The MMA Update For Wednesday June 20th, 2007
Written by Chris Howie
Intro
We are two days away from the Elite XC show and only three away from the TUF 5 Finale. There has been a lot of rumors and things going down the last few days so let's break everything down and see what all the buzz is.
Baroni Possibilty Off Strikeforce/EliteXC Card….Not
Yesterday evening GracieFighter.com reported that Phil Baroni may not be able to compete on this Friday's Showtime PPV due to medical reasons. This could have been a major blow to a card that earlier in the week seemed to be falling to pieces. I had the chance to catch up with Baroni's manager Ken Pavia late last evening and he informed me that Baroni would not be removed from the card. This afternoon it was announced that Phil Baroni would indeed be able to compete on the card and had cleared all medical testing. All I can say to that is thank fuck. I've been waiting to see Baroni and Shamrock far too long for it to fall apart only a few days before the fight but it is only Wednesday so I'm crossing my fingers that nothing else comes up.
“Ninja” Rua Back On Strikeforce/EXC Card
The second title fight on this Friday's big show was in jeopardy at the beginning of the week but it was reported today that “Ninja” would be back in for his fight with Joey Villasenor. This fight was basically off the card today as a replacement had been picked and it appeared as if Rua did not pass his medical exams.
Krazy Horse Violates Parole, Fight With “Joe Boxer” Apparently Off
Charles Bennett was arrested last week for parole violations and is currently in prison. No bail has been set but the Elite XC team is trying to secure the release of “Krazy Horse” for his fight this Friday evening. I was looking forward to seeing the rematch between “Krazy Horse” and “Joe Boxer” but the way it is looking it's not going to happen. Weigh-ins are tomorrow and if Bennett is still in the can I don't see him being there. It appears Edson Berto will fill in if they can't get him back in time. It's unfortunate this had to happen as the fight had war written all over it. There has been a lot of bad blood established between the two lightweights and this was time to settle it once and for all. Hopefully they can make this fight happen sometime in the future if they can't get it done for Friday.
Outro
Make sure to check out MMANews.com tomorrow for a full breakdown of the Strikeforce/EliteXC card and be here Friday for full coverage of the show, as well as Saturday for full coverage of the TUF 5 finale show.
Any questions for the daily update can be sent to [email protected].
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