Last night was the second installment of EliteXC on CBS and it proved to be a good showing for the EliteXC brand. Every fight was exciting, every fight had a finish, they crowned two new champions, and one champion defended his title for the first time. Who knows how the show will be received by the general public because it had little to no hype behind it, but for my money (or lack thereof), it was a very exciting show. Let’s take a deeper look…

Robbie Lawler sealed the deal this time around.

Lawler looked to be the better fighter in the first outing and I had the fight scored in favor of him until the stoppage the first time, but he sealed the deal last knight with a knee right to Smith’s ribs that sent the challenger to the floor and eventually led to a stoppage. The first time around, it’s hard to tell who would have won. But last night it was clear that Lawler was not going to let things get out of hand, especially after he was cut. As we look toward the future, it’s hard to say who Lawler will fight next in the middlweight division. After Murilo Rua’s devastation of Tony Bonello back in May, I have to think that Rua may be in line to take another crack at Lawler and try to win back the EliteXC title that was once his.

Jake Shields is extremely underrated.

Nick Thompson is one of the best welterweights in the entire world and Jake Shields made him look like a punk last night. I mean, Shields finished Thompson with a one arm guillotine from the mount. One arm, people. His other arm was posted on the mat. That’s extremely impressive against a fighter the caliber of Nick Thompson. I have Shields ranked as the #3 welterweight in the world in my rankings that I submit to WAMMA every month and last night he validated that high of a spot in the rankings. He may very well be the best fighter on EliteXC’s entire roster. When you make great competition look like child’s play, you’re not working with a level playing field. Shields doesn’t get a whole lot of play because he’s not in the one organization that really matters, the UFC, but he is without a doubt one of the top three or five welterweights in the world. It’s time to start giving the man his credit.

Read the rest of this entry »

Left without an opponent, Tom Murphy has been removed from the UFC 72 card this Saturday in Belfast, Ireland.

UFCJunkie.com broke the news late last week that Jake O’Brien had to pull out of the match against Murphy with a back injury (which could be career-threatening, according to his agent, Ken Pavia).  The UFC had contacted Justin McCully about filling in as a last-minute replacement but he couldn’t get his injury suspension reduced.