Phil "NYBA" Baroni vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua for EliteXC's CBS Debut

by Luke Thomas on Mar 26, 2008 8:41 AM EDT in News Comment 0 comments

For having a thin roster, the CBS show is so far looking appealing:

Phil Baroni and Murilo Rua have verbally agreed to fight May 31 on CBS.

The unsigned middleweight fight will be a televised bout from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw told Sherdog.com.

Baroni (10-9) is coming off a brutal fight in Honolulu. After taking severe punishment, the 31-year-old New Yorker succumbed to a technical knockout in the fifth round against Kala Kolohe Hose.

Rua, 27, rebounded nicely from a knockout suffered against Robbie Lawler last September with a submission of Xavier Foupa-Pokam in London. The win upped his record to 15-8-1.

This is an interesting battle: the guy with one round of great power vs. the technical guy with a questionable chin. At least the first round will be good. And Baroni, for all his faults, is the kind of showman that will anger half of the crowd and receive the adoration of the other, particularly the live crowd as Newark is only a stone's throw away from Long Island.