Elite XC: "Heat" -- the third installment of "Saturday Night Fights" on CBS -- is set to go off live from the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., this Saturday, October 4, beginning at 9 p.m. ET on national television.
To get us prepared for the event, we will showcase a daily feature for each main card fight leading up to the event. These features will include information on the fighters, predictions, as well as training notes from each fighter.
The first fight of the televised CBS portion of the card will be a middleweight tilt between Murilo "Ninja" Rua (16-8-1) and Benji "Razor" Radach (18-4).
Here's the breakdown of the bout:
Fighter backgrounds
Murilo Rua -- "Ninja" is a 28-year0old fighter from Curitiba, Brazil. He's been in the professional fight game for more than eight years, boasting 13 fights under the Pride FC banner.
He was the first man to hold the Elite XC middleweight title after defeating Joey Villasenor for the vacant strap last year. However, he lost his 185-pound title in his first defense against Robbie Lawler, who is still the current champ.
His younger brother -- Mauricio "Shogun" Rua -- was at one time considered the best light heavyweight fighter in the world.
Murilo has the reputation of being jiu-jitsu based, but he also has a very nice Muay Thai game that he honed during his years training at the famous Chute Boxe Academy.
After having competed at both light heavyweight and heavyweight at one point in his career, he is considered a strong middleweight.
Benji Radach -- "Razor" is a 29-year-old fighter from Castle Rock, Wash., who doubles as the corporate director of instructor's training for LA Boxing. He's been competing in professional mixed martial arts for about seven and a half years.
He's fought three times in the UFC's welterweight division, where he put together a record of (1-1-1) with a win over Nick Serra, a loss to Sean Sherk and a no contest with Steve Berger.
In June of 2004 he fought Chris Leben at Sportfight 4: "Fight for Freedom." During the match "The Crippler" landed one of his patented bombs that broke Radach's jaw so severely that he was almost forced to retire from fighting for good.
He was out of action for nearly three years before the International Fight League (IFL) came calling with an opportunity to fight at middleweight. He won his first five fights before losing to Matt Horwich at IFL: World Grand Prix Finals.
October 4 will be his first fight since losing to Horwich last December.
Radach is also known for having once stopped a robbery in progress at a Vancouver restaurant by physically unarming the assailant.
Training notes:
Murilo Rua – "Ninja" trains out of his own gym in Curitiba called Universidade da Luta (University of Fighting). He and his brother "Shogun" own and have been running the academy ever since leaving Chute Boxe late last year.
Here's a snip from Rua on his preparation:
"My preparation to face Benji Radach is very good, like always, and I’m working my stand up game and MMA with Carioca and Mauricio Veio for this fight. Benji is a good Boxing and Wrestling fighter, so I’m preparing myself on theses parts too. I think I’ll get a title show if I win this fight, it’s almost set."
Benji Radach -- He spent all of last year training out of American Top Team in Florida, but his job has him out west now where he's been bouncing around California in preparation for this fight trying to get as much training and advice from the right people as possible.
He's been to Bas Rutten’s Elite MMA, Dan Henderson’s Team Quest and HB Ultimate Training Center while training for this fight.
Here's what "El Guapo" had to say about his chances against Rua:
"Benji's one of those guys, who if he's 100 percent in shape, I'll bet him against Anderson Silva, and I really mean this. People don't realize how much force and violence he can bring. It's really sick, the way he hits the focus pad. Benji's wrestling is sick. He's got submissions. The only thing is, when he gets tired, he lets himself open and sometimes he gets hit. So the way he's training now is, he's really working hard on his cardio. He's in shape, let me tell you."
Fight breakdown:
"Ninja's" gameplan should be to avoid Radach's power punches on the feet and to eventually get the fight to the mat where he can work for a submission.
Radach needs to avoid being put on his back and see how he fares on his feet. If he can't win the fight there, then it's going to be a long night for him.
Regardless, Rua will be confident wherever the fight goes. He's stood toe-to-toe with guys like Rampage Jackson and Dan Henderson. It's safe to say he won't be reluctant to exchange punches with Radach if that's the way the fight is going.
And he'll be the bigger and stronger guy.
He'll probably look to clinch a lot early on in between exchanges trying to wear Radach down. But as soon as he feels he can get the fight to the mat he'll probably take it there.
Once it's there, any advantage that Radach may have had will be gone. Rua would likely gain a dominant position and either snatch up one of Radach's arms, secure a choke or ground and pound him out for a stoppage.
In 22 pro fights, Radach has never been submitted, so we're calling for a ground and pound technical knockout.
Final prediction:
Murilo "Ninja" Rua via technical knockout in round two
Check back in tomorrow as we take an in-depth look at the ladies -- Gina Carano and Kelly Kobald.