EliteXC: Heat preview: Shamrock has no chance

EliteXC is back Saturday with another installment of “Saturday Night Fights” on CBS. I firmly endorse the card and while some of it may be a bit lopsided, there are some quality fights and intriguing matchups on this card.

It will emanate from the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., and will air at 9 p.m.

In the opening bout, Benji Radach will battle former EliteXC middleweight champion Murilo “Ninja” Rua. This will be a solid bout and Radach is a game fighter, but Ninja’s skills are too well-rounded for Radach and I see Ninja winning by second round TKO and once again challenging for the title.

The face of women’s MMA, Gina Carano, is on deck against Kelly Kobold-Gavin. Gavin’s lost her last two fights while Carano is undefeated (6-0) in her short career. Carano, who also plays “Crush” on American Gladiators, is known more for her beauty than her skills, but her skills are nothing to scoff at. She is a polished muay thai striker with a decent ground game.

Kobold-Gavin is an unknown here, but honestly, EliteXC isn’t going to put Carano in the cage with anyone who could beat her — yet. Carano takes this one with a second round TKO.

In a big-time heavyweight bout, former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski meets former IFL champion Roy Nelson.

Nelson, known as “Big Country,” does not look like a fighter. In fact, his body looks more like mine. He is not ripped by any stretch of the imagination, yet he always seems to get the job done and he’s won five fights in a row.

Unfortunately, this is just a terrible matchup for him, as Arlovski is a hard-hitting, fast heavyweight who laid waste to Nelson’s former IFL counterpart Ben Rothwell in July.

In that fight, Arlovski went to town on Rothwell’s face, eventually stopping him early in the third round. His athleticism was too much for Rothwell to handle and only Rothwell’s toughness kept him in there that long.

The difference between Rothwell and Nelson is that Rothwell has been in there with a lot of good heavyweights while Nelson is relatively untested.

Arlovski is tested and he will put the stamp on Nelson in the second round.

The EliteXC welterweight championship will be on the line when Jake Shields defends for the first time against Cage Rage champion Paul Daley.

Much to my surprise, Daley is a huge underdog in this fight, which is crazy because he hits hard and has good hands. The thing with Shields is that his chin is relatively untested. Most of his recent fights have come against guys who are either jiu-jitsu guys or possess good ground and pound. These are the types of fighters he is able to dismantle because his jiu-jitsu is that good.

While Daley is certainly suspect on the ground against someone like Shields, his striking can’t be underestimated.

Let me put it this way: It wouldn’t surprise me if Shields submitted him in 67 seconds or if Daley knocked him out in 2:32.
But while I think Daley is much more capable than the odds give him credit for, I think Shields gets this to the ground and finishes with a rear-naked choke late in the first round.

In the main event, the man, the myth, the Internet legend, Kimbo Slice takes on “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Ken Shamrock.

First, let me go off on a tangent: For Ken Shamrock, who has lost eight of 11 fights since returning to MMA from professional wrestling in 2000, to be less of an underdog than Paul Daley is a complete joke.

And I think those people who have Shamrock submitting Slice are one step away from insane. Shamrock’s last two submissions (one in 1996, when I was all of 10 years old and one in 2001) have come against fighters who have a combined record of 12-25-2. Uh, yeah.

So let’s be serious here.

Shamrock has lost his last five fights by TKO in the first round. I don’t know how Shamrock does it, but he actually has people believing he can win this fight, even though he’s coming off a knockout loss to a journeyman heavyweight who has a career record of 12-8.

I think Kimbo is going to touch his chin — a lot. Shamrock loses for the sixth straight time by first round knockout. That is a Five Star (out of five) BANK ON IT!!! prediction.

I will literally be in shock if Shamrock wins this fight.

So there it is. We’ll see how I do on this one, but these are all pretty easy to call, so I’m expecting 5-0.

So remember to tune in at 9 p.m. Saturday on CBS. Should be a good one!

• Sat 21st
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• Sun 22nd
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• Mon 23rd
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• Tue 24th
  • Class Pictures: Photographs by Dawoud Bey
    
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