The Average Bill Blog: EliteXC on CBS

Here’s the deal. I’m tired of Internet MMA hardcore micromanaging. I’m tired of people not understanding business going hand-and-hand with the fights and promotion of them. I’m always looking for a way to make the points missed by those inside the bubble. Since I live in the bubble at times too, I got me an average Joe. Well, his name is Bill. So this is the Johnny P and Average Bill blog for Elite XC on CBS.

Bill is exactly the fan that Elite XC and UFC are trying to bring in. He is the casual fan. He went to 2 PPVs last year, but doesn’t follow it daily or even monthly. He’s willing to pay money if you can convince him the fight is important and he respects the martial arts.

9:06 pm – Bill explains the opening storyline video package back to me after watching what CBS prepared. He liked it. I loved it.

Average Bill called it “dramatic” in a good way. He got the storyline between Lawler and Smith. So far so good. He did NOT listen to the announcer’s opening thoughts, however.

9:13pm – Women fighting? This intrigues Bill, and he’s willing to take a chance on it since he doesn’t know many of the men anyway. He was more impressed with Gina Carano at ringside than either fighter, who he mentioned looked like “they’ve been punched”. He also likes Shayna Baszler because of the guitar and Metallica-inspired shirt.

9:26pm – “She was just vicious!” Average Bill tells me with a bit of respect for Cyborg. “My God is she hot”. Carano gets some love. Fans chant for her too. Neither of us think Shayna had a chance after about 10 seconds into the fight. I loved that fight and the false finish made for intrigue. I have no idea why Ref Maz couldn’t be bothered to chase Cyborg when she thought she won.

Gina had a strong and hip promo after the fight. Most men could care what she said but she came off cool and intelligent.

9:35pm – Average Bill on Frank Shamrock explaining MMA in a tutorial: “Well this is nice for someone like me.” I appreciated that they ran that again.

Bill doesn’t think Nick Thompson is a fighter. He goes on to say that personality is not what he expected. People still think of these guys as brutes, not human chess players.

I’m excited to see Jake Shields the one time I’ve seen him he looked very skilled, and we’re always hearing talk about him on the ‘net. A hardcore’s dream date, that Shields.

I mentioned I’d seen Jake beat a guy bad. I said “he killed the guy.” Average Bill really thought the guy had died. It’s on people’s minds, after all. The violence is more real the less you watch.

WOW! I’m blow away by the dominance of Jake Shields to mount and choke out Thompson. Average Bill says nothing, but his eyes don’t leave the TV. So far they’ve sold him on the product. He breaks silence to say he’s impressed that Shield’s is a Gracie Jiu-jitsu black belt. He, like everyone else, knows the Gracie name.

9:47pm – Bill on Thomas Denny: “He’s a character. They need more characters. I’d watch if they had more characters. (pauses thinking he offended me) I’m serious.” He thinks alot of these guys are too “cookie cutter”. They’re good, but they are boring. Well, coming from the Pro Wrestling/Dave Meltzer school, I’m in full agreement. BTW, Average Bill has no idea about the angle that the Diaz brothers pulled off at the Showtime show. I’m told that won’t air. Big promotional mistake.

Definitive Average Bill quote: “I wanna see that big bearded black lumberjack guy fight” Points to Kimbo in a commercial. I rest my case, even if Kimbo is a scourge to the hardcore everywhere.

9:56pm – Average Bill can’t wait to see Diaz vs Denny. Why? He perceives a real beef between the two. He wants a reason to see someone get K.O.ed, and he thinks he has it. Diaz “talks shit” and Average Bill said he hopes Denny “shuts him up.” This is promoting 101.

I think Diaz will make an ass of Denny, but I think Denny has all the heart in the world so this should be decent. Ranallo mentions the the Diaz brothers and Noons. We better see Noons cage side if these people get it.

I’m getting text. Diaz gets people talking. This is a hot live crowd. This is what it’s all about. The building fight model. Lets see them sell some fighters.

10:09 – WOW! What a fight. What show. Me and Average Bill were on the edge of our seats, then we stood, and finally hit the floor. I was right by the way – Bill was pissed as all hell “that cocky prick” won. He wants to see the Diaz brothers pay, and I’d bet he’d pay to see it. This fight prints cash. Lets see a promo.

I just got a text: “Wow. Just, wow!” and another that said “Holy battle between Denny and Diaz!” In pro wrestling, we call that getting over. Nice KO, but perhaps a tad late stoppage. What can you do.

What the hell did Diaz just say? Well, that wasn’t a money promo, but we’ll all live. I think he mentioned actual streets. I loved Denny’s heart, as I knew I would, but where was Noons? Also, why did Denny abandon the leg kicks. 6 of 6 before he stopped and got beat up.

10:18pm – I’ve just been informed by average Bill that he’s not a big fan of chokes. He thinks the knock out is “like a build to fireworks” where the choke is respectable, but anti-climatic. Unfortunately those K.O.s end up being the footage MMA usually gets trashed for, but then, those people probably won’t hurt it MMA in the long run.

Bill tells me what he’s realized is he would pay money to watch Nick Diaz get beat up. MMAOpinion owner Brandt Delorenzo texts the same thing at exactly the same moment. Money!

10:23pm – Take note. They are reshowing the Lawler-Smith fight from May. Bill sat on the edge of his seat the whole time for a two month old fight. Loved that he knows what’s going on for this main event. This has been the perfect event event so far. Elite and CBS lucked out with time cues and exciting fights. We got a new fan of these guys in Average Bill. He likes that they shooks hands too, all you ROH wrestling fans:)

10:31pm – Bill calls Mauro the “Marv Alberts of MMA”. I assume that’s a good thing. We both wonder why Frank Shamrock has braces. “Can he fight like that?” “With a mouth guard, sure” I pretend I know.

The build for the main has been great on-air even if the build and hype off air was weak.

10:37pm – Anderson Silva is shown. “The best pound-for-pound fighter in Mixed Martial Arts” says Gus Johnson. Wow. A night of wows, but I believe Mauro tried to correct him somehow. I’m just amazed they put over a guy from UFC like that, but then, this is a CBS broadcast team.

Here we go. Fight time!!

10:45pm – good first round. I’ve got Smith 10-9. Average Bill gives it to Smith. loved the chess match and the kicks. Bill likes the camera angles and production of the show, so CBS did their job. Very professional.

10:50pm – Lawler just kicked him at the end! A downed opponent gets kicked twice and no announcer outcry? Yikes! Maybe I’m missing something. Would have been a Lawler round. Too bad it ended, because that was a good to great fight right there, especially great in the making. I’m wondering where these guys go from here. How about a third fight next summer? Just sayin’.

The Wrap up. Gus Johnson was really good, especially doing interviews after the fights. Mauro was calmer and I’m hoping he gets more love mainstream this time. I’m assuming someone from the mainstream acknowledges there was a show tonight. I barely noticed Shamrock, so he was fine.

I, Johnny P., loved the show and enjoyed myself. The fights were good and I had fun with Average Bill and the blogging. Average Bill says “I liked the show. I wanna see some more fights.” He still doesn’t like Nick Diaz and he’d like to see him lose, and he liked the women’s fight. He thought the main event was good enough while it lasted. He (get this) enjoyed the sportsmanship they showed, and wanted to see Scott Smith because of it. End the experiment.

G’night