The Tailgate Blog

EliteXC is returning to CBS tonight for their second installment of Saturday Night Fights. This one is titled Unfinished Business. The first EliteXC promotion on CBS back in May was a ratings success pulling in an average 4.85 million viewers and peaking at 6.51 million. It remains to be seen if CBS and EliteXC can continue the momentum.

I personally think they are heading in the right direction based on reports I have read. First, they have made Gary Shaw take a back seat. This guy is the poor man’s Don King. In the first primetime event, he could be seen whispering in fighters ears immediately after a bought. I suspect telling them to call out other fighters and put on a WWE show. This ended with Nick Diaz confronting the champ KJ Noons at the end of the night and a melee broke out in the middle of the cage. Classy.

They are also getting rid of long ring entrances and dancing ring girls taking us in and out of commercial breaks. Good move, but they also need to upgrade their fights. Everyone likes to see knockouts and submissions, but not when it is clear two people are unevenly matched over and over again. I also think they need to show former WCW/WWE star Bill Goldberg the door. This guy is not a MMA announcer. All he does is take away credibility from the show.

Nevertheless, I hope they are able to incrementally upgrade their offerings and compete with the juggernaut that is the UFC. Tonight’s card has some interesting fights as the EliteXC middleweight champion, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (15-4), takes on Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (13-4) in a rematch from the May card. Lawler unintentionally poked Smith in the eye and a No Contest was declared. Up to that point it was a great fight. The current line has Lawler (-275) and Smith (+215).

The other fight I am highly anticipating is between Shayna Baszler (9-4) and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (4-0). This is sheer genius. The target demographic for MMA are males between 18-34. Having a nickname like Cyborg guarantees some level of interest from this group. The last EliteXC event featured an awesome bantamweight bought between Gina “Conviction” Carano and Kaitlin Young. If Braszler and Cyborg perform well, then women’s MMA is here to stay in EliteXC. Braszler is a (-260) favorite and Cyborg a (+200) dog.