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| Elite XC Saturday Night Fights |
| Strikeforce | |
| MMA News Written by Arnold Lim, Photo's by Tom Casino | |
| Saturday, 04 October 2008 | |
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Seth Petruzelli knocks out Kimbo Slice in 14 seconds of the first round.
In a huge upset, former Ultimate Fighter 2 alumni Seth "The Silverback" Petruzelli knocked out EliteXC star Kimbo Slice at 14 seconds of the very first round ending a wild night that saw Ken Shamrock, the original opponent ineligible to compete due to a cut sustained in training the day of te fights. Off the ring of the bell, Kimbo came out and took the center of the cage, but a short right hand dropped him and Petruzelli pounced upon his prone opponent firing right hands until the referee stepped in to stop the fight at 0:14 of the first round.
Kimbo was so out of it that he tried to take the referee down after he stepped in to stop the fight! The shot that dropped Kimbo initially looked like an arm punch by Petruzelli, a short right jab that didnt appear to be particularly damaging it was enough to change the tide of the fight, and possibly Petruzelli's career as he won in the main event of what could be Elite's biggest audience to date.
"He didn’t train for me, I didn’t train for him…Obviously it was an opportunity for me to step up," said an ecstatic Petruzelli in the post-fight interview. Step up he did, as Petruzelli was able to buck recent trends and raise his stock through the roof, while Kimbo's took a huge dive.
Jake Shields over Paul Daley Armbar 3:47 Rd 2
Daley again started strong in the second round sprawling out from a takedown attempt and landing an nice hook that appeared to stun Shields. While the first stanza was mostly Shields, Daley’s confidence appeared to be growing in the second. Surprisingly Shields' conditioning was wilting, and his shoots began to look telegraphed and sloppy.
Shields was able to get another takedown and made it count, going right to the mount and working his way up to an armbar. This time there would be no escape. as he took the fight by submission at 3:47 of the second round. While he was able to retain his title, he may have had his least impressive EliteXC performance to date.
At the end of the fight he did make an interesting comment and appears to be considering a move to the middleweight division to challenge Robbie Lawler for his middleweight belt, that is if he retains his belt against Joey Villasenor.
Tito Ortiz to EliteXC?
It appears that Tito Ortiz is close to signing with EliteXC. Ortiz was interviewed on the live CBS broadcast and said he thought he was a week or so away from signing with EliteXC and talked about a potential rematch with Frank Shamrock. It is unclear at this point how certain this is but if he is announcing his negotiations on prime time TV, EliteXC may very well be the next home of the former UFC light-heavyweight champion.
Andrei Arlovski over Roy Nelson KO Rd 2
In the early goings Roy Nelson looked good taking Arlovski to the mat with a nice upper-body takedown and controlling the former UFC heavyweight champion from the top position. While he was in control of Arlovski's body, he was not able to do any damage from there despite being where he wanted to be and the referee eventually stepped in and restart the stalemate and from there Arlovski went to work. The "Pitbull" exploded with a flurry of strikes putting Nelson on the defensive but with only a few moments left could not finish as the first stanza came to a close.
Nelson drove in again to close the distance in the second but Arlovski exploded on Nelson again lighting him up with punches and kicks leaving Nelson fighting to stay in the bout. A big right hand followed a right uppercut, and that was all she wrote for the former IFL standout who flopped to the mat giving the victory to Arlovski.
Gina Carano over Kelly Kobald Unanimous Decision rd 3
“I think this was my toughest battle,” said Carano following her gritty battle with Kelly Kobald, and while Carano was never in danger of losing the fight, Kobald made “The face of women’s MMA” work for every inch of the unanimous decision victory.
Benji Radach over Murilo Rua KO 2:31 rd 2
Cris Santos over Yoko Takahashi Decision rd 3
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In a bout that few picked Daley to win, Daley looked surprisingly sharp, stuffing a takedown in the early goings and staying mobile and elusive. Shields for his part stayed patient and eventually secured a single leg and passed to the mount quickly against the cage to gain the dominat position. Shield’s offense went to work as he brought out the ground-and-pound tactics and the outcome looked bleak for the striker from the UK, but as Shields went for an armbar, Daley took advantage of position and escaped into the top position. Despite taking some damage through much of the first round, the tide had swayed, and Daley looked good from the top exploding with punches and elbows until the first round closed.
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