Fighters Only

Issue 036

April 2008

Miami is known for many things, from Cuban culture to oranges and art deco, but certainly not MMA. Not until now, anyway.

Bank United Center, Miami, Florida February 16th 2008

Text: Keith Mills Photos: Keith Mills, Tom Casino / ProElite.com

While the rest of the country dealt with typical winter cold, fans were sweating in t-shirts waiting to see hometown hero and Internet legend Kevin ‘Kimbo Slice’ Ferguson take on UFC’s original bar brawler Tank Abbott in EliteXC’s first pay per view. EliteXC have grown well in the year since their first show, absorbing other events such as Cage Rage, ICON and King Of The Cage along the way. This card represented well some of the choice pickings of those shows and with a distinctive Floridian spin.

EliteXC have always said their goal was to put on the fights the fans wanted to see, and in the main event EliteXC proved that. Slice vs Abbott was originally matched for a different regional show in Atlantic City, but when that show fell through EliteXC noticed the Internet response and salvaged the fight, a sign they are paying attention to the scene and what the fans are talking about. This was a godsend for Slice, who although he has a sizable following due to his YouTube fights, only had one previous pro MMA fight, a 0:19 TKO headlining an event in November, and one amateur fight last June.

In just nine months Kimbo went from street brawler to two-time showtime headliner. Slice is taking the opportunities seriously, training with former UFC champion and legend in the sport, Bas Rutten to catch up fast to the competition: and when Bas says he thinks Slice is ready people believe it. Tank Abbott was the ideal opponent, carrying the title ‘UFC vet’ and a reputation as one of the most powerful, if not technical, strikers despite a few setbacks in his career. Guaranteed to see fireworks in the cage and probably a first round knockout, this fight had the fans buzzing.

The fight itself was lightning fast. Tank and Kimbo clashed immediately, trading powerful punches in the centre of the ring with Slice getting the better of the exchanges. Tank wisely went for a takedown but Slice showed he isn’t one-dimensional as he stopped the wrestling-based giant and knocked him down with a combination. Just as Slice moved in for the kill,. referee Troy Waugh stepped in, not to end the fight but to warn and deduct a point from Slice for striking the back of Tank’s head, giving Tank time to recover slightly.

Almost immediately after the fight was restarted on the feet, Waugh again stopped the fight, this time to remove debris thrown into the cage. Both breaks did little to clear Tank’s head as the two went toe-to-toe again, with Slice scoring a left to the face that resulted in another knockdown and a right - left combination that felled Tank face-first to the canvas. The downside to this fight is that it is difficult to judge Slice, even after two headline fights, because his total time in the cage barely passes one minute and all of it was on the feet. Regardless, the fans were the true winners this night.

Slice isn’t the only heavyweight EliteXC are building, as also on this card Brazil’s Antonio Silva had his biggest challenge to date against former UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez. Silva started out slow as Rodriguez scored punches and a knee, switching to a single leg takedown as Silva warmed up but scoring little for the rest of the first round. In the second round, Silva twice countered Rodriguez’s takedowns to spend much of the round hitting Rodriguez in the face from guard, opening up a cut that caused a brief timeout for the doctor to check. In the third, Silva immediately took Rodriguez down for more punches to the face from guard but after a ref stand-up Rodriguez took Silva down to even the round with punches of his own. In the end Silva scored most of the damage and received the judges’ nod, though his lacklustre performance was later revealed to be because of torn knee ligaments.

Round-up

The other three fights on the pay per view segment also featured UFC and Pride vets. Pride vet James Thompson met undefeated but unknown Brett Rogers with Thompson working well from the clinch but Rogers, breaking off to knock Thompson out in the first. UFC vet Yves Edwards turned a corner in his career. Edson Berto caught a single leg for a takedown but Yves used his supporting leg to score a flying-knee KO to the face.

Kyle Noke was edging out UFC vet Scott Smith on the scoring in the first round with an effective jab, but as the second round started Smith exploded on Noke with a vicious KO. From the undercard fans of sprawl and brawl should check out Dave Herman, who not only managed to keep American Top Team’s Mario Rinaldi from keeping him down but did most of his scoring as Rinaldi, known for his Greco style, refused to give up a single leg and Herman hopped around the cage blasting Rinaldi’s exposed face with his free right hand.

Overall it was a good start to the year for EliteXC. Their next event is a co-production with Strikeforce in March when Frank Shamrock faces Cung Le.

Full Results

Moyses Gabin def Jirka Hlavati via TKO 2:32 Rd1

Mike Bernhard def Lorenzo Borgameo via Submission (Triangle) 4:11 Rd2

Eric Bradley def Mikey Gomez via Unanimous Decision

Dave Herman def Mario Rinaldi via TKO 0:33 Rd3

Yosmany Cabezas def Jon Kirk via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 0:58 Rd2

Rafael Feijao def John Doyle via TKO 2:17 Rd1

Brett.Rogers def James Thompson via KO 2:24 Rd1

Yves Edwards def Edson Berto via KO 4:56 Rd1

Scott Smith def Kyle Noke via KO 0:07 Rd2

Antonio Silva def Ricco Rodriguez via Split Decision