EXC Rage

EXC made its national debut last night and completely fumbled.

The majority of the fights were really good, but it did have its share of horrible referee decisions.

My problem with the Kimbo fight wasn't the stoppage in the 3rd round, it was the fact the fight didn't get stopped at the end of the 2nd round when Slice was getting nailed in the face with elbows for a whole 90 seconds until the bell rang. If that had been anyone else but the bread basket of the company, the fight would have been over. It was so obviously fixed, I was expecting Vince McMahon to run out and hit James Thompson with a chair when the refs weren't looking.

The Lawler-Smith bout was tremendous and was stopped early for no reason. The rule says that people who get poked in the eye have 5 minutes to get themselves together. EXC didn't give Smith any time at all to recover before calling the fight. I don't understand the logic behind that call at all.

The women's fight should have been stopped earlier. Carano was just landing punch after punch and the other woman couldn't defend herself. It went on way too long. I noticed the ref who called that match didn't call anymore. He was probably fired on the spot. I really doubt CBS wanted to see a girl get the hell unnecessarily beat out of her and then bleed on national TV. I guess Carano's illegal five pound weight advantage was also beneficial for her.

That Phil Baroni guy was a complete jobber and had no business being on national television.

I just thought the show went on FOREVER. Usually UFC gets in 7-9 fights in a 2 1/2 hour PPV. CBS only had 5 in 2 1/2 hours. There was way too much time in between all the fights and the commercials never ended.

Also, Mauro Ranallo uses too many mind numbing words. Its not verbal Scrabble, just explain the damn action.

I'll think more about it and post some more notes tomorrow.