ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series Review and Results

EliteXC had another exciting ShoXC show on Showtime last Friday night at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California.

The main event featured a rematch between light heavyweights Po' ai Suganuma and Jared Hamman.

There were five fights in total on the televised card, and all five fights had its moments.

Many of the fighters on the card were not well known and were trying to make a name for themselves. This made a lot of the fights exciting and thrilling as all the fighters were out to prove that they belong in EliteXC.

Suganuma, a training partner of B.J. Penn's, defeated Hamman a few months ago in a controversial ending. The fight lasted only 15 seconds after Suganuma landed a flying knee to Hamman which forced the referee to stop the fight.

Hamman was victorious this time as he ended the fight in the first round after several vicious hammer fists to Suganuma.

Suganuma had the advantage early on in the fight, and it looked like it could end quickly again, but Hamman was able to withstand the early onslaught and then go on the offensive.

Commentators Mauro Ranallo and Stephen Quardos mentioned a possibility of a trilogy as they could see these two fighters going at it once again.

The first match shown was between Keith "KO Kid" Berry and Ray "Lights Out" Lizama.

This was a great fight to start the show as these two fighters entertained the fans with a stand-up war.

Berry won the first round by utilizing the plum clinch and delivering some nice knees and punches to Lizama.

Lizama was able to escape a rear naked choke by Berry which almost ended the fight.

In the second round, Lizama rocked Berry with punches which had the 20-year-old retreating. Somehow, Berry was able to come back strong and started to deliver some shots to Lizama.

Eventually, Lizama started to land his right hand again, and Berry finally went down after two overhand rights to his body.

This was a big upset as Berry was favored to win because Lizama only had a 5-5 record coming into the fight, and was also fighting on late notice.

Lizama was a replacement for Reggie Orr who backed out of the fight with Berry.

The fight was at a catch-weight of 190 pounds. Lizama looked a lot bigger than Berry.

The second fight was a women's match between veteran Debi Purcell and Rosi Sexton from Manchester, England.

Round one was boring as they were just clinching and positioning against the cage.

Round two was better, and the hightlight was Sexton's superwoman punch which was countered nicely by Purcell's leg kick.

Purcell started round three off with a spinning back fist.

The round was as close as the first two. Sexton attempted a nice cartwheel guard pass which Purcell was able to nullify.

The fight went to the judges and Sexton was awarded the win by split decision.

Fabricio "Morango" Camoes made quick work of Sammy "The Squeeze" Morgan in the first round with a rear naked choke.

The fight only lasted 47 seconds as Camoes was able to slam Morgan down to the mat and get full mount on his opponent.

Once Morgan gave his back, Camoes secured the choke for the quick victory.

UFC fighter Diego Sanchez was in Camoes' corner.

Camoes said that he wants to face some big names now and mentioned EliteXC lightweight champion, K.J. Noons, as a potential future opponent.

In another fight, Cyrille Diabate defeated Jamie Fletcher by unanimous decision.

Diabate reminds me of UFC fighter Corey Hill as they both are very tall and have bald heads.

Diabate controlled most of the fight, although he was taken down a few times by Fletcher.

Fletcher's face was extremely bloody thanks to a cut to his eye.

Diabate said he wants to fight Rafael Feijao next.

This show was not as hyped as a UFC pay-per-view show, but the fights on this card were better and more entertaining than what the UFC has offered MMA fans of late.

Highlights of the show include the great war between Berry and Lizama, Camoes' submission win over Morgan, and the non-stop brawl in the main event between Suganuma and Hamman.

The winners of the non-televised fights were David Douglas, Katrina Alendale, Jesse Brock, Lucas Gamaza, and Robert Vargas.