EliteXC “Finished Business” Highlights

Last night’s EliteXC on CBS was a night of furious fists, victories missed, and belt holders bliss for those in attendance at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, CA.

Based on feedback from their network debut in May, the organization decided to get smart and make some changes for this go around. They traded in their half-naked cheerleaders and glitzy ring entrances for some good ole fashion non-stop ass kicking.

Another major improvement was the absence of any controversial stoppages that plagued the first show in Newark, NJ. Instead nine of the eleven fights ended in a clear and decisive manner including the much anticipated re-match between Lawler and Smith.

An Early Celebration
In what is becoming a regular occurrence at EliteXC events, the women seized the moment and put on a stellar performance worthy of any mixed martial arts octagon. It was also an odd performance and something that you rarely see in MMA.

After some scary moments on the ground for Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos in the first round, she blasted Baszler with her exceptional Muay Thai skills in the second. Baszler crumbled after a series of blows and Santos thought the fight was over. She even celebrated by running over and jumping on top of the cage to throw her hands up in the air. Meanwhile Shayna used her time to wisely recover.

After finally coming back to the center of the ring, she realized her mistake and immediately teed off on Baszler who was still weak on her knees. Baszler hung in there for a little but eventually succumbed to Cyborg’s furious punching spree. Shayna showed the heart of a lion and at the same time recorded the first loss of her career.

Hometown Hero
Just how much do people love to hate Nick Diaz? Enough to boo him when Jake Shields mentioned his name after his first round disposal of "The Goat" Nick Thompson. Oddly enough he would later receive cheers from the same people.

Whether you love him or you hate him, Nick Diaz is pure entertainment at it’s best and one hell of a fighter to boot. It was a knock down drag out war between Diaz and "The Wildman" Thomas Denny in the third fight on the CBS card. Once again Diaz taunted his opponent eventually picking him apart with superior boxing. Diaz wanted a brawl and Denny gave it to him. Nick finished him off with a series of strikes a half a minute into the second round.

"Finished Business"
After nearly two months of hype, Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith finally got the chance to settle the score once and for all in last night’s main event. The fans knew what to expect and Lawler and Smith delivered once again.

Round one was close but Lawler took it 10-9. He landed a nice body kick that did some damage and had Smith rethinking his game plan. In round two Smith went to his weapon of choice in Lawler Smith 1, the elbow. He opened up a nice gash on Robbie’s head that had blood flying as far as the commentators table.

Sensing the urgency of the situation, Lawler strung together a series of knees to the body that crumbled Smith to the canvas. Smith got back to his feet but only for a few seconds. Lawler sent him right back to the mat with a knee to the chin and finished him off with a few more punches. Lawler remains the EliteXC middleweight champion.

Two New Crowns
Antonio "Big Foot" Silva stomped through Justin Eilers to claim the first ever EliteXC heavyweight crown on the Showtime portion of the card. After a dominant first round, Silva dispatched of Eilers in under 20 seconds of the second round with punches and knees.

Jake Shields finally earned his much deserved EliteXC welterweight crown, after months of delays. He quickly incapacitated Nick "The Goat" Thompson with his jiu-jitsu and finished him off with a super tight guillotine choke in a little over a minute of the first round. Shields is definitely ready for bigger and better things.