Fighters Only

Issue 029

September 2007

June 22^nd 2007

HP Pavilion, San Jose, California

Report and photographs by Keith Mills

EliteXC are redefining the term “breakthrough year”. Fans have probably already heard of their first show in February, their second co-promoted with K-1 in early June, and the Showtime cable channel contract. Most recently they put on their third show, this time co-promoted with more experienced California-based Strikeforce. The venue was the HP Pavilion in San Jose, a.k.a. ‘Silicon Valley’, which holds about 18,000 but for this event drew 10,372.

As if to emphasise the temporary partnership there were two middleweight titles on the line this night with Frank Shamrock and Phil Baroni fighting for Strikeforce’s title, while Joey Villasenor and Murilo Rua fought for the EliteXC belt. Six UFC vets, two Pride vets and two K-1 vets battled on primetime cable, distributed to an estimated 13million households.

In the main event Frank Shamrock faced fellow UFC vet Phil Baroni in a battle of ‘love them or hate them’ personas. Shamrock revolutionised the sport in his fight against Tito Ortiz when he demonstrated the importance of endurance, but he hadn’t faced such a powerful striker in Phil Baroni since Frank fought Bas Rutten back in Pancrase. Baroni is known as a powerful puncher with good wrestling but his endurance is always questionable, leading many to speculate if the fight ended in later rounds Phil would run out of gas. Actually this fight unfolded just the opposite as many expected, due to both fighters sustaining injuries. Frank tore his ACL tendon two weeks prior in training and Phil tore a groin muscle in the opening minutes of the fight. As a result Frank was unable to enter the cage with the level of conditioning he is used to, while Phil was unable to get the leverage to throw his full power or finish a shoot. Instead this fight turned into a battle of technique versus power.

Phil started off the fight aggressively pursuing Shamrock, while Shamrock tried to draw Baroni out for more precise striking, frequently tagging Baroni with a sharp jab, pulling back faster than Baroni’s counter and throwing a right over Baroni’s slower jab to score on his chin. Baroni took Frank down twice in the first round but both times stood again after failing to crack Frank’s defence and advance position to throw his trademark heavy punches. Shamrock knocked Phil down with a combination but was deducted a point when he struck the back of Baroni’s head twice, and actually tied with Baroni for the round despite scoring most of the damage.

In the second Shamrock looked fatigued while Baroni tried to unload. Frank absorbed the punishment before coming back with superior technique. After a devastating three-punch combo by Shamrock, Baroni ducked and shot for the takedown but Shamrock sprawled, quickly transitioned to his back, and sunk in a rear choke. Baroni refused to tap and subsequently fell unconscious at the four-minute mark.

From the beginning of the fight between Rua and Villasenor it was clear Rua wanted to take the fight to the ground and he had little trouble doing so, but he did have some trouble controlling the positions. Rua survived Villasenor’s guillotine attempt and brief flurry of strikes from atop during the first ground segment but Villasenor’s spirit seemed to be crushed after Rua’s second takedown. Rua landed on top and obtained side control – for the rest of round one and all of round two Rua rained down punches and broke Joey’s will to fight, finally getting a TKO and the belt.

One of the more interesting fights was top British welterweight Paul Daley versus UFC and K-1 vet Duane Ludwig. Daley attempted an early takedown on the American which Ludwig denied, but the majority of this fight was Daley turning the tables on Ludwig, out-striking (particularly with kicks) one of the best strikers in the sport. Ludwig’s only real edge on Daley was with short elbow and forearm strikes from a distance just inside jab range but outside clinch, where Daley didn’t seem comfortable. Daley didn’t take long to adjust to this threat and managed to keep Ludwig at kicking range where he knocked down the more experienced Ludwig, following up with strikes on the ground for a second round TKO.

Other ‘name’ fights on the card were entertaining but nowhere near as close, such as Cung Le’s dismantlement of Tony Fryklund or Paul Buentello’s quick win over an out of shape Carter Williams. Overall the night had something for everyone from quick, decisive victories for newer fans learning the game to technical chess match type fights for the diehard fan.