EliteXC:_Primetime
EliteXC: Primetime
Elite Xtreme Combat MMA event in 2008
EliteXC: Primetime was a mixed martial arts event promoted by Elite Xtreme Combat taking place on May 31, 2008 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
| EliteXC: Primetime | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | Elite Xtreme Combat | |||
| Date | May 31, 2008 | |||
| Venue | Prudential Center | |||
| City | Newark, New Jersey | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
In February 2008, it was announced that EliteXC had reached an agreement with CBS to broadcast live shows on Saturday nights. This marked the first show of the agreement.[1] The main card aired live on CBS, marking the first time a MMA event aired in primetime on major American network television.[2]
As with earlier EliteXC events, the preliminary card aired for free online at Proelite.com.[3]
| Main card (CBS) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Heavyweight | Kimbo Slice | def. | James Thompson | TKO (punches) | 3 | 0:38 | |
| Middleweight | Robbie Lawler (c) | vs. | Scott Smith | No Contest | 3 | 3:26 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Catchweight (144 lbs) | Gina Carano | def. | Kaitlin Young | TKO (doctor stoppage) | 2 | 3:00 | [lower-alpha 2] |
| Middleweight | Joey Villasenor | def. | Phil Baroni | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:11 | |
| Heavyweight | Brett Rogers | def. | Jon Murphy | KO (punch) | 1 | 1:01 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| Lightweight | Chris Liguori | def. | Jim Bova | TKO (cut) | 2 | 4:31 | |
| Heavyweight | Carlton Haselrig | def. | Carlos Moreno | TKO (corner stoppage) | 1 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 3] |
| Lightweight | Matt Makowski | def. | Nick Serra | TKO (Retirememt) | 2 | 3:57 | [lower-alpha 4] |
| Bantamweight | Wilson Reis | def. | Justin Robbins | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 4:06 | |
| Bantamweight | James Jones | def. | Calvin Kattar | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 4:49 | |
| Bantamweight | Zach Makovsky | def. | André Soares | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–26, 29–26) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Joe Sampieri | def. | Mike Groves | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:58 | |
- For the Middleweight Championship; Lawler inadvertently poked Smith in the eye.[4]
In terms of ratings, the show averaged 4.85 million viewers and peaked during the main event at 6.51 million viewers,[6] making it the most watched MMA show in television history until UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos.
However, not all CBS stations carried the program at the scheduled time. At least five – WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio, KXJB-TV in Fargo, North Dakota and three stations in Montana – aired a telethon to benefit the Children's Miracle Network instead.[7] All those stations aired the EliteXC card early the next morning. Also, WFMY-TV in Greensboro, North Carolina and the surrounding Triad area refused to air the program because they disliked the sport – it was passed on to a low-powered independent station, WGSR-LP.
- "EliteXC expected to announce deal with CBS". MMA Junkie. 2008-02-27. Archived from the original on 2008-03-02. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- "UFC Not the First on Network TV, but Can It Learn From Others' Mistakes?". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
- "Report: EliteXC "Saturday Night Fights" prelims to air online". MMA Junkie. 2008-04-28. Archived from the original on 2013-10-13. Retrieved 2013-10-13.
- "CBS "EliteXC: Primetime" Saturday Night Fights Live Results and Updates". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
- "EliteXC: Primetime". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
- "CBS scores with initial ratings for EliteXC's "Saturday Night Fights"". mmajunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
- See our works Archived 2008-06-02 at the Wayback Machine