EliteXC will make mixed martial arts history Saturday night when they air the first installment of “Saturday Night Fights” on CBS. This is the first mixed martial arts card offered on basic cable television. The card is pretty stacked from head to toe and whoever makes the match ups in for EliteXC did a stellar job putting this card together.

I wish they would have featured more submission fighters on the main card, but I understand that EliteXC is trying to expose the sport to a wider audience of people, and knockouts tend to draw more interest then submissions. I am a fan of the submission game, but it’s not for everyone. I love a slick arm bar or triangle choke as much as I love a left hook to the jaw that makes a fighter’s knees buckle.

For what it’s worth, here are my predictions for the first installment of CBS/EliteXC Saturday Night Fights.

Heavyweights
-Brett Rogers vs. Jon Murphy
Brett Rogers is coming off of the biggest win of his career after knocking out James Thompson ; he is also riding a 6 fight win streak. Rogers has stopped all of his opponents in all 6 of his fights, winning 5 by KO/TKO and one my submission. Oddly enough, the one submission victory he has is due to strikes. Brett Rogers hits hard, and Jon Murphy is going to have his hands full. Murphy is 4-2 in his pro career, and 3 of his wins are by TKO, so we know he can bang, but I think he will be overwhelmed with the power of Brett Rogers and will succumb to the heavy hands of this up and coming heavyweight.

Prediction: Brett Rogers – KO/TKO round 1

Middleweights
-Phil Baroni vs. Joey Villasenor
This is a pretty intriguing match up. Both guys have a good stand up game. Baroni is a powerhouse with knockout power. Villasenor is a well-rounded fighter who has pretty good conditioning. Baroni always has a problem with his conditioning, and has lost 4 of his last 6 fights. Baroni always starts out his fights throwing bomb and after bomb and usually gasses himself out early on. I suspect he will gas in round 2, and Villasenor will take advantage of the fatigue in round 3 and pound Baroni out.

Prediction: Villasenor TKO/KO round 3

Female fights
-Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young
This is going to be a pretty good fight. Both fighters have strong muay thai backgrounds and like to stand up and knock opponents out. It will be interesting to see how Gina Carano comes into this fight. She has spent much of the year playing the role of “Crush” on American Gladiators, so we don’t know how much time she spent training for fights this year. Kaitlin Young has only fought one time this year, so she doesn’t really have the upper hand in the activity factor either, but Kaitlin Young did fight three times in one night last November, destroying all three opponents in under a minute each time. She hits hard and fast and has a really strong clinch.

I’m not 100% confident in this prediction, but I have to stick with Gina on this fight. I’m a big fan of hers, and I’d marry her if I had the opportunity, so I have to stick with Gina. I hope she comes into this fight in shape, and if she does she can win.

Prediction: Gina Carano – KO/TKO Round 1

Middleweight Championship
-Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
Another slugfest, except this slugfest is for the middleweight championship. If any middleweight is going to take Robbie Lawler’s title, it could be Scott Smith. The guy likes to stand and bang and can absorb some punches. Both Lawler and Smith are hard to knock out, but someone will go down in this fight. I’ll have to go with Lawler, since he has the experience factor and has been in fights with some of the best mixed martial artists in the middlweight division.

Prediction:Robbie Lawler – KO/TKO Round 2

Main Event
-Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs. James Thompson
Without a doubt, this is Kimbo Slice’s toughest opponent yet. James Thompson is a big, strong guy who comes out hard and fast in each fight. The problem is that Thompson has a jaw made of glass, and this approach does not work for him all the time. He has lost 9 professional fights and 7 of those losses have come by way of KO/TKO.. Despite what many think about the MMA skills of Kimbo, he has some pretty good hands and throws vicious punch combinations. Bas Rutten has done him a world of good and he looks better in each fight. I think Kimbo will land a hook square on the jaw of James Thompson and drop him early in round 1.

Prediction: Kimbo Slice – KO/TKO Round 1