CBS/Elite XC: You're Doing It Wrong

by HoldFast on Jun 1, 2008 2:48 PM EDT Comment 10 comments

A friend of BE all the way out in Alaska with the view of Elite XC from the far north. Kid Nate

A few thoughts on the CBS/EliteXC card last night.

I know the big deal with the CBS/EliteXC card is that MMA is coming to broadcast television for the first time, in prime time. That's all well and good, but how does CBS get away with treating like a sitcom and broadcasting it from tape. I live in Alaska and if the CBS card was treated like any other sporting event, it would have been broadcast at 4PM AK time. But it wasn't. It was on at 8PM AK time - in prime time for this state, but after the entire card had concluded. That's only good for two things - CBS's ratings and Alaskans who want to win money on bets among friends who aren't paying attention in state.

Beyond the broadcast issue, I have never seen 3 fights stopped as quickly as the first three. While I don't doubt that both Murphy and Baroni were in serious trouble and likely heading for a defeat, both fights were stopped almost as soon as their knees hit the mat.

The women's fight was even worse. Young made it through a rear naked choke to survive the round. She looked beat up, but the mouse below her left eye was...below her left eye and did not appear to obstruct her vision.

The Smith-Lawler fight - pretty good fight, but are you kidding me? A stoppage in a title fight for an eye poke when the fighter says he doesn't want the fight stopped? Four stoppages faster than I've seen in any PPV fight.

Kimbo v Thompson - again. Stopped in the middle of competitive fighting for no apparent reason. Yes, Thompson's ear was nasty and popped. But it most certainly wasn't affecting his vision and his ability to fight.

I could only conclude that CBS did not want there to be real MMA on broadcast tv. They wanted to keep some of the brutality out of the ring and not let fights run their natural course. Throw in some idiotic commentary and I'm not sure I'll take my time watching these fights again. At least I can watch real fights that will be allowed to run their course for $45, with top level fighters to boot.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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West Coast?

Can someone tell me what time the card broadcast on the west coast? Was it live or from tape?

by HoldFast on Jun 1, 2008 2:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

C&C. Nice.

by Popetastic on Jun 1, 2008 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I saw no problem with the Murphy and Baloni stoppages. The guys were gone.

The other three were definitely early, and bullshit, stoppages.

by mythbuster on Jun 1, 2008 2:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Eh

I agree, they were gone. But the stoppages were certainly fast. And when you look at what happened in the next three fights, I see the quick stoppages with Murphy and Baroni as part of the same problem as the later fights.

by HoldFast on Jun 1, 2008 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

As a casual fan...

I’ve gotta believe that CBS was being super conscious of not wanting their first efforts in MMA resulting in anything “newsworthy”. They kept going on and on about how “safe” MMA is during the broadcast and the stoppages all seemed to scream “people don’t really get hurt in MMA so it’s OK to watch”.

by Dex on Jun 1, 2008 6:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

Thanks for the FP bump Kid Nate.

by HoldFast on Jun 1, 2008 6:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A new poster...

i just had to sign up for this thing. The event was all ok until the so called mainevent. Thompson came out with an ear that was ridiculous. It is possible to suck that blood out of an ear with a simple procedure and there is no reason why you would enter a fight with that thing. I instantly began thinking about a fixed fight (first time ever for me).

Thompson took him down at will in the begining, but Thompson didn’t land any punches with stength. Colossus looked like he was a gooner there for a while (thought they would stop it there), but he came about and had dominant position. They came up Kimbo threw one shot to the ear and it went kaboom (wow, suprise).

Sure the stoppage was at fault, but why did he come out with that ear…don’t they have any medical staff at hand?

Absolutely ridiculous.

by xath on Jun 1, 2008 7:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Same guy

Sorry about not reading this thread before posting in another.

I just scrolled down to the first "CBS" and read "CBS/Elite XC: You’re Doing It Wrong". Will not happen again. Noticed that quite a few had posted about the topic a few levels down.

I blame the fact that I’m new and that I just watched the show (and was a bit angry).

by xath on Jun 1, 2008 7:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That EAR was SICK!

I called it being popped the second I saw it flopping around on the side of his head!

all you gotta do is...

by imapimp08 on Jun 2, 2008 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd rather see early stoppages...

...because when a fighter collapses and begins to crawl, it’s over. Anyone can just lean over and nail one more good punch to someone who is already eating the canvas.

by mma opinion on Jun 1, 2008 9:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs