I watched the Elite XC and I was disappointed. I seem to have a different take on the Shamrock vs Gracie fight than most.
First one needs to note that EliteXC has a 15 second clock that one must advance on the ground or the fighter are forced to stand backup after being warned. So I think Shamrock fully intended to use this to his advantage while on the ground.
While standing Shamrock clearly had the advantage, he hit Gracie with good leg kicks and some good punching. Gracie landed nothing. Gracie seemd to take Shamrock down rather easily. Once on the ground, I actually thought Shamrock was doing more damage than Gracie. No one seems to mention this, but for the most part Gracie stayed in cross body while Shamrock kneed him repeatedly in the side and kidneys. Gracie never advanced and Shamrock never looked in any trouble. Shamrock seemed content to stay there kneeing until the clock made them stand up. In regards, to the knees that caused the DQ, I think the first knee hit him in the side of the head/neck. I thought on the second knee he was trying to land the same strike by pushing the head away and opening up the side of neck/head. Outside of a few elbows/forearms by Gracie on top, he did not do much except stay in crossbody. I really felt that Shamrock was doing much more damage on the feet and ground than Gracie.
I also think that part of Shamrock's attitude is him promoting himself. This reminds me of how Tito Ortiz promoted himself. He does not mind taking on the bad guy role as he knows it will pay him. He and Renzo will now fight again and get payed again. On the other hand, Renzo seems like a genuinely nice person.
Noons looked really good early in the fight. He was hitting Bennett with some solid leg kicks and it was obvious that Bennett was not going to be able to take to many more. However, Noons decided to stop with just using leg kicks and decided to trade. Bennett hit Noons with a body shot and Noons dropped his left hand, then Bennett hit him with a very solid right. If Noons would have fallen to guard instead of rolling to his back, the fight would have continued.
Silva looked like a much better and faster fighter than Cabbage. He went for take downs, tried to advance position and threw strikes while on the ground. While standing, he threws kicks, strikes, and a knee. He looked like a much more polished fighter than Cabbage.
Villasenor looked very good in his fight and he absolutely dominated Loiseau. Loiseau did not look like he even wanted to be there, and I honestly wonder if this was his last fight. Loiseau mounted no attack until the last round and still it was not much of an attack. Villasenor looked solid on his feet and moved like a boxer. On the ground he made excellent transitions and did damage. Villasenor should have been the fighter of the night as he displayed a well rounded fight game.
Carano vs Kedzie was entertaining while on the feet. Carano was obviously a superior striker. She looks excellent on her feet. She easily hit Kedzie seemingly at will. On the ground, it seemed as if neither was comfortable and both even looked a little lost. At the end of the fight, Carano still looked cute and Kedzie looked beat up. A good fight to watch and a good intro for women in mma.
Overall, I thought the production was okay. The volume seemed off but that could have been my feed. I thought the intros were terrible as fighters walked out of some silly looking horse head. Mauro did a good job with the play by play. I thought Goldberg was bad and annoying. However, he did seem to understand the fighting and techniques. As usual in MMA in the USA the crowd booed.
