Yardbarker: Gina Carano

Gina Carano doesn't want to fight at 140 anymore?

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:07:21 -0500

Gina Carano reportedly is giving up on her dreams of being a steady 140lb fighter. My only response to that is, "Dear God why!?!?!"

Mike Chiappetta on Kimbo Slice getting knocked out

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:46:56 -0500

NBC Sports' Mike Chiappetta thinks Kimbo Slice isn't done yet, but he has doubts on whether EliteXC will survive. Chiappetta also goes over the winners and losers of EliteXC "Heat" in the latest edition of MMA Weekly. I think the answers are obvious.

Classic photos of Gina Carano

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:32:08 -0500

Watch how this cutie that looks like she should be a damsel in distress in a Bond movie turns into a fearsome fighter.

What EliteXC really needs

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:48:05 -0500

EliteXC can get all its fighters, all its freak shows and all its ratings that they want, and the promotion will still be on shaky ground if someone doesn't emerge soon as the clear cut leader. And Jared Shaw doesn't count.

EliteXC Post-Fight PC

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:08:23 -0500

All the big names speak to the press

Has Gina Carano Finally Earned Our Respect?

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:49:08 -0500

At least one of EliteXC's meal tickets proved her worth on Saturday night, as Gina Carano defeated Kelly Kobold via unanimous decision in a compelling women's fight at the company's third live show on CBS.

Guest Blog: Spek-ulating on Kimbo's Saturday Night

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:32:37 -0500

Didn't you LOVE that Patriots column I did? Thought-provoking, witty, one commenter even described how life-altering it was. The story about how it cured his alcoholism was especially touching.

Or perhaps I went completely Web AWOL. One of those two things happened. My bad. Did you miss me?

After five-and-a-half hours of Sox/Halos, I'm too worn out emotionally to be sane in my thoughts RE: the Playoff BBQ de Naz, so I'll reserve comments and allow proper time to reflect. Instead, let's go all the way back to...

Saturday. Nearly a lost day for me sports-wise, due to the nuptials of my friend Ian and his lovely Nicole (congrats, and do what she says, Ian), but I did remember to DVR this weekend's COLOSSAL MMA showdown between Kimbo and Ken Shamr...Huh? What's he doing taking a headbutt on Fight Night?! Considering the way the evening went down, I'm positive I was right to say on my show that Shamrock would have taken this one...

Elite XC has an interesting month or so coming up...Kimbo, who has now been proven to be the all-sizzle no-steak heavy-punching hack many proclaimed him to be, can no longer be the centerpiece of their promotion. Seth Petruzelli is NOT elite. They can ride this story for a month or so, but not beyond unless HE gets fed a beatable "name" fighter who's willing to take a shot at a guy who CAN mix it up a little. I doubt, however that you'd find such a fighter, even Shamrock, who wants a guy like Petruzelli.

On this front, I'll let former co-worker (codename: J-Rod) put the icing on it via email: "Which was better? Kimbo getting knocked out in under 15 seconds by a guy who was 30 pounds lighter, or Gus Johnson going beyond DEFCON 1 into full nuclear play-by-play explosion which included a Rocky drop? In fact I think Gus Johnson's call of the KO was longer then the fight and more energy was exerted..." Yep. We "heart" Gus, by the way.

So what to do now? Though clearly not what the sponsors or organizers wanted when Elite XC came into being, I think it's worth a shot to put the focus on their NEW "most marketable": the lovely Gina Carano. She's 2-0 on free TV, adorable, fights a TV-friendly style, hot, young (that means SHELF LIFE!), and did I mention she looks GOOD to most sane hetero men?

Not to mention she took Kelly Kobold (her "toughest challenge to date") apart for three rounds. And how is there NOT a single bootleg video of her weigh-in striptease? Hasn't technology come far enough? (Ed Note: Uhhh Pat? Here's one. Here's another. You just gotta look under the right rock, my friend.)

I'll pause slightly to see the ratings, but I think that CBS' foray into free MMA is not going well and I'm not sure where else they could turn to keep interest up (if that's even a concern). They need to get creative to avoid becoming Affliction's B-show, which this month's partnership and the supposed talent gap between the two organizations might logically lead to.

Or maybe that's not a bad idea...

Thoughts on Cassel, the Playoffs, and why ESPN Classic prevented me from commenting on the rest of the XC card coming soon...

Pat Spekhardt co-hosts The Shoot Around on Bangor, ME, all-sports leader WZON. In order to get a column on this site, he had to defeat three men in one night, compete against Warren Sapp in a dance-off and admit that Dirty Dancing is one of his favorite movies of all time.

The Complete Kimbo/EliteXC Wrap-Up

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 02:50:45 -0500

Rear Naked News ends its coverage of EliteXC Heat with a final lengthy post about anything and everything that went down on Saturday night.

The Greatest Hits of EliteXC "Heat"

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:53:15 -0500

Watch The Greatest Hits of EliteXC "Heat" aka Seth spanks Kimbo on THE CAVEMAN NETWORK, starring Seth Petruzelli, Jake Shields, Andrei Arlovski and Gina Carano!

Gina Carano vs. Cristiane Cyborg Should Be Full 15min

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:26:34 -0500

I used to think women fighting in MMA shows were more for marketing and a good side cat fight for the male fans. Elite XC changed that view for me and I am really into the women's MMA fights now. However, if women's MMA wants to be a part of MMA, it needs to be the same length; 3, 5 minute rounds for a regular fight and 5, 5 minute rounds for a championship fight.

MMA Hottie Gina Carano Gets Naked At Weigh-In

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 10:35:41 -0500

This weekends EliteXC made for some interesting headlines. Not only did Kimbo Slice lose to a replacement fighter in 14 seconds but, Gina Carano stripped in front of a crowd for weigh in. When Carano stepped on the scale and it read 142.75 she was visibly embarassed to be above the 140 mark for the fight. Remember, this is not the first time she has not made weight. In May she couldn't make weight and had to give a portion of her purse to her opponent Kaitlin Young. So when you don't make weight what do you do? You remove your clothes... See a couple pictures in the original post.

Beatdowns! Brainteasers : Why Kimbo Slice got whooped so badly and more

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 10:10:47 -0500

Fights are chaotic by nature, and there are usually numerous factors involved in determining the outcome of any given fight. At the same time, you can often identify the overriding factor that gives the victor a win. Let's do that with the four big fights in EliteXC "Heat" : 1. Seth Petruzelli over Kimbo Slice via TKO (Round 1, 0:14) : Glass chin : Kimbo got hit flush with a lucky punch by Petruzelli, simple as that. As the bigger Kimbo rushed him, Petruzelli, retreated for his life, and threw strikes as he did so. Petruzelli's short right that hit Kimbo didn't look like the most anatomically sound punch, but the momentum of Kimbo's bum rush definitely helped. ( Brainteasers for Shields-Daley, Arlovski-Nelson and Carano-Kobold after the jump )

Kimbo Slice got KTFO in 14 seconds

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:30:03 -0500

by DCScrap, on 205th magazine

14 seconds. That's all it took for Elite XC's top draw to get his lights turned out by a guy 99% of the world has never heard of, Seth Petruzelli.

If I was Ken Shamrock, I'd be figuring out what I am going to do in my retirement, because the odds of him getting another fight in a major promotion should be about zero right now.

In case you missed it, Ken Shamrock sustained a cut above his eye "warming up" earlier in the day and was not medically cleared to fight leaving Slice to fight someone on only hours notice. So, basically Shamrock's stupidity in not being more careful on the day of the fight cost Elite XC their meal ticket (albeit a 90% hype - 10% skill meal ticket).

Gina Carano also won her fight. Video here...

Rabid Rankings : The Top 5 Biggest Jokes of EliteXC "Heat"

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 07:39:47 -0500

From broken dreams to cancelled fights to awful announcing, EliteXC "Heat" is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, jokes in modern MMA history. There are so many jokes of EliteXC "Heat" that it's not a matter of who is a joke, but where they rank relative to each other in The Top 5 Biggest Jokes of EliteXC "Heat".

Kimbo loses to the first talented MMA fighter he faces

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:27:46 -0500

Here is a re-cap of all the fights. I couldn't write too much about Kimbo's fight, it only lasted 14 seconds.