By Zach Arnold

Did you know that there was an MMA show on CBS this Saturday night?

Now you do. It’s a pretty good card, too.

Unlike certain Internet keyboard warriors, we’re not here to bury Elite XC’s second CBS MMA event. In fact, we are here to praise it. It’s a good show that features some intriguing fights that should set-up big money matches for October.

Take for instance the match involving 170-pound star Jake Shields against Nick “The Goat” Thompson. Shields is one of the best fighters in the world at his weight class. I bet UFC would love to have him at this point. He’s facing Thompson, a man who hasn’t lost a fight in two years and has a quality win over rising star Eddie Alvarez. It should be a war and an extremely competitive fight. It has ‘best bout’ written all over it.

How about the women? Shayna Baszler, who has wanted to fight Gina Carano for a while, is ready to make her debut on CBS against Cristiane Cyborg, the wife of fighter Evangelista Cyborg. Baszler trains with Josh Barnett, one of the world’s best heavyweights. Since training with Barnett, Baszler has found her inner-punisher mode and has made sure to send a message to her opponents that she means business. She’s a tough fighter who is quickly gaining a following in the MMA world.

If you like a fight with good, old-fashioned pro-wrestling style heat, how about watching Nick Diaz fight in his hometown against Thomas “Wildman” Denny? Both men have wanted to fight each other for many years and now it’s finally happening. The Diaz family will be out in full-force in Stockton and we can only imagine what Nick will say about KJ Noons if he beats Denny in his hometown. The money match down the road is Diaz vs. Noons (remember their little brawl in Hawaii last month?). There’s just something about seeing Nick Diaz on CBS that is heartwarming.

Interested in watching the heavyweights? Elite XC will crown a new heavyweight champion on the Showtime portion of their broadcast, as Antonio “Big Foot” Silva faces Justin Eilers in a match that is likely to have a knockout finish. Silva is a very impressive giant in the heavyweight division and is quickly becoming a rising star in the heavyweight division. UFC is pushing Cain Velasquez and EXC is pushing Big Foot Silva. If Silva wins the fight as expected, he will have plenty of competition to fight in Japan or the States.

An undercard match on the Showtime portion of the show that has ’sleeper’ written all over it is Wilson Reis, the 4-0 BJJ black belt submission artist, against wrestler Brian Caraway who has a great track record of submitting his opponents. It will be the biggest test by far for Reis, who Elite XC would love to groom along with Rafael Feijao (who is also fighting on the undercard in Stockton).

The main event is a re-match of an earlier encounter from last May, when Scott Smith faced Robbie Lawler at 185 pounds. Smith hung tough with Lawler, but got accidentally poked in the eye. Up until the accident, both men were in a war with each other but Lawler was starting to get the upper hand. Smith is a tough stand-up fighter and has a crowd-pleasing style that should make the fans watching the CBS telecast at home happy. Lawler has some vicious knockouts on his record, which makes this a very underrated and appealing main event for EXC’s second broadcast on CBS.

It’s unfortunate that this card is getting a tepid response online and elsewhere because Elite XC clearly listened to some of the feedback they got from hardcore fans about their debut show on broadcast television. It’s pathetic that some of the ‘reporters’ who ripped EXC’s CBS debut as being bad for the sport are still ripping the promotion for Kimbo Slice and not giving enough credit to EXC management for the solid card that they have booked for Stockton on short-notice.

It’s an important card because of what it means for ratings and business. Variety recently ran an article, claiming that the average age of a broadcast television viewer is 50 years old. MMA primarily attracts viewers in the 18-34 year old demographic. Naturally, CBS is excited about the prospects of running more EXC shows on their network if it means attracting a new audience and new sponsors. It’s just unfortunate that those who had such a PRIDE-like fever for last week’s Affliction show aren’t showing much love at all for Elite XC’s card this weekend in Stockton. It should be an entertaining show and well-worth going out of your way to check out on television.

Elite XC July 27th card line-up from Stockton, California:

185 pounds – Scott Smith vs. Robbie Lawler (main event)
170 pounds – Nick Thompson vs. Jake Shields
160 pounds – Nick Diaz vs. Thomas “Wildman” Denny
265 pounds – Antonio “Big Foot” Silva vs. Justin Eilers
140 pounds – Shayna Baszler vs. Cristiane Cyborg
265 pounds – Rafael Feijao vs. Travis Galbraith
140 pounds – Wilson Reis vs. Brian Caraway