The Charge

From Corpus Christi, TX, a night of hard-hitting mixed martial arts action from inside the cage!

The Case

This event from mixed martial arts upstart Elite XC, subtitled Renegade, is presented by Showtime and hosted by announcers Mauro Renallo and "The Fight Professor" Stephen Quadros with former pro wrestling celebrity Bill Goldberg alongside the professionals. In the ring to give us the particulars is the always classy Jimmy Lennon, Jr. Let's get to the ring.

Elite XC has brought five brutal contests for their main broadcast:

Antonio "Big Foot" Silva (8-1) vs. Jonathon Weizorek (11-1): These superheavyweights may have similar records, but Silva is a man with a fighting spirit as big as his head and skills that overshadow his opponent.

Kyle Noke (13-3-1) vs. Dr. Seth Klein beck (8-3): In this middleweight bout, Noke, the Thunder from Down Under, makes his US debut against a southern doctor who, in a pinch, could mend his own wounds.

Jake Shields (19-4-1) vs. Mike "Quicksand" Pyle (14-4-1): Both welterweights here have seen a lot of action, but Pyle shows the wear and tear much more strongly. Sheilds' pretty boy looks must get in the heads of his opponents, who undoubtedly want to ugly him up a little.

Kimbo Slice (0-0) vs. Bo "Redrum" Cantrell (10-10): Heavyweight bouts don't get more predictable than this. Youtube sensation Kimbo Slice makes his sanctioned professional debut in a fight against a doughy journeyman whose nickname backwards spells murder.

Nick Diaz (15-6) vs. K.J. Noons (4-1): The one title fight of the night pits these two lightweights to crown the division's first champion. That this is their main event shows that they need bigger stars.

Boxing promoter and Elite XC owner Gary Shaw sure knows how to sell a product. With no marketable stars and questionable matchmaking abilities, he was able to secure a slot on Showtime, using some of the cable network's own renowned boxing team, and finally into a slot on CBS. I'm happy for their success because it means success for the sport in general, but they really have to do a better job of attracting talent and building their own. While the production looks slick, there's a lot more sizzle than steak. Of the seventeen potential rounds in this night's events, we only see six, and not much of those. I enjoy ring sports of all kinds and watch for compelling fights, not for one-sided beatdowns book ended by dancing girls.

In spite of the title match, the main attraction is the debut of Kimbo Slice, who shows in his debut (as well as his subsequent fights) that he's really a joke in MMA and is fighting the worst possible opponents so he remains unexposed. He may be working as hard as he can to improve, but he has a long way to go and the fans won't give him much more time.

Image Entertainment has done a fine job with their 2-disc release of Elite XC: Renegade. The picture and sound look perfect, as they should from the recent television broadcast. The second disc contains the fights that happened before the main show and, as I've seen with UFC broadcasts, these can be some of the most compelling fights of the night. The fighters are hungrier and, with nothing to lose, they often pull out some crazy stuff. There are also some extended promos for the event, some fighter bios, and a rules sheet to round out the disc.

Until Elite XC can get put some better fights on, they'll remain guilty of putting on a second rate fight show.

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