Last Saturday Gary Shaw held his first MMA show in Southaven, MS which was aired on Showtime. It was the first time MMA had been aired on a major network and the show provided a little bit of everything. With 6 of the 10 fights ending by knockout or submission and 1 ending by disqualification the card didn’t lack drama!

The televised card opened with Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett knocking out KJ Noons 3:43 into the first round. The two fighters were trading hooks and Noons caught the worst of the exchange being floored and knocked out by a big right hand. After the fight Bennett said, “You don’t talk smack to the Horse because he might smack down on your black ass. They brought me in here to lose and I proved everybody wrong.” Noons said simply, “He caught me with a good shot….that’s it.”

Next up it was the ladies turn. Gina Carano took on Julie Kedzie in what many people felt was the fight of the night. The action was back and forth with Carano getting the better of the exchanges. Kedzie was a tough opponent who took a lot of punishment and kept coming back, but Carano proved to be too much and won a lopsided unanimous decision. Carano asked the crowd after the fight what they thought and would they like to see this again and got a great response. Carano went on to say, “She’s strong and I’m glad I was bigger than she is. This turned out wonderful for us and the sport.” Kedzie praised Gina in defeat saying, “I have heard a lot of flack on the internet about people doubting Gina, but she’s one of the toughest woman I’ve ever fought.”

One of the most intriguing matchups of the night had Team Jackson’s Joey Villasenor going against City Boxing’s David Loiseau. Villasenor took Loiseau down with sweeps and slams at will and controlled him on the ground. The judges scored the fight a clean sweep 30-27 in favor of Villasenor. Villasenor said, “Whatever Elite wants me to do, is next.” Loiseau felt like Villasenor didn’t come to fight and the ref took to long to stand them when they were on the ground. He felt the decision was fair though.

The heavyweights came out swinging as Antonio Silva faced Wesley “Cabbage” Correira. Silva was too athletic for the iron chinned Correira and a knee started the beginning of the end for Cabbage. It took Silva just 3:49 seconds to knockout out Cabbage for only the second time in his 30 fights. Silva feels like he’s one of the best heavyweights in the world and would like the chance to prove it. Through a translator he thanked Gary Shaw and Showtime.

The main event of the evening was on; Frank Shamrock vs. Renzo Gracie. Shamrock came out with good strikes, but Renzo kept getting the takedown. Gracie never really did any damage from the top but Shamrock landed several knees to his body. At the 2:00 mark of round 2 the action was stopped and Renzo seemed dazed. The replay showed Shamrock landed 2 knees to Gracie’s head which lead referee Herb Dean to disqualify Shamrock in round 2 for an intentional foul. After the fight Dean said that Shamrock had been warned in round 1 for the knees and Renzo was not able to continue after the 5 minute recover time. Renzo was taken to the hospital after the fight. When asked what was next for him Shamrock said, “Apparently a rules meeting. I thought we came here to fight.” He also said he would still fight all of the Gracie’s.

Overall the show was a success and I look forward to the next Elite XC show! I think the women were well represented and Charles Bennett is the MMA version of Ricardo Mayorga. Antonio Silva is probably one of the most athletic heavyweights in the world and Joey Villasenor would give any middleweight fits. The main event was a little disappointing, but the rest of the card made up for it.

Undercard results:

Tim Persey-1st round TKO (strikes) of Bo Cantrell

Mike Pyle- 1st round submission (rear naked choke) of Ross Ebanez

Javier Vazquez- Split decision over Adriano Nasal

Edson Berto- 2nd round TKO (strikes) of John-David Shackelford

Riki Fukuda- 1st round TKO (strikes) of Chris Gates

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