Elite XC Return of The King: Who is the King?

Elite XC is holding its Return of the King event in Honolulu, Hawaii this weekend and to tell you the truth I am not very excited by it.

The card is very weak and there are not any matchups which really jump off the page. I guess Elite XC is focusing on saving its better fighters for its CBS show, this event will be aired on Showtime on Saturday night at 10pm.

Here is preview of the event with my predictions, if you care:

KJ Noons (6-2) vs Yves Edwards (33-13)

Edwards is the more experience fighter (he is 31 years old) and he is on a three fight win streak (Edson Berto, Alonzo Martinez, and Nick Gonzalez).

Noons is the current Elite XC lightweight title holder who has a kickboxing background. Apparently his contract with Elite XC allows him to box also.

I will give the edge to Noons and say he will win the fight by TKO.

Nick Diaz (16-7) vs Mushin Corbrrey (8-2)

Corbrrey has a background in Muay Thai and Jiu jitsu. I have never seen him fight, but I have liked what I have seen from Diaz, as he never backs down from anyone.

Diaz has fought Robbie Lawler, winning the fight via knockout in a big upset at the time. He has also fought Diego Sanchez and and Sean Sherk, losing to both.

Diaz will win the fight via TKO.

Murilo Rua (15-8) vs Tony Bonello (16-0)

Bonello is undefeated but he has not fought the caliber of fighters that Rua has fought. His most notable win came against Dan Severn in 2004. He was not exactly fighting Severn at the peak of his career. Bonello has won 14 of his fights via submission, so look for him to take the fight to the ground.

Rua has won 4 out of his last 5 fights and comes from the famed Chute Box Academy in Brazil. The lone loss in his past 5 fights came to Robbie Lawler, which is not a bad loss by any stretch.
He has fought Ricardo Arona, Kevin Randelman, Rampage Jackson, Dan Henderson, Akihiro Gono and Joey Villasenor.

Rua has never lost a fight via submission so I will take Rua in this one. I believe he will win via TKO or decision.

Dave Herman ( 10-0) vs Ron Waterman (15-5)

Herman is an up and coming heavyweight and has won 7 of his fights by knockout. Herman, though, has never fought against a top tier opponent and I would not call Waterman a top tier opponent either.

Waterman,though, is a journeyman in the heavyweight division, who has fought against solid opponents like Mirko Cro Cop, Kevin Randelman and Ricco Rodriguez.

He will win the fight if he can get it to the ground and I think Waterman will over power Herman in this fight. My prediction is Waterman via submission.


Rafeal Feijao (0-3) vs Wayne Cole (11-6)

I am not sure how a fighter with an 0-3 record gets this fight, it is sort of spell bounding.

On the other hand, Cole does not excite me either, but he has won his last three fights.

I will go with Cole via decision, but then again I really do not care about this fight.

Other Relevant info:

Elite XC Return of the King fight card link:

http://www.elitexc.com/events/upcoming