With less than six weeks until next installment of "Saturday Night Fights" event on CBS, Elite XC doesn't have much time to make this thing happen. Accordingly, the wheels are in motion to put together a solid card on July 26 that will appeal to a nationwide television audience just three days removed from Elite XC: "Return of the King."
As we mentioned earlier, "Unfinished Business" will feature a rematch between Elite XC Middleweight Champion "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler and Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith. The pair put on a show in their first encounter last month, only to have the bout halted in the third round because of an inadvertent eye poke, resulting in a disappointing "No contest."
Had the bout been able to resume it could have turned out to be the best fight in the history of the young organization. Therefore, a rematch was a must ... and is definitely worthy of main event status.
Top welterweight stand out Jake Shields has also been tapped to make an appearance; however, he will likely not take on Drew Fickett. Several reports have indicated that Nick Thompson, Jay Hieron or Paul "Semtex" Daley are all possible opponents to fight Shields for the vacant welterweight crown.
In addition, Elite XC is considering a heavyweight fight -- that could also have heavyweight title implications -- that includes Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, according to SI.com. An opponent for Bigfoot is also unknown at this time, but IFL champ Roy "Big Country" Nelson's name has been mentioned by numerous outlets as the top choice.
And a female match between Shayna Baszler and Kelly Kobald is also being talked about. The promotion's most marketable female fighter, Gina Carano, will likely return to action for the third televised CBS show sometime in the fall. It could possibly mark the first-ever woman's championship in the newly designed 145 pound weight class.
The winner of the fight between Baszler and Kobald, in theory, would be a likely choice for that spot.
Besides having two (or possibly three) title fights headlining the network broadcast, Elite XC is also exploring additional options to spice up the action -- a joint CBS/Showtime telecast. The plan being discussed will have Showtime air a 60- to 90-minute show with three or four fights starting at 7:30 p.m. ET that would serve as a lead-in to the CBS main card telecast at 9 p.m. ET.
Wilson Reis -- who competed on the under card of the May 31 show and dominated Justin Robbins with his sensational Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills en route to winning with a first round rear naked choke -- is expected to be featured on the Showtime portion of the joint-telecast.
It seems like a great idea on paper, but Elite XC had a lot of problems keeping the last "Saturday Night Fights" event within the scheduled two-hour time slot. And that card was set up for a lot of quick finishes. With this event looking to be more of a competitive one, and having three potential five-round fights, those time problems could certainly persist.
The Sawis Center in St. Louis, Missouri, is being looked at as a possible venue for the night. However, no location has been made official at this time.
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