by: Jack Bratcher
Saturday night in Honolulu, Hawaii Nick Diaz defeated Muhsin Corbbrey by TKO at 3:59 of the 3rd round to set up what will most likely be a rematch against EliteXC title holder, KJ Noons. Noons had just won his fight in very impressive fashion against Yves Edwards when Nick Diaz is brought into the cage to exchange words with the champ in an attempt to hype up a rematch between himself and Noons. As you’ve probably heard by now a near riot breaks out between Nick and Nate Diaz versus the whole KJ Noons camp including KJ’s father who was a former kickboxer. In an interview with Noons’ father after the debacle he called the Diaz brothers a couple of punks from Stockton and even sent somewhat of a warning that he better not see them out on the town that night. Never one short on words, Diaz told Graciefighter.com, “As far as the problems in the cage, I was there to hype up the rematch when KJ’s dad tried to attack us. I think that when he’s that drunk he should stay at home and watch the fights from his couch.”
Regardless what you thought of the post-fight altercation, one thing is for sure, it has created an enormous amount of hype and publicity which is the exact thing an up-and-coming organization like Elite XC needs. It’s kind of weird if you think about it. Elite XC seems to have two sides to their promotion. On the one hand they have the “CBS-Elite XC” that seems more geared for casual fans and then they have the “Showtime-Elite XC” that seems to be more embraced by the hardcores. I don’t know how any hardcore fan could not have enjoyed the fights Elite XC put on in Hawaii this past Saturday NIght. I thought the quality of action was really top-notch. But, it wasn’t a card that would probably go over so well on CBS primetime Saturday Night Fights. I could be wrong about that but it just seems that for the CBS cards they are taking a different approach most noticeable by the lack of ground skills and grappling displayed on the first CBS card.
I don’t know if Bill Goldberg is having any input or not with how Elite XC seems to by hyping their fights, but the Diaz / Noons altercation and the Rogers / Kimbo beef sure does smell of pro wrestling storylines which is the territory Goldberg made his mark. Elite XC is doing a good job of creating interest and building characters and personality which gives the fans a vested interest in the fighters. It will bring fans back time and agains so they get to see these storylines played out.