We will have our first guest post this weekend from an MMA author but for now, here's a few things for your Friday.

EliteXC has finalized the date (July 26) and the fights for their next CBS show. We will get a rematch of Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith, which should be entertaining. We will also have heavyweight Antonio Silva in action along with middleweight Jake Shields. It is actually shaping up to be an entertaining card. I’d be surprised if the ratings were half what they were for the first show since there will be no Kimbo Slice this time around but I think this will be a better event.

Let’s just hope EliteXC has learned from the last show and they keep things moving. We don’t need 27 minutes of nothing leading into a three-minute fight and we don’t need an event that runs 45 minutes over its allotted time.

More news and notes:

Matt Hughes has a torn MCL and ACL. Hopefully that won’t keep him out too long or affect his future fight with Matt Serra.

Evan Tanner considers retirement ... probably a good idea.

Here's a nice SI.com piece on UFC 86 main event ...  and everything you need to know about the UFC video game. Business Week also weighs in on the UFC video game.  

Fightline.com is reporting that, according to EliteXC vice president Jared Shaw, Slice will fight Brett Rogers in a heavyweight bout in October ...*yawn*. Clearly, all you need to do in order to get a match is to whine during a post-fight presser.