SPORTS COUCH POTATO

Showtime for Shamrock in return to the cage

Undaunted by the recent demise of former MMA partner Elite XC, Showtime reenters the cage Saturday night to televise a five-fight card, the first in its multiyear agreement with Strikeforce.

The main event is of particular interest as Showtime/CBS analyst Frank Shamrock, pictured, returns to fighting in a bout against another pugilist with championship credentials, Nick Diaz.

“Shamrock-Diaz is an incredible fight,” says lead Showtime announcer Gus Johnson. “It’s like a young lion versus an old lion. Frank’s getting older. He’s had injuries. Diaz is hungry and hot and as good on the ground as Frank is on his feet. Nick is tall, long and has some power.

"It will be a major challenge for Frank, but we are talking about Frank Shamrock; A legend and master strategist who’ll push Nick like he’s never been pushed before. He’s so smart, I expect Shamrock to physically take away some of Diaz’s advantages."

Filling in for Shamrock as a color analyst is MMA star Pat Miletich, who joins Johnson and the always zealous Mauro Ranallo.

EliteXC down for the count

There was major contraction in the Mixed Martial Arts business with word that ProElite, the parent company of EliteXC, has gone out of business.

EliteXC is the MMA organization that made headlines earlier this year when it nabbed a primetime TV deal with CBS after having established a presence on its sister cable network Showtime.

Despite the national footprint, most MMA observers found the EliteXC TV cards lacking — particularly in comparison to the more-established UFC.

On its initial CBS shows, EliteXC made YouTube phenom Kimbo Slice its star attraction despite his relative inexperience in the sport. That strategy backfired when Slice was beaten earlier this month in just 14 seconds by unknown Seth Petruzelli. Compounding matters were suggestions that an EliteXC official tried to get the decision overturned.

According to PA SportsTicker's Anthony Malakian, the company's vice president could be seen at ringside arguing with the referee, saying the knockout wasn't legitimate because Slice was hit in the back of the head.

Malakian also reported that in the company's latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing, executives stated that ProElite had lost $55 million during its two years of existence and only had enough money to make it through the year. In fact, CBS had to fund the Oct. 5 show. The company's Nov. 8 TV card has been canceled.

MMA on CBS: a review

Some random thoughts about the first-ever EliteXC MMA broadcast on CBS:

• If you had other plans on Saturday night and recorded the MMA show, you hopefully set your DVR for longer than the scheduled two-hour window or you missed the main event featuring the much-ballyhooed Kimbo Slice. Too much filler between fights and poor pacing led to a 45-minute overage that caused the broadcast to bust out of primetime. According to Nielsen overnight numbers, the card won its time period with a 4.3 million viewers. However, that number shot up after 11 p.m. for the Slice-James Thompson match, perhaps costing CBS the chance to win the night in the coveted 18-49 demographic. National ratings will be released Tuesday.

• The always ebullient Gus Johnson gave added credibility to the sport's initial foray into network primetime. A familiar face to CBS' pro football and college basketball viewers — and a practicing martial artist himself — Johnson was a good choice to call the action. But did he have to keep reminding us at the start of the telecast that what we were about to watch was real?

• Analyst Frank Shamrock was excellent providing color commentary. For the uninitiated, his MMA primer was succinct and informative. An undefeated champion in his day, Shamrock is a natural in front of the camera.

• Shamrock's counterpart Mauro Ranallo, however, appears to be a heavy consumer of EliteXC sponsor Rockstar Energy Drink. The ultra-hyper Canadian and voice of sister network Showtime's MMA bouts sounded like a cross between pro wrestling barker "Mean" Gene Okerlund and Dan Aykroyd hawking the Super Bass-o-Matic '76 on "Saturday Night Live." Ranallo surely knows his MMA but he's tough to take in large doses.

• Slice won his bout but traditionalists will likely stand by their contention that someone who's still learning on the job shouldn't have been the face of the first MMA main event on network TV. While he no doubt attracted viewers, Slice's fight paled in comparison to the middleweight title bout between Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith and the women's tussle won by Gina Carano ("Crush" on NBC's "American Gladiators") over Kaitlin Young. After a cautious start, Lawler vs. Smith had developed into a compelling confrontation until it was abruptly stopped by a cageside physician in Round 3 after Smith was accidentally poked in the eye. A rematch should headline a TV card.

• The practice of MTV-style music promotion during sports telecasts has become irritating and Saturday's show was no exception. Only slightly more blatant was a member of fighter Brett Rogers' entourage brandishing his Rockstar cap in the background of a postfight interview.

• Finally, have you ever seen so much blood on the floor of a fight ring?

Will Slice cut it in primetime?

Tonight marks the debut of mixed martial arts in network primetime with CBS' broadcast of EliteXC competition, and the fighter whose name is at the top of the marquee is one Kimbo Slice (real name Kevin Ferguson).

Slice has indeed made a name for himself, as evidenced by a recent profile on ESPN's "E:60" and cover story in ESPN the Magazine. Though he remains a neophyte as a professional pugilist he is known far and wide thanks to the reach of YouTube. Go there and you will find a full menu of videos showing this hulk of a man whomping heads in some of the nastiest street fights and backyard brawls.

But as NBCSports.com's Mike Chiappetta writes, some in the MMA business believe making Slice the face of the first big broadcast card is a mistake.

"To have CBS doing it with Kimbo, that’s what I tried to stay away from," says Dana White, president of the rival UFC. "This guy was fighting in your backyard three months ago. I think it sucks."

Adds UFC combatant Sean Sherk, "If you’re a fan tuning into CBS to watch MMA for the first time and catch this street fighter guy on TV, it’s going to give us a bad name."

Chiappetta says it's hard to fault EliteXC and CBS for trying to exploit Slice's meteoric rise to national celebrity. "With his menacing stare, bushy beard and powerful frame, he certainly looks the part of a punishing MMA star," he writes.

We'll find out more tonight when Slice headlines the first of four two-hour live primetime specials to be shown on CBS. The five-fight card hits the air at 9 p.m. ET/PT from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., with Gus Johnson on the call alongside analysts Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo and cageside reporter Karyn Bryant.