By James Brydon
SPORTSNET.CA
First, EliteXC lost its marquee matchup. Then its marquee fighter lost his lustre.
Seth (Silverback) Petruzelli, a light-heavyweight who took a year off from mixed martial arts to start his own business, stepped in at the last minute for an injured Ken Shamrock and shocked the packed crowd at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., with a 14-second knockout of Kevin (Kimbo Slice) Ferguson Saturday night in the main event of EliteXC: Heat.
The event, broadcast live on cable network CBS, was supposed to feature a much-anticipated heavyweight showdown between Slice, the internet streetfighting sensation, and Shamrock, the UFC Hall of Famer. However, the change was made after Shamrock reopened a cut over his left eye that required six stitches and he was not medically cleared to fight.
Petruzelli, a former UFC fighter whose last pro appearance was in October 2007 for a small Florida promotion, was scheduled to take on Aaron Rosa in a 205-pound undercard bout. But he was offered a chance to step in as a replacement for perhaps the most important fight of his career and he took it.
And he wasted little time in producing perhaps the most improbable result in recent memory.
As soon as the opening bell sounded Slice, with a distinct size advantage, pushed forward as Petruzelli backpedalled toward the cage, and the two fighters began trading swings. But as Slice (3-1) moved to block a right kick, Petruzelli hit Slice just above his left eye with a right jab that stunned the previously unbeaten fighter, causing him to topple to the ground.
Petruzelli (11-4) pounced, hitting his fallen opponent with punches to the side of his head. Eventually Slice rolled over on his back and when he was no longer defending himself from direct shots to his face, referee Troy Waugh stopped the bout.
“It was a crappy situation for both of us,” Petruzelli said. “He stepped up last-minute. I stepped up last-minute. You’re supposed to have a set fighter. I didn’t train for him. He didn’t train for me.
“This was an opportunity to get my name out there.”
The 28-year-old Petruzelli, a cast member of Season 2 of The Ultimate Fighter reality show, weighed in on Friday 29 pounds lighter than Slice.
The fight card was the third of four under EliteXC’s current deal with CBS and it was the second to feature Slice, a former street brawler who recently turned to MMA. The two parties were banking on Slice’s marketability for success of their partnership. Now the future for Slice is unknown, and he wasn’t in the mood for speculating following the bout.
Slice interrupted CBS’s Gus Johnson before he could even finish his first question and grabbed the microphone from him.
“Hey, Fort Lauderdale, we’ve got to show some love for all the fighters tonight man,” Slice said. “It’s all good. It’s all good. I want to thank this man for taking the fight last notice.”
Slice then walked away even as Johnson tried to ask him about what would be next for him.
Most of the other fights on the main card went according to expectations. Undefeated female star Gina Carano, known to some as Crush from the new American Gladiators show, improved to 7-0 with a unanimous decision over Kelly Kobold (16-3-1). Carano landed the majority of the strikes against the shorter Kobold and opened a cut above her right eye late in the opening frame. She also defended all but one of Kobold’s takedown attempts during the three 3-minute rounds.
One judge gave the second round to Kobold after she was able to take Carano to the mat late in the frame and land some ground strikes. But against the cage again in the third, Carano frustrated Kobold’s efforts and sealed the win when she applied a rear naked choke from the side in the fight’s final moments. While Kobold just managed to escape, Carano followed with a barrage of knees and kicks to the head from the standup position until the bell rang.
“I feel good, man, I feel like I was just in a fight, that was the best feeling,” said Carano, whose father is former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Glenn Carano. “Papa, I don’t know if you’re watching, but you’ve been my inspiration and you give me my focus. … I dedicate this fight to you.”
The fighter who is known as much for her striking looks as for her effective striking has had trouble making the 140-pound weight on a few occasions and this one was no exception. She had to drop all her clothes and stand on the scales behind a towel to come in at the required weight on Friday.
Carano, who trains with Xtreme Couture, will almost certainly next face Cristiane (Cyborg) Santos, who also won by unanimous decision over Yoko Takahashi on the undercard to improve her record to 6-0.
In other bouts, welterweight champion Jake Shields was successful in his first title defence, submitting England’s Paul (Semtex) Daley at 3:47 of the second round.
Shields put on a jiu-jitsu clinic and was able to fend off Daley’s standup attempts while taking advantage of his opponent’s inexperience on the ground to win his 11th straight and establish himself as one of the world’s top fighters at 170 pounds.
In the first round, Shields had the advantage for the early parts of the round, executing a takedown and establishing a dominant mount position. Daley (18-7-2) scored some points late in the round, escaping a couple of submission attempts — he was helped when Shield’s proximity to the cage prevented him from rolling back to complete an armbar — and Daley, known more as a striker, was able to gain top position and land elbows near the end of the round.
But Shields (22-4-1) took control in the second, quickly mounting his overwhelmed opponent and locking on a solid arm bar that forced Daley to tap out.
Asked what’s next for him, Shields said he wouldn’t mind going up to 185 pounds and challenging for a second belt.
Earlier, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei (Pitbull) Arlovski knocked out former IFL title-holder Roy (Big Country) Nelson at 1:46 of the second round.
The muscular Arlovski, a native of Belarus who now calls Chicago home, tripped Nelson earlier on but ended underneath the big man and spent almost half of the first round on his back. The referee eventually stood them off and Nelson tried unsuccessfully for a takedown before eating some punches and kicks.
Arlovski (15-5) was wobbled with a punch to the head early in the second but recovered quickly and pinned a tired Nelson (13-3) on the fence. Arlovski hurt him with a pair of uppercuts then felled him with a right.
At 262 pounds, Nelson looks more like a pot-bellied couch potato than a fighter. Still he came into the bout with a five-fight win streak. But he could not stand up to the striking of Arlovski, who is contemplating a boxing career.
Former IFL fighter Benji (The Razor) Radach stopped former EliteXC middleweight champion Murilo (Ninja) Rua at 2: 31 of the second round.
Radach (19-4) wobbled Rua earlier but the Brazilian survived. At one point in the first round, both fighters went down hurt at the same time after a standup exchange.
In the second, Rua (16-9-1) had some success with knees and kicks. But he paid the price when he lost his balance attempting a knee. The Brazilian ended up on his back and Radach, punching from above, clocked him on the chin with several rights.
The biggest disappointment for the crowd, and likely the viewers, was not getting to see Shamrock, an accomplished mixed martial arts who also spent time as a professional wrestler, compete even though at 44 he is no longer in his prime. He has lost his last five fights — all in the first round — and eight of the last 10.
Shamrock, speaking to Johnson at the opening of the “Saturday Night Fights” telecast, said he received an accidental head-butt from a training partner while warming up. The cut required six stitches in his eyebrow and the Florida State Boxing Commission would not allow him to fight.
“To me this is dumb,” a noticably disappointed Shamrock said. “I understand what (the commission is) doing, I do. But I’ve had ACL (injuries) that I’ve fought through, I’ve had shoulder (injuries) that I’ve fought through. And then I’ve got a little cut, a little cut on my eye and I can’t fight. To me … it’s hard for me to even swallow that.”
Members of Shamrock’s camp tried to find a way for the veteran to be cleared but ultimately safety standards won out.
“For his safety, we have rules,” said chief cageside physician Dr. Allan Fields. “And certainly anyone with a recent laceration cannot go and participate in a fight because he could further injure his eye, or perhaps start hemorrhaging again and in this case it would obscure his vision. And if it does obscure his vision, then he would have a problem defending himself.”
NOTES: Free agent and Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Tito (The Huntington Beach Bad Boy) Ortiz was in attendance and said he is “about a week away” from signing with EliteXC.
— With files from THE CANADIAN PRESS
