Based on feedback from their network debut in May, the organization decided to get smart and make some changes for this go around. They traded in their half-naked cheerleaders and glitzy ring entrances for some good ole fashion non-stop ass kicking.

Another major improvement was the absence of any controversial stoppages that plagued the first show in Newark, NJ. Instead nine of the eleven fights ended in a clear and decisive manner including the much anticipated re-match between Lawler and Smith.

An Early Celebration
In what is becoming a regular occurrence at EliteXC events, the women seized the moment and put on a stellar performance worthy of any mixed martial arts octagon. It was also an odd performance and something that you rarely see in MMA.

After some scary moments on the ground for Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos in the first round, she blasted Baszler with her exceptional Muay Thai skills in the second. Baszler crumbled after a series of blows and Santos thought the fight was over. She even celebrated by running over and jumping on top of the cage to throw her hands up in the air. Meanwhile Shayna used her time to wisely recover.

After finally coming back to the center of the ring, she realized her mistake and immediately teed off on Baszler who was still weak on her knees. Baszler hung in there for a little but eventually succumbed to Cyborg's furious punching spree. Shayna showed the heart of a lion and at the same time recorded the first loss of her career.

Hometown Hero
Just how much do people love to hate Nick Diaz? Enough to boo him when Jake Shields mentioned his name after his first round disposal of "The Goat" Nick Thompson. Oddly enough he would later receive cheers from the same people.

Whether you love him or you hate him, Nick Diaz is pure entertainment at it's best and one hell of a fighter to boot. It was a knock down drag out war between Diaz and "The Wildman" Thomas Denny in the third fight on the CBS card. Once again Diaz taunted his opponent eventually picking him apart with superior boxing. Diaz wanted a brawl and Denny gave it to him. Nick finished him off with a series of strikes a half a minute into the second round.

"Finished Business"
After nearly two months of hype, Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith finally got the chance to settle the score once and for all in last night's main event. The fans knew what to expect and Lawler and Smith delivered once again.

Round one was close but Lawler took it 10-9. He landed a nice body kick that did some damage and had Smith rethinking his game plan. In round two Smith went to his weapon of choice in Lawler Smith 1, the elbow. He opened up a nice gash on Robbie's head that had blood flying as far as the commentators table.

Sensing the urgency of the situation, Lawler strung together a series of knees to the body that crumbled Smith to the canvas. Smith got back to his feet but only for a few seconds. Lawler sent him right back to the mat with a knee to the chin and finished him off with a few more punches. Lawler remains the EliteXC middleweight champion.

Two New Crowns
Antonio "Big Foot" Silva stomped through Justin Eilers to claim the first ever EliteXC heavyweight crown on the Showtime portion of the card. After a dominant first round, Silva dispatched of Eilers in under 20 seconds of the second round with punches and knees.

Jake Shields finally earned his much deserved EliteXC welterweight crown, after months of delays. He quickly incapacitated Nick "The Goat" Thompson with his jiu-jitsu and finished him off with a super tight guillotine choke in a little over a minute of the first round. Shields is definitely ready for bigger and better things.

Todd Yeakle, Editor In Chief
RedSweat.com

For a long time the debate of, which organization had the better fighters, existed. During Pride's 10 year run as a successful MMA organization, Pride and the UFC were definitely recognized as the top two dogs of MMA both possessing a roster of the worlds elite mixed martial artists. Unfortunately many classic match ups never came to fruition due to the nature of competition between the two promotions.

Finally in 2003 we got a little taste of Pride vs UFC when Dana White brought Chuck Liddell to the Pride 2003 Middleweight GP tournament as the UFC's representative. It was the first time we got to see one of the UFC's top fighters go head to head with one of Pride FC's top fighters. It was also an opportunity to possibly see two of the fiercest strikers in the world, Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell, go head to head to see who was the undisputed champion of the world at 205lbs.

Unfortunately that fight would never happen as Chuck Liddell would never make it out of the second round of the tournament. After defeating Alistair Overeem in the first round, Liddell was eliminated via TKO by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in the semi-finals of the Grand Prix. This would be the last fight we would see between the two organizations while they remained separate entities.

In 2007 Pride, as we knew it, was forced to close it's doors forever and the organization was picked up by none other than Zuffa LLC. After originally planning to run the organization parallel with the UFC, Zuffa quickly found out that Pride was in more trouble than it was worth to keep it going. In the end, the best of Pride's fighters ended up coming into the UFC which meant we would finally get to see some of the greatest match ups in the history of MMA.

A few previous Pride fighters did well which wasn't surprising including Quinton Rampage Jackson who knocked out Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 to capture the light heavyweight title. However the majority of Pride's elite seemed to struggle making the transition from Pride to the UFC.

Heath Herring was one of the first of Pride's fighters to have trouble inside the octagon. He struggled in his first two UFC appearances and looked nothing like the aggressive fighter of old. Heavily favored to win his debut match against up and comer, Jake O'Brien, Herring went on to lose a unanimous decision and looked horrible doing it. He would go on to win his second bout against Brad Imes but it would take him all three rounds in a fight that he normally would have finished.

Japanese sensation, Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic was next in line for a swing at the UFC's heavyweight division. As expected, he crushed Eddie Sanchez with his patented strikes in his UFC debut. It looked like only a matter of time until Crocop would be slugging it out for UFC gold. Unfortunately his climb up the UFC's heavyweight ladder would end quickly and violently. In one of the biggest upsets of 2007, Crocop was nearly decapitated with a brutal head kick from Gonzaga that rivaled that of his own.

It was the beginning of the end for Crocop in the UFC. He would go on to lose his next match at UFC 75 to Cheick Kongo who actually out classed the Croatian in the striking department. It was a tough loss for Mirko who admitted that he had even considered retirement following the loss. In the end, Crocop left the UFC and signed with DREAM, a collaboration between FEG and former Pride staff.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, considered by many to be the #1 pound for pound 205lb fighter in the world at the time, was also expected to make a big splash in the UFC. Coming into his UFC debut against Forrest Griffin, he had only lost one fight in the last four years and it was due to an freak injury. As was the case with Herring and Filipovic, Rua looked completely out of his element in his fight with Griffin. Known for keeping a frantic pace throughout his fights, Shogun ran out of gas in the third and was submitted by Griffin with only 15 seconds left on the clock.

Of all the Pride fighters, the most anticipated UFC arrival was that of "The Axe Murderer", Wanderlei Silva. Unlike the other Pride fighters who were given somewhat of a warm up match, Silva would take on one of the UFC's most dominant light heavyweight champions of all time, Chuck Liddell, in his first match back. Finally, after years of anticipation, two of MMA's best 205lb strikers were going to settle the score once and for all. This was as close to Pride versus the UFC as it could get.

On December 29, 2007, Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell earned "Fight of the Night" honors for one of the greatest battles in UFC history. Although Liddell took home the victory, both fighters came out a winner. Silva showed the heart of a lion and in place of a victory, took home the respect of UFC fans.

Many have speculated as to why former Pride fighters had so much trouble making the transition into the UFC. Some have attributed it to factors such as the cage or change of rules. Others have said it had to do with the pressure of succeeding on the worlds biggest stage for MMA. One well known fighter said it had to do with the fact that they were use to being in the rhythm of fighting every 4 to 8 weeks in Pride. While these are all plausible factors, it seems one factor was overlooked.

The human factor.

Todd Yeakle, Editor in Chief

RedSweat.com

For some fighters it is their signature move. UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is known for his trademark slams. Other wrestlers like Matt Hughes take full advantage of this devastating tactic. Watching someone get knocked out via slam is by far one of the most exciting ways to see a fight end. It is extremely effective and if done right can put anyone to sleep.

While it isn't common to see an MMA fight end in this fashion there have been some extraordinary fight ending slams in the history of the sport. Here we will discuss the top 5 devastating slams in the history of MMA. Some of these fight ending slams have forever been etched into the minds of those who witnessed their brutal power.

Here are the top 5 slams counting down from number five.

#5. Falaniko Vitale def. Matt Lindland: (video) Matt Lindland's KO slam came in at number five for the simple fact of the irony involved. The fight was at UFC 43 "Meltdown" and Matt "The Law" Lindland was favored to win. The round started out with Lindland controlling Vitale and working hard for one of his signature takedowns. With just over three minutes left in the round, Lindland finally attempted to bully Vitale to the mat but stumbled and ended up landing on his back. The impact of the fall along with the added weight of Falaniko knocked Lindland out cold and Vitale landed a few more punches from mount before the ref jumped in to save "The Law".

The fact that Lindland knocked himself out with his own slam made this one of the most interesting fight endings ever in the UFC. It was an extremely hard loss for Matt to swallow at the time. Needless to say Lindland rebounded and defeated Vitale two UFC's later at UFC 45 forcing Falaniko to tap via strikes. He proved that if it wasn't for his own actions he could have easily went 2-0 against the Hawaiian.

#4. Frank Shamrock def. Igor Zinoviev: (video) Coming in at number four is a slam that most are sure to remember from the early days of the UFC. It involved "The Legend" and former UFC middleweight champion, Frank Shamrock, taking on Igor Zinoviev at UFC 16 "Battle in the Bayou" back in 1998. This is surely one of the fastest KO slam victories ever in the sport of MMA. The fight only lasted a mere 22 seconds. Igor rushed Frank with a punch that missed and was scooped up by Shamrock and immediately slammed to the mat. The impact to Igor's head immediately knocked him out cold. Frank landed one more devastating right hand to the unconscious Zinoviev and the fight was over.

Needless to say that was the last fight Igor Zinoviev ever competed in. The vicious slam delivered a career ending neck injury to Zinoviev who up until that bout was undefeated with four wins and two draws. It was a sad end to a blossoming mma career. Igor's short career included wins over Enson Inoue and Mario Sperry. Ironically the Russian sambo fighter's nickname was "Houdini".

#3. Matt Hughes def. Carlos Newton: (video) By far one of the greatest and most memorable knockout slams of all time happened when Matt Hughes first became the welterweight champion of the world at UFC 34 "High Voltage". It was an amazing fight with one of the craziest finishes the sport has ever seen. It happened towards the beginning of the second round when Hughes was caught in a deep Carlos Newton triangle choke. Hughes carried Carlos all the way across the ring while still in the choke and pushed him up against the cage. He then slammed Carlos on his head simultaneously knocking out Newton and himself. It took Matt a few seconds before he realized that he had won the fight and that the fight was over.

The stunning victory was the biggest win in Matt's career and was the beginning of the most dominating welterweight championship reign in the history of the UFC. Hughes only lost the belt once and went on to defend his welterweight title an amazing seven times before a changing of the guards at UFC 65 when Georges St. Pierre took the title with a TKO victory.

#2. Fedor Emelianenko def. Kevin Randleman: (video) While number two on the list wasn't a fight ending slam it is still one of the most devastating slams in the history of the sport. What is even more amazing is the fact that the slam victim came back to take the victory after what looked like the end for any normal human being. It happened at Pride Critical Countdown 2004 when Fedor took on wrestler, Kevin Randleman. At the beginning of the round Kevin took Fedor down. When Emelianenko scrambled to get back to his feet, Randleman ended up taking his back. He then unleashed what can only be described as a "Death Suplex" literally jumping into the air and suplexing Fedor right on his head and shoulders. It was the most explosive and brutal slam I have ever seen that actually didn't end the fight.

Any other person would have literally been dead after that slam but not Emelianenko. Even "Rampage" who was commentating at the time couldn't believe it. Unphased by the head slam of the century, Fedor came back to submit Kevin Randleman with a kimura at 1:33 of the 1st round and win the fight.

#1. Quinton Jackson def. Ricardo Arona: (video) I don't think there is any arguing the fact that this slam is number one and if you have not seen it you are in for a treat. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is notorious for his spine wrenching slams and this slam is definitely his most memorable. This slam happened at Pride Critical Countdown 2004 during Jackson's fight with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu artist, Ricardo Arona. Jackson had Arona on the ground and Ricardo was looking for a triangle or an armbar. As soon as Arona grabbed Jackson's arm to look for the armbar, Rampage picked Arona up all the way above his head like he was a rag doll and slammed Arona down with the force of a mac truck. The force of the impact along with the collision of their heads instantly knocked out Arona who was then finished off with two brutal right hands.

The whiplash of the slam looked like it could have broken Ricardo's neck, It was by far the most intense and vicious slam I have ever seen to this day in mixed martial arts. Despite the loss, Ricardo Arona went on the win four straight Pride fights including a huge decision win over Wanderlei Silva until losing to Mauricio Rua at Pride Final Conflict 2005. Jackson lost his next fight to Wanderlei Silva but went on to eventually capture the UFC light heavyweight title defeating Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 via TKO.

Runner Ups: I had a very hard time picking the number five slam. It was a very close decision between Vitale vs Lindland and CB Dollaway vs Chuck Pablo. While CB Dollaway's slam was much more brutal, I went with Lindland only because he basically knocked himself out. If you haven't seen Dollaway slamming Pablo you should definitely check that out.

Some other close runner ups were Quinton Jackson vs Masaaki Satake, and Cory Devela vs Joe Riggs (video). Cory Devela's slam was a throw but it was extremely devastating causing more damage to Rigg's already injured back.

Todd Yeakle, Editor in Chief

RedSweat.com

1. Apparently Pete Sell was not too happy with way George St. Pierre handled himself after losing to teammate Matt Serra. Sell had some less than flattering words to say about St. Pierre in a recent interview with FightTicker.com.

"GSP is an awesome athlete, He has all the tools to dominate, but he is a mental midget. His mentality is very weak."

2. Chuck Liddell recently had some choice words to say about Kimbo Slice's recent success in the world of MMA or should I say recent increase in popularity.

Kimbo’s one of those guys who doesn’t have any ground game. He’s training and he’s learning but he’s been built up as such a big star and that’s the thing that bothers me. People talk about him like he’s the next great thing when he really hasn’t done anything. He’s been built up because of the Internet and him beating a bunch of guys on the street.”

Liddell joked: “I could make some impressive knockout videos too if you let me walk outside and just punch people and knock them out – “hey you, come fight!”

3. My friend Ben Zeidler's website IrishWhipFighting.com which is now MMAmadness.com interviewed Randy and Kim Couture a while back at the Xtreme Couture Gym in Las Vegas. When asked her opinion on Kimbo Slice, Kim Couture had something very interesting to say about the "street fighting legend". The story has never been confirmed.

"Also, the funniest thing she said was when I asked her opinion on Kimbo, she said at first she was a bit skeptical, but he came in one day to their gym in Vegas and showed he had a very tough heart and trained hard. Also, him and Forrest sparred and he was KO'd by Forrest and he never came back again!"

4. Apparently things heated up a little on this seasons taping of "The Ultimate Fighter" between Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin. When asked about his future opponent, "Rampage" Jackson had this to say about Griffin. Apparently the story of Forrest knocking out Jackson didn't sit well with the werewolf. This little nugget is thanks to InOutStar.com.

"I like Forrest, but I ain't got to talk sweet to him and hug up on him every time I see him. I know Forrest gets knocked out at practice sometimes; I know Jardine knocked him out real quick and I know my boy 'Sick Dog' almost knocked him out and he wasn't really even punching. He had Forrest wobbly." Rampage continues on a different occasion, "Forrest has a glass jaw and punches like a crackhead".

5. A lot of MMA website's including us here at RedSweat.com believe that Anderson Silva is pound for pound the best fighter in the world. Believe it or not, Frank Shamrock doesn't feel that is the case. Wait a second, Frank Shamrock being cocky? In an interview with the Canadian Press, Frank stated who he thinks is the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

“I think he’s probably one of the best guys in the UFC, but all the best fighters are not in the UFC. So hopefully he can hang onto that and make something out of it and gain some fame. But I have 100 percent confidence if I ran into him, they’d be calling me that guy.”

6. Brothers Nick and Nate Diaz are never short on words when it comes to mixed martial arts and their fights. The younger of the two, Nate Diaz recently submitted Kurt Pellegrino at UFC Fight Night 13" and had some comments for UFC lightweight Tyson Griffin.

"That guy doesn't want to fight me because he thinks he's somewhere higher up than me? I just beat a guy that's better than him. When was the last time he finished a fight anyway's against any 155 pounder that was half decent on the ground..oh yeah never."

7. Former UFC welterweight champ Matt Hughes recently claimed on his blog that he would be moving up in weight to fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at 205lbs in June. He stated that he thought it would be a good match up for him and that if he won he would ask Dana for a shot at the 205lb title next. The next day on April 2, he said this.

"I guess I can officially say, “April Fools!” The part of yesterday’s blog about me moving up to 205 to fight Shogun Rua was just an April Fool’s joke. Sorry to disappoint those of you who might have been looking forward to that."

8. In a recent interview with MMAmadness.com, Frank Shamrock made some statements regarding the use of steroids in MMA. More specifically he took a shot at his brother claiming that Ken Shamrock has used steroids his whole life. He also stated claimed that a percentage of fighters are allegedly using the substance. His brother Ken was obviously unhappy with Frank's claim and had this to say in retaliation.

"For Frank to state that a majority of fighters use steroids and that the promoters do not care, or that they somehow condone the use of steroids, is unbelievably irresponsible." He later said "I have been subjected to mandatory steroid testing countless times, and I have never tested positive for steroids, nor have I ever refused a test."

9. Joe Rogan had a chance to interview Forrest Griffin in between bouts at UFC Fight Night 13 last Wednesday, April 2. The always funny, Forrest Griffin said this in response to something Rampage said during season 8 of "The Ultimate Fighter". Even Jackson couldn't hold back his smile after Griffin's remark.

"Quinton said some bad things about me. He said he was gonna beat me up which is natural and he said I'm the kind of guy that when I wipe I don't quite get it all. Well I gotta tell you, he's only half right and I'm not gonna tell you which."

10. BJ Penn's feelings on his upcoming fight against "The Muscle Shark" Sean Sherk were summed up in 4 short words in his in-octagon interview with Joe Rogan during UFC 80. Penn's remark didn't sit well with Sherk who immediately left his commentators seat to join Penn inside the octagon.

"Sean Sherk, you're dead."

Todd Yeakle, Editor in Chief

RedSweat.com

With all of the new MMA organizations popping up around the world there are plenty of pretty gold belts to go around. But what exactly does the championship belt signify?

Every fighter that is serious about mixed martial arts aspires to one day have that big fat gold championship belt wrapped around their waist. As MMA grows and the fighters evolve so do the ornamental straps that signify your status as "Champion of the World".

In the early days of the UFC and Pride these belts actually said a lot about your status as champion of the world. But with more and more competitive organizations such as EliteXC, the IFL and Dream entering the picture, the weight of these belts must be measured a little more carefully.

We now have top 10 fighters competing in several different organizations which takes some of the meaning away from the phrase "Champion of the World". We are at a point in mixed martial arts now where the belt really only means that you are "Champion of your Organization". Of course some organizations (hmm...Dana) will argue that their fighters are the best in the world but that is just opinion.

There have definitely been some true world champions over the years and we know who they are. But the time has come to put into place a true world ranking system for mixed martial arts. Fortunately an organization called WAMMA is attempting to do just that. WAMMA or World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts is a new organization that is attempting to establish the first MMA world ranking system that is unbiased across different organizations around the globe.

Unfortunately for this to happen, every MMA organization will have to join forces with WAMMA. Many already have but others such as the UFC refuse to cooperate with such a proposal. Until then we will be stuck with "Champions of the Organization" and no one fighter will truly be the "Champion of the World".

When this eventually does happen which I believe it will, we will truly get to see who is the number one fighter in the world. Another beautiful thing about a world ranking system is that match ups could be determined based on true world rankings which would lead to amazing fights for fans of MMA. Don't get to excited because it will be a while before this happens. It will take a lot of pressure from WAMMA and many organizations cooperating to fold the big boys of MMA and more specifically the UFC.

Until that day comes we will be stuck with numerous "World Champions" spread out among an open field of elite mixed martial arts fighters. No single fighter will truly be "Champion of the World" until this happens and many will be left to wonder what exactly their belt means in the big picture.

Todd Yeakle, Editor in Chief

RedSweat.com