Success Or Flop?

This past Saturday brought the birth of Live MMA on Network TV in a prime time slot. Was the endeavour a success or did the show flop and give the sport a black eye?

Elite XC aired the first ever live event on NBC this past Saturday. The internet has been alive with comments since and is showing no love for what should be heralded as an amazing step forward for the sport.

The night was filled with questionable early stoppages and poor officiating but the main event with Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson was the icing on the cake. Both the Brett Rogers-Jon Murphy heavyweight bout and the middleweight fight between Joey Villasenor and Phil Baroni were waved off as soon as Murphy and Baroni were dropped to the mat. Kimbo vs Thompson however was a different story, Kimbo weathered several elbows and punches to the face while on his back for 40 seconds near the end of round 2. Then in round 3, Kimbo pops a fluid filled ear on Thompson, lands a few more solid shots and the ref stops the fight with both fighters still on their feet.

Even the Gina Carano-Kaitlin Young fight which in my opinion was the fight of the night could have been argued to have an early stoppage. Then there was the Smith vs Lawler fight stoppage by the doctor, not even giving Smith the allotted time to recover after a accidental finger to the eye.

To say the biggest step forward in making MMA seem legit and break into prime time was a failure would be an understatement in my opinion. While the show did draw record numbers of viewers and the viewership grew as the event broadcast played out, the quality of the show was severely lacking.

The only way to salvage what took place would be to learn a great deal from the first event and make changes to be sure it does not happen in the second event. If Elite XC can not step it up then what was perceived to be a huge step forward for the sport could end up being one of its biggest failures. Only time will tell but as all fans I have to hope for the best.

Arlovski Signs With Affliction

Sources say that at tomorrow's Affliction press conference, Donald Trump will be announcing that former UFC heavyweight champion, Andrei Arlovski, has officially signed with the upstart promotion. The Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization and the Special Counsel to Donald J. Trump, Michael D. Cohen, confirmed the news.

Trump will also announce that he has become an equity partner in the Affliction promotion. When asked what percentage of the organization he now owns, Mr. Cohen would only say "a significant amount."

First, the fight with Ben Rothwell is now officially a go. Second, the UFC has now officially lost another top heavyweight talent. Third, it's hard to speculate so early as to how Donald Trump's involvement in Affliction means for their MMA arm or efforts. I sincerely doubt Trump has the sort of commitment to this sport that Dana White has, but nevertheless, add Trump to the growing list of big money heavyweights throwing their hat in the MMA arena. Perhaps Trump can assist in marketing or television opportunities, but for now, we'll have to wait and see.

Is Matt Hughes Finished?

Georges St. Pierre beat him as if he were a rookie and then submitted him at UFC 79, Matt Hughes admitted that thoughts of retirement had crossed his mind.

Saturday, in the main event of UFC 85, Hughes became a notch on the belt of Thiago Alves as he suffered another defeat in overwhelming fashion.

At the UFC 79 post-fight news conference in Las Vegas, Hughes vowed that he would retire before he'd become anyone's highlight reel but now it has happened 2 fights in a row.

Has Matt Hughes past his prime? Should Hughes hang up his gloves and retire to just teaching his once finely sharp honed skills?

Both the UFC and other promotions are over run with fighters and several are a new breed of well trained, hungry and on the edge fighters. While Hughes was one of the greats, it may be time to cut his losses and retire before he becomes another of the once great fighters who are now stepping stones for the up n comers to make a name off of.