EliteXC-CBS Saturday Night Fights 2 Preview

EliteXC and CBS's second joint event will take place on July 26th from the Stockton Arena in Stockton, California. In other words, it's coming to us all live from Nick Diaz's stomping grounds. Thus, Diaz will be on the card, taking on another very tough hombre in Thomas "Wildman" Denny, while Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith will get it on in a rematch of what was turning out to be a great fight in their first encounter before a premature thumb in the eye caused a stoppage.

There's also this fight between Jake Shields and Nick Thompson for the EliteXC Welterweight Championship of the world.

So, let's get this preview going as only MMAFighting.com can.

Robbie Lawler (17-4) vs. Scott Smith (13-4): This is the rematch that everyone has been waiting for. In their first fight, Lawler looked to be winning in a Fight of the Year kind of slugfest before an inadvertent thumb in the eye caused the doctor to say that Smith could no longer continue.

Needless to say, that decision was a little bit controversial.

Regardless, it appears that Lawler is a bit better in a technical striking sense than his opponent here. He's also better defensively. Smith, on the other hand, hits like a truck; of course, Lawler hits hard as well.

Why even talk about ground skills? These guys have 25 (T)KO's between them and if this fight ends up similar to the first then ground fighting is going to be minimal at best.

Prediction: In the end, Lawler was looking like he would win the first encounter. Figure on him winning the second as well against a very tough opponent.

Robbie Lawler wins via TKO in round three.

Thomas Denny (26-16) vs. Nick Diaz (17-7): Thomas Denny is an intense and tough competitor that comes to finish fights as evidenced by the seven (T)KO's and 14 submission victories attached to his name. Along with this, he has strong submission skills to go along with solid takedowns, takedown defense, and striking skills. Denny even has some power on his feet.

Unfortunately for him, Denny is so intent on finishing fights that he has gotten caught himself on several occasions by submission (he's been stopped on 10 occasions by way of submission).

Nick Diaz is one of the best submission fighters in the entire lightweight division. He also possesses some of the best cardio going and is as tough as they come. In terms of striking skills, he's good technically but not great, and one punch kind of power isn't really something he exhibits. However, Diaz's punches often take their cumulative effect on opponents, as he just keeps coming forward actively at all costs.

In terms of weaknesses, Diaz is not an overly powerful fighter; thus, he has been beaten via ground and pound before by stronger opponents. Further, he tends to cut easily, though this problem may have been taken care of by recent surgery.

In other words, we'll see on that front.

Prediction: Both of these fighters are tough, which should make for an entertaining bout. Both also have well-rounded skills. But here's the thing: Nick Diaz has never been defeated by a submission and possesses some of the best submission skills in the world. Denny has been defeated on numerous occasions by way of submission.

That seems to point in a certain direction.

Nick Diaz wins by way of submission in round three during a fun bout (fun for us, anyway).

Jake Shields (20-4-1) vs. Nick Thompson (36-9-1): Shields has won nine straight, including five in a row by way of stoppage. Basically, this speaks to his takedowns (some of the best in the game), ground control (some of the best in the game), cardio (excellent), and submission skills (now above average). Oh yeah, and he's never been stopped by submission and trains with the Diaz's and Gilbert Melendez; so, he's certainly not going to be an easy guy to submit.

In terms of striking, Shields has improved significantly over the years and now looks to be solid.

There really aren't many weaknesses here.

Nick Thompson is a very smart and technical fighter that has excellent submission skills and technical striking. He also has some power on his feet, as evidenced by the fact that he's defeated 10 fighters by way of TKO.

Thompson has won 12 straight.

In the past, Thompson has lost to most of the best fighters he's taken on, seeming to be the less athletic performer when he lost to Karo Parisyan (submission strikes). He also has fallen to the likes of Ed Herman (TKO- injury) and Yushin Okami (submission- elbow injury). But those fights were a long time ago and he has defeated Eddie Alvarez since.

Prediction: Nick Thompson is excellent in all phases of the game. That said, Shields and his athletic grappling skills may prove to be too much here. You never know, of course. But. . .

Jake Shields wins via second round TKO on the ground.

Shayna Baszler (9-4) vs. Cristiane Cyborg (4-0): People tend to get knocked out when they take on Cyborg, a tough Chute Box fighter. On the other hand, when people enter cages with Baszler they tend to get submitted.

Close call, but go with Shayna Baszler to win by second round submission.

Antonio Silva (10-1) vs. Justin Eilers (20-7-1): Eilers has been winning of late, but Silva is just too big and strong.

Antonio Silva wins via TKO in round two.

Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante (6-1) vs. Travis Galbraith (15-5): Galbraith is a good submission fighter, but Feijao is the next big thing.

Rafael Feijao wins via TKO in round one.

Wilson Reis (4-0) vs. Bryan Caraway (10-2): Both of these fighters have excellent submissions. Take Caraway, as he's the more experienced of the two.

Bryan Caraway wins via third round submission.

Mike Cook (5-1) vs. Carl Seumantafa (3-0): Cook looks to be well- rounded. Seumantafa is a relative unknown.

Mike Cook wins via submission.