So far its been the UFC’s worst nightmare–EliteXC looks nothing like an amateur promotion whatsover to this point. The production has been excellent, the announcing has been first rate and the way they’re selling the sport is extremely impressive. Jon Murphy has apparently cut all of his hair off–maybe Clay Guida sent him a ‘cease and desist’ letter. Murphy talking about how he grew his hair for the very worthy charity ‘Locks of Love’ and now he’s talking about his faith. Rogers came to the ring accompanied by Busta Rhymes. Good fight to start with as these guys will bang. Up to now the three announcers are working together *very* well, with Ranallo not trying to overwhelm the viewers with his Lampley-like vocabulary and wit and Shamrock sounding good as well. Ranallo putting over the NJAC for establishing the unified rules of MMA, which is a very subtle slap to the UFC as they’re always trying to sell the ‘Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta bought the promotion and Dana White brought down the tablets from on high, on which were the unified rules of MMA’. Of course the ‘Classy’ Jimmy Lennon Jr. doesn’t hurt the professionalism of the show as he’s ranked #2 on the Savage Science list of PFP best ring announcers behind the legendary Michael “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” Buffer. Lennon’s dad was a legendary ring announcer in both boxing and pro wrestling and his son is about as good as it gets. Intense but respectful staredown mid-cage and we’re set to go:

ROUND 1:

Murphy starts things off with a tentative low Muay Thai kick. Fighters clinch and they exchange knees and punches. Rogers with a wicked knee to the cage. Fighters trying to maul each other in the clinch. Rogers lands a nice upper cut, Murphy counters well. Out of nowhere Rogers lands a **nasty** looping right a la Chuck Liddell and Murphy goes down like he got shot. Ref jumps in to stop it immediately–no argument with the stoppage as Rogers wins something of an upset. This is good as it sets Rogers up for a future fight against Kimbo, this fight gives him legitimacy but he’s a made to order opponent for Slice.

BRET ROGERS WINS BY TKO

Ranallo quotes UFC lightheavyweight champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. Expect to see a number of references to the UFC, as it does nothing but makes the sport and the promotion look more legit. Rogers is a great story, as he’s got a background similar to Houston Alexander–3 kids, quit his job changing tires to concentrate on his fighting career.

Phil Baroni vs. Joey Villasenor is up next. You can read an interview with Villasenor conducted by our own Ralph Gonzalez up on the Savage Science main site. Interesting to see how the “New York Bad Ass” comes off on network TV. It does set up a nice ‘face vs. heel’ dynamic, but Baroni has a tendency to rub a lot of people the wrong way.