In the wake of one of the most highly publicized weekends in the short history of mixed martial arts, I believe there is one thing that the hardcore fans already knew, those who gave the sport it's first chance learned, and those who are still sleeping on this sport are missing out on: these athletes are incredible warriors and their is no way to measure the heart that these men, and women, have shown. 

Examine for a minute several of the match-ups that we had going into this weekend and dig a little deeper into what some of them meant for the fighters involved. Perhaps the most hyped fight of the weekend featured Kimbo Slice against James Thompson. Consider the position that both of these men were put in going into the fight and what courage it must have taken for both of them to perform. Ladies and gentleman, Kimbo Slice has never said he is the best fighter in the world and has never said that he deserves to be in the main event. This is a fighter who every time he is asked about it claims that he still has lots to learn and that he is taking this sport very seriously. What did we see from Kimbo last night? We saw a talented athlete who still has a lot to learn from this sport. Furthermore, we saw this relative newcomer perform in the main event during one of the biggest nights in mixed martial arts history. The pressure put on Kimbo Slice to be the face of an organization and perform like a veteran in this sport when he clearly is not would be enough to make anyone question themselves. The fact that all this man has done is what is asked of him says a lot about the competitors we have in this sport.

His opponent for the evening was a man who was said to simply be there to go down due to being knocked out less than 90 seconds into the fight. This man came with a game plan to defeat Kimbo and it nearly worked out. To have the odds so stacked against you and still accept a fight and come out and do your best to win says a lot about this man as well. No, these two are not the best that the sport has to offer and no, they never will be. But the heart that these men showed does speak to the warriors that participate in this sport. 

In one of the more exciting bouts of the Elite XC card, Gina Carano went up against Kaitlin Young. Gina came in over weight, having to answer lots of questions about how she felt her performance would go, having only three weeks to prepare, and being labelled the face of female MMA. Hardly an ideal scenario coming into one of the biggest fights of her life. However, she got in the cage and risked her health and put on one hell of a performance for all of her fans.

Kaitlin Young too showed courage in this bout as she accepted the fight after finding out that Gina was almost five pounds heavier than her at weigh-ins. Was this a factor in the fight? I can't say for sure, but I do know that it is an advantage that Gina had going in. Kaitlin Young stepped up to fight the face of women's MMA and she too gave a performance that she and all her fans should be very proud of. This girl has a bright future in this sport. 

WEC also delivered two instant classics. The two title fights that fans were treated to tonight showed us the incredible athletes that this organization has as well. How many times in these two fights could any one of the four fighters involved simply thrown in the towel and taken a loss and moved on? The fans were treated to brilliant displays of heart and courage in these two fights and none of the fighters involved disappointed. It's a shame that we had to have winners and losers in these fights. My congratulations to all.

Whether you believe these were some of the best fights you have ever seen, or if you believe that Elite XC had premature stoppages or huge mismatches in talent, the fact remains that it takes incredible heart to step into the cage in this sport. The fans should all take a moment to reflect on this and consider themselves incredibly lucky that we are able to watch some of the most talented athletes put their health on the line every time they walk into the cage to compete in the sport we all love. Hopefully this weekends events further showed this fact to the hardcore fans who knew it to be true in the beginning and that those who watched it for the first time have a new-found respect for the athletes who compete, whether they enjoyed the sport or not. It takes incredible guts to do what these men and women do and I for one am thankful and in awe of every one of them.