Odds and ends heading into an EliteXC weekend
A few odds and ends. EliteXC makes its return to CBS this weekend with a main event of Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith in what will be a rematch of the most entertaining fight from the first event in May. There’s no Kimbo Slice here so the viewership should be down for this event. But to me, it’s the most important show. Any MMA promotion would’ve pulled huge numbers if they had the first show on network TV. I’m curious to see how EliteXC does without Kimbo Slice and the fresh factor helping them pull in viewers. It’s actually shaping up to be a very decent card, especially for network TV, and is definitely worth watching. Hopefully, the broadcast will be cleaned up a little and there will be a lot less lag time between fights. Honestly, I can’t see EliteXC lasting too much longer, at least in its current form, but competition is always healthy for the sport.
The UFC’s Fight Night 14 broadcast pulled tremendous numbers on Spike last weekend. The peak audience was more than 4.5 million for the main event between Anderson Silva and James Irvin. Very impressive.
In other UFC news, three more fights have been confirmed for UFC 88. Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans is the main event for the show in Atlanta, but Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson will be on the card as well.
An intriguing fight has been added to UFC 89. A light heavyweight clash between Keith Jardine and Brandon Vera has been added to the card. That should be a great fight and will be important to both fighters. Jardine needs a win after getting destroyed by Wanderlei Silva and Vera needs a convincing win at the light heavyweight level.
Affliction’s first event seems to have gone well, as far as PPV buys and gate is concerned. It’s still not clear if the promotion can compete with the UFC, but the first show was a positive start. Yahoo! is reporting Fedor Emelianenko will be back in action in October in a fight against Andre Arlovski. There are a number of fighters I’d like to see go up against Fedor and Arlovski is not one of them. I don’t think he has much of a chance, but he should fare better than Tim Sylvia did.
The UFC’s Fight Night 14 broadcast pulled tremendous numbers on Spike last weekend. The peak audience was more than 4.5 million for the main event between Anderson Silva and James Irvin. Very impressive.
In other UFC news, three more fights have been confirmed for UFC 88. Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans is the main event for the show in Atlanta, but Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson will be on the card as well.
An intriguing fight has been added to UFC 89. A light heavyweight clash between Keith Jardine and Brandon Vera has been added to the card. That should be a great fight and will be important to both fighters. Jardine needs a win after getting destroyed by Wanderlei Silva and Vera needs a convincing win at the light heavyweight level.
Affliction’s first event seems to have gone well, as far as PPV buys and gate is concerned. It’s still not clear if the promotion can compete with the UFC, but the first show was a positive start. Yahoo! is reporting Fedor Emelianenko will be back in action in October in a fight against Andre Arlovski. There are a number of fighters I’d like to see go up against Fedor and Arlovski is not one of them. I don’t think he has much of a chance, but he should fare better than Tim Sylvia did.
Kevin Richardson has been a fan of mixed martial arts competition ever since UFC 3, when 600-pound sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough was beaten by Keith Hackney. Kevin will cover the world of MMA — in Baltimore, nationally and internationally. He plans to take readers into the locker rooms and MMA schools, where they'll hear from local fighters and trainers. If you have a news tip or suggestions for the blog, please 
Comments
Chauncey- Jardine is too slow for Vera, and this will hardly be an entertaining match. Vera will easily dispose of Jardine in the first round. Jardine might be the biggest one trick pony there is, and we saw how successful that was against guys like Wanderlei and Houston Alexandar. Please don't waste your time responding about the Griffen-Jardine fight as I will simply say 1) Griffen is not a legitamate champion and every day longer that he sits on Top the UFC loses credibility 2) Jardine is a luck box
Who cares about EliteXC and Kimbo Slice? They are side show freaks.
What would be interesting is to see Cung Le in the UFC. That could be some serious stand up vs Anderson Silva.
GSP is not a given to beat Fitch, and I'm thinking the gritty fighter from Indiana will pull this one out. You heard it here first Chauncey.
Fedor will run through Arvloski and whoever they put in front of him, and will the media please stop wasteing our time with a Fedor/Couture fight? Does anyone really want to see a 45 year old Randy get demolished? Randy simply wants this fight for money, as he has no chance at all. No one does. That is all.
Posted by: Dave " The Meatball" Armistead | July 29, 2008 7:43 PM