Some of EliteXC’s top fighters including Gina Carano, Frank Shamrock, Phil Baroni, Nick Diaz and Jake Shields will be at the Best Buy in Hollywood, CA for an autograph signing on Monday, May 19.

The event, in conjunction with Image Entertainment, will take place at the La Brea Best Buy at 1015 N. La Brea Ave. in West Hollywood, CA, from 6pm to 8pm. The signing will feature the debut of EliteXC’s first two DVD releases, EliteXC "Destiny" and EliteXC "Renegade", in stores now.

EliteXC is considering the next big step in the advancement of women’s MMA by putting on an all female event that could take place next year.

With the explosion of Mixed Martial Arts in recent years, women’s MMA has become more and more popular throughout the world. Female fighters are finally starting to get some recognition for their abilities.

While the UFC dominates the crowded landscape of Mixed Martial Arts promotions, EliteXC is making a charge to the top and will make history on May 31 with the first ever MMA event on a major network television channel.

EliteXC now plans to distance itself even further from the UFC and other MMA organizations by expanding it’s stable of female fighters and adding a 140lb title to the female division.

Gary Shaw, President of EliteXC, announced his plans of taking women’s mma to the next level, on Tuesday during a teleconference call with Gina Carano and Kaitlin Young regarding their upcoming bout at the May 31 EliteXC CBS event. Carano and Young will be the only female bout on the main card which features a total of five bouts. The winner of that match could earn the chance at becoming EliteXC’s first 140lb female champion.

Gina "Conviction" Carano, one of MMA’s most popular female fighters, is currently undefeated at 5-0 with 2 (T)KO’s and 1 submission. Known as "Crush" on Gladiators, the 26 year old kick boxer has received criticism for her growing popularity as a fighter. Gina doesn’t seem to let it bother her and continues to embrace her roll as the "face of women’s MMA". She was recently featured on ESPN’s E:60 series.

Stand by for more "Crushing" MMA news!

The official fight card for CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights scheduled to take place on May 31 has been announced.

It will be a monumental day for the sport of mixed martial arts as the first live MMA event makes it primetime television debut on CBS.

The rumored bout between internet street fighting sensation, Kimbo Slice and James "Colossus" Thompson has officially been confirmed as the main event of the highly anticipated show. The co-main event of the night will feature "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler defending his EliteXC middleweight title against Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith. Also on the card is popular female fighter, Gina Carano taking on Minnesota native Kaitlin Young at a catch weight of 140lbs.

Fight Card Update: As soon as I finished posting this article, EliteXC announced a change to the fight card. Joey Villasenor will be stepping in to replace Murilo "Ninja Rua" in the bout against Phil Baroni. No explanation was given for the switch but I will let you know as soon as more information is available.

Here is the official fight card for CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights

• Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson
• Robbie Lawler vs Scott Smith
• Gina Carano vs Kaitlin Young
• Phil Baroni vs Joey Villasenor (New Replacement for Murilo Rua)
• Brett Rogers vs Jon Murphy

The landmark event will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on May 31 from 9:00-11:00pm ET on the CBS Television Network. EliteXC president, Gary Shaw, made a statement regarding the upcoming show.

"In terms of recognition and perception, I believe May 31 is the biggest and single most important MMA fight card ever. It will forever change the landscape of the sport and how it is perceived."

ProElite.com just announced that EliteXC has resigned Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano and Robbie Lawler to long-term contracts.

“I am proud and very excited to announce that Kimbo, Gina and Robbie have all re-signed with us,’’ EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw said today. Terms of the long-term, multi-year agreements were not disclosed.

All three fighters are scheduled to appear on the debut of "CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights".

The event will take place on May 31 from 9:00-11:00pm ET at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

Mixed martial arts will take a huge leap forward on May 31 as it will be the first time ever that an MMA event will be broadcast live on a major network television channel. This will be the first of four primetime events scheduled to air on CBS in 2008. The complete lineup for the May 31 fight card will officially be announced within the next few days.

So far this is how the unofficial May 31 fight card is shaping up:

• Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson
• Robbie Lawler vs Scott Smith
• Gina Carano vs Kaitlin Young
• Brett Rogers vs Jon Murphy
• Phil Baroni vs Murilo Rua

In the main event of the night Kimbo Slice will be taking on another struggling heavyweight with minimum ground skills in James "The Colossus" Thompson. Thompson has lost 6 out of his last 8 fights with 4 of those losses coming by way of knock out. Don’t blink for this one folks. This fight will be over quicker than James Thompson can run across the ring with his chin up in the air. For those of us waiting to see Kimbo fight somebody with well rounded skills, it looks like it could be a while.

In the co-main event of the night, "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler will defend his EliteXC middleweight title against Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith. While Slice vs Thompson might be labeled as the main event of the night, this bout has fight of the night written all over it. This fight will be extremely explosive as two of the sports biggest brawlers go toe to toe in a championship five round war.

Gina Carano, now recognized as the face of women’s MMA, will make her return to the EliteXC cage after defeating Tonya Evinger via rear naked choke at EliteXC "Uprising" back in September of 2007. Carano revealed her upcoming opponent for May 31 on tonight’s edition of Yac & J’s MMA & Boxing Show. She will be squaring off against 4-1 Kaitlin Young who has won all 4 of her fights via KO/TKO. Young recently lost her first fight to Sara Schneider via armbar at BodogFIGHT’s "Nick Thompson vs John Troyer" event back in February of this year.

The only details released so far about the length of the long-term contracts came from Gina Carano who said that she will be fighting with EliteXC for at least two more years. Whatever the case, President Gary Shaw, seems very happy to have re-signed 3 of EliteXC’s most popular fighters.

“We’re extremely happy to get these deals done with Kimbo, Gina and Robbie,’’ Shaw said. “Fighters know EliteXC is the place to be and the organization to fight for, which is why we’ve always been able to sign or re-sign almost each and every one of our fighters.

“You don’t see our guys leaving. With us, it’s family and all about the fighters. Every fighter who has fought on an EliteXC card has come away being ambassadors for EliteXC.

Stand by for further details regarding the contracts as well as the official fight card for the May 31 show.

Malaipet MTA will be taking on Thomas "Wildman" Denny in the main event at ShoXC’s Elite Challenger Series on Friday, March 21.

The event will take place at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California and will air on Showtime at 11pm ET/PT. The match was announced yesterday during the broadcast of Cage Rage 25 "Bring it On" in which Ken Shamrock was sawed in half by Robert "Buzz" Berry in the first round due to punches.

ShoXC’s Elite Challenger Series showcases the latest up and coming fighters in the sport today. This will be the promotions fifth Challenger Series event since debuting back in July of 2007.

This event is one of many that are put on by the parent company of EliteXC, ProElite.

Malaipet’s last bout was at ShoXC’s Elite Challenger Series on October 26 where he took on 5-8 Hawaiian Kaleo Kwan. Malaipet won a unanimous decision after battling Kwan for three long rounds.

With a pro mma record of 3-1 the 26 year old Muay Thai fighter has had some trouble finishing his opponents with 2 of his wins going the distance. Malaipet has fights out of Team Diamond where he also is an instructor.

Thomas "Wildman" Denny will for sure be Malaipet’s toughest opponent to date. Denny is very experienced with a total of 41 pro fights under his belt. Out of his 25 victories he has an amazing 14 submissions and 7 (T)KO’s. He is a King of the Cage veteran and has faced some top level competition including Yves Edwards, Georges St. Pierre, Joe Stevenson, and Tony Fryklund. He is looking to rebound from his knockout loss to Joe Camacho back in January at King of the Cage "Premiere".

As of now no further matches have been named for the event. Stand by for more hardcore MMA news!