Great opening video package with Hawaiian fire dancers and highlights from KJ Noons' career, leading to a look at Yves Edwards and his highlights. Noons says that he sees himself being the winner while Edwards says that he's taking him. This leads to the proper open with slow-mo highlights of some of EliteXC's biggest fights and fighters before we get to see the beautiful coast of Hawaii and Mauro Ranallo welcomes us into the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu for EliteXC's Return of the King! He runs down the fight card and talks about how there's a homecoming for EliteXC's Lightweight Champion, KJ Noons and how he's come home to face the toughest challenge in his career. He welcomes in Bill Goldberg and they talk about how Noons and Edwards are friends and that Noons was brought into Edwards' camp nine years ago as a sparring partner and that tonight, they'll have to put their friendship aside to fight. Stephen Quadros gets brought in and talks about Noons' power and Edwards' experience which will make for a great main event. We see footage of both men making their way into the arena as Maruo finishes the preview of that fight and we're on to our first fight!!
Match One: Light Heavyweights
Wayne Cole (11-6) vs. Rafael Feijao (5-1)
Cole gets a video package and talks about how MMA changed his life and made him a better man, taking him away from the streets and problems he had in his early life. He talks about how big an opportunity this fight is for him and that he's 37 and he doesn't have a lot of time to waste in his career. He says that he won his last fight by armbar but that's not his style and that he's going to be looking for a knockout in this one. Feijao's video package rolls and he talks about how he loves mixed martial arts and that he started training at ten. He says that he quit university to fight in MMA and how he's friends and training partners with Anderson Silva. He says that people are going to see what he's made of after this fight and that he wants to be a champion. Feijao has Silva in his corner tonight, which should be a big help for him.
Round One
Mario Yamasaki gets things underway and they touch gloves before Feijao lands a body kick and Cole rushes forward with a combination leading to a clinch with Feijao getting a trip takedown into Cole's guard. Cole gets back to his feet and Feijao is clinched with him up against the fence, throwing a couple of short knees to the thighs of Cole. Left hand lands for Feijao and he finds it again as he begins to knee the thigh of Cole a little harder. Cole complains about a bit of a low shot but they looked pretty good to me. Yamasaki calls for time and gives Cole his time to recover from the low blow. The action resumes with Feijao JUST missing a high kick and they end up clinched again with Feijao pinning Cole against the fence. More inside knees from Feijao and he pushes with a hard combination that leads Cole to look for a single-leg. Feijao hits the Yves Edwards JUMP KNEE and lands another couple of HARD Thai knees that put Cole down to his hands and knees. Feijao takes Cole's back and HAMMERS AWAY WITH RIGHT HANDS UNTIL YAMASAKI MAKES THE STOPPAGE!! WOW..that was quick and brutal.
Winner: Rafael Feijao, TKO at 2:47 of Round One
Bill Goldberg is in the cage with Feijao and he asks if he was surprised with Cole's strength in the clinch. Feijao says that he loves Hawaii and gets a cheer from the crowd before saying that Anderson Silva has taught him everything. Goldberg says that he would ask him to talk through the replay but since his English isn't the best, they'll just watch it together. What a dick. Feijao talks us through the replay just fine and then we head outside the cage to Mauro Ranallo. He's got Scott Smith with him and that leads to highlights from their fight on the CBS primetime debut. Smith says that his eye is fine and that his foot wasn't broken like he originally thought, it was just pulled ligaments. Ranallo talks about how they were even in the first two rounds before the eyepoke and Smith says that he needs to change some things and avoid taking jabs and use more head movement. He says that he's more confident heading into the rematch than he was going into the first fight and they announce the rematch for CBS on Saturday, July 26th!
Match Two: Heavyweights
Ron Waterman (15-5-2) vs. Dave Herman (10-0)
Video package for Waterman and he talks about his work in churches and as a motivational speaker and talks about his teaching career. He talks about how he used to use his wrestling but he's been trying to branch away from it lately. He doesn't feel like an underdog because of the experience he has and feels like he's going to put on a show. Herman's video rolls now and he says that he didn't want to have a regular job after his wrestling career was over. He says that his sister is in the Army and he's a cagefighter which must be tough for his mom. He talks about how he it feels natural to be a fighter. He wants to win by "Flying purple swirlie-pop" before admitting that a KO would be nice.
Round One
Referee Chris West gets us started and the big boys are underway! They touch gloves and saunter out to the middle of the cage with Herman landing a couple of leg kicks before Waterman gets a big double-leg takedown against the fence. Waterman tries to pass out of the guard and takes a couple of elbows from Herman on the bottom before Waterman tries for a can opener. Waterman gets the can opener again and does some grounding and pounding up against the fence as Herman pushes him away to get back to his feet. Waterman gets the trip takedown and Herman gets back to his feet, escaping the clinch before throwing a JUMPING ROUNDHOUSE KICK TO THE HEAD THAT GLANCES OFF OF WATERMAN'S FACE!! Waterman shoots in for a single-leg takedown and Herman lands a TON of HARD elbows to the side of the head, looking like he's already knocked him out. The fight goes on and Herman gets a hard knee to the ribs of Waterman, taking full mount and raining down shots until the referee steps in to save Waterman!! Waterman has a huge mouse right under his right eye and Mauro Ranallo speculates that it might have come from an eyepoke very early in the round.
Winner: Dave Herman, TKO at 2:19 of Round One
Bill Goldberg's in the cage with Herman and he asks about Herman's ability to finish. Herman says that he just went out and had fun and that he wasn't expecting to get taken down so early but that's how it goes sometimes. Herman says that he's thinking about going somewhere and doing some training with other people before talking about the jumping roundhouse, saying that he made it up and thought he'd give it a try. Goldberg jokes that Herman learned everything from Jean Claude Van Damme videos and then says that Herman feels like he has a new nickname. Herman calls himself "Blueberry Muffin" which draws big laughs from the crowd.
They throw it to an interview with Yves Edwards and Stephen Quadros asks him about his comeback, with Yves giving all the props to his training at American Top Team and that that has helped him turn things around. He talks about how tough an opponent KJ is and how he dominated Nick Diaz before saying that he's comfortable and confident heading into this fight. Quadros asks about what could happen if Edwards loses and he says that a loss is a loss and that it always hurts the same way. He talks about how Noons might be able to take it better being younger and all and Edwards says that he's not concerned with having to be the guy to bounce back because he's not planning on losing.
Match Three: Middleweights
Murilo Rua (15-8-1) vs. Tony Bonello (16-0-1)
Bonello's video package runs and he talks about traveling all around the world at a young age and he says that the Australian MMA scene is very underground. He talks about his need to get the fight to the ground to use his jiu-jitsu and says that he loves fighting, comparing it to a roller coaster ride. Ranallo runs down what has been a WILD life for Bonello, including training with Ernesto Hoost, getting a BJJ black belt from Brazilian Top Team, marrying a woman he'd only known three days in Las Vegas and spending time in prison which led to him befriending the warden and helping him to promote MMA shows in Australia. Rua's video comes now and says that he's never lost by submission because of his heart. He says that this is a new start for his career and that he's going to give it 100%. He hopes that Bonello has trained hard because he's going to come out hard and win this fight. Rua's got his brother Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in his corner for this fight tonight.
Round One
Mario Yamasaki is in charge and he looks like he's got the ref-cam on him for this fight. Bonello talks some SHIT to Rua during the stare down and we're UNDERWAY!! Bonello flashes out a high kick and jumps guard, working from the bottom as Rua throws some elbows form the full closed guard. Bonello tries an up-kick and Rua pass the guard into side control, cross-facing Bonello and landing some hard elbows to the head and to the body, trying for a crucifix but Bonello fights out of it. More HARD elbows landing for Rua from the top and he gets the crucifix this time, landing more HARD elbows to the face with blood coming from Bonello's nose. Bonello tries to buck out but can't and just continues to eat NASTY elbows from Rua before Rua moves to full mount!! Back to side control and more elbows from Rua and Bonello tries to buck again but can't get Rua off of him. HARD body elbows from Rua and Bonello is cut above the eye. Rua gets to the knee in the belly position and UNLOADS with right hands until Mario Yamasaki stops the punishment!!
Winner: Murilo Rua, TKO at 3:15 of Round One
We get highlights of the finish from Mario Yamasaki's ref-cam and that leads to the official announcement and Rua's interview time with Bill Goldberg. Goldberg proclaims that Ninja is BACK and asks about where Rua feels like he is now as a fighter. Ninja says that he thanks everyone that helps him train, his wife and his unborn child, saying that he wants his belt back and that he wants to fight for the belt next. Big hand for Ninja from the crowd at Blaisdell as Ninja is overcome with emotion at the victory.
Interview with KJ Noons now as he's with Stephen Quadros and Stephen asks him about the name of the event. Noons says it means a lot to him and means a lot to bring the belt back to Hawaii. He says that he always gets a little nervous before fights and that if you don't there's something wrong with you. He feels like he might not have the resume that Edwards has but he plans to win the fans over with his fighting style. He says that his ground game is underrated and that he's going to have to deal with Edwards' experience. Noons talks about feeling comfortable as the underdog and that he loves that position
Match Four: Catchweight
Muhsin Corbbrey (8-2, 1 NC) vs Nick Diaz (16-7, 1 NC)
Corbbrey talks about how people always remember his name because it's different. He talks about how Diaz better not think he's a steppingstone and that he wants to win the 160-pound title and move down to win the 150-pound title as well. He talks about how this is the biggest stage he's been on in his MMA career and he wants to take advantage of the opportunity. Diaz gets the video treatment now and talks about the last time he fought when he lost to KJ. He says that he was a little too anxious in that fight and that he wants to win this fight to get the rematch. He thinks that fans like him because he's not afraid to fight anyone and that he works harder than anyone when it comes to training. Nate Diaz is in big brother Nick's corner as Ranallo talks about how this is a lightweight eliminator fight, despite it being a catchweight bout.
Round One
Referee Chris West gets things started and Diaz throws a high side kick that misses and tries to shoot for a takedown but Corbbrey just pulls away from the attempt. High kicks from Diaz get blocked and Diaz ends up pushing the pace with his jabs, catching Corbbrey with a short left hand. They move to a clinch with Corbbrey landing a good inside knee before they separate and Diaz lands a couple of punches inside. Standing elbow from Diaz and he lands a hard shot to the body before landing a good one-two combination. Into a clinch and Diaz lands some shots to the body as Corbbrey gets a solid knee to the head inside. They both trade heavy punches that miss and end up clinched again before they push each other away. Low kick from Diaz and Corbbrey throws one right back as Diaz does some jabbing and circling. Corbbrey fakes a spinning back fist and lands a hard uppecut on Diaz as they stand and trade. Solid right hook lands for Corbbrey and they end up clinched against the fence with Diaz throwing some knees to the body before throwing a good one to the head that lands. He gets a combination inside with the clinch but can't get the takedown and Corbbrey lands a combination with a SNAPPING body kick at the end of it. Diaz gets a good uppercut in and they trade shots with Corbbrey using head movement to avoid a heavy combination from Diaz. Diaz works the body with hard shots from the clinch and Corbbrey lands a couple of shots as the round comes to a close. Close round that nokaut.com scores 10-9 for Diaz.
Round Two
Diaz chases down Corbbrey with some jabs as Corbbrey lands a leg kick and a good combination. They clinch against the fence with Diaz changing levels for a single-leg takedown, transitioning to a double-leg as Corbbrey stuffs the takedown. They separate from the fence and trade some jabs as Diaz lands a hard combination with Corbbrey trying to get a knee that's blocked by Diaz. Diaz lands a couple of HARD combinations on Corbbrey and they do a little dirty boxing with Diaz landing a couple of uppercuts before they separate and circle. Corbbrey gets a good right hand but backs away and circles before JUST missing with a big uppercut. Diaz lands a solid three-punch combination and starts to trash-talk a litle as Corbbrey continues to slip his punches. Diaz lands a hard shot and Corbbrey responds with a hard counter shot. Corbbrey sets up the spinning back fist again but doesn't throw it as Diaz tries for the takedown again from the clinch. Corbbrey defends it well and stuffs it against the fence, leading to some dirty boxing inside with Diaz tagging Corbbrey with a good left hand. Back to the clinch again as Diaz has a bodylock into a spinning takedown into side control. Diaz holds onto side control to end the round. Nokaut.com scores the round 10-9 for Diaz.
Round Three
Ranallo mentions that the between round breaks are seeming to be more than a minute as they touch gloves to start the third round. Some dirty boxing from the clinch inside and Diaz tries for another takedown with Corbbrey stuffing it and keeping the fight on its feet. Corbbrey moves away from the fence and eats a combination before they trade punches back and forth. Diaz lands a good combination and clinches into a hard knee to the body and Diaz gets the spinning takedown again off the fence, into Corbbrey's half-guard. Diaz moves to side control and starts landing some elbows from the top as Diaz is bleeding from above his left eye. Diaz tries to lock in a kimura and transitions it into an armbar attempt as Corbbrey rolls with it to escape. Diaz has Corbbrey pressed against the fence and lands a slow flurry of lefts and rights before dropping back into the guard, passing back into side control. Short elbow from Diaz and he tries the kimura again before standing above Corbbrey and landing some shots. Diaz takes the full mount and throws a ton of punches and despite most of them being blocked by Corbbrey, the referee steps in to call the fight.
Winner: Nick Diaz, TKO at 3:59 of Round Three
Goldberg talks about how it was a boxing match for the first two rounds and Diaz says that he trains his boxing and thanks his trainers and training partners before saying that it's right back to training for next month. He says that he's going to be interested in the main event fight and that he wants to be able to fight the winner to try to get the belt. We see Noons and Edwards in their locker rooms with Noons looking relaxed and ready while Edwards does some pad work to warm up.
Match Five: EliteXC Lightweight Championship
Yves Edwards (34-13-1) vs. KJ Noons (c) (6-2)
The Three Musketeers talk about the main event talking about Noons and how despite the win against Diaz, he steps into the cage as an underdog. Quadros says that Noons feels stronger and faster and that he's going to use his boxing to break Edwards down and force the fight to the mat. They talk about Edwards' long road to redemption and Goldberg talks about how Edwards has done everything in his career except for winning a world title. He says that Edwards is going to be looking to cement his legacy with a win. Noons says that he loves hearing himself announced as the champion while Edwards says that if you're not doing this to be a champion, you're not doing it for the right reasons. Noons feels like he's hungry to defend the belt and make himself better as Edwards talks about his change in training and how it's affected his career. Edwards says that he was excited to see Noons win the belt but then realized that he was going to have to kick his ass to take it. Edwards says that their friendship will always be there, but tonight is about the fight as Noons says that Edwards' time has passed and that it's his time now. They both sound ready to bring it for this fight and it should be a doozy.
Round One
Noons gets the huge hometown response which is to be expected and referee Mario Yamasaki gets this championship bout started! They touch gloves and Noons throws a kick right out of the gate with Edwards throwing a combination in response. They trade punches and Noons gets a couple of jabs to the body before he gets cracked with a combination. Noons lands a HARD uppercut and DROPS EDWARDS!! HE'S ON HIM WITH A HUGE FLURRY OF PUNCHES AND ELBOWS, BLASTING AWAY UNTIL THE FIGHT IS CALLED!!!
Winner: KJ Noons, TKO at 0:48 of Round One
Bill Goldberg is with both men and asks KJ if he has somewhere he had to be. Noons says that he just happened to catch Yves with a shot and that he knew he had to stay on him to get the win so that he could avoid Yves skills. Noons gives a shout-out to City Boxing and talks about how his chin was a lot better than he thought it was. Yves says that there's not much to say other than that KJ is the man and that he got his ass kicked. Noons talks about how it's amazing and he wishes his father a Happy Birthday and Happy Father's Day. He thanks his training partners and friends and and here comes Nick Diaz to make a challenge. Noons asks the fans if Diaz deserves a rematch and the crowd boos loudly. Diaz tells Noons not to be scared and then says somethign to someone in his family and ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. Noons lunges at Diaz and mayhem reigns in the cage until Diaz makes his way up the ramp, flipping everyone off on his way to the back. Someone in Noons' entourage managed to throw some punches in on Diaz as there was the huge pull-apart. Noons gets a huge round of applause from the crowd as he makes his way out of the cage as Stephen Quadros says that he can't wait to see the rematch. Mauro runs down the results of the night's action and thanks us all for tuning in, wishing us all a Happy Father's Day weekend from Honolulu!!
