MMA Makes it's network television premiere in God awful fashion
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MMA Makes it's network television premiere in God awful fashion
Jackelope
6/1/08 3:34:58AM
EliteXC successfully managed to open the eyes of the general public to MMA in a way that I feel will very negatively effect the sport.
First of all- I've criticized EliteXC in the past for their WWE-like appearance. The girls dancing in booty shorts, flames shooting from the entrance and bad announcing. I had hoped in the interest of being on network television they would forego the booty shorts dancers and the ridiculous fighter antics/entrances. No such luck.
It actually started halfway decent with Frank Shamrock explaining a bit about the sport and the positions/holds. Then the fights started. Or then the god awfulness started. Take your pick.
Viewers were greeted by a ridiculous entrance that would have made Roy Jones Jr. proud in the form of Busta Rhymes introducing Brett Rogers. The fight following the ridiculous entrance was no less unimpressive. I had considered Brett Rogers somewhat of a legitimate competitor before this nonsense. And before I saw the ridiculous arm flailing KO he later scored. Throwing punches like a street thug leads to victory, I guess.
From one circus to another Phil Baroni makes his entrance to the ring. I could never explain the amount of pity I felt for Joey Villasenor having to legitamize his contender status by fighting this washed up egomaniac. Sparkly red robe, gigantic sunglasses and bad dancing galore. All that flash and just a little bang before Villasenor put the lights out. 10-10, bravo Phil Baroni. Bravo.
From there we saw some decent competition put on by the women. One of the best shows of the night and definitely two of the more skilled competitors laid it on the line and put on an entertaining show. If Gina Carano hadn't missed weight at the weigh in this fight would have been an unblemished war. Good stoppage on the doctor's part for that fight. The cut was in a bad location and I think the knowledgeable peeps out there knew it was over when they saw the close up of Kaitlin in her corner.
Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith put on a show for the ages. Too bad the vast majority of ignoramusi that filled the arena didn't agree. What was a fantastic stand up war was marred by the absolutely ridiculous amount of booing going on in the arena. I literally wanted to jump through my TV and beat the shit out of every booing fan in that arena. I was fuming mad on my couch. What a fantastic bout absolutely ruined by the legions of Kimbo nut huggers filling the arena. Raw talent and competition right in their faces and they're all too stupid to even realize it. Absolutely disgusting. Unfortunately that wasn't the end of the spectacle. It had to be further marred by a ridiculous stoppage for a simple and accidental eye poke. You don't want to question the judgement of the doctor at ringside, but no true fan of MMA would be satisfied with that kind of ending to a fight of that caliber. Their next fight will be a true barn burner.
Kimbo vs. JT... well, we won't discuss that one. I'm sure you will be able to read 1,000 threads in the next few days discussing it. I won't add to the Kimbo posts in this one.
All in all I give the event a 3/10. Thanks for reading
First of all- I've criticized EliteXC in the past for their WWE-like appearance. The girls dancing in booty shorts, flames shooting from the entrance and bad announcing. I had hoped in the interest of being on network television they would forego the booty shorts dancers and the ridiculous fighter antics/entrances. No such luck.
It actually started halfway decent with Frank Shamrock explaining a bit about the sport and the positions/holds. Then the fights started. Or then the god awfulness started. Take your pick.
Viewers were greeted by a ridiculous entrance that would have made Roy Jones Jr. proud in the form of Busta Rhymes introducing Brett Rogers. The fight following the ridiculous entrance was no less unimpressive. I had considered Brett Rogers somewhat of a legitimate competitor before this nonsense. And before I saw the ridiculous arm flailing KO he later scored. Throwing punches like a street thug leads to victory, I guess.
From one circus to another Phil Baroni makes his entrance to the ring. I could never explain the amount of pity I felt for Joey Villasenor having to legitamize his contender status by fighting this washed up egomaniac. Sparkly red robe, gigantic sunglasses and bad dancing galore. All that flash and just a little bang before Villasenor put the lights out. 10-10, bravo Phil Baroni. Bravo.
From there we saw some decent competition put on by the women. One of the best shows of the night and definitely two of the more skilled competitors laid it on the line and put on an entertaining show. If Gina Carano hadn't missed weight at the weigh in this fight would have been an unblemished war. Good stoppage on the doctor's part for that fight. The cut was in a bad location and I think the knowledgeable peeps out there knew it was over when they saw the close up of Kaitlin in her corner.
Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith put on a show for the ages. Too bad the vast majority of ignoramusi that filled the arena didn't agree. What was a fantastic stand up war was marred by the absolutely ridiculous amount of booing going on in the arena. I literally wanted to jump through my TV and beat the shit out of every booing fan in that arena. I was fuming mad on my couch. What a fantastic bout absolutely ruined by the legions of Kimbo nut huggers filling the arena. Raw talent and competition right in their faces and they're all too stupid to even realize it. Absolutely disgusting. Unfortunately that wasn't the end of the spectacle. It had to be further marred by a ridiculous stoppage for a simple and accidental eye poke. You don't want to question the judgement of the doctor at ringside, but no true fan of MMA would be satisfied with that kind of ending to a fight of that caliber. Their next fight will be a true barn burner.
Kimbo vs. JT... well, we won't discuss that one. I'm sure you will be able to read 1,000 threads in the next few days discussing it. I won't add to the Kimbo posts in this one.
All in all I give the event a 3/10. Thanks for reading
ocho-cinco
6/1/08 3:47:45AM
not much more to say except I can't wait for the rematch between Lawler and Smith. The fact that, that fight wasn't the main event in the first place explains the whole event in a nut shell. great post Jackelope
grappler0000
6/1/08 7:24:57AM
Yeah, I was really disappointed with this event...but at least that didn't bring back the Dragon Head fighter entrance.
SmileR
6/1/08 7:48:09AM
I just got done watching it and all I can say is I'm glad I wasn't the U.K's introduction to MMA.
What a disgrace! What the hell was with the people booing during the Lawler - Smith bout!! I couldn't agree with you more on that. Them "fans" should just stick to watching street fights on youtube!
That was like a pro wrestling event, the reffing was a shocking and the Dr was a joke!
What a disgrace! What the hell was with the people booing during the Lawler - Smith bout!! I couldn't agree with you more on that. Them "fans" should just stick to watching street fights on youtube!
That was like a pro wrestling event, the reffing was a shocking and the Dr was a joke!
D0wnUnd6e6r
6/1/08 8:44:26AM
Jackelope pretty much sums up what most people on here think. Awesome post man. CBS+EliteXc= Capital "F" Failure.
wolfman
6/1/08 11:00:28AM
I understand your reasoning for disliking the show and I can't blame you for not liking it. I also could do without all the BS, however; I enjoyed the fights and I think everyone is being a little harsh. Like I said I don't care for the stupid entrances or the go-go dancers(BS), but at least I got to see some entertaining fights and some variety. Also, this isn't directed at you, but the refs/doctors are to blame for the early stoppages. They were more conservative last night due to the prime time slot, new viewers tuning in were watching closely and so were the executives at CBS. I think I am one of the few that liked this show on this site. lol Anyways, good post.
Jackelope
6/1/08 12:47:21PM
Posted by wolfman
I understand your reasoning for disliking the show and I can't blame you for not liking it. I also could do without all the BS, however; I enjoyed the fights and I think everyone is being a little harsh. Like I said I don't care for the stupid entrances or the go-go dancers(BS), but at least I got to see some entertaining fights and some variety. Also, this isn't directed at you, but the refs/doctors are to blame for the early stoppages. They were more conservative last night due to the prime time slot, new viewers tuning in were watching closely and so were the executives at CBS. I think I am one of the few that liked this show on this site. lol Anyways, good post.
Don't get me wrong... I thoroughly enjoyed all three of the middle bouts. Baroni is a complete joke, but he can be dangerous. I think Joe Villasenor is a phenomenal mixed martial artist. The same goes for Robbie Lawler, (another one of my favs) Scott Smith, and both of the women. I really enjoyed those fights
Mchubb316
6/1/08 12:49:58PM
I thought the production was sub par. It was on a tape delay on the west coast, and they ran over their timeslot. I don't know anything about television production, but couldn't they edit some of the content to get all their fight in on time. With all the early stops, and ko's they also could have showed maybe 1 or 2 more fights. This doesn't look good for MMA, and may make other networks leary about putting MMA on there station.
candynuts
6/1/08 1:03:05PM
Well, I didnt not watch it live.. instead I TiVo'd it and FF through the commercials and the pre-fight announcing etc... But I did see the beginning with Frank Shamrock introducing the viewers in the first segment and thought that was very good. The entrances were a bit WWEish, but I will not really hold anyone accountable (I got a chuckle out of Phil Baroni's entrance) and the fights overall were fairly solid, except the Smith/Lawler and Slice/JT "finish". I would not rank it as low as 3/10, I mean, afterall it WAS FREE with good action during the fights so I really have a hard time majorly complaining. Id give it about a C- grade overall.
wolfman
6/1/08 1:13:40PM
Posted by Jackelope
Posted by wolfman
I understand your reasoning for disliking the show and I can't blame you for not liking it. I also could do without all the BS, however; I enjoyed the fights and I think everyone is being a little harsh. Like I said I don't care for the stupid entrances or the go-go dancers(BS), but at least I got to see some entertaining fights and some variety. Also, this isn't directed at you, but the refs/doctors are to blame for the early stoppages. They were more conservative last night due to the prime time slot, new viewers tuning in were watching closely and so were the executives at CBS. I think I am one of the few that liked this show on this site. lol Anyways, good post.
Don't get me wrong... I thoroughly enjoyed all three of the middle bouts. Baroni is a complete joke, but he can be dangerous. I think Joe Villasenor is a phenomenal mixed martial artist. The same goes for Robbie Lawler, (another one of my favs) Scott Smith, and both of the women. I really enjoyed those fights
Gotcha.
I guess I was thrown off by your 3/10 rating. 
Yeah, production was POOR, but I've seen far worse *Cough* Cage Rage *Cough*. I'd rate the event a 6.5/10 or 7/10. I think people expected too much out of this event and were let down. For a first ever prime time MMA event, I thought it went well. Minus the go-go dancers and some of the production. The early stoppages were crap, but understandable due to the conservative reffing for obvious reasons...
dstlvb
6/1/08 1:15:14PM
Between the stupid entrances, the mismatched fights, the bad refing , and the horrible announcers, i would have to agree its a 3/10
wolfman
6/1/08 1:22:51PM
Posted by dstlvb
Between the stupid entrances, the mismatched fights, the bad refing , and the horrible announcers, i would have to agree its a 3/10
Mistmatched fights? I don't know, but besides Rogers/Murphy, the fights looked pretty even to me. Lawler/Smith was a barn burner, the fight was in Lawler's favor, but it could have turned on a dime at any moment. Carano/Young was another great fight, good performances by both fighters. Thompson/Kimbo was very close. It wasn't the best fight, but who would have thought it would have gone three rounds?! We also got to see a lot of TKOs/KO's and it was free!!! Just my two cents... I agree about the entrances and reffing. The entrances were similar to their other shows, did you think they were going to change that much? I've already explained the reffing, although I agree that it sucked...
Jackelope
6/1/08 1:41:26PM
Posted by wolfman
Posted by Jackelope
Posted by wolfman
I understand your reasoning for disliking the show and I can't blame you for not liking it. I also could do without all the BS, however; I enjoyed the fights and I think everyone is being a little harsh. Like I said I don't care for the stupid entrances or the go-go dancers(BS), but at least I got to see some entertaining fights and some variety. Also, this isn't directed at you, but the refs/doctors are to blame for the early stoppages. They were more conservative last night due to the prime time slot, new viewers tuning in were watching closely and so were the executives at CBS. I think I am one of the few that liked this show on this site. lol Anyways, good post.
Don't get me wrong... I thoroughly enjoyed all three of the middle bouts. Baroni is a complete joke, but he can be dangerous. I think Joe Villasenor is a phenomenal mixed martial artist. The same goes for Robbie Lawler, (another one of my favs) Scott Smith, and both of the women. I really enjoyed those fights
Gotcha.
Well, this may seem a bit mean of me, but I rated it a 3/10 simply because of what it did to set the sport back, IMO.
I try to view each event as though I'm someone who has never seen a MMA event and who has heard John McCain's statements in regards to MMA. Also as a person who has watched some ESPN discussions in regards to MMA. Basically I attempt to put myself into the "general public's" way of thinking.
Major things it did to set the sport back-
-Failed to appear as anything more than a WWE sideshow thanks to the Busta Rhymes and Phil Baroni entrances.
-Did not showcase a proper amount of talent in all fights. Most notably the "main event" which showcased less talent than the three undercard fights below it.
-Embraced and geared the event toward the "street fighter" fans and not the knowledgeable and intelligent fans which post here for the most part. This was evidenced by the mass amounts of booing in the Lawler/Smith fight.
These are three of the main reasons why I rated it low. Let's not forget the woman reporter interviewing fighters before the fights being highly reminiscent of "Mean" Gene Okerland interviewing wrestlers in the back. Minus the off beat rants from the fighters I really don't see the difference and I think the sport should be doing everything in it's powers to separate itself from professional wrestling.
3/10 for bad representation in general.
wolfman
6/1/08 1:54:53PM
^ Good points, and you make a good argument and I also agree that new fans may be turned off due to the WWE presentation and other things you outlined. Good to at least read an argument with an intelligent reasoning for disliking the event(or presentation if you will, as you enjoyed the fights, but not the other BS). I'd give you props, but have to spread the love.
DCRage
6/1/08 3:09:03PM
The girls dancing in booty shorts, flames shooting from the entrance and bad announcing. I had hoped in the interest of being on network television they would forego the booty shorts dancers and the ridiculous fighter antics/entrances. No such luck.
Do remember that this is the same CBS that, once a year, forces the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show down our throats (and gets fewer eyeballs for it every year), so that shouldn't be a surprise. As for the latter, NBC does it a couple times a year with WWE, so again no surprise there.
As for the show, I gave it a 7/10 largely because most of the fights were good before those stoppages and for nicely missing some editing/muting (namely the "BS" chants at one point). I disagreed with most of the stoppages which took a bit out of it. My FOTN was, of course, Gina-Kaitlin. Legit great fight.
RMFG_187
6/1/08 3:15:27PM
personally, i like the entrances, maybe not the fireworks, but that the fighters go alone, and a steel ramp like the old days of UFC.
but I hated the fans!!!!
BOOING during Scott Smith Robbi Lawler? I Laughed at people that Booed at Montreal, and i was laughing at these Jersey nuts.
Worst of All, i Just totally lost respect for Big Dan. He was my favorite ref, now im liking Yves Lavigne more than him.
The best part of the night was OBVIOUSLY
JT Slapping Big Dan!!!
I WANT THAT AS MY AVATAR... Once i take this 1 off :P
DIBBS!
all in all, better than YAMMA, better than StrikeForce, 4.5/10, almost a pass :P
but I hated the fans!!!!
BOOING during Scott Smith Robbi Lawler? I Laughed at people that Booed at Montreal, and i was laughing at these Jersey nuts.
Worst of All, i Just totally lost respect for Big Dan. He was my favorite ref, now im liking Yves Lavigne more than him.
The best part of the night was OBVIOUSLY
JT Slapping Big Dan!!!
I WANT THAT AS MY AVATAR... Once i take this 1 off :P
DIBBS!
all in all, better than YAMMA, better than StrikeForce, 4.5/10, almost a pass :P