It has been three days since the Elite XC event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and I have yet to utter a word about any of the other fights on the card.
If I could hand out awards this is what it would look like:
Fight of the Night – Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
Runner Up- Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young
Biggest Dissapointment – Kimbo Slice’s inability to knockout Thompson early in the fight. A close 2nd would be Phil Baroni getting TKO’d so quickly.
Most annoying part of the event – The dancers that seemed to be dancing all the time, it got really irritating.
Best Part of the Event for a Reporter- The food was great, I had some seared tuna and some salad. I definitely was not expecting seared tuna.
Most exciting moment – When Kimbo Slice and Brett Rogers nearly got into a fight at the press conference.
Quote of the Night- Gina Carano: “I would rather go home with a couple of bruises and a couple of pains then deal with some bullshit from a boss or the outside world.”
Most interesting fact – Gina Carano’s father, Glenn, played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.
Left me dumbfounded – Kimbo Slice blamed his lack of cardio, in part to smoking.
Feel Good Moment – When Gary Shaw announced that John Murphy, who usually has long hair, donated his locks to kids with cancer.
Fight of the Night – Lawler vs. Baroni
If this fight did not end in a no contest, it could easily have been regarded as one of the top ten fights of the year. Name an adjective to describe the effort these fighters displayed and it is nearly endless (grit, determination, fortitude, guile). It only took an accidental eye poke by Robbie Lawler to have the fight stop.
“I hate fights ending that way,” Smith said at the post fight press conference Saturday night. “I was close to going down a couple of times- I felt that I had it in me. I have a broken foot right now, I did not realize it until after the fight. Yeah he unintentionally got me in the eye- I do not even know if it was a thumb or finger. I did not want to stop that fight, if he knocks me out he knocks me out. I want the fans get their money’s worth.”
After the fight, Gary Shaw summed it up best when he jokingly said, “If you all want to know how strong Robbie Lawler is – he pokes a guy in the eye and he breaks his foot.”
Yes, Scott Smith suffered a broken foot in the fight and was fighting on pure adrenaline. Scott Smith, during the press conference was also still trying to stop the bleeding from the various cuts he had on his face.
Smith is a guy that is easy to root for as he is a single father.
“That fight was almost a must win for me just financially -I got two kids I am a single father,” Smith said. “Gary stepped up and gave us both are win bonuses. “
Once their wounds heal, Smith and Lawler are slated to finish business in the ring.
Phil Baroni and Joey Villesanor
Evidently, Gary Shaw is not a bad guy after all and he is pretty funny, well not as funny as Phil Baroni. Baroni is quite a showman, coming out to the fight reminiscent to Apollo Creed in the early Rocky movies. Baroni’s performance inside the cage was anything but a show, so he must have thought he had to make up for his lackadaisical performance at the press conference.
Baroni, may have lost his fight to Joey Villesanor, but he displayed a great deal of sportsmanship after the fight. Apparently Baroni had taken some verbal jabs at Villesanor before the fight that had gotten underneath Villesanor’s skin.
“It was the first time in 30 plus fights that anyone [referring to Phil Baroni] treated me that way,” Villesanor who has a 25-6 professional record said. “ He kind of got me the first three weeks. It was kind of personal, now that it is all said and done I want everyone to know I have the upmost respect for Phil [Baroni].”
Baroni was long winded, about 7 minutes during the post fight press conference. He thanked just about everyone from his mother to Mark Coleman to his training partner. He even got emotional when talking about how gracious he was to have Mark Coleman at his side.
He intervened in the press conference several times and made the press and other fighters laugh.
“When they stopped the fight I was taking some big shots, but I was taking big shots in the first round,” James Thompson said about his disdain for his fight being stopped. “They stopped it because I had some blood on my ear, usually guys have to fall down. I had blood on my ear.”
Baroni interjected and says it would have been worse if they stopped it because he [James Thompson] had diarrhea. Thompson agreed and laughed.
Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young (2nd best fight of the night)
This fight was much more entertaining then I ever thought it would be. Gina is a very sweet person outside of the cage, but she is anything but that inside the cage. She won over Kaitlin Young via TKO in the 2nd round.
She apparently only had three weeks to really train for the fight because she had been doing some work for American Gladiators. Carano definitely could have a future as an actress outside of the ring.
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