Notes: EXC shaping up; New York sanctioning

After months of trying, Elite XC once again attempts to crown a welterweight champion in a match featuring Jake Shields, who may be the best fighter on the company’s roster. He'll face Nick "The Goat" Thompson on the July 26 combined CBS and Showtime card.

The match of two fighters with long winning streaks will hopefully not be jinxed, as the prior attempts to create a champion have been. At first, Shields was scheduled to face Mike Pyle on Nov. 10 to create the championship, but Pyle, for contractual reasons of not wanting a long-term commitment to the company, turned down being in a championship match, so the match was changed to a non-title, three-round match.

After Shields won that match, he was scheduled for a March 29 match for the title against Drew Fickett, but that fell through when Shields injured his back in training. Shields and Fickett were supposed to square off for the title on June 14 in Honolulu, but this time Fickett bowed out due to a training injury. When Fickett signed to fight elsewhere in July, Elite XC chose Thompson, who was the Bodog Fight welterweight champion when that promotion folded, and is currently riding a 12-fight winning streak, which includes a TKO win over Eddie Alvarez.

The show will air live from 9-11 p.m. Eastern on CBS with four or five fights, including either two or three five-round championship matches. The CBS show will directly follow either a 60 or 90 minute Showtime card. No venue has been finalized for the event, but with time of the essence, it is likely to be announced later this week.

Shields vs. Thompson will air on CBS along with the main event of Robbie Lawler defending the middleweight title against Scott Smith in a rematch from the inaugural CBS show on May 31. That match was ruled a no contest when ringside doctor Sherry Wulkan ruled Smith couldn’t continue after he couldn’t see due to an accidental eye poke.

The CBS show was a ratings success, causing the network to ask for a second show even though the company’s two major drawing cards, Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano, wouldn’t be ready to fight. The company is coming off two events that were popular with novice viewers but heavily criticized by those inside the industry: for the use of Slice in the main event on CBS, and for a June 14 post-show brawl among cornermen stemming from the company setting up Nick Diaz and K.J. Noons for an in-ring face-to-face confrontation to build up their scheduled fall lightweight title fight.

Slice proved to be a huge drawing card, as his match with James Thompson was the most-widely viewed MMA match ever in North America, and he’s become the most recognized fighter who wasn’t developed by the UFC. But in using a fighter with just two prior pro fights, whose notoriety came from street fights broadcast on YouTube, the company’s was criticized for pandering to the lowest common denominator.

"This is a test of how the sport of MMA can do on network TV," said Elite XC matchmaker Jared Shaw. "It’s going to be the kind of show that will satisfy the hardcore fans."

But with the pressure of drawing network ratings, CBS and Elite XC will have to be able to market the sport of MMA as the draw without any proven money players on the show. It’s a risky proposition in a business that has always been carried by main event star power.

Shaw believes the true make-or-break show that will answer the question of MMA long-term on CBS would likely be the third show in October when the company’s two big draws, Slice and Gina Carano, would likely return.

In particular, after booking a first show with matches designed to be stand-up slugfests, Shields vs. Thompson is expected to be a ground war with two fighters who specialize in submissions.

Shields (20-4-1), a former college wrestler at San Francisco State who later became a Cesar Gracie Brazilian jiu-jitsu protege, has won his last nine fights dating back more than three years. With wins over Yushin Okami, considered Anderson Silva’s top contender for the UFC middleweight title; and World Extreme Cagefighting welterweight champion Carlos Condit, he’s widely considered the best North American fighter in the weight class not currently in UFC.

Thompson, 36-9-1, whose only loss in his last 22 fights, dating back three years, was to Karo Parisyan, comes out of the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy that includes both Sean Sherk and Brock Lesnar. Of late, he’s been fighting with the Japanese Sengoku promotion, and is coming off a second round submission win over Michael Costa on June 8 in a show-stealing match.

The promotion is working on creating a heavyweight champion on the show, but that depends on the opponent signed to face Antonio "Junior" Silva. Shaw said they will create a title match if they sign a championship worthy opponent.

New York sanctioning stalled

UFC’s goal of running an event in Madison Square Garden has been delayed by at least several months, after a bill before the state Assembly’s Tourism, Arts and Sports Committee to legalize MMA in the state was voted down twice in the past two weeks.

For those of us who have followed the sport’s growth, it’s frustrating that the same emotional arguments, including ludicrous comparisons to cockfighting and dog fighting, still get entered into discussions by lawmakers who haven’t done any homework on the sport.

UFC president Dana White said after the vote that he considered it a temporary setback and was still confident of running in the state in 2009.

"It disappointed me greatly," said Marc Ratner, vice president of regulatory affairs for the UFC, which sponsored the bill. "Spike ratings are big in New York. We’re going to be there. It’s going to happen. It’s about educating people."

Ratner said that besides Madison Square Garden, which was a main supporter of the bill, and which UFC has talked to weekly for more than a year, that arenas in Albany, Syracuse, Utica and Buffalo have all expressed interest in shows.

In this case, the bill got sidetracked by Assemblyman Bob Reilly (D-Clifton Park), who gave an impassioned speech, saying, "We ban cockfighting and dog fighting. Should we allow humans to enter a cage to knee, kick and punch each other?" But Reilly’s knowledge was so limited he had to ask if they had referees in MMA matches, and part of his speech claimed that UFC was banned in 20 states, so why should New York be different.

There are actually only two states in which MMA is banned – New York and West Virginia – both based on laws written at a time the rules of the sport were different. UFC right now will only run in the 35 states where the sport is both legal and regulated, although almost every state except the aforementioned two have regular shows. Of the remaining 13 states, five don’t have athletic commissions and the other eight that have athletic commissions, haven’t given the commissions jurisdiction over MMA events.

Shows are held regularly in most of those states, including Hawaii, a hotbed for the sport.

MMA can be a dangerous game, and it is imperative the sport be regulated because the right medical personnel are needed, and unregulated MMA can be a breeding ground for unscrupulous promoters.

A Johns Hopkins University study on Nevada State Athletic commission injury statistics showed injuries occur in MMA at a slightly higher rate than boxing, but it is more knee, back and shoulder injuries; brain trauma and concussions are significantly more frequent in boxing. Having spoken to high-level kickboxers who have done both sports, all say that kickboxing is significantly harder on the body.

Ratner said they would try and reintroduce legislation in January, during the next session.