ProphetFighting

Nick Diaz/KJ Noons postfight…

It’s over…ringside doctor says Diaz is too cut up to continue. Diaz is pissed and storms back to the dressing room. Nice–he stops to give a two handed “one finger salute” to the doctor. KJ Noons is the EliteXC 160 lb. champion. Diaz should have known better than blade so deeply. Camera is on Diaz in the back throwing out some expletives before cutting back to the cage. Vince Russo isn’t working for Elite XC now is he? That “Nick Diaz walking” shot was vintage Monday Night Raw during the “WWF Attitude” era. Bill Goldberg quickly enters the cage to..uh…restore some dignity to the proceedings. Goldberg admonishes the crowd and lets the doctor explain his decision. Goldberg tells the crowd to respect the doctor’s decision or ELSE. Or else he’ll walk through the crowd and “jackhammer” everyone? In all fairness hard to argue with the doctor’s decision–I didn’t see the location of the second cut but the first cut alone was in a location that may have justified the stoppage. Showing the replay of the first cut–Diaz shoots and Noons catch him with a knee coming in. Sucks for Diaz, but Noons is a solid fighter and no real beef with him getting the win. If Diaz can keep his razor blade in his trunks until at least midway to the fight I’d like to see a rematch. Noons now wants to win the 154 lb. boxing title. He then calls out De La Hoya and Mayweather….he might as well have thrown in Sugar Rays Robinson and Leonard since they won’t be fighting him either….

Nick Diaz v. KJ Noons round 1

Crowd hates KJ Noons…maybe because they’re also fans of the sticky green? They seem to be booing and whistling for Diaz too. That’s why I hate having events in flyover country–you get a bunch of bloodthirsty, drunken hicks that have no understanding of the sport. This fight is for the EliteXC 160 pound world champion, which is almost as prestigious as the spray painted “NWO” title belt that “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan used to carry around back in the WCW days. Sorry about all of the WCW references but what do you expect with EliteXC’s production and Bill Goldberg in the booth? Fighters feeling each other out with punches and a couple of shoot attempts. Diaz was a -400 wagering favorite meaning you could get +325 or therabouts on Noons. That’s a pretty good fighter at longer odds than Bo Cantrell v. Kimbo Slice. These are two of the better standup guys you’ll see in MMA as they’ve had boxing training. Diaz gets a takedown and momentarily had Noons’ back but KJ spins out of it nicely. Diaz has a cut over his eye and the ringside officials are looking at it. Nasty cut, but Diaz is a “bleeder”. Glad to see the doctor didn’t stop it but its in a real bad place just over Diaz’s eyelid. Diaz gets tagged and goes down and he’s trying to cover up and protect himself. Diaz may be playing possum, trying to get Noons to the ground. Diaz is trying to break the MMA record for most cuts suffered during one fight set by Keith Jardine against Chuck Liddell. Diaz letting his hands go and peppering Noons with punches. Bill Goldberg shocks everyone by making a salient point–he noted that Diaz was also a bloody mess in his war with Gomi. Gold-berg…Gold-berg…Round 1 ends and Noons takes it. Diaz’s face looks like one of the bloody Apter pro wrestling mags in the mid 70′s–the ones that had Dusty Rhodes or Abdullah the Butcher’s bloody mug on the cover every month. Anyway, Round 1 goes 10-9 Noons.

Nick Diaz v. KJ Noons prefight

I made fun of Nick Diaz for his use of the “hippie lettuce”, but he’s a hell of a fun fighter to watch. His final PRIDE fight against Takanori Gomi could have been the Ward/Gatti of MMA. Diaz absorbed a hellacious beating, lost what appeared to be two pints of blood–at one point Gomi was pleading with the ref to stop it so he wouldn’t have to pound on the bloody mess of Diaz’s forehead any longer–before pulling out an ungodly submission victory with a gogoplata. KJ Noons enters the ring to a nondescript hip hop track. They’re showing Diaz’s bio now–my friend Glenn Rockwell, who’s now in Thailand, always said that Diaz looked like the kind of big dumb guy that you’d like to hate but he’s such a fun fighter to watch you can’t. Diaz had his victory against Gomi changed to a “no contest” after testing positive for marijuana. As I said at the time he should have received a bonus after fighting like a rabid weasel under the influence of the sticky green. Corpus Christi, Texas….no offense to anyone who lives there but EliteXC has outdone the UFC in promoting a live event in the deepest recesses of flyover country. Anyway, the classy one is introducing the fighters and round 1 will start soon….

Kimbo Slice vs. Bo Cantrell Round 1

Crowd popping huge for Kimbo. Cantrell looks scared and I don’t blame him. Spinning back fist attempt by Cantrell but nothing doing. Kimbo closing the distance. HOLY SHIT!! Kimbo knocked Cantrell out cold with one punch. Like he’s not going to be a huge star in this sport. You can see the imprint of Kimbo’s fist on Cantrell’s forehead. Utterly devastating. I’m not crazy–Kimbo ain’t ready for Couture or Fedor but this man is no joke. With that kind of insane natural power, that fearsome persona plus the training of Bas Rutten his potential is unlimited….to paraphrase what Larry Merchant said about George Foreman as he entered the ring to fight Michael Moorer for the heavyweight title “there are many fighters, but few stars”. Like it or not, Kimbo has serious star power. If he keeps progressing he’s going to be the Mike Tyson of MMA and could take the sport to the next level of mainstream popularity. Whoever is doing color commentary hit the nail on the head when he said that Cantrell was “looking into the eyes of a demon”. Can’t wait to see Bill Goldberg interview K. Slice…..man, you forget what a big dude Goldberg is. He’s makes Kimbo look small. Kimbo gives a quick “thank my Lord Jesus Christ promo”. Jesus hits a riff on the turntables to show his pleasure at getting props from Kimbo. I sure wish they wouldn’t denegrate Kimbo’s win over Mercer…..Goldberg trying to steal Kimbo’s spotlight was also very WCW-esque. MMA announcers sure are dense–they recognize the popularity of Kimbo with the live crowd but don’t seem to get just how big he could potentially be. Look for the first rap artist dropping a Kimbo reference in a song within the next two months. KJ Noons/Nick “Ganja” Diaz coming up next…

Kimbo Slice vs. Bo Cantrell prefight…

They’re billing this as Kimbo’s “official MMA debut”….I know that the promotion that Kimbo *did* debut in was kind of a joke but that was a former world heavyweight boxing champion Kimbo tapped out in Ray Mercer. Bo Cantrell was a Marine which means he’s tough, but he looks like the lead singer of a “nu metal” band. He’s willing to be locked in a cage with Kimbo Slice which means he’s a braver man than I am. I say this every time but if Kimbo ain’t the scariest looking mofo on the planet I don’t know who is. I don’t care if Kimbo hasn’t learned anything from Bas Rutten that’s one powerful dude. Kimbo making his ring entrance….we live in a strange world as Jimmy Lennon Jr. introduces a guy who’s primary background was YouTube street fighting. Kimbo makes his way to the cage looking menacing as ever. I like the direction that EliteXC is heading in but I can’t get over how much their production looks like the WCW wrestling promotion during the Hulk Hogan/NWO era. Bill Goldberg just informed us that Kimbo is a 3-1 favorite. He was actually a -385 favorite at BetDSI.com the last time I checked. Why is it that I keep thinking of a white guy’s first day at a maximum security prison. Crowd pops big for Kimbo–if his skills keep progressing under Bas Rutten I’m standing by my prediction that he could very well become the Mike Tyson of MMA. Cantrell gets booed for having the audacity to get in the cage with Slice. I wish they were having this fight in a boat dealership like one of Kimbo’s YouTube fights. If you missed my article about Kimbo’s insane popularity check it out here…after the fight which is about to begin…

Kimbo Slice vs. Bo Cantrell up next…

Yeah, I know I‘m the worlds biggest Kimbo Slice mark. His Elite XC debut is up next…

Elite XC live blogging forthcoming…

We’ll pick up live blogging of the Elite XC “Renegade” card on Showtime with the next match….Jake Shields just beat Mike Pyle by rear naked choke…

New Tuesday Tapout up at Epic Carnival

If you’ve ever wondered what the result would have been had Jim Lampley mated with Hunter S. Thompson you can see for yourself in my latest Tuesday Tapout at the Epic Carnival. Full disclosure: I’ve been fighting a cold and have taken enough Dayquil to render me somewhat loopy. Nevertheless you’ll get an early analysis and prediction on the big Ricky Hatton/Floyd Mayweather, Jr. boxing match and a preview of Kimbo Slice’s debut on Saturday’s Showtime Elite XC card. Plus, since I try to maintain at least a veneer of professionalism here–and don’t in my EC posts–its pretty damn funny if I say so myself…

Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tapout–this week we’re paying tribute to the land of Winston Churchill, David Beckham, bad dental work and topless chicks in newspapers–Great Britain. We’ll be previewing British favorite son Ricky Hatton’s forthcoming fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. And helping us this week is one of Britain’s favorite daughters…er…daughters gone bad in the accompanying picture.

Here’s the deal–while boxing and MMA doesn’t have an off-season per se we’re heading into the slow time of the year for fight sport news. There’s still some big events on the horizon before the end of the year–none bigger than the December 8th fight between likable but limited Ricky Hatton aka “Hook and Hold Hatton” and unlikable but insanely talented Floyd Mayweather Jr. aka “the pound for pound best in the world”.

As always, you’ll have to head over to the Epic Carnival to read the whole thing…

The Prophet’s Tuesday Tapout: Drunken Brits Special Edition @ Epic Carnival

[tags]boxing, MMA, media, Epic Carnival, Tuesday Tapout, drunken Brits, Ricky Hatton, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Kimbo Slice, The Prophet, mixed martial arts, Elite XC, Showtime[/tags]

Kimbo Slice signs with EliteXC

As if we needed any more big MMA news today, Sherdog is reporting that Kimbo Slice has signed with EliteXC:

Backyard brawler turned mixed martial artist Kevin Ferguson has signed an exclusive multi-year, multi-fight deal with EliteXC, ProElite.com reported on Thursday afternoon.

Ferguson, who is known by the moniker “Kimbo Slice,” was scheduled to face veteran David “Tank” Abbott on Oct. 12 in Atlantic City, but the card was canceled after Cage Fury Fighting Championship president Felix Martinez announced that the event would be canceled due to the “loss of a major investor.”

Kimbo signs with EliteXC @ Sherdog

[tags]MMA, mixed martial arts, EliteXC, Kimbo Slice [/tags]

Mauro Ranallo’s “Joe Namath moment”

Up now at the Epic Carnival blog is the first installment of a weekly MMA column I’m writing called “The Prophet’s Tuesday Tapout”. Among other subjects, I address Elite XC announcer’s Mauro Ranallo’s lecherous comments directed at Gina Carano uttered last Saturday:

The highlight of “Broadway Joe’s” NFL career was no doubt his Superbowl III performance as the New York Jets upset the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. His post-retirement high point is very likely his apparently drunken come-on to ESPN sideline reporter Suzy Kolber where Broadway Joe slurs that he “doesn’t care about the Jets” because he “wants to kiss” the comely Kolber.

A similar incident happened on Saturday’s Elite XC event during a fight between Gina Carano and Tonya Evinger. Only it was a guy considered one of the top announcers in MMA pulling the gaffe, not a boozy retired QB. And Showtime’s Mauro Ranallo was after a lot more than a kiss from the attractive Carano. Plus, he didn’t have the excuse of being drunk.

You can read all about what Ranallo said and my take on it in The Prophet’s Tuesday Tapout @ the Epic Carnival

[tags]MMA, Elite XC, Showtime, Gina Carano,Tonya Evinger, Mauro Ranallo, Bill Goldberg, mixed martial arts[/tags]