Petruzelli stuns EliteXC with win against Kimbo

by John Buhl, InsideFighting.com

Kimbo sliced

Did you miss Seth Petruzelli's shocking 14-second knockout win over Kimbo Slice? You're not alone, it was that quick. Check out the sights from Saturday night's shocking upset.

With Ken Shamrock forced to back out of the main event due to a cut sustained earlier in the day, Petruzelli entered the main event on the shortest of notice and needed just 14 seconds to knock out Slice.

Kimbo (3-1, Miami, Fla.) closed the distance on Petruzelli (11-4, Orlando, Fla.) at the start, but Petruzelli followed up a front kick and a short right that stunned Kimbo and sent him to the ground. Petruzelli, a UFC veteran and former participant on "The Ultimate Fighter 2" television show, pounced immediately with a barrage of punches that forced the referee to step in to protect the defenseless Slice.

After the fight, Petruzelli, visibly excited by the high profile win, was respectful to Kimbo for accepting the fight with no time to prepare for the change in opponents.

"Honestly, man, it was a crappy situation for both of us," Petruzelli said.

Arlovski and Shields overcome tough challenges

Meanwhile, Arlovski (14-5; Chicago, Ill.) survived a strong start from former IFL champion Roy Nelson (13-3; Las Vegas, Nev.) to earn a second round TKO.

Nelson got the clinch early on and back Arlovski into the fence. Arlovski went for a trip, but Nelson countered and got the top position, ultimately getting side control.

Although the action slowed, Nelson was in a dominant cross side position, landing knees to the body and looking for an arm lock when the referee chose to stand the fighters back up.

From there, Arlovski's strategy of kicking the pudgy Nelson's front leg and throwing combos started to pay off. During a flurry of strikes, Arlovski followed a leg kick with an uppercut and straight right that dropped Nelson at 3:14 of round two.

Shields (22-4-1; San Franciso, Calif.) had to reach pretty deep into his bag of tricks to get a second round submission over Paul Daley (Nottingham, England; 18-7-1), in stark contrast to his title winning effort against Nick Thompson, which only required one minute of action.

As expected, Daley showed strong striking skills and an effective sprawl that defended a number of attempted takedowns by Shields.

Later in the first round, Shields followed up a short punch with a single leg takedown and quickly passed Daley's guard. Shields delivered a methodical series of punches and elbows before trying an armbar, which Daley used to reverse and gain top position.

The action was the same in round two, with Shields again getting the mount. Shields set up for the armbar more than once and finally sunk in the maneuver in the middle of the cage. With the submission fully extended, Daley tapped out at the 3:47 mark of the second round.

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Shields later said he would be willing to fight at middleweight.

"I wouldn't mind going up to 185 and challenging for two belts," he said.

Carano and Radach victorious

In other televised action, the most recognizable female fighter in the world, Gina Carano (7-0), held off a game but outmatched Kelly Kobold (16-3) en route to a unanimous decision victory, potentially setting up a long-awaited match against Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos.

As expected, Kobold almost immediately moved in looking for a takedown. But as hard as Kobold pushed Carano to the fence trying to get the fight to the ground, Carano was just as relentless resisting the takedown attempts.

Ultimately, Carano controlled the action, only ending up on her back near the end of the second round. Carano spent much of the fight utilizing her reach and polished Muay Thai skills, peppering Kobold with a number of hard punches, knees and kicks throughout all three rounds. All three judges scored the bout for Carano, with two scores of 30-27 and one score of 29-28.

After the fight, Carano said Kobold was her toughest fight to date. Asked whether Cyborg could be next, she replied, "If that's what they put in front of me."

If Carano does fight Cyborg, it may not be at 140 pounds.

"I'm going to have to reevalute if I'm going to stay at 140," Carano said during a prefight interview.

Carano had failed to make weight in several previous fights, and although she eventually made weight for the Kobold bout, she needed more than one attempt on the scale and had to shed all of her clothes to reach 141 pounds.

In a back and forth battle between two high-level middleweight veterans, Benji Radach (19-4) moved into title contention with a second round TKO win over Murilo "Ninja" Rua (16-9-1).

Radach didn't waste any time going after Rua, backing up the Brazilian with a flurry that included a lunging left hook and right uppercut that put Rua on his knees. But even though Rua looked wobbled, he returned fire and rocked Radach with punches of his own.

The first round ended with the exhausted fighters jockeying for position on the ground and Rua going for multiple heel hook attempts.

Rua mixed up his strikes more in the second, landing leg kicks and trying several knees, while Radach stuck with his boxing.

Rua later pushed Radach back to the cage and attempted a knee but lost his balance and fell to his back. Radach immediately pounced, landing several right hands to the chin of Rua that forced the referee to stop the fight at the 2:31 mark.

Cyborg wins in undercard bout

With a fight against Carano possibly in her future, Cyborg punished Yoko Takahashi for three rounds, earning a unanimous decision. Cyborg, of Curitiba, Brazil, improved to 6-1 with the victory.