By Zach Arnold

The hype leading into Elite XC’s show last night in Stockton, California was virtually nonexistent. No one online seemed all that interested in this show, especially given the show that Affliction produced at the Honda Center in Anaheim with a stacked line-up featuring MMA’s top heavyweights.

For those who skipped watching Elite XC’s show last night, they made a big mistake. Then again, 40% of the TV audience that watched the first CBS show decided to skip this one. That may be the real beatdown coming out of Saturday’s event.

The card lived up to expectations and more when it came time for fight quality. The crowd was impressive when Nick Diaz was introduced. The audience very much was like a pro-wrestling crowd, as opposed to a traditional MMA audience. Call the audience white trash or low-class, but the atmosphere was pretty good for a show located in a town that people have mocked over the last month or two.

The lone upset of the night (and it was big) featured the destruction of Shayna Baszler at the hands of Cristiane Cyborg, the wife of Evangelista Cyborg. Baszler, who was being groomed to take on Gina Carano down the road, got destroyed by the much bigger Cyborg. Cyborg demonstrated a viciousness in punching that we haven’t really seem in the American women’s MMA scene. The win was so dominating that there will be great interest in watching Cyborg vs. Carano, perhaps as early as October 4th in Miami. As for Baszler, the loss is devastating because of how one-sided it truly was. There will be some who argue that if Cyborg could beat Baszler that easily that Carano would do the same to Shayna, but nobody truly knows if that analogy would hold up. The big question now for Shayna is whether or not she can improve her stand-up game and build some physical size in the gym.

Nick Diaz made quick work of King of the Cage veteran Thomas “Wildman” Denny in a squash match that was highly entertaining. Denny took a beating and hung in there after the first round. Once round two started, however, Diaz went for the kill standing up and got it. It was interesting to watch Diaz’s reaction after the fight, as he seemed to have genuine respect for Wildman after the beating he took. Unfortunately, Elite XC did not choose to heat-up the program between Diaz and Noons at all. They showed none of the video footage from the Hawaiian altercation last June, which basically defeated the entire point of having a Diaz/Noons program. It was very strange booking to say the least.

Robbie Lawler made quick work of veteran Scott Smith to retain the Elite XC Middleweight title. At 185 pounds, Lawler is a very tough fighter who unfortunately doesn’t generate a lot of buzz or excitement. His fight style is vicious (ask Frank Trigg) and generally he delivers the goods, but Lawler doesn’t seem to have that charismatic personality that will help him transcend into superstardom. Nonetheless, he’s a good upper-card attraction who loves to get into slugfests and Smith provided an excellent opportunity for Lawler to showcase his best skills on prime-time television. Give Smith credit – he really took it to Lawler in the first round and you almost got the sense that maybe, just maybe he could have pulled off the win. However, he didn’t. The Stockton crowd was appreciative of Smith’s efforts after the fight. What’s next for Lawler at 185 pounds? That’s the major question Elite XC has to answer right now.

Jake Shields had long been waiting for his shot at the Elite XC Welterweight title and he faced a very tough opponent in Nick Thompson, who hadn’t lost in over two years. Unfortunately for Thompson, Shields made him look like a jobber in the cage and beat him in around a minute to win the belt. Shields was coming off of an injury and Thompson had a lot of skills to bring to the table, so the quick outcome was not exactly a finish everyone expected. Thompson made a mistake on the ground and Shields locked in a neck lock that forced Thompson to tap out. There’s little doubt that Shields is one of the best 170 pound fighters in the world, but the question is who can Elite XC line-up next to face him? Shields asked to fight the winner of Georges St. Pierre/Jon Fitch and this was a moment that EXC management wished he had never created. Any time you are a promoter and you have a performer who challenges someone else from another promotion and you know that you can’t deliver on that challenge, then it creates a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. Everyone knows that UFC will not allow one of their fighters to face an Elite XC fighter, so the comment (while understandable) came across poorly because Shields wasn’t even asking to fight someone not under UFC contract. It reinforced the position (as true as it is) that UFC has all the best fighters in the world.

Antonio “Big Foot” Silva had a less-than-impressive showing against Justin Eilers, who vowed in Idaho media interviews before the fight that he would not get knocked out. Well, Mr. Eilers got pummeled and lost the fight in the second round. Silva should have put him away much quicker, given his big size and strength advantage. Silva is by far the weakest of the major heavyweight champions in MMA.

Rafael Feijao destroyed Travis Galbraith and at 205 pounds, Feijao is a monster. Who can Elite XC find to step up and fight him in the near future? UFC has most of the top 205 pounds locked up under contract.

Main card results:

EXC Middleweight title match: Robbie Lawler def. Scott Smith, R2 2′35 TKO
EXC Welterweight title match: Jake Shields def. Nick Thompson, R1 1′03 neck lock
EXC Heavyweight title match: Antonio Silva def. Justin Eilers, R2 0′19 TKO
Nick Diaz def. Thomas “Wildman” Denny, R2 0′30 TKO
Cristiane Cyborg def. Shayna Baszler, R2 2′48 TKO
Rafael Feijao def. Travis Galbraith, R1 3′01 TKO