Lawler’s EliteXC middleweight title is on the line here. As we mentioned in our previous post, Lawler something of an enigmatic fighter. On one hand, its hard to argue with his 15-4 record with 12 wins by KO. He’s beaten some of the best in the sport, including Murilo ‘Ninja’ Rua, Joey Villasenor and legend Frank Trigg. He’s been beaten by Nick Diaz and Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller, which is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. His other two losses were against solid fighters in Evan Tanner and Pete Spratt, but still guys that would likely be considered opponents he *should* have beaten. Still, in the past three years he’s 7-1 with the only loss coming to Jason Miller. Not a bad run at all.

Scott Smith comes to the cage first and this is interesting–he’s wearing a t-shirt from ‘Extreme Couture’. That sure is pushing the envelope on the EliteXC ‘Affliction’ ban since the Extreme Couture stuff is *made* by Affliction. Compare their websites–

Extreme Couture clothing

Affliction clothing

Obviously EliteXC must not have a problem with it but it *is* sorta interesting.

This will be a five round fight for the EliteXC middleweight title. Jimmy Lennon Jr. is introducing the fighters and we’ll be set to go momentarily. While we have a moment don’t forget that we’ll be back tomorrow night at the same ‘Bat Time’ with coverage of the WEC card headlined by the featherweight title fight between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver.

ROUND 1:

Bell rings and we’re underway. Don’t really expect to see these fighters pace themselves due to the five round distance. It’ll be surprised if it goes three. Fighters circling each other, Smith unleashes a combo of punches and kicks but no real damage. Smith keeps trying high kicks but Lawler maintaining good spacing. Shamrock makes a nice observation about the difficulty in fighting a southpaw. Fans booing due to the tentative pace so far. Lawler scores with a combination, but no real damage. Both fighters now exchanging low kicks. Lawler cutting off the cage trying to get inside, Smith misses with another high kick. Solid right hand by Lawler backs Smith up. Smith scores with a high kick and tries to follow up with punches. Both fighters now letting their hands go with both scoring. Lawler keeping Smith away with a solid jab. Both fighters have taken some shots, but neither appears hurt at this point. Lawler catches Smith with a right hook and follow up with a jab. Lawer with a kick connects and follows up with three solid punches. Smith is a tough dude and is still on his feet. Lawer with a straight right, followed by a flying knee, followed by a barrage by Lawler. Not sure if its over or if the round ended–the round ended and Smith was saved by the bell. His corner and the ringside doctor evaluating the fighter but for the moment it looks like it’ll be allowed to continue. 10-9 Lawler in round 1

ROUND 2:

Expect Lawler to come out aggressive and to take advantage of his late first round barrage. Lawler scores with a couple of punches, but Smith keeps coming forward throwing low kicks. High kick by Smith misses. Ranallo praising Lawler for his patience. Body kick by Lawler. Smith’s face is cut in a couple of places. Overhand right by Smith scores. Low kicks by Smith. Crowd booing again and not really sure why as its been an excellent back and forth fight so far. Ranallo just says the exact same thing. Big knee by Smith and now he’s unloading with a combination. Lawler eating some, slipping some others . Now Lawler retaliates and the tide turns again. Uppercut on the button by Lawler and somehow Smith stays up. Bodyshot by Lawler. Lawler has Smith against the cage but is having a hard time getting any punches in. Now Lawler scoring to the head and body with some ‘diry boxing’ a la Randy Couture. Lawler getting the best of it but Smith is fighting back. Smith is away from the cage wall now and is moving to the center. Now he’s against the *other* cage wall and eating some more leather. He eats another uppercut and somehow stays up. It looks like Lawler is cut now, but it might be from Smith. Back against the cage wall now and they’re trading blows, Smith explodes from the wall and scores with a punch as the bell rings to end the round. Lawler’s round again 10-9, he leans 20-18 but a really courageous performance by Scott Smith who ate a couple of wicked uppercuts right to the button and didn’t go down.

ROUND 3:

Lawler appears to be cut, maybe from a head butt or elbow. Lawler starts round 3 scoring with the jab. Fighters circle in the middle, Smith tries a high kick while Lawler tries to measure his jab. He’s not committing to the jab, just sticking it out there as a range finder. Lawler working the jab but not really scoring. Smith not doing anything so far, perhaps trying to conserve his energy for a late round barrage. Just as that last line was posted Smith unleashes a combination but Lawler retaliates with a combination of his own. Smith with a low kick–cut on Lawler’s head is nasty looking but doesn’t seem to be causing any vision problems. Lawler still working the jab, scoring with it now but Smith still looks steady and is coming forward. He’s looking for a big punch. Lawler goes for a takedown, which Smith defends well with a sprawl. Smith takes an inadvertent finger in the eye and the ref is apparently giving him time to recover. The ringside doctor checking it out now as Lawler gets a breather. They’re apparently stopping it as Smith is walking around begging anyone he can find not to stop it. Fans boo profusely, and neither fighter is really happy with this. Not sure what the official decision is–its either a ‘no contest’ or it goes to the scorecards in which case it might be a draw. Announcers are questioning the stoppage, as are the fighters. Unfortunate end to a good fight and perhaps the ’silver lining’ is that a rematch is all but certain. Ranallo just says the same thing immediately afterwards–wonder if he’s monitoring our round by round. Still much uncertainty and hubbub in the cage. The broadcast cuts to a commercial with no official decision yet. In any case, Lawler will retain his title in what most likely will be a ‘no contest’ or a ‘draw’.

Not that this is the biggest issue for the fighters or the fans, but the premature stoppage definitely messes up CBS’s scheduling–as it stands they’ve got 57 minutes of air time left with only the main event remaining. And with the Kimbo/Thompson fight not expected to go more than a round that’ll leave them with a lot of time to fill. OK, we’re back to the broadcast with the ref set to give the official decision–fans booing again as Jimmy Lennon announces the verdict, which is a no contest. They’re getting the take from the New Jersey Athletic Commission chairman–apparently Scott Smith told the doctor twice that he couldn’t see, which is likely why it got stopped. Now Gary Shaw in the ring, they’ll do the rematch but Shaw indicates that they’ll pay both guys their win bonus. Smith’s story is that he told the doctor that ‘he couldn’t see now but he’d be fine after five minutes (his allotted time to recover). Neither fighter happy and the no contest is really the only thing that hasn’t gone EliteXC’s way so far tonight–still, it was an excellent contest up until the stoppage so the disappointing finish is mitigated somewhat. The main event is up next–with 50 minutes to fill expect some commercials and a lot of pre fight chatter.