Kimbo set for another gift wrap win

The date is set, Kimbo vs Shamrock live in prime-time on CBS on Saturday October 4th for the next edition of Saturday Night Fights.

Following Kimbo's last fight in May against James Thompson many thought that his next opponent would be Brett Rogers, a big heavyweight at 6'5 265lbs. Rogers impressed scoring a win by TKO. In the post-fight press conference Rogers called Kimbo out. Saying he was unimpressed with him and wanted to fight him. Kimbo responded and it seemed like they may fight then and there. The stage was set for some perfect pre-fight buildup and a fight that could be marketed to feature two fresh faces in MMA in prime-time. Instead of giving us the obvious fight the Elite XC brass decided to go a different route and employ a man that at one time was feared around the world. A man who is a UFC hall of famer but over the course of the last 5 or so years he has looked more and more like a journeyman fighter than anything else. That man is Ken Shamrock.

When I first heard about this I thought for sure it was a joke. Shamrock is 45, a loser of 7 of 8 fights. His only win came against another over the hill fighter in Kimo Leopoldo. The only fighter Shamrock was able to survive against in that span was a split decision loss to Don Frye. In the other 6 losses he was stopped due to strikes or knocked completely out. This is the same Ken Shamrock that got knocked out cold against 185lb fighter Kazushi Sakuraba at Pride 30. Shamrock has seeming lost his ability to take a punch.

Elite XC has done the right thing for their marketing in giving their cash cow Kimbo a fight he should win in highlight reel fashion. But sooner or later they are going to have to give Kimbo a real fight before fans stop thinking of Elite XC as a joke. Should Kimbo escape Shamrock and a fight with Brett Rogers doesn't follow and instead he sees another fighter with a suspect chin; Elite XC may start to feel some backlash from the fans who are starting to see the organization as a joke.

Today I leave you with the suggested viewing of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Tim Sylvia from UFC 81, a heavyweight title bout. http://www.mmalinker.com/xSearch.php?name=Sylvia&btnG=Search&vidid=7106&vidt=i