The show is underway with an intro featuring the fighters on the card. It looks more like a NFL pregame show so far than the UFC, WEC or DREAM. They’ve got the usual EliteXC girls dancing on the runway. The voiceover on the intro video gets off a funny line about ‘bringing MMA out of the shadows’ which is obviously some hyperbole that would be of news to the UFC. Gus Johnson is such a solid pro that he gives the show a ton of credibility right off the bat. Hopefully Mauro Ranallo will try to minimize some of his more ridiculous analogies and other wordplay. So far so good for Ranallo–they’re now introing Frank Shamrock, giving his impressive credentials over a video clip. Shamrock definitely looks sharp in a suit. We know he’s got a mouth on him, we’ll see how he does. Johnson gets off a cool reference from Bruce Lee’s ‘Tao of Jeet Kune Do’ . Shamrock sounds good–he throws in some more Bruce Lee references and puts over (rightfully) the athleticism of the fighters.

Kudos to CBS so far–the combination of the top notch announcers and production makes it look like a legit sporting event and not a Boys Town donkey show. Jon Murphy vs. Brett Rogers will start the show. They’ve now got Frank Shamrock explaining some of the basics of the sport and there’s not too many guys more qualified to do so. Shamrock is showing some basic submissions–when they show the arm bar they use the video of our favorite female fighter Shayna Baszler going to work on Jennifer Tate. They’re doing a *real* nice job of selling the sport, even more so than the EliteXC promotion. COOL! The exclusive network premier of the ‘Street Fighter 4′ trailer with an even cooler song: “Epic” by Faith No More. This will no doubt be on YouTube within minutes so check it out because it looks sick.

OK, the “Classy” Jimmy Lennon Jr. is about to intro the first fight so we’ll be back momentarily….