Led by boxing promoter Gary Shaw, EliteXC a decent, if still raw/new, MMA event. Because of its deals with Showtime, CBS, and willingness to work with other promotions, Elite has become the UFC's current strongest rival stateside. "Renegade" was Elites sixth event and was held on November 10th, 2007 in Corpus Cristi, TX.

The DVD fight card begins with Silva-Wiezorek. Silva has the reputation as one of the better heavyweight fighters out there and Weizorek has the reputation for his self-training regimen and the fact that he was in one of the worst UFC fights I've ever seen. Basically, it's a builder fight for Silva as Weizorek is all desperate dive-fail-flail-turtle-get whipped. Next comes a decent middleweight scrap in Klienbeck-Noke. While one might want to strangle color commentator Mauro Ranallo for his doctor puns (referring to Klienbeck who is a doc), his KO play on Noke's last name with the quip "Nokeout" actually made me shamefully chuckle. Those wanting an anatomy lesson about what an exposed human cranium looks like will want to watch this one.

On paper the cards best match was Pyle-Shields, but unfortunately the steam is out of this match from the start as it was originally for Elite's proposed MW title. Pyle, upset with his Elite contract for some reason, declined the title offer because he was intent on leaving Elite win or lose. So, when the match ends up being standard one for Shields, via quick takedown and easy outgrappling, one still cannot help but wonder if Pyle had much motivation/fight in him.

Next up is Slice-Cantrell. Kevin Ferguson, aka. Kimbo Slice, is a "street fighting legend" from Florida. He and his buddies posted videos and took fights over the internet, usually with Kimbo versus some dubious looking thug in a backyard or boat dealership parking lot. Kimbo's original opponent for the fight, Mike Bourke, fell through, so up stepped 10-10 Cantrell, who had lost his last four in a row all by KO or submission. Cantrell goes down and taps after an uppercut to the armpit, a slightly grazing elbow, and eats a fair left hook (but he was already crumpling), so one assumes it was a decent paycheck for little work.

The main event is Noons-Diaz for the then freshly established lightweight title. Diaz had an interesting career in the UFC racking up all kinds of game fights but after many competitive decision losses he was released. He then had an underdog win in Pride versus the then worlds number one lightweight Takanori Gomi only to have the win overturned when he was busted for marijuana. But, showing that Elite has thin ranks, Noons who was 1-1 in Elite is in the first LW title match. Diaz strikes as if in slow motion while Noons uncorks haymakers that are wound so far back his knuckles are orbiting Pluto.

Unlike the DVD release of Elites first fight card, this one retains some of the extraneous live show stuff like intro segments, commentator banter, fighter ringwalks, some time-killing/fight hyping backstage interviews, and Elites booty shaking whores... I mean, strippers... I mean, ring girls (hey, I'm yer' average red-blooded male who likes to ogle and all, but even I find Elite's ring girls a little trashy).

The DVD: Image.

Picture:

Anamorphic Widescreen. Not much to speak of. Typical for a live arena event, there is the occasional issue with lighting, but the in ring action is perfectly clear. While not totally cutting edge and high end in filming, Showtime airs in HD, and the disc seemed to replicate that slight notch up in improvement fairly well.

Sound:

2.0 Stereo. Again basic stuff, booming in arena music cues, commentary is always clear, and some background action noise.

Extras:

A second disc contains the following extras- Prelim Fights, Pineda-Jae Suk Lim, Kelly-Rogers, Lucas-Kirk, Ruiz-Bumstead, and Edwards-Gonzales. Really only Edwards-Gonzales is worth noting, though Ruiz-Bumstead does answer the age old question "What happens when an ex-hockey player fought a strip club bouncer?"). The commentary by Jared "$cala" Shaw and Todd Kennedy isn't very good, especially when Kennedy oddly brings up things like Yves Edwards loss to Nathan Marquardt, which was all the way back in 1999.

Also, you get-- Galleries. -- Fighter Bios. -- Rules&Glossary. -- Behind the Scenes (31:49). Originally airing on ProElite's internet site, the backstage footage is hosted by fighter Jason "Mayhem" Miller, who is sporting an extremely reddened eye. Initially when he is interviewing fighters prefight, it is fairly quick and lackluster but as the night rolls on he gets better. Especially interesting is his interviewing of the fight winners the moment they appear backstage fresh off a win.

Conclusion:

I've got to repeat my sentiments with the first Elite DVD, a decent buy for hardcore MMA . The DVD presentation is nice but the quality of the fights is just not quite good enough or repeat-worthy for all the casual fight fans, so those folks should opt for a rental.