Your Weekend MMA Report Card
April 7, 2008
The string of exciting televised MMA events continued this weekend with two action-packed offerings from the IFL and Elite XC. Missed any of it? Here’s who scored well on our report card:
D:
Jared Shaw: No one did anything bad enough to fail but I was none too pleased with Elite XC Live Events Vice President Jared Shaw. I am fully aware that promoters (or in this case their son) like to jump in the cage or ring after a fight but Shaw was way too visible after each ShoXC bout on Saturday night. At first it didn’t bug me too much, but after he gave the referee a look of discontent following the Hamman-Suganama main event it really pissed me off. Who the hell is Jared Shaw to intimidate a licensed MMA referee after a semi-controversial stoppage? Well, he is the Elite XC Live Events Vice President damn it! Doesn’t matter. Those in Shaw’s position need to support the referees while this sport continues to grow. It’s a very difficult gig and they deserve that much. While I didn’t agree with the stoppage, I had no problems with it. One can strongly make a case for the decision and the bottom line is that if the ref thought Hamman could no longer intelligently defend himself it was the right move to make. That should be enough for Shaw too. One last note on Shaw: I’m a young guy, I hate to wear suits and shave every morning. But if I held a job with as much visibility as the one Shaw holds I would make a little more effort to clean up before events. On Saturday night, Shaw was the face of Elite XC and instead of looking like a respectable adult he looked like a punk. The mohawk, sweatshirt and gold chains look so unprofessional it’s not even funny. Shaw is lucky to be fathered by a “successful” boxing promoter. He’s been handed a great opportunity and, from where I sit, he isn’t making the most of it.
Honorable Mention: The Table Mountain Casino crowd. I know most of them came to see Jared Hamman win but there is no excuse for booing Poai Suganuma as much as they did.
C:
Chris Horodecki: No disrespect to Nate Lamotte but I expected a hell of a lot more from Chris Horodecki on Friday night. I thought he would have come out with guns blazing but, alas, that wasn’t the case. Either Lamotte was just too tough or Horodecki hasn’t gotten over his loss to Ryan Schultz last December. I am going with the former as he’s way too young to let a loss like that affect his psyche. That said, another effort like this one may prove that “The Polish Hammer” wasn’t quite as good as we once thought.
Honorable Mention: Jamal Patterson. A solid effort against a much more experienced fighter in Vladimir Matyushenko.
