EliteXC: "Street Certified" Results
by Robert Sargent
EliteXC began their 2008 schedule with a bang at "Street Certified," as an incredible night of fights and knockouts concluded with Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson knocking out David "Tank" Abbott in the first round.
The Florida crowd was almost 100% in favour of Ferguson, a street fighter from Florida, while California brawler Abbott was mercilessly booed.
Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson vs David "Tank" Abbott
This battle of street fighters did not last long, as Ferguson dropped Abbott four times in 43 seconds, with the final punch dropping Abbott for good.Both fighters came out brawling immediately, as was expected, and Abbott pushed Ferguson up against the cage. Ferguson fought Abbott off, then landed a big left hook and a right cross, which sent Abbott to the ground. As Abbott clutched onto Ferguson's leg, Ferguson unleashed three illegal - though completely unintentional - blows to the back of Abbott's head. This forced a brief stoppage in the action, as the referee warned Ferguson for the illegal strikes.
After Ferguson tossed a piece of garbage out of the cage, which had been thrown in by a fan who believed the fight had been stopped seconds earlier, the action resumed and Ferguson landed a right hook that sent Abbott to the mat, grasping at Ferguson's leg. Ferguson escaped, then dropped Abbott with a looping forearm shot. Abbott quickly returned to his feet, but a one-two combination from Ferguson dropped Abbott for good and the referee stopped the fight.
Winner: Kevin Ferguson by KO (Punches) at 0:43 of round one. He improves to 2-0-0.
Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva vs Ricco "Suave" Rodriguez
This battle between the rising star, Silva, and the former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Rodriguez, may not have been quite as exciting as many had hoped, but the judges scoring the bout did an excellent job, and Silva emerged victorious with a well-deserved Split Decision.While Rodriguez was unquestionably in better physical shape than in recent fights, he was still considerably overweight coming into the fight. However, he did seem to be fairly agile, but Silva dominated the striking exchanges for the first half of round one. Rodriguez landed a few punches throughout the opening two minutes, but Silva got the better of each exchange, and rocked Rodriguez's head back with a stiff jab two minutes in. Silva landed another solid combination and Rodriguez responded with a takedown with two minutes remaining in the round. Rodriguez maintained top position for the remainder of the round, but Silva gamely struck from the bottom. A very close round that could have gone either way.
Round two was all Silva, as he dominated nearly every second of the round with his striking and position control. Rodriguez did land a solid Superman punch early in the round, but Silva replied with a combination and a body shot, then stuffed a takedown attempt from Rodriguez. After a period of clinching against the cage, Silva caught Rodriguez with a flurry of punches as Rodriguez grabbed onto Silva's leg, and Silva took top position on the ground. He continued to rain down strikes, and opened up a cut on Rodriguez's left eyelid.
With 50 seconds left in the second round, the fight was brought back to the feet and, after a brief stoppage to clear blood from Rodriguez's eye, Rodriguez attempted a spinning back kick. Silva landed a leg kick, then went for an anaconda choke on the ground, but eventually let it go and finished the round in top position.
The third round was another close one, with Silva again dominating the first three minutes and Rodriguez coming on strong in the final two. Silva scored a takedown 45 seconds into the round, then worked from Rodriguez's half-guard. Silva continued to land strikes from the top until the fight was brought back to the feet at the midway point of the round. Rodriguez landed a punch and Silva countered with two of his own, then a kick attempt. Rodriguez went for a high kick and then scored a takedown. He maintained top position for the remainder of the round, landing numerous strikes from the top, and possibly doing enough to steal back the third round.
In the end, the judges did an excellent job of scoring the fight. Unlike in other recent Split Decisions - most involving horrid judging from Cecil Peoples or Adelaide Byrd - a case could absolutely be made for the way that each of the three judges in this fight scored the bout. Scores were 30-27 Silva, 29-28 Silva and 29-28 Rodriguez, which was exactly as the fight should have been scored. Silva did not do enough to ensure a Unanimous Decision, but Rodriguez did not do enough to win the fight.
Winner: Antonio Silva by Split Decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. He improves to 10-1-0.
Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith vs Kyle "KO" Noke
This middleweight battle began with a slow first round, but ended with a huge right hook just seconds into the second round.The fighters circled each other for most of the first round, with Smith throwing occasional strikes and Noke dominating the sparse exchanges with jabs. He continued to keep Smith at bay until late in the round, when Smith finally mounted some offence with some punches. Noke handily wins round one.
Round two ended almost as quickly as it began, as Smith landed a brutal right hook just seven seconds into the round, which sent Noke crashing to the canvas, unconscious.
Winner: Scott Smith by KO (Punch) at 0:07 of round two. His professional record is disputed, but his officially credited record before the fight was 12-5-0, so he improves to 13-5-0 with the win.
Yves Edwards vs James Edson "Little Tiger" Berto
Edwards continued his streak of wins in this fight, as he knocked Berto out with one of the most ridiculous jumping knees in MMA history, with mere seconds remaining in the first round.The fighters exchanged leg kicks and punches in the early goings, with each also landing hard body kicks. Edwards backed Berto up with a punch, then followed it up with a combination. Berto came back with strikes of his own, and finished off a combination with a spinning kick. Berto scored a takedown and Edwards momentarily looked for a guillotine. Berto reversed, however, and went for a guillotine of his own, which was locked in tightly. Edwards used his wealth of experience to eventually escape from the guillotine, then worked for a Kimura on Berto's left arm. He eventually let it go and landed a series of strikes from top position.
The overly impatient referee continued to demand more action from the fighters, even as both of them punched each other non-stop, and then the fight was unnecessarily stood back up with just under 30 seconds left in the round. Berto landed a high kick, then shot in and grabbed onto Edwards's right leg. As Berto held Edwards's right leg, Edwards hopped on his left leg to maintain his balance. Then, in what can only be described as a comical moment, Edwards jumped up with his left leg (while Berto still had a hold of the right leg) and drilled Berto in the jaw with his left knee, knocking Berto out cold. The fact that Edwards could maintain his balance to throw such a strike is truly a testament to his skill and experience.
Winner: Yves Edwards by KO (Jumping Knee) at 4:56 of round one. He improves to 33-13-1.
Brett "The Grim" Rogers vs James "The Colossus" Thompson
As he does in all of his fights, Thompson bullrushed Rogers immediately after the bell to begin the fight, but a series of punches from Rogers would knock Thompson out in the middle of the first round.After the bullrush from Thompson, the fight moved to the cage in a clinch. The fighters exchanged knees, then Thompson began to unleash punches while maintaining a clinch. More small punches were exchanged and Thompson pushed Rogers against the cage once again. However, immediately after commentator Mauro Ranallo made reference to Thompson's suspect chin, Rogers drilled him with a series of vicious punches - including two to the temple - which staggered and then knocked out Thompson, who crumpled to the mat.
Winner: Brett Rogers by KO (Punches) at 2:24 of round one. He improves to 6-0-0.
Undercard Fights:
Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante defeated John Doyle by KO (Knees To The Body) at 2:17 of round one to improve to 5-1-0.Yosmany Cabezas defeated Jon Kirk by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 0:58 of round two to improve to 4-0-0.
Dave Herman defeated Mario Rinaldi by TKO (Knees & Punches) at 0:33 of round three to improve to 10-0-0.
Eric Bradley defeated Mikey Gomez by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds to improve to 2-1-0.
Lorenzo Borgomeo defeated Mike Bernhard by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 4:11 of round two to improve to 2-0-0.
Moyses Gabin defeated Jirka Hlavati by TKO (Doctor Stoppage - Cut) at 2:32 of round one to improve to 2-0-0.
"Street Certified" was an excellent event for EliteXC, especially on the heels of a pair of disappointing events, and EliteXC is definitely off to a great start in 2008.
