Written by Derek Wizzle

EliteXC had another prime time event on CBS last Saturday night, and the show was full of surprises and exciting matches.

The main event was scheduled to be Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock but Shamrock was not allowed to fight due to a cut he sustained near his eye.

EliteXC officials had to scramble to find another opponent for Kimbo, and they found one in Seth Petruzelli. Petruzelli was scheduled to fight Aaron Rosa on the prelim card that evening but he took the place of Shamrock in the main event instead.

Kimbo had prepared for months for Shamrock, and all of a sudden, he had a new opponent.

The main event only lasted 14 seconds as the fans in Florida at the BankAtlantic Center were shocked to see Kimbo lose by TKO in the first round to Petruzelli.

The Kimbo critics came out in full force after the fight and started to hurl insults and trash the former street fighting legend.

They said that Kimbo's 15 minutes of fame are over and that he will not be heard from again. Some said he was nothing but a freak show and that he was exposed.

What the critics need to realize is that Kimbo never was mentioned as a contender for the title, or a great MMA fighter.

Kimbo has been quoted numerous times as saying he is just a baby in this sport, and that he has a lot to learn.

No EliteXC official proclaimed him to be this great MMA fighter who was a title contender. Basically, Kimbo is just a rookie in the sport with only four professional MMA fights.

Fans love Kimbo and want to see him fight regardless of him losing or winning. He is a superstar with a lot of charisma, and he has that "it" factor which connects with fans and sponsors alike. Fans enjoy his brawling style and aggressiveness, even though that may have led to his first loss to Petruzelli.

They watch his fights to see him either get knocked out or knock someone out. Who doesn't like to see a fighter who brings it each and every time he steps into the cage?

People should be giving Kimbo props for taking the fight with another opponent that he was totally unprepared for and knew nothing about.

Imagine if the Dallas Cowboys prepared to play the Redskins, and on the day of the game, the NFL told them they would be playing the Patriots instead. The Cowboys would not be focused and in disarray.

This is how Kimbo must have felt going into the fight with Petruzelli.

During his pre-fight interview with CBS reporter, Karen Bryant, Kimbo seemed focused but his mind didn't seem right at all. Who could blame him under these circumstances?

This is not the end of Kimbo, far from it. This is just the beginning for Kimbo and you can expect him to continue to bring it in his future fights.

Speaking of fighters who bring it, Benji Radach and Murilo "Ninja" Rua took it to each other in the first fight of the night on CBS.

This fight was action-packed from the beginning to the end. Radach won in the second round by TKO, and fans can't wait to see Radach fight again.

He was very aggressive from the start and never let Rua relax.

The next fight was between the face of women's MMA, Gina Carano, against Kelly Kobold. Carano won by unanimous decision after three rounds.

Carano displayed a lot of nice muay thai skills, but the match was just too short. Women fighters fight three minute, three round fights.

Hopefully the women will be allowed to fight five minute rounds just like the men do in the near future.

The next match was between heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Roy Nelson. Everyone was expecting a knockout from Arlovski and he delivered in the second round.

Jake Shields and Paul "Semtex" Daley fought for the EliteXC welterweight title, and Shields came out the winner to retain his title.

Shields won by armbar in an exciting back and forth match. Daley was superior in the stand-up, but Shields owned Daley on the ground.

Overall, this was another great show that EliteXC put on for MMA fans. The fans got to see some spectacular knockouts and a huge upset win by a fighter who was not even supposed to be in the main event.

Although some fans were disappointed that Shamrock could not fight Kimbo, EliteXC, Kimbo, and Petruzelli, all stepped up and made the best of a difficult situation.

The haters and critics continue to say that EliteXC is going to go out of business, but just like Kimbo, EliteXC is far from done, and not going away.

You can bet that EliteXC and their talented group of fighters will continue to bring MMA fans more exciting fights and action for a long, long time.

UFC 88: "Breakthrough" Review

Written by D. Wizzle

UFC 88 did not disappoint as the main event between Rashad "Sugar" Evans and Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell ended in a knockout by Evans.

Written by D Wizzle

EliteXC had another exciting ShoXC show on Showtime last Friday night at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California.

The main event featured a rematch between light heavyweights Po' ai Suganuma and Jared Hamman.

There were five fights in total on the televised card, and all five fights had its moments.

Many of the fighters on the card were not well known and were trying to make a name for themselves. This made a lot of the fights exciting and thrilling as all the fighters were out to prove that they belong in EliteXC.

Suganuma, a training partner of B.J. Penn's, defeated Hamman a few months ago in a controversial ending. The fight lasted only 15 seconds after Suganuma landed a flying knee to Hamman which forced the referee to stop the fight.

Hamman was victorious this time as he ended the fight in the first round after several vicious hammer fists to Suganuma.

Suganuma had the advantage early on in the fight, and it looked like it could end quickly again, but Hamman was able to withstand the early onslaught and then go on the offensive.

Commentators Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quardos mentioned a possibility of a trilogy as they could see these two fighters going at it once again.

The first match shown was between Keith "KO Kid" Berry and Ray "Lights Out" Lizama.

This was a great fight to start the show as these two fighters entertained the fans with a stand-up war.

Berry won the first round by utilizing the plum clinch and delivering some nice knees and punches to Lizama.

Lizama was able to escape a rear naked choke by Berry which almost ended the fight.

In the second round, Lizama rocked Berry with punches which had the 20-year-old retreating. Somehow, Berry was able to come back strong and started to deliver some shots to Lizama.

Eventually, Lizama started to land his right hand again, and Berry finally went down after two overhand rights to his body.

This was a big upset as Berry was favored to win because Lizama only had a 5-5 record coming into the fight, and was also fighting on late notice.

Lizama was a replacement for Reggie Orr who backed out of the fight with Berry.

The fight was at a catch-weight of 190 pounds. Lizama looked a lot bigger than Berry.

The second fight was a women's match between veteran Debi Purcell and Rosi Sexton from Manchester, England.

Round one was boring as they were just clinching and positioning against the cage.

Round two was better, and the hightlight was Sexton's superwoman punch which was countered nicely by Purcell's leg kick.

Purcell started round three off with a spinning back fist.

The round was as close as the first two. Sexton attempted a nice cartwheel guard pass which Purcell was able to nullify.

The fight went to the judges and Sexton was awarded the win by split decision.

Fabricio "Morango" Camoes made quick work of Sammy "The Squeeze" Morgan in the first round with a rear naked choke.

The fight only lasted 47 seconds as Camoes was able to slam Morgan down to the mat and get full mount on his opponent.

Once Morgan gave his back, Camoes secured the choke for the quick victory.

UFC fighter Diego Sanchez was in Camoes' corner.

Camoes said that he wants to face some big names now and mentioned EliteXC lightweight champion, K.J. Noons, as a potential future opponent.

In another fight, Cyrille Diabate defeated Jamie Fletcher by unanimous decision.

Diabate reminds me of UFC fighter Corey Hill as they both are very tall and have bald heads.

Diabate controlled most of the fight, although he was taken down a few times by Fletcher.

Fletcher's face was extremely bloody thanks to a cut to his eye.

Diabate said he wants to fight Rafael Feijao next.

This show was not as hyped as a UFC pay-per-view show, but the fights on this card were better and more entertaining than what the UFC has offered MMA fans of late.

Highlights of the show include the great war between Berry and Lizama, Camoes' submission win over Morgan, and the non-stop brawl in the main event between Suganuma and Hamman.

The winners of the non-televised fights were David Douglas, Katrina Alendale, Jesse Brock, Lucas Gamaza, and Robert Vargas.

Written by D Wizzle

UFC 87 was held in Minnesota last Saturday night as Georges St. Pierre outskilled and overwhelmed challenger Jon Fitch to retain the UFC welterweight title. GSP won by unanimous decision over Fitch in their five-round battle.

GSP was very dominant throughout the whole fight and left no doubt as to who the winner was.

Another impressive fighter that night was Minnesota's own Brock Lesnar. Lesnar dismantled Heath Herring for three rounds to win by unanimous decision. All three rounds played out the same way as Lesnar would get Herring on the ground and just pummel him repeatedly with punches and knees.

The other three winners on the main card were Kenny Florian, Robert Emerson, and Demian Maia.

Florian fought a smart fight against Roger Huerta to win by unanimous decision. Florian is in line to get a shot for the lightweight title in the future with this win. This fight was exciting and one of the more competitive fights of the night even though the judges' scores (all three judges scored it 30-27 in favor of Florian) did not reflect that.

This UFC show was one of the best shows I have seen by them in a long time. Their shows lately have been boring and lackadaisical but I can't say that about UFC 87.

GSP put on a clinic in defeating Fitch in every which way possible. He proved that he is the best welterweight fighter in the world, and on a whole different level than any other fighter.

Robert Emerson's quick knockout of Manvel Gamburyan was entertaining, and Maia showed great ground skills in defeating Jason McDonald.

Lesnar proved to be a beast and a threat to everyone in the UFC's heavyweight division. He is so much bigger than most of the heavyweights, and if he takes his opponent down, there is almost no way they can get back up due to Lesnar's size advantage and strength.

Lesnar made Herring look small and Herring is about 6'4 and 250 pounds.

Overall, this was a decent show put on by the UFC. I can't find too many faults, but I wonder why the Maia vs. McDonald match was the first fight on the pay-per-view. The fans don't care about these two guys. The fight may have been good but the fans still aren't too excited about these two fighters. Fans don't know much about them or think they are true contenders for the middleweight title. Since three of the fights went to a decision, we did not get a chance to see any prelim fight but one.

The UFC showed the Cheick Kongo beatdown of Dan Evensen right before Lesnar's match.

What fans will remember most about UFC 87 was GSP's dominant victory over Fitch, and B.J. Penn storming the cage after the main event to challenge GSP to a match. If UFC president Dana White and matchmaker Joe Silva decide not to put this fight together yet, they can have Florian challenge Penn, and Thiago Alves challenge GSP to title matches.

UFC's next pay-per-view show will be on September 6 in Atlanta when Chuck Liddell takes on Rashad Evans in the main event.

Written by D. Wizzle

MMA fighters, insiders, and ring girls give us their pick on who will win this Saturday night when Georges St.Pierre defends his welterweight title against challenger Jon Fitch at UFC 87.

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson (UFC welterweight fighter) : I hope my boy Fitch wins, but GSP is no bitch, so I hope whoever shows up and wants it the most, wins.

Josh "The Punk" Thomson (Strikeforce Lightweight Champion): Fitch, Fitch, Fitch, Fitch!!! OH, did I say Fitch??!!! (Laughs)

Stephen Quadros (MMA analyst and commentator): I pick GSP to retain his belt not because Jon Fitch isn't good, or doesn't deserve a shot at the title. He most certainly does! The problem is that the champion is better in more facets of the game than Fitch is. Long story short, I don't think there is a 170 pound fighter in the world today who can beat Georges St.Pierre.

Nicole Craner (Strike Force Ring Girl): GSP...because there is no one like him. His work ethic is phenomenal. I think it will go the distance though.

Keith "KO Kid" Berry (KOTC Middleweight Champion and EliteXC fighter): I think GSP will win a unanimous decision over Fitch. GSP is on another level than anyone in his division. It's insane.

Nate Moore( Gladiator Challenge fighter fighting out of American Kickboxing Academy): As a training partner to Fitch, I will obviously be biased towards thinking Fitch will be the winner. However, I can tell you that Fitch is the more intelligent and mentally prepared fighter. Jon will undoubtedly stick to his game plan and grind out a well executed fight. Aside from having the side advantage, Fitch had a near perfect training camp, and he will be ready to give St.Pierre a five round war if necessary.

Elaina "Beef" Maxwell (Strikeforce fighter from Cung Le's gym): I think Fitch will win by decision because GSP usually takes his opponent's best attribute and beats them with it. Fitch isn't imbalanced in one area, which means he is a well-rounded fighter. He's not good in one area and bad in another. This will definitely be a chess match, a close fight, and a war of wills.

Darren Uyenoyama (Dream and Strikeforce fighter ): I really want Fitch to win. I like his approach as a competitor and his hard work ethic. There are definitely some positions he can beat GSP in. However, GSP is very consistent and keeps a constant pace throughout his fights. He also recovers very well so it's not going to be easy. It's going to be a classic match of boxer vs. brawler. The fan in me wants Fitch to win, but the analyst in me says the odds are on GSP.

Crooklyn (host of CageSide Live ): I'm hoping Fitch takes it. He's a powerhouse, has terrific wrestling, very decent jiu-jitsu, and has very good cardio. I just see those factors playing out more definitively than any of GSP's previous opponents. Let's hope I'm right because Jon Fitch is a friend of mines, and I want him to have that belt!

Michael Toney from Dominance Fight Gear (co-author of MMA book, "Tales From The Cage"): GSP by decision. I think it will be a very tactical fight, and potentially a little boring. GSP is in his prime, and is going to be very tough to beat.

Gabe "Godzilla" Ruediger (Team Quest fighter) : It's an interesting match up. I think Fitch is one of the few fighters who can give GSP a run. Both of them are very well-rounded and can usually dictate where the fight happens. That's where this fight is interesting. I'm going with GSP by decision although I wouldn't be suprised if Fitch won the same way.

Jason Von Flue (The Ultimate Fighter 2 contestant and former UFC and Strikeforce fighter ) : I'm thinking GSP by decision. It will be the same fight as GSP vs. Koscheck.

Damon Gee (CEO of KNOXX Gear): I like Fitch because he is a very determined fighter. He gave up a lot to move to San Jose and improve his game in order to become the best fighter in the world. He has a lot of heart and training is his life.

D Wizzle ( D Wizzle's World): Jon Fitch has never fought anyone as good as GSP in his career. Beating the Chris Wilsons and Josh Burkmans of the world is different than defeating the best welterweight fighter in the world today. Fitch will hang in there for the first few rounds, but GSP is more athletic and talented, and he will win by TKO in the third or fourth round. Fitch's win streak ends in Minnesota.

Written by Derek Wizzle

EliteXC had their second prime time show last Saturday night and the main event was a middleweight title bout between champion "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler against challenger Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith.

The show was held at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, California.

The main event was a rematch between Lawler and Smith as these fighters fought to a no- contest decision a few months ago due to an accidental eye poke by Lawler which affected Smith's eyesight in the third round.

Saturday's show was thusly titled "Unfinished Business" and CBS showed four of the fights on the card.

All four of the fights ended without any controversy as all the winning fighters finished their business.

The winners of the fights shown on CBS were Lawler, Cris Cyborg, Jake Shields, and Nick Diaz.

Lawler, Diaz, and Cyborg defeated their opponents in the second round by TKO, while Shields easily defeated Nick "The Goat" Thompson early in the first round with a guillotine choke to become EliteXC's first welterweight champion.

Lawler showed why he is the EliteXC middleweight champion by delivering a series of knees to Smith's stomach in the second round to win by TKO. The first round was a feeling out process by both fighters but there were fireworks in the second round.

Both fighters were bloodied up in the second round, and Smith looked like he had the advantage until Lawler started to connect with his punches and knees to end the fight.

Although there were a lot of impressive performances on the show, the fighter that opened up the most eyes was Cris Cyborg. Cyborg defeated the heralded Shayna Baszler in the only women's fight of the evening.

Baszler is known for her submissions but Cyborg avoided all her submission attempts in the first round. In the second round, it appeared that Baszler was tired from all her previously unsuccessful submission attempts.

After Cyborg got Baszler in the Muay Thai clinch and landed some knees in the second round, she proceeded to hit Baszler with a flurry of punches which knocked Baszler down.

In the unintentionally funny moment of the night, Cyborg thought the fight was over and jumped onto the top of the cage to celebrate with the fans. She raised her arms in victory while having her back to Baszler and the referee, Steve Mazzagatti. Unbeknownst to her, Mazzagatti had not called off the fight.

This gave Baszler the chance to recover from the damage inflicted by Cyborg's right hand and knees, but Mazzagatti finally had to call a stoppage to the fight about a minute later after another Cyborg right hand knocked down Baszler for the second time in round two.

Cyborg will possibly challenge Gina Carano in the future. If she doesn't fight Carano next, I could see her having a fight with someone like Kaitlin Young.

Carano was in attendance at ringside along with another EliteXC superstar, Kimbo Slice.

Diaz, a Stockton native, received the loudest ovation of the night. He defeated Thomas "Wildman" Denny in a slugfest.

All four fights on CBS were wildly entertaining and exciting. Unlike many of UFC's shows and broadcasts, the fights were action-packed and the announcers were very professional and articulate.

Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo, and Frank Shamrock all did a nice job calling the action, and Karyn Byrant did a good job asking questions while interviewing the fighters.

The only problem I had with the show was that their was a short lull before the main event got started.

MMA fans could not ask for a better night of fights. The winning fighters all won decisively and did not leave their fights to the hands of the judges.

Wilson Reis, Rafael Feijao, and Antonio Silva were all winners in fights that were seen on the cable network, Showtime, right before the CBS show aired.

Reis defeated the very tough Bryan Caraway by unanimous decision after three rounds. Caraway got the better of Reis standing up, but Reis was able to take down Caraway multiple times in the fight.

Caraway did do a very nice job scrambling and getting up from the takedowns. Caraway reportedly suffered a dislocated kneecap while training for the fight and his knee probably affected him during the fight.

Feijao won by TKO over Canadian Travis Galbraith in the first round. Feijao was very impressive and looks to be a force in the light heavyweight division. Silva defeated Justin Eilers by TKO in the second round to become the first ever EliteXC heavyweight champion.

Overall, MMA fans have to be pleased with the show. It was a very successful night for EliteXC and CBS as the show came off very well on television, and the fans got to see hard-hitting action and decisive clear-cut victories without any controversy.

The next CBS broadcast of EliteXC's Saturday Night Fights will be on October 4 and will feature Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano.

Written by Derek Wizzle

UFC shows never seem to live up to its hype anymore. UFC Fight Night 14 was just another example of a terrible show with too many mismatches or lethargic performances from the fighters.

It was a good thing that I had the Affliction show on at the same time so I would not fall asleep. There were a lot of exciting matches on the Affliction show, and I was watching that show more than I was watching the UFC broadcast.

CB Dolloway had a nice submission win over Jesse Taylor to start the UFC broadcast on Spike TV but the Kevin Burns fight against Anthony "Rumble" Johnson made fans very angry.

Burns established himself as one of the most feared and dangerous fighters in the planet after the fight, and I don't think many fighters will want to sign to fight him in the very near future. He might be more dangerous than fighters like Fedor or Anderson Silva right now. Sure, you might get knocked out by those two fighters but you could lose your eyesight fighting Burns. Burns' fingers poked and scratched Johnson's eye about four or five times in the match.

Burns showed no class and sportsmanship when he tried to go for the kill and attack a fallen Johnson after another eye poke in the final round. Burns pretended he didn't know what had just happened and even deceived the referee who stopped the fight and awarded the TKO victory to Burns.

Frankie Edgar and Hermes Franca had an uninspiring three-round fight which ended in a decision and the other three matches on the main card were all mismatches or lethargic.

Brandon Vera was supposed to defeat Reese Andy and he did but it was one of the worst fights of the night. Andy reminds me of former UFC fighter, Sean Salmon, for some reason. I guess it is because they are both wrestlers and short.

Heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez easily defeated UFC veteran Jake O' Brien in the first round, and Silva quickly dismantled the overmatched James "The Sandman" Irvin.

I was really glad the Affliction show was on because the show was way more exciting than the UFC's show. Vitor Belfort, Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett, and Fedor Emelianenko all had great fights that got fans really excited on Saturday night. Affliction's show had way more action and excitement than any of the UFC shows in the past few months.

There is more MMA action this weekend as EliteXC has their second big show on CBS and Showtime on Saturday night. This show should be very exciting and the fights should be way more competitive and intriguing than the fights on UFC Fight Night 14.

There will be three title fights and also a women's match as well.

If the UFC continues to have bad shows with boring fights and questionable judging and officiating by the judges and referees, MMA fans will tune in instead to shows by their competitors such as Affliction and EliteXC if they haven't already.

You can count me as one of those fans.

Written by Derek Wizzle

Bryan "KidLightning" Caraway is a featherweight fighter from the state of Washington. He has a 10-2 professional record and is coming off a big win against Alvin Cacdac at the last Strikeforce show in June. Nine of his wins have been by submission.

This interview was done right before it was announced that Caraway's next fight would be against highly touted Wilson Reis at EliteXC's next big event on July 26 in Stockton, California. The show will be on Showtime and on CBS.

Hey Bryan, how's it going? Congratulations on your win at Strikeforce!

Thanks! I was stoked to be fighting for Strikeforce.

Your style of fighting was listed as "Cowboy Karate" at Strikeforce. Can you give me a definition of that?

Yea, we are from the Northwest so we're a bunch of tough country dudes with technique! It's really just supposed to be funny and it keeps everyone guessing.

You looked really good against Alvin Cacdac. You were on him from the start and eventually forced him to tap from the rear naked choke. Did you expect to have such an easy fight?

I never expect to have an easy fight but I trained really hard for it, and I knew he was a stand-up guy so I figured he couldn't hang with me on the ground. It actually went EXACTLY how we planned it.

Your girlfriend Miesha Tate fought on the card and won also. Is that the first time you guys were on the same card together?

Yea, it was pretty cool!

Were you more nervous about your fight or her fight?

A different kind of nervous for her. I always throw up before my fights because I'm so competitive, and I hate losing more than anything. But for her, I'm worried about her getting hurt or jacked up!!

The crowd booed when you won since Cacdac was from San Jose. How did it feel to win against the hometown fighter with the crowd booing you?

Well, winning always feels awesome, but that adds a little zing to it! (laughs)

Do you have a nickname?

Yea, it was "The Kid" for a long time because I started fighting when I was only 19 so Dennis Hallman nicknamed me "The Kid" but everybody I trained with said I'm lightning fast so now its "KidLightning."

How is the MMA scene in Washington?

The amatuer MMA scene has blown up huge and the pro scene is growing as well with Strike Force coming here. As far as the Northwest, MMA is huge in general and I believe we produce the toughest fighters around.

Where do you train at and who are some of your trainers and training partners?

Well I trained at Yakima MMA with Rich Guerin while I was in college for about three years so he was really influential in who I am today as a fighter. I originally started with Hallman for a little while, and then he introduced me to Rich because he was a lot closer to where i went to school. But now, I moved back over to the Olympia area a few months ago and I'm training with Dennis Hallman again. I have some good training partners like Eddy Ellis, Matt Lininger, Wesley Welch, Cory Devela, and just recently Mike Joy. I also go and train with Lyle Beerbohm, Sterling Ford, and Cody McKenzie. We make trip up to Ivan Salaverry's gym, and drive down to Team Quest a lot and I train with some real tough guys there like Matt Lindland, Chael Sonnen, Ryan Shultz, Ian Loveland, Zack George, Dave Jansen, Nathan Coy, and Ed Herman. All the Quest guys are cool.

Of all your wins so far in your career, which one was the most satisfying?

Uh, I don't know... probably the Strikeforce show is up there when I dominated Noah Thomas. Noah was supposed to fight Josh Thomson, but Josh got cut so they called me up on short notice, and I was supposed to get beat up but it was totally the opposite. He then got on TUF 5 so that makes it even better that i beat him.

Are there any opponents that you would like to fight next?

I just wanna fight who ever is gonna get me to that next level and noticed that much more!

What part of your game do you think you need to work on the most?

I like to think I'm pretty well rounded but probably if I had to pick, it would be stand-up.

How is your stand-up?

My stand-up's actually pretty slick so I'm told, but being a wrestler forever, I'm more comfortable on the ground. I just need to get more confidence in my skill on my feet.

Thanks a lot for your time Bryan. Congrats on the win again and I hope to see you fight again soon. Do you have any final words for the fans out there?

Just watch out for me! I'm gonna be coming up for sure. I live, eat, and sleep fighting. Training is all I do. I'm focusing my whole life on fighting so you better believe I'm gonna be the champ!! Thanks for the interview! Stay up.

Written by Derek Wizzle

Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco was host to Gladiator Challenge's "Summer Showdown" event last Friday night. There were ten fights in total, and only three of the fights ended in a decision.

Most of the fights were hard hitting and exciting. The most exciting fight was a fight that ended up in a split decision.

Zak Bucia was awarded a split decision after a three round war. The match was a back and forth tussle but the match stalled in the third round as both fighters were gassed.

The crowd was really into this fight and it was the fight of the night.

The decision could have gone either way as the fight was very competitive and even. They both had their moments offensively landing kicks and punches. Bucia was caught in a triangle but was saved by the bell in the first round.

The main event was between Kurt Osiander and Nate Moore. Osiander is a black belt instructor at the Ralph Gracie Academy in San Francisco. Moore fights out of the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose.

90% of the crowd was on the side of Osiander as it appeared that all of his students were in attendance.

Believe it or not, the main event ended faster than the main events at the UFC and Affliction shows over the weekend.

Much to the displeasure of the crowd, Moore knocked Osiander down with a flurry of punches and the referee had to stop the fight after only six seconds.

Osiander never had the opportunity to try to take down Moore, and attempt to submit him.

UFC welterweight fighter, Jon Fitch, was in Moore's corner. Fitch also cornered for another AKA teammate, Wayne Phillips, who lost a unanimous decision to Joey Armstrong.

The Ralph Gracie Academy students left Kezar Pavilion stunned and disappointed.

Another fan favorite, Justin "The Hero" Hoglund, also lost as his fight was stopped in the second round due to a cut. Hoglund, who trains at Ralph Gracie's Academy, had a cut that was opened up by his opponent, 19-year-old Gabriel Solorio in the first round.

Solorio was booed heavily and the ending didn't help endear him to the pro-Hoglund crowd. Solorio told me after the fight that he didn't let the boos get to him.

"There was a lot of hate there. I didn't let the crowd get to me. I knew what I was trying to do and I did it," said Solorio."I wanted to stand up and trade some punches, but he wanted to go against the cage and clinch. It started working good for me so I beat him at his own game."

In a battle of heavyweights, John Devine defeated Richard Blake by TKO due to strikes. Blake protested the stoppage by the referee to no avail. The fans were not pleased with what they thought was an early stop to the fight, and some of them started to throw t-shirts into the cage.

The t-shirts the fans were throwing into the cage were the shirts thrown into the crowd by the ring card girls in between rounds.

A fighter that really impressed me was a middlewight named Raul Castillo. Castillo mounted his opponent, Josh Neal, and delivered some vicious punches to end the fight at the 1:36 mark of round one.

Castillo is now 5-0 with four of the wins via TKO. He is definitely one fighter to keep an eye on.

The other winners from Friday night were Ryan Bastianelli, Matt Greene, Larry Mays, and Mike Fazzino.

Mays won his fight over Will Davis due to a verbal tapout at the end of round two.

Fazzino defeated San Francisco police officer, Bryan Lujan, by TKO due to strikes at the 2:18 mark of the first round. Fazzino took him down and then started to rain down repeated punches which forced the referee to end the fight.

It was a chilly and cold night, but the women in the building were very hot. There were lots of beautiful women dressed in short tube tops, dresses, and miniskirts.

The crowd was very lively and raucous throughout the course of the evening.

Although none of the fighters on the card are household names, most of them fought valiantly and impressively. The fights were mostly entertaining and the atmosphere inside Kezar Pavilion was electric.

The Bay Area MMA fans who watched "Summer Showdown" all seemed to have a good time even though a lot of them left disappointed due to some of the fan favorites losing.

Overall, the night was a huge success for Gladiator Challenge and the promoters, Full Contact Promotions, as the fans enjoyed over three hours of entertaining MMA fights.