Primetime TV Proves It's Not Ready For MMA

Promoter, Gary Shaw and Elite XC were hoping to take the world by storm Saturday night with the first ever MMA broadcast on network television. The results were less than spectacular and raise questions about the viability of Mixed Martial Arts as a mainstream sport.

It seemed that Elite XC was walking on egg shells all night, concerned with showing too much violence . This perhaps led to (some would say) the premature stoppages of the Smith/Lawler and Slice/Thompson fights, as well as two other questionable televised fights.

Kimbo Slice has built is reputation on brutality. If Elite XC and CBS are going to market this brutality to the masses, then they better be prepared to deliver when fight night rolls around. This was not the case on Saturday night.

Why does CBS air shows like CSI , but MMA needs to be toned down? If the world (or more importantly, the network suits) isn't ready to accept MMA as a sport, then so be it. But, please don't water it down for a 9PM time slot.

The overly cautious approach, coupled with very poor time management on the broadcast may have turned more fans away, instead of attracting new ones to the sport. If Elite XC goes forward with a second CBS show (which looks likely) I hope they learn from their mistakes.

Forget Elite 8, It's Elite XC!

While North Carolina was busy becoming the 2nd #1 seed (please God, don't allow all 4 #1's to be in the Final 4) to advance into the Final Four this evening, my eyes were glued to an extremely entertaining MMA contest between Cung Le and the defending Strikeforce middleweight champion, Frank Shamrock. As I suspected Shamrock pulled an excuse out of the bag and quit on his stool following the 3rd round. It's a shame that this fight couldn't have gone on, because things were really heating up in the 3rd. Both men were rocked in the round, with Cung Le finishing the stronger of the two. On his way back to his corner, Shamrock dropped to his knees and the fight was ended early due to a "broken arm".

Shamrock is such an actor, I don't know what to believe from him. While I doubt the legitimacy of his injury, I certainly appreciate the spectacular fight.

Complete Play By Play Results Courtesy of Sherdog