FiveOuncesOfPain.com confirmed the news late Friday with Cullum’s father and manager, John Cullum.

Cullum, 13-2, received his first shot a national exposure when he challenged Wilson Reis for the then-vacant EliteXC bantamweight title during a ShoXC event this past September. While Reis walked away with the title following a five round unanimous decision but the 21-year old Cullum impressed many pundits with his skills.

The Tucumcari, New Mexico resident last competed for King of the Cage in December, where he submitted Brett Roller with a rear naked choke at 1:47 of round 1. He also holds notable wins over Ryan Diaz, Zach Jenkins, and Jasper Church.

Cullum joins an already announced field that includes Atsushi Yamamoto, Micah Miller, Bibiano Fernandes, Hideo Tokoro, Daiki “D.J. Taiki” Hata, Chase Beebe, Hiroyuki Takaya, Joe Warren, Shoji Maruyama, Kim Jong Won, Takafumi Otsuka, Wicky Akiyo, and Masakazu Imanari.

The first round of the DREAM featherweight Grand Prix is scheduled to take place at Dream.7 on March 7 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The Grand Prix’s second round is scheduled for May at Dream.9 at a yet to be announced location. The finals are tentatively scheduled for Dream.11 in September at the Saitama Super Arena.

Below is a master list of all the MMA that will be airing over the next 10 days.
Damn, son. That is A LOT of mixed martial arts. My DVR is gonna get a workout.
What will YOU be watching?

All times Eastern.

Thurs 7/17

• UFC Countdown: Silva vs Irvin – 11pm – Spike TV (premier)

Friday 7/18

• UFC Countdown: Silva vs Irvin – 11am – Spike TV (re-air)
• Inside MMA – 9:30pm – HDNet
• Best of DREAM 4 Middleweight Grand Prix – 10:30pm – HDNet

Saturday 7/19

• UFC Unleashed – 4pm-7pm – Spike TV
• UFC Countdown: Silva vs Irvin – 7pm – Spike TV (re-air)
• Affliction BANNED Undercard: Emelianenko vs. Buentello – 8 pm – Fox Sports Net (live)
• Ultimate Knockouts 5 – 8pm – Spike TV
• UFC Fight Night 14: Silva vs. Irvin – 9pm-Midnight – Spike TV (live)
• Affliction BANNED: Fedor vs. Sylvia – 9pm – PayPerView (live)
• UFC Fight Night 14: Silva vs. Irvin – Midnight-3am – Spike TV (re-air)

Monday 7/21

• Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix Finals – 2am – HDNet (live)
• Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix Finals – 10pm – HDNet (re-air)

Saturday 7/26

• CBS/EliteXC Smith vs. Lawler II – 9pm – CBS (live)
• UFC 84 Penn vs. Sherk – 9pm – Spike TV (re-air)

(if we missed anything, let us know)

Born in Huntington Beach, Calif., the 37-year old father of three also owns and operates his own fight school in Victorville, Calif. According to Denny, the school has over 200 tuition students, including 34 professional and amateur fighters that train under him.

Despite a professional fight career that dates all the way back to 1999, Denny now finds himself on the verge of graduating from the California MMA scene and onto the national stage. On Saturday July 26, he will receive the biggest opportunity of his career when he squares off against Nick Diaz in a 160 pound lightweight clash during CBS and EliteXC’s second-ever telecast of “Saturday Night Fights.”

Denny made his EliteXC debut during a March ShoXC event in which he was declared the victor by disqualification after being on the receiving end of illegal elbows from Malaipet Team Diamond. Against Diaz, a fighter who he has been scheduled to fight several times in the past, Denny finds himself playing the underdog role as he takes a major step up in competition. It’s a role he has played many times in the past and one that he relishes.

“I’ll take being the underdog any day of the week than being the (favorite),” Denny was quoted as saying during a conference call with the media this past week. “When you’re expected to win and you’re expected to perform and you’re in front of all your fans, you have so much more pressure. Everybody’s expecting me to lose. Everybody thinks I don’t even belong in there. Man, I’m excited because everybody felt I didn’t belong in the ring with Tony Fryklund, that he was going to smoke me. I was an 8?1 underdog, whatever. I went out there and finished him in 1 minute and 12 seconds. I love fighting when I’m the guy who shouldn’t even be in there.”

While Denny is getting the opportunity to compete on primetime network television, he is doing so in Diaz’s hometown of Stockton, Calif. But just as he is unphased by being in the role of underdog, Denny sounds unconcerned about Diaz having a potential hometown advantage.

“It’s just him and I when we get in there,” Denny responded when asked if he felt fighting in Stockton was a disadvantage. “Obviously he’s going to feel a little more pressure than I am, because that’s all his friends and fans. They all hate me as it is. So do I have pressure? Not really. I think if you look at it, he’s going to be the one dealing with a little more adversity than I am. I’m expecting them to throw bottles at me, cuss at me, flip me off, everything else. If he goes out there and loses in front of his hometown, he’s the one that’s going to be shunned upon. I feel he has more pressure than I do.”

While Denny is pretty relaxed when it comes to the issues of Diaz being favored and fighting in his hometown, he wasn’t as laid back when asked about Diaz’s inability to make weight for his June 14 fight in Hawaii against Muhsin Corbbrey.

“Rules are rules,” he answered when asked about fighters not making weight. “They’re meant to be followed. If you sign a contract that says you’re going to weigh 160, you should come in at 160, not 169. So, I don’t know, I just think it’s unprofessional.”

While Corbbrey was willing to sign off on the weight disparity, Diaz better be on weight this time around, otherwise, there might not be a fight.

“If he comes in nine pounds overweight, the fight probably won’t happen,” remarked Denny. “It’s just ridiculous. I think he knows and he has something to prove that he is a professional. So I think he’ll come on weight and I think the fight will happen.”

But Denny isn’t looking for a way out. The fight vs. Diaz is one that he wants to happen, as he knows what an upset win would do for his career.

“It shoots me to the top [if I win], man and hopefully sets me up for a fight against K.J. [Noons] or Yves [Edwards],” Denny said. “I would love to fight K.J for the belt. That’s a lot to ask for. But, hopefully, I go out and shine like I feel like I should and maybe I’ll get recognized enough to get the title shot.”

FiveOuncesOfPain.com

The bout is one of three that is slated to air on SHOWTIME at 8 p.m. ET, an hour before CBS’ portion of the card goes live at 9 p.m. ET. The other SHOWTIME bouts include a featherweight clash between Wilson Reis and Brian Caraway along with Antonio Silva and Justin Eilers competing for the vacant EliteXC heavyweight title.

Feijao, a former heavyweight in the IFL, is 2-0 since joining EliteXC. He recorded a first round TKO over John Doyle in his debut for the promotion, which came this past February in Miami at “Street Certified.” He returned to the cage in June in Hawaii at “Return of the King,” where he recorded another first round TKO, this time over Wayne Cole.

In addition to competing for King of the Cage, Galbraith fought once for PRIDE, losing to Kazuhiro Nakamura via a TKO in the second round at PRIDE 32 in October of 2006. He’s currently on a two fight win steak and last competed on June 20 for the Raw Combat promotion, where he submitted Martin Desilets with a triangle choke at 4:14 of round 1.

MMAmania is reporting that SpikeTV will air UFC 84: Ill Will (Penn vs Sherk) at the same time CBS runs their second installment of Saturday Night Fights (Lawler vs Smith II) on July 26th.This comes one week after UFC will run counter programming in the form of Anderson Silva vs James Irvin to battle Affliction: Banned on PPV. I’m someone that says competition is never a bad thing and only breeds new innovations. If you’ll remember, UFC ran programming to battle EXC’s first CBS show but that show still drew massive ratings for it’s demographic. In summation:

In addition, Spike TV will feature a full day of mixed martial arts programming that begins at 4 p.m. ET with a rebroadcast of UFC Fight Night 14: “Silva vs. Irvin” special that is set to take place on Saturday, July 19.

Another full day of MMA on Spike from the UFC. While the Silva vs Irvin event is battling a pay-per-view, one has to wonder how a UFC replay will do against a CBS network show for Elite XC. Only time will tell but you can’t blame anyone for trying.

A female bout to best contested at 140 pounds between Shayna Baszler and Cristiane Cyborg has been added to the card for the next installment of CBS’ “Saturday Night Fights” on July 26 at 9 p.m. ET.

The event, which is scheduled to take place at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif., will also feature an EliteXC middleweight title rematch between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith; Jake Shields vs. Nick Thompson for the vacant EliteXC welterweight title; and a 160 pound lightweight clash between Thomas “Wildman” Denny and Stockton’s own Nick Diaz.

Baszler is 3-0 since joining EliteXC with wins over Jan Finney, Jennifer Tate, and Keiko “Tama Chan” Tamai. All three of her victories took place during ShoXC events that were televised on SHOWTIME. This will be Baszler’s first major EliteXC bout and it will take place on primetime  network television.

Cyborg, who is married to professional mixed martial artist Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, is 4-0 as a pro fighter, according to Sherdog’s fight finder. Competing exclusively in Brazil, Cyborg’s most notable victory took place at Samurai Storm 9 in November of 2005, where she recorded a unanimous decision victory over Vanessa Porto.

Cyborg is somewhat of an enigma in that there is strong sentiment amongst some hardcore fight fans that she has the potential to be the top female fighter in the world at 140 pounds. However, Cyborg has yet to garner that recognition as she has yet to fight on a major platform. Several attempts in recent months to bring to the U.S. have failed due to visa issues.

An extremely strong fighter with dangerous standup ability, her fight with Baszler will make for a unique blending of styles. While Baszler is very capable on her feet, she could be surrendering considerable size to Cyborg. However, on paper, it would appear that Baszler could have a strong advantage when it comes to the ground.

While nothing official has been stated by EliteXC officials, there have been rumblings that the winner of the Baszler vs. Cyborg fight could find themselves in the mix for a second CBS fight this October against Gina Carano.

“Saturday Night Fights” on CBS will be preceded by a one hour telecast on SHOWTIME at 8 p.m. ET the same night that will feature Antonio Silva and Justin Eilers fighting for the vacant EliteXC heavyweight title. Rising featherweight Wilson Reis is slated to fight Brian Caraway and it has also been officially announced that light heavyweight Rafael Feijao has been added to the card against a yet to be announced opponent.

A featherweight (140 lbs.) bout between Wilson Reis and Brian Caraway is the latest fight to be added to EliteXC’s upcoming “Unfinished Business” card on July 26 in Stockton, Calif.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of the news after contacting EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw.

According to Shaw, the Reis vs. Caraway matchup will be the opener of SHOWTIME’s telecast at 8 p.m. ET, which will feature two fights and lead into CBS’ second-ever telecast of “Saturday Night Fights” at 9 p.m. ET.

Shaw also revealed to Five Ounces of Pain that light heavyweight sensation Rafael Feijao could be added to the card if a proper opponent can be secured.

A title will not be at stake when Reis and Caraway fight. Shaw indicated that it could be until next year until a title at 140 pounds is instituted by the promotion.

Reis, one of the fasting rising stars in the lighter weight ranks, is 2-0 in EliteXC and 4-0 lifetime as a pro. He made his EliteXC debut during the promotion’s ShoXC event this past January in Atlantic City, N.J., where he submitted former Division I wrestler Zach Makovsky with a rear naked choke in round 2. He followed up the win by submitting Justin Robbins with another rear naked choke, this time in round 1, during the undercard of EliteXC’s debut on CBS’ “Saturday Night Fights” in Newark, N.J. this past May.

Caraway fought and won on last Friday’s Strikeforce show that featured Josh Thomson winning the Strikeforce lightweight title from Gilbert Melendez. Fighting Alvin Cacdac, Caraway won via a rear naked choke submission at 1:39 of round 1. The victory was his seventh straight and improved his overall record to 9-2.

Training under Dennis Hallman, Caraway is undefeated at fights contested at 145 lbs. or lower.

Silva will face extra scrutiny to get cleared for active duty in the Golden State. The 6-foot-4, nearly 300-pound goliath was removed from a K-1 “Dynamite USA” roster over a year ago after pre-fight medical tests revealed a pituitary gland tumor in the 26-year-old’s cranial region.

Under the commission’s recommendation, “Pezao” underwent surgery last summer to remove the tumor.

Let us all hope the bout occurs as it gives us a rare fight between big men from formerly separated organizations. Kharitonov‘s last bout was a beatdown of Alistair Overeem in K-1 to overcome his shoulder injury and knees to the face in their previous bout. Antonio Silva’s last bout was a not all that impressive decision win over Ricco Rodriguez at Showtime’s EXC Street Certified event in February.

I’d look highly forward to this bout but whenever Armando Garcia is in any small way involved I’ll just assume something excellent isn’t going to happen until I see it with my own eyes.

The CBS telecast will begin at 9 p.m. ET and is scheduled to last two hours in duration. Premium cable network SHOWTIME, a sibling company of CBS’, will be televising a one-hour lead-in of undercard fights starting at 8 p.m. ET.

The release revealed that there will be three title fights on the show. Confirmed is a fight for the vacant EliteXC heavyweight title between Antonio Silva and a fighter that has yet to be announced. Silva’s fight will anchor the SHOWTIME portion of the show.

The main event for “Saturday Night Fights” is a rematch between EliteXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler taking on challenger Scott Smith.

It has also been confirmed that Jake Shields will be competing for the vacant EliteXC welterweight title against former BodogFIGHT welterweight champion Nick Thompson.

The third full matchup confirmed in the release is a lightweight (160 pounds) clash between Nick Diaz of Stockton against King of the Cage veteran Thomas “Wildman” Denny.

While not mentioned in the release, officials from EliteXC have indicated in previous interviews that featherweight Wilson Reis and female fighter Shayna Baszler could be featured either on the CBS card or the SHOWTIME card.

The former King of the Cage champion has agreed to face resident troublemaker Nick Diaz in his hometown of Stockton, Calif. on EliteXC’s second CBS-televised card at the Stockton Arena on July 26. Contracts are expected to be inked Tuesday.

My feeling is that Denny is just a filler opponent before Diaz fights Noons for the EliteXC title. Denny is a fighter who likes fighting on the ground and doesn’t pose too much of a problem for Diaz on his feet. Diaz is better at every facet of MMA than Denny. As long as Diaz doesn’t take him lightly this shouldn’t be too much of a test.

I do, however, wonder why Noons vs. Diaz isn’t taking place. Gary Shaw trotted Diaz out to the center of the cage after Noons’ last victory to hype up a fight between the two and now all the hype they created has been killed by this fight announcement of Denny vs. Diaz. Hopefully some answers will come to light.

Diaz is still expected to compete on the card but it’s not clear who he will face off against come July 26. Could EliteXC be saving this fight for another CBS card down the line? Too many titles on the line during one card? Stay tuned.

Shields is 3-0 in three career bouts with EliteXC with wins over Ido Pariente at K-1 HERO’s USA Dynamite! show last June; Renato “Charuto” Verissimo during EliteXC: Uprising last September; and Mike Pyle at EliteXC: Renegade this past November.

He is 20-4-1 lifetime with notable victories outside of EliteXC against Yushin Okami, Dave Menne, Hayato Sakurai, and Carlos Condit.

The Minnesota-based Thompson is a former BodogFIGHT welterweight champion, a title he won from Eddie Alvarez at BodogFIGHT “Clash of the Nations” in April of 2007. He is currently on a 12 fight win streak with his two most recent wins coming for World Victory Road’s Sengoku promotion. In addition to his win over Alvarez, Thompson’s other notable victories have come against Chris Wilson, Josh Neer, and Brian Gassaway.

The second airing of CBS’ Saturday Night Fights, titled “Unfinished Business,” is scheduled to be headlined by a rematch for the EliteXC middleweight title between champion Robbie Lawler and challenger Scott Smith.

GracieFighter.com, a site owned and operated by Diaz’s trainer, Cesar Gracie, indicated that EliteXC made the decision to cancel the bout due to “contractual obligations.”

While no official announcement has been made, multiple sources have informed Five Ounces of Pain that rematch between Diaz and K.J. Noons for Noons’ EliteXC lightweight title is expected to be added to the promotion’s next primetime broadcast on CBS on July 26.

Sources have also indicated that plans to hold “Unfinished Business” in St. Louis have been scrapped and that the July 26 show is now likely to be held in at the Stockton Arena in Diaz’s hometown of Stockton, Calif.

According to an unnamed source, it’s considered likely that the event is being moved from St. Louis due to a concern that several major sporting events are already scheduled to take place in the city during a close proximity to the July 26 event.

One of the chief concerns in hosting the event in St. Louis is that there is a large Monster Truck rally that already has had tickets on-sale for an extended period of time. The belief is that due the concentration of events taking place around that same time period that ticket sales might suffer.

By moving the event to Stockton, EliteXC will be able to capitalize on the local drawing power of not only Diaz, but Jake Shields as well, who is scheduled to compete for the vacant EliteXC welterweight title vs. an unnamed opponent.

EliteXC: Unfinished Business will headlined by a EliteXC middleweight title rematch between incumbent Robbie Lawler and challenger Scott Smith.

EliteXC just announced during the broadcast of EliteXC: Return of the King that Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith will face off in a rematch for the EliteXC middleweight title on CBS on July 26.Smith was on hand to talk to the broadcast team and said that his eye as well as his foot are both fine and he is ready to fight. So there you have it, folks. EliteXC on CBS in July is now official.

Main Event: Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith for the EliteXC middleweight title

Co-Main Event: Antonio Silva vs. Brett Rogers for the vacant EliteXC heavyweight title

Special Attraction: Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs. James Thompson

Female MMA Bout: Gina Carano vs. Shayna Baszler

I’ve got four matches instead of five because my guess is that CBS will want to avoid running long like they did the first time. Cutting the televised portion of the show from five fights to four would help create some time.

With only four fights, it’s such a tough call. There has to be a way to get EliteXC’s best pound-for-pound fighter, Jake Shields, some exposure. Nick Diaz is also someone ideally you’d like to have on a show but it’s tough to invest marketing dollars behind him when he’s always surrounded by controversy. Eddie Alvarez, Paul Daley, and Wilson Reis are all worthy of being on a second show as well, but I think using familiar names and slowly incorporating new ones into the rotation is the way to go.

What do you think?

Ratings for the final 51 minutes of CBS’s inaugural CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS mixed martial arts broadcast (11:00-11:51 PM, ET/PT), which were unavailable Sunday, delivered an average audience of 6.12 million viewers, according to updated Nielsen live plus same day ratings for Saturday, May 31.

The audience peaked at 6.51 million viewers from 11:30-11:51 PM which featured the night’s main event—Kimbo Slice’s victory over James Thompson.

Among key men demographics, the broadcast peaked from 11:30-11:51 PM with a 4.1 rating in men 18-34, 4.0 rating in men 18-49 and 4.3 rating in men 25-54.

The addition of the final 51 minutes lifted ratings for the entire broadcast. CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS (S) (9:00-11:51 PM) delivered a 3.0/06 with 4.85m viewers, 2.2/07 in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49, 2.3/09 in adults 18-34, 3.1/09 in men 25-54, 3.0/10 in men 18-49 and 3.2/12 in men 18-34. In the 9:00-11:00 PM time slot, CBS was first in the adults and men demographics, second in both households and viewers.

Compared to CBS’s 9:00-11:00 PM regularly scheduled programming on Saturday during the 2007-08 season, CBS was up +16% in adults 25-54 (from 1.9/05), +57% in adults 18-49 (from 1.4/04), +156% in adults 18-34 (from 0.9/03), +121% in men 25-54 (from 1.4/04), +173% in men 18-49 (from 1.1/03) and +357% in men 18-34 (from 0.7/03).

Adults Men Adults Men Adults Men Viewers

25-54 25-54 18-49 18-49 18-34 18-34

9 PM 1.4 1.9 1.4 1.9 1.5 2.1 3.38m

9:30 PM 1.6 2.2 1.6 2.2 1.7 2.4 3.66m

10 PM 2.2 3.0 2.1 2.6 2.1 3.0 4.68m

10:30 PM 2.6 3.6 2.5 3.5 2.7 3.8 5.53m

11 PM 2.8 3.8 2.6 3.6 2.7 3.8 5.84m

11:30 PM 3.1 4.3 3.0 4.0 3.1 4.1 6.51m

Photo courtesy of Sherdog.com and photog Dave Mandel.

This is a post-fight ear picture, after Kimbo Slice punched in head-on and busted it wide open.  Don’t forget to vote in our Poll (left column of the site) regarding your opinion on James “Colossus” Thompson’s ghastly ear!

PRESS RELEASE:

CBS Places First in Key Young Adult and Men Demographics with Triple Digit Percentage Increases Versus the Network’s Season Average on Saturday

National Ratings for the Highest Rated Part of the Broadcast—Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson —which Did Not Air Until 11:30 PM, Will Not be Available Until Tuesday

Local Markets Show Ratings Surge in Final Quarter-Hour

The inaugural CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS mixed martial arts event, live from Newark N.J., led the Network to demographic victory and significant time period growth among all key young adult and young men demographics from 9:00-11:00 PM, according to preliminary Nielsen live plus same day ratings for Saturday, May 31.

The 9:00-11:00PM portion of CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS (2.7/05, 4.30m) was first in adults 25-54 (1.9/06), adults 18-49 (1.9/06), adults 18-34 (1.9/07), men 25-54 (2.6/08), men 18-49 (2.5/08) and men 18-34 (2.6/10).

Editors Note:  Preliminary national ratings for Saturday night only include the 9:00-11:00 PM prime time portion of the broadcast and do not include the highest rated part of the telecast–Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson–which didn’t air until 11:30 PM. Full program ratings will not be available until Tuesday.

Also, CBS programming was pre-empted in approximately 5% of the country due to coverage of the Children’s Miracle Network Telethon.

The broadcast posted increases in every half-hour in key adult and men demographics:

Adults  Men     Adults  Men     Adults  Men
18-34   18-34   18-49   18-49   25-54   25-54

9PM                1.4       1.7       1.4       1.7       1.5       1.8
9:30PM           1.5       2.1       1.6       2.0       1.6       2.2
10PM              2.1       3.0       2.1       2.8       2.1       2.9
1030PM          2.5       3.6       2.4       3.4       2.5       3.4

Compared to the 9:00-11:00PM regularly scheduled programming during the 2007-08 season, CBS was up +36% in adults 18-49 (from 1.4/04), +111% in adults 18-34 (from 0.9/03), +86% in men 25-54 (from 1.4/04), +127% in men 18-49 (from 1.1/03), +271% in men 18-34 (from 0.7/03).

In the 54 metered local markets, the broadcast gained in every half-hour, beginning with a 2.4/5 from 9:00-9:30 PM and peaking at a 4.7/10 from 11:30-11:45 PM during the Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson main event.

Half-hour by half-hour ratings in the 54 metered markets.

·9:00-9:30pm2.4/5
19:30-10:00pm2.5/5
210:00-10:30pm3.2/6
310:30-11:00pm3.7/7
411:00-11:30pm4.0/8
511:30-11:45pm4.7/10

The Top 10 markets from 11:30-11:45 PM (featuring Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson)

1) Oklahoma City/KWTV 11.1/18
2) Nashville/WTVF  10.3/19
3) New Orleans/WWL               9.7/15
4) Memphis/WREG   8.4/14
5) Greenville-Spartanburg-  8.0/15
Asheville/WSPA
6) Las Vegas/KLAS   7.5/15
7T) Tulsa/KOTV  7.3/13
7T) Miami/WFOR   7.3/12
9) Los Angeles/KCBS   7.2/17
10) St Louis/KMOV               7.1/13

SHOWTIME will rebroadcast last night’s event on Friday, June 13 (11:00 PM, ET/PT).