No Kimbo, no Gina..means they shouldn't even run a show on CBS. Very bizarre that they would plug those 2 so hard, then run their next show without them. I think Affliction's style of running a show with the same top people is the only way it can possibly work for a new promotion. Didn't it take Strikeforce 3 years to run a card without either Frank Shamrock or Cung Le.

AJ

I'm interested in the Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler fights, but I can not get excited for this show at all.

The first one was exciting, the first attempt at primetime network MMA. The man, the enigma Kimbo Slice was headlining! It was either going to succeed or be an epic fail.

None of the fights on this show have much of a build. I think that the rating will validate those of us who know that all fighting(boxing included) needs that pro-wrestling build in order to create interest. There is not a money match on this show.

Also, I am slightly burned out from last weekend. I don't imagine that there will be anything on this show that was as dramatic as Fedor-Sylvia or Anderson Silva-James Irvin.

I recently started a blog(http://wherethesilenceis.blogspot.com/) which covers MMA, pro wrestling, and music. I have yet to make a post about the eliteXC show. I probably will make just a small mention about it being on CBS, and then make a brief rundown of any news coming out of the show with a Sunday update.

Last week the national media crowned Affliction as the only real challenger to UFC's title of best MMA group going today. The best that eliteXC can hope for is to be ECW on TNN.

Jon Hamilton

Quite simply, Elite XC to me, who is nothing more than a casual viewer of MMA, and more of a lifelong wrestling fan, comes off as the shitty brand with 1 draw. I'd be much more interested if Kimbo was in the main event even though he was exposed last fight. there is not ONE single match on this card that interests me. NO BUYS. I guarantee this flops in the ratings...

Thanks,

Bill

I wrote to you about the May 31st show about a week prior to the event to let you know that my friends were quite interested in attending the New Jersey show even though there was a relative lack of buzz at the time, especially a lack of marketing in the area. I'm a hardcore MMA fan that will watch any event, but my friends are a lot more casual and will only watch for certain stars/events. Although there isn't much buzz or marketing for this show, they're still relatively excited. I had to let them know the second show was this coming Saturday, which piqued their interest enough to ask who was fighting. When I mentioned that they were doing the rematch of Smith vs. Lawler they were pretty excited and we'll definitely be watching the CBS show. From my own point of view, I'm actually more excited for the Showtime show. The Hawaii show opened my eyes to Rafael Feijao who appears to be a beast and Wilson Reis impressed the hell out of me and my friends during the undercard of the May 31st show that we attended. This might not do a great number, 2.0 possible, but for the fans that do watch it, I think they'll be rewarded with a better show than the 1st one, which should set-up some marquee matches for the October 10th show.

Michael

As for your question, Im not really that hyped up about the fights this Saturday night... after the Affliction show its really obvious its not a major league event. Plus the lack of hype on CBS' part doesnt help matters either. I will probably watch it though, since I did enjoy the last card they put on. They should of atleast tried to market Lawler as a main eventer building up to the fight... I havent really seen anything other than a commercial about the women's match. I guess it feels like this card got lost in the shuffle between Fedor's first big U.S match with Affliction and Silva's squash debut at 205. Maybe ABC should look to do something with Affliction, since they seem like they are the only competition to the UFC right now... but I guess that depends if they actually did a decent amount of PPV buys.

Mike Kulyk

While not being huge M.M.A. fan myself, I watched the previous Elite XC show on CBS, and personally, some of the "sheen" of the sport being on a national network has worn-off. Also, not that I like him as a fighter or anything, but Kimbo having a bout on the card would've made it must-see (I understand he needs training time and stuff & they don't want to burn him out), since I want more than anything for him to be annihilated on such a visible scale.

Brian Thomas

Bryan,

It's funny because I think you're right about the show not having as much buzz going in but thanks to the last show, one of my friends has gotten much more into MMA. He loved the show, the women's fight, the spectacle of it all. Since then, he's ordered the Rampage/Forrest show. Even without knowing what's on this show, he knows it's happening and is interested in watching it.

Personally, I'm excited for the title rematch but that's about it.

Take care!

Joe Mochove {plug}