EliteXC has just announced the five fights that will be part of the main card during its next television event. Showtime will air its latest edition of the ShoXC Challenger Series on August 15th at 11pm EST. In the main event, Light heavyweight Cyrille “The Snake” Diabate will make his inaugural EliteXC appearance against Jaime Fletcher.

The women will mix it up again when Debi Purcell takes on Rosi Sexton. Purcell is another female fighter fans should keep an eye on. She could easily boost her status in the women’s division after victimizing Sexton.

A lingering wrist injury forced Hector Lombard to prolong his EliteXC debut as he was tentatively scheduled to step in the cage. Here are the five fights that are now official.

Cyrille Diabate vs. Jamie Fletcher
Jared Hamman vs. Po’ai Suganuma
Sammy Morgan vs. Fabricio Camoes
Debi Purcell vs. Rosi Sexton
Keith Berry vs. Reggie Orr

Tonight’s EliteXC has a rather unique broadcasting pattern. Showtime will air some fights before the main card takes over on CBS. And a few preliminary fights won’t get any air time at all. Here’s a look at tonight’s lineup along with the official weigh-in numbers.

MAIN CARD (CBS)
Robbie Lawler (184.5) vs. Scott Smith (185) (for EliteXC middleweight title)
Thomas Denny (159) vs. Nick Diaz (159.5)
Jake Shields (169.5) vs. Nick Thompson (169.5) (for vacant EliteXC welterweight title)
Shayna Baszler (139) vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (140)
David Douglas (157) vs. Marlon Mathias (161) (swing bout)

MAIN CARD (SHOWTIME)
Justin Eilers (218) vs. Antonio Silva (257.5) (for vacant EliteXC heavyweight title)
Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (203.5) vs. Travis Galbraith (202)
Brian Caraway (140.5) vs. Wilson Reis (139.5)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Mike Cook (232.5) vs. Carl Seumanutafa (255.5)
Drew Montgomery (224) vs. Brandon Tarn (252)
Jeremy Freitag (205) vs. Anthony Ruiz (206)

Pro Elite continues its shopping spree through the world of mixed martial arts. Pro Ellite, the parent company of EliteXC, is looking to cinch up a deal with Fox Sports Network. It already has broadcast deals with Showtime and the CBS network. In 2007, Pro Elite’s purchases included ICON Sport, Cage Rage, King of the Cage, Spirit MC among others.

It looks as though Pro Elite is loading up as it prepares to go up against the other mma powers that be. And while the UFC and Affliction may have a bit better quality, Pro Elite can definitely offer quantity. The more organizations and more television contracts it acquires, the more fights will be broadcasted to the masses.

Pro Elite’s move is a win-win situation for the sport of mixed martial arts. It creates both competition as well as variety. Mmajunkie.com chimes in with a few more tidbits on the situation.

In an effort to promote its upcoming event, Elite XC will feature Kimbo Slice and Gina Corano on Friday, sort of. The two will be on hand to sign autographs before the official weigh-ins begin. Slice and Carano are two of the biggest names in the EliteXC. After last Saturday’s hard hitting Affliction vs. UFC showdown, the people over at EliteXC have a lot of ground to make up.

The EliteXC will have a national television audience and no competition from mma’s other top organizations. Still, the memory of last week’s action is still fresh in the mind of fight fans. That could significantly hurt the EliteXC if it turns in a sub-par performance.

Even though EliteXC will have the Saturday night spotlight to itself, last weekend’s events could still cast a major blow to the organization. MMAjunkie.com has more on the EliteXC events that will lead up to the actual fight itself.

On July 26th he will step into the cage as part of EliteXC’s main event in Stockton, California. He will attempt to beat his opponent into submission using punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes. Three days later, he will sit down in the Minneapolis Convention Center to take a two day state Bar examination. Welcome to the world of Nick Thompson.

It’s not every day when a lawyer can get paid to literally hand someone a severe beating. Some may argue that courtroom beatings are far worse than any beatings issued inside the cage. By the end of the month, Thompson may just have the power to issue both.

With the support of his wife, Thompson will have an action filled ending to the month of July. Thompson shares some of his thoughts on the matter with bloodyelbow.com.

At EliteXC’s July 26th event, Jake Shields will face Nick Thompson for the EliteXC welterweight championship. Shields was originally set to face Drew Fickett as part of EliteXC’s June 14th event. However, Fickett’s violation of his contracted negated that bout from ever happening. Now, Shields will finally get the chance to fight for the vacant title with an opponent he actually wanted to see in the cage.

Shields comments on the bout and more during this interview with mmarated.com.

Yesterday, EliteXC announced its full fight card for the July 26th event which will air on network television. The most noteworthy and perhaps intriguing addition comes in the form of a women’s bout. Shayna Baszler and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos will meet each other in a battle of 140 pounders. The addition is a smart one for the EliteXC as it carves out another fight in the unique niche it is bringing to the world of mma.

Girls fighting girls will always be a draw no matter what the venue. Although the rest of the EliteXC card is a rather ho-hum assemblage of fighters, most spectators will be intrigued with the Baszler-Santos bout. Baszler boasts a career record of 9-4 with all nine of those victories coming via a first round round submission. Santos is a bit more green with a professional record of only 4-0.

The EliteXC has indeed brought something different to the world of mma by putting women in the spotlight. And, on July 26, the organization will shine the lights down upon the women once again.

Nick Diaz will be part of a cast of fighters who will help the EliteXC make its second attempt to bring mixed martial arts to a mainstream audience. This July 26th on CBS, Diaz will take on Thomas Denny, although he will not be featured in the main event. Instead, the Diaz-Denny clash will be part of the undercard.

For Diaz, the fight comes a little more than a month after he coasted to a third round TKO of Mushin Corbbrey. It is a wise move on EliteXC’s part to involve Diaz as he is one of the organization’s better fighters. Nonetheless, it may have been wiser to pair him up with a more formidable opponent.

Denny has mainly fought for King of the Cage and has only one EliteXC bout under his belt. Having previously stepped into the cage wearing a pink mohawk and two sleeves of tattoos, Denny has labeled himself the “Wildman”. However, owing a 26-16 record hardly instills opponents with as much fear as his ridiculous haircut. Denny will need to bring every bit of his wildness if he has any illusions of besting Diaz.

A better opponent?

There is no doubt that Diaz would much rather have fought EliteXC lightweight champion KJ Noons for the second time. A bout between the two seems imminent and EliteXC will do its fair share of marketing when that bout does eventually take place. A month’s time may not have been long enough to start promoting a Diaz-Noons bout where blood already seems to be boiling. Still, a Diaz-Noons battle would probably turn out to be much more exciting.

For now, Diaz will settle for his match-up with Denny in front of a home crowd in Stockton, California. Diaz’s local following will not only be treated to watching a hometown hero, but they will also be treated to watching one of EliteXC’s best.

The organization will now need to bring the best if they are to go beyond the nightmarish exhibition which concluded with the Kimbo Slice spectacle more than a month ago. Diaz is definitely one of the fighters who has the ability to make onlookers forget about that deleterious debut of the EliteXC on CBS.

This year’s Ultimate Fighter finale will take place Saturday night in Las Vegas, although there will be a slight twist to the final bout. One of the fighters who earned the right to step into the octagon on Saturday night had that right pulled out from underneath of him. Finalist Jesse Taylor was issued his walking papers by UFC president Dana White after his recent meltdown in Sin City.

White dismissed Taylor after he was caught on video tape kicking out a window of a limousine and subsequently terrorizing women inside a Las Vegas hotel. Furthermore, he boasted to security that he was a UFC fighter, as if that simple fact would excuse his behavior. The move didn’t sit well with White.

A New Ultimate Fighter

As a result, Amir Sadollah will replace Taylor and Take on CB Dollaway for the right to be crowned the Ultimate Fighter during its seventh season. The move showed a lot of grit as well as the execution of class on White’s behalf. In the eyes of many, mma fighters are simply revered as nothing more than bruisers and thugs. And, in some circles, even mindless barbarians.

Taylor’s behavior only gave credence to those theories. Yet, White’s decision to nix Taylor has attempted to contradict those theories. Regardless of what transpires inside the octagon, White sent a clear cut message to the mass public as well as the rest of the fighters in the UFC. That message was simply that such behavior will not be tolerated.

In the world of professional sports, so many athletes tarnish their name and the name of their sport because of their behavior outside of the sport. In the recent past, former NFL quarterback Michael Vick fell victim to off the field problems and as a result, he now resides in an 8×11 cell.

But Taylor also wasn’t the only one to fall victim to the perils of Sin City. Las Vegas seduced the NFL’s “Pacman” Jones more than a year ago and prohibited him from pursuing an immediate future in football. While these may just be isolated incidents, each one grabs major headlines and sticks out in the forefront of most people’s minds. Despite most of the positives generated by these sports, these incidents batter them with a black eye.

Going, going, gone

Nowadays, the name of a home run king cannot be uttered with out the word steroid following that name. In a lesser publicized move, the EliteXC banned women’s fighter Carina Damm for one year after she tested positive for steroids. The move took place this past April and nullified a scheduled women’s bout on the past EliteXC television event. Without many women grabbing headlines in the sport, it was a bold move for the EliteXC to take such a drastic measure.

The WEC also got into the act and issued a six month medical suspension to Urijah Faber because of an injury to his hand that was sustained during his last bout with Jens Pulver. Now how many organizations would prohibit a player/fighter from participating because of a medical injury?

It was pretty much a known fact that former Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre was on a steady diet of Demerol throughout his NFL career. Nonetheless, no NFL representative ever stepped in and even questioned the status of his health, nonetheless how many pills he was popping at halftime.

Although some may look on the sport of mixed martial arts as one of brutality, it is doing an excellent job of showing it is anything but that. White’s most recent move to ban Taylor is just the latest to show that the UFC wants to be recognized as an organization equipped with a conscious.

A lasting theory?

Now, would White had move such a move if Rampage Jackson had kicked out the window of a limousine? That question doesn’t have to be answered even though White gave the impression that such behavior will not be tolerated. And he evidenced the fact, showing that Taylor is not above the law.

A great deal of athletes in this day and age adhere to a mindset that would repute White’s actions. Lucrative contracts, millions of adoring fans and astronomical endorsement deals lead a lot of athletes to believe as though they can behave however they choose. That way of thinking may suffice in other organizations, but White has made a stand claiming that it will not be part of the UFC.

As the sport of mixed martial arts continues to grow, White is likely to get more opportunities to test his theory. For it is only a matter of time before someone decides to let the fame, fortune and perhaps even the luster of Las Vegas get the better of them. It will be then when the world will get to see if White can duplicate the same sentiment he expressed in his decision to dismiss Taylor.

The old guys just didn’t have enough to make the night very competitive in Honolulu during EliteXC’s latest attempt to legitimize their organization in the world of mixed martial arts. In each of the five televised bouts, a thirty plus year-old fighter failed miserably against a younger, stronger opponent. Whoever scheduled this fight card should have done a bit more homework.

Only one of the five televised matches lasted beyond the first round. Actually, all four of those bouts were stopped before the first round even reached its halfway point. And it wasn’t that the victorious fighters were even that good. It was just that they were pitted against much weaker and less capable opponents. In fact, Nick Diaz was probably the best of all the winning fighters on the night. Yet, it took Diaz over thirteen minutes to finally finish off his elderly opponent.

Although Diaz’s fight was not the main event of the evening, he was arguably the best fighter on the card. He picked apart a defensive Mushin Corbbrey and finally dismantled his thirty year-old opponent more than halfway through the third round. Corbbrey put up a formidable defense for a while, but really had nothing to offer offensively. Nevertheless, Diaz was forced to use a variety of different tactics which led to a more intriguing contest.

Following the Diaz fight, KJ Noons defended his lightweight championship against Yves Edwards who was not a very game opponent to say the least. The thirty-one year old Edwards carried a glass jaw into the cage and couldn’t even last a minute against Noons. He felt the wrath of a Noons thirty seconds into the fight and simply couldn’t recover.

Title fights should last longer than the 47 seconds it took Noons to flatten Edwards. Apparently, the thug part of the thugjitsu that Edwards practices must have went to the wrong Hawaiian island.

The other three fights on the undercard were also mismatches of a very poor nature. In the night’s first bout, thirty-seven year old Wayne Cole looked as if he didn’t even want to be in the cage. The younger Rafael Feijao only needed 2 minutes and 48 seconds to send his aged opponent stumbling back to the locker room.

Things didn’t get any better when 42 year-old Ron Waterman stepped out of the old folk’s home and took a quick beating from Dave “Pee Wee” Herman. The twenty-five year old Herman upped his mma record to 11-0 and left people scratching their heads as to why the EliteXC couldn’t find a better opponent. There was 2 minutes and 41 seconds remaining in the first round when the referee had to pull Herman off a battered Waterman.

The final old guy to prove he wasn’t getting any younger was thirty-five year-old Tony Bonello. Bonello brought in an mma record of 16-0-1 with 14 of those wins coming by submission. After watching Murilo Rua dispose of him in a little over three minutes, one would have to question who Bonello actually defeated.

Perhaps part of that record dated back to Bonello’s high school wrestling days because when Bonello went to his back he looked like a novice. It was almost like watching a bully pick on a defenseless kid in the schoolyard, only the defenseless kid in this case was seven years older than the bully.

The action didn’t get any better when announcer Bill Goldberg tried to interview Nick Diaz and KJ Noons inside the cage following the Noons fight. The two exchanged words and then proceeded to go after one another in something that looked better suited for the WWE.

Aside from the Diaz fight, there was only nine minutes of mixed martial arts action on the latest EliteXC television event. The organization did a very poor job of following up the Kimbo Slice debacle from a couple of weeks ago. However, the biggest mistake was made when these fights were scheduled.

Basically, a bunch of fighters who were past their prime came out and showed they were still capable of taking a quick beating. Most of the time, the action looked more like street fights than mixed martial arts contests.

The EliteXC does have some talented fighters, but as it showed on Saturday night, those talented fighters are far and few between. And if they continue to dig up television events similar to the previous two, a lot of people are going to start changing the channel. Every month, it seems as though the EliteXC is not helping, but rather hurting the sport of mixed martial arts.