Villasenor will easily take the already washed up Baroni out of the box for good, in one form or another.
It seems to me that having a two hour time slot on CBS will not really allow anymore of the under card to be broadcast, so I feel it will be somewhat useless for me to continue making predictions, especially since I am fairly unfamiliar with those participating therein. So my friends, this is Joshua E. Ottley Esq. signing off, enjoy history in the making on CBS: EliteXC SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE FIGHTS!
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