EliteXC Heads Towards Top

After putting on an extremely successful partnership event with Strikeforce last month (Baroni v. Shamrock), EliteXC once again showed it deserves to hang with the big boys last week. UFC ex-patriots Robbie Lawler and Nick Diaz combined along with fighters such as Ninja Rua and Gina Carano (the sport's most popular female fighter) to put on a show which was recognized as having superior matchmaking and an excellent production value.

And with PRIDE's buyout, the IFL offering a very different form of MMA, and WEC being technically owned by Zuffa, it's easy to see why many herald EliteXC as the only real competition. The praise is well deserved, considering that their fighters rival the WEC and they've landed an exclusive deal with SHOWTIME, which seems to not have enough programming to fill their slots. The result? EliteXC on SHOWTIME at least once a day.

While it's still way too early to tell, if EliteXC can keep signing fighters (Sokoudjou, anyone?) and marketing the package properly (as an alternative to expensive, overhyped UFC programming), they should be able to effectively develop their niche in the world of MMA.

UFC Fight Night 11 Features Best Of TUFers

Despite the appearances of Chris Leben and Nate Quarry, two of the most disappointing TUF alums, UFC Fight Night 11 is shaping up to be a decent card with four other (physically competent) TUFers.

Kenny Florian, TUF 1 finalist and participant in an awesome bloodbath with current LW Champ Sean Sherk, will take on Din Thomas in the main event of the evening. This should be a great fight, with both guys looking for one last push in their respective careers. Both are good fighters and both have suffered some big losses in the UFC. Recently, they've been exhibiting winning ways and they'll collide on their way back to the top in a very uncertain LW division. It's anyones for the taking and these two guys are well aware of that fact.

The TUF 5 winner Nate Diaz will face his first real test in Brazilian Junior Assuncao. Even though his Gamburyan win was less than impressive, Diaz was without a doubt the most technically impressive fighter on the series. After all, his brother is Gogoplata-master Nick Diaz...what would you expect? He'll get a chance to validate his status in the UFC with a tough test here.

Two other TUF5ers, Gray Maynard and Cole Miller, both of whom displayed great promise during the series will battle at UFC FN 11, just not against each other. In an attempt to give the younger talent a push, Maynard will go to battle against unknown Joe Veres while Cole will lay the smack down on Leonard Garcia.

The TUF alums that separate themselves from the very large pack (possibly doing so at this very event) will set themselves up for some bigger fights and potential title shots in the future. After all, it was current Middleweight Champ Anderson Silva who embarrassed Chris Leben at Ultimate Fight Night 5. What may seem like a small event in between PPVs might very well be a coming out party for the next UFC Champ.

Blood Feuds Make For Classic Showdowns

While UFC 51: Bitter Rivals was cast as a classic match up of enemies, it turned out to be a lackluster night of fights between Ken Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Andrei Arlovski, and Tim Sylvia. Had VP of Talent and Matchmaker Joe Silva been afforded the luxury of "fighting families" in the UFC at that time, surely he would have booked them against one another in a true display of bitter rivals. Now, with Nate and Nick Diaz together in MMA (although Nick is currently in EliteXC, not UFC) along with Manny Gamburyan and Karo Parisyan (they're cousins), both in the UFC, he's got just that. And if it wasn't enough that there are two families with fighters whose weights match up perfectly, they hate each other.

The bad blood started back at UFC 49 when Karo Parisyan beat Nick Diaz by split decision (pictured, credit: fightnews.com). Most said that this was one of the top ten UFC bouts of all time, and even more suggested that the decision could have gone either way. Ask Parisyan about the fight, and he'll say decisively "I won it." Despite this level of hubris from a man who only won a split decision, Nick and Karo maintain that they are on good terms.

This story, however, took another turn during the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter. Karo came into the locker room to see his cousin Manny Gamburyan, but when he saw Nate Diaz (the brother of Nick), he playfully grabbed Diaz's shoulder and started to mess around with him. Many people, including myself and other fighters, felt that Karo was talking down to Nate and bullying him. Of course, Nate jumped up and got in Karo's face, but the altercation was ended before it could escalate.

Yet another twist was added when the two relatives of Karo Parisyan and Nick Diaz ended up facing each other in the finals of the series. Nate Diaz won the bout in unspectacular fashion after Gamburyan dislocated his shoulder and had to stop the fight due to injury. Another fight between the families and another controversial finish. Protecting the honor of family, split decisions, and injuries add up to make this one of the most intriguing and genuine rivalries in all of MMA.

The next time Joe Silva is looking for a card on which to place guys who just don't like each other, he should move past Tito and Ken or Hughes and Serra. His best bet would be to schedule two families in two rematches and as a result, give the fans two wars. The MMA community has seen families before (Rua, Nogueira, Shamrock), but never before has such a feud been started between them. It'll be up to Nick, Nate, Manny, and Karo to end it.