CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas., Nov. 10 -- Karl James Noons is not one to take his time, and Saturday was no exception. Fighting for Elite XC's lightweight championship at the  American Bank center, Noons faced a daunting task in taking on Cesar Gracie black belt Nick Diaz. Despite Diaz's last bout (an unimpressive decision against an unknown), the memory of Diaz choking out a battered Takanori Gomi (PRIDE's lightweight champ) with a gogoplata was still fresh in the minds of fight fans. Apparently, Noons was too busy reminiscing about his 7-1 record in pro boxing and 13-1 record in Muay Thai to be fazed by Diaz's history. 

    Noons took the fight to Diaz early, landing repeated body shots and stuffing every takedown. Finally, Diaz bought a takedown and paid for it with a swift knee to the face. As Diaz passed Noons' guard, Noons turned and gave his back, then spun the other way and stood up, leaving Diaz lying on his back, face bleeding. At this point the ref paused the contest to inspect a cut directly above Diaz's right eye. Matters did not improve for Diaz as Noons hauled up and floored Diaz with a straight right. Wary of following Diaz to the mat, Noons backed away as Diaz butt-scooted around the cage and flailed at Noons. The remainder of the fight was a showcase of Noons' expert head movement as he danced in between Diaz' punches. In the final seconds, Diaz labored to take Noons down, and succeeded just as the round ended.

    As Diaz was getting kneed and punched over and over in the replay, it was announced that Noons had been awarded a TKO due to the multiple cuts on Diaz face. Diaz took the decision quite well, storming out of the ring, hands raised in a "Stone Cold" Steve Austin salute.    

    Tank Abbott fans rejoice: pitfighting is still a legitimate style in MMA. After years of leaving Youtube watchers in awe, legendary streetfighter Kevin Ferguson, AKA "Kimbo Slice", has arrived. Saturday was not Ferguson's first MMA bout, but Bo Cantrell was his first experienced opponent. Unfortunately, the experience was not pleasant for Cantrell, who confused Kimbo for a prime Mike Tyson, tapping nineteen seconds in after only two crushing blows to the head. Ferguson, who has trained and been vigorously endorsed by Bas Rutten, may become one of the biggest stars to ever wear fingerless gloves for money.

 

 "Kimbo" improved his record to 2-0 on Saturday.

    Jake Shields further pleaded his case that he is one of the best welterweights in the world by subbing Mike Pyle with a rear-naked choke at 3:39 in the first round. Shields is now 20-4-1, with wins over Carlos Condit, Hayato Sakurai and Yushin Okami.

    Antonio Silva did it faster, subbing Jonathan Wiezorek at 3:12 in the first. This was Silva's first match since the California State Athletic Commission barred the 6'-4", 300-pounder from competing due to issues related to his gigantism.

    Yves Edwards did it the fastest, slapping a rear-naked choke on Nick Gonzalez for the win at 3:05 into the first. The Thug-Jitsu specialist is finally back on track after a three-fight losing streak.