INTRODUCTION~!
Tomorrow night is the EliteXC/Strikeforce PPV event. The event is headlined by TWO Middleweight Title bouts; Frank Shamrock vs. Phil Baroni for the Strikeforce Middleweight Title and Joey Villasenor vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua for the EliteXC Middleweight Title. The following is the report of the 30-minute Countdown Special that aired all week on Showtime.
Loretta Hunt, Gary Shaw, Bill Goldberg, Jeremy Lappen, Stephen Quadros and Josh Gross are the panel of commentators discussing the fighters.
Frank Shamrock vs. Phil Baroni
-We kick things off with Baroni calling Shamrock a west coast faggot and saying he will knock him out. This is already great. Shamrock calls him a New York meathead. They call this a blood feud in MMA and Baroni says Shamrock is talking too much shit and he will knock him the fuck out. Shamrock calls him an idiot and Baroni promises to hurt him.
-They start discussing Shamrock and Baroni. Shamrock was the champion and Baroni was the guy that wanted to be champion, but never was. Baroni says Shamrock is a crowd and a cheat. Shamrock says Baroni has good genetics, but is a meathead. Gary Shaw says there is no respect here, it is personal and these guys hate each other.
-We see the Internet challenges by Baroni. Shamrock says Baroni called him old and washed up. Shamrock jumped on the fight, but when it was scheduled, it got cancelled. We see Shamrock’s youtube responses, and he calls Baroni a roid head. Baroni goes on a tirade saying that Shamrock could handpick his opponent and he picked him, now he will knock Shamrock the fuck out. Shamrock knows Phil is pissed.
-We get the highlights of Shamrock and the story of him being the best in UFC and walking away because the sport wasn’t accepted. Now that MMA exploded, he is back. His first bout was against Caesar Gracie, which lasted 21-seconds and Shamrock won. We see clips, Shamrock walked away before it was actually stopped. Odd. Now we see his 2nd bout against Renzo Gracie, which is classified a disaster by the panel because Shamrock should have won. They say he was dominated and lost via the DQ because of illegal knees. Shamrock says Renzo quit on him and used the “rules” to do so. Hunt says Shamrock knew the knees were illegal, and that it was dishonorable. Goldberg says Shamrock needs to prove to the MMA fans that he is the man.
-Baroni has been waiting his entire career to be a champion. Hunt clarifies this and they also say he is a loose cannon. A true New York Bad Ass. He is 10-7, and this is the time for him to prove he can be a champion. Baroni says he trains harder than anyone and will lay it on the line. Dude is SHREDDED. He trainer says he is a caged animal and “Good Fucking Luck” when you get in there with him. Baroni says street, yard, bar, gym, cage, it doesn’t matter, he’ll fight anywhere, anyone and anytime. He has knocked out champions, but never got the title shot. His goal is to make Shamrock dig deep, to see if he can go where Baroni will go, because Baroni is willing to die.
-We see Shamrock in his gym talking about the body being a weapon. He does gymnastics and uses the balance ball, because that is the magic of submission wrestling. He is a machine. He says the fans wanted the fight and says Baroni is not in his league. But he talked shit and will feel his wrath. Goldberg says this is throwing gas on a fire when they get into the cage. Shamrock says he knows much more about fighting than Baroni. Baroni says Shamrock talks, but he will knock him out. Shamrock reiterates how dumb he is, but says he is smart because he got a fight with Shamrock.
Joey Villasenor vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua
-The next title bout is Villasenor vs. Rua. Villasenor wants to make his family proud. He has been a fighter al his life, and had a rough life growing up. He appreciated his struggles so he can appreciate his successes.
-Rua is a Brazilian Warrior, and an aggressive fighter. Rua is the brother of SHOGUN Rua! They train at their gym and Goldberg puts over the school as putting out great fighters. They say he is insanely aggressive and loves to finish. Villasenor is a very technical fighter and could be the perfect foil for Rua.
-We see Villasenor workout and his trainer discusses his heart and drive. He pushes him past were he will go in a fight, so when he fights he is ready. They discuss Villasenor’s standup and say it is just as good a Rua’s. His trainer says no one at 185 can stop him.
-They are both at the top of their game, both well rounded and could be the fight of the night.
Cung Le vs. Tony Fryklund
-Le had no idea he would be a big name fighter when he grew up. His family was lifted from Saigon when he was 3. He got tired of all of the racial names and started to fight back. They put over his charisma and abilities in the cage/ring. He had great atheism and has won all fights by KO, never lost. He is 3-0 in MMA and Fryklund is looking to end that.
-Fryklund says MMA is his purpose, and he gets amped when he knows someone is training to battle him. He is 36 and does not treat this as a game. Fryklund has a ton of experience, and Le is a rookie compared to him. Fryklund has been in bad situations with some of the best and he has the advantage when the pressure is on. If Le loses, he is young, but if Fryklund loses, it could be the end for him. Le says he is not worried about Fryklund, he is going out there to fight.
Paul Buentello vs. Carter Williams
-Williams has fought since he was a kid and knew he was good. His trainer found him when he was a kid, and he saw him kick the shit out of 4 kids. Williams got beat up by a big kid when he was little and worked to become good to not let that happen again. He had good success in K1, 13-6, 3-1 in MMA.
-Buentello is known as the headhunter and loves to hang and bang. He sacrifices time with his kids, but says he is fighting for them to go to college. Buentello vs. Williams will be banging and someone will be KO’d the panel thinks.
Krazy Horse vs. Joe Boxer
-Boxer is a 37-year old boxing vet. Krazy Horse is a clown, former thug and they hate each other. Boxer hates him because he is a street thug. Krazy Horse calls him a FN Mexican. We see clips of their first fight, a draw, where Krazy Horse was basically out at the end. They will rematch Friday and will go out there, let there hands go and let it all hang out.
-We see Boxer training hard, and says Krazy Horse is afraid if him. His coach says Boxer never needs motivated, he wants this fight and now he got it. They say he has limited time left, and wants to be a champion but has to get past Krazy Horse.
-We now see Krazy Horse at home, he is a poor ass nigger, but the king of the hood. They discuss his prison record and that he fights for the money to “get out of the life.” He’s in jail right now actually. If he cannot make it at this level, he is out. Goldberg says not to turn the channel after he wins, because the real show begins there. Quadros says Krazy Horse has the mastery of the lucky punch. Krazy Horse says he is a bad motherfucker. He is naturally built for ass kicking. Street fighter vs. Boxer, the rematch. Expect the unexpected. {plug}
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