October 4th is going to be a big night in MMA

September 24, 9:40 PMMixed Martial Arts ExaminerEddie Graveline

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Hold onto your Tapout hats, because Elite XC's October 4th card just got beefed up with some former-UFC-Champion-caliber action. Andrei Arlovski, arguably the last really exciting UFC Heavyweight champ (no disrespect to Randy Couture) will be taking on IFL star Roy Nelson.

The bout is being co-promoted as an Elite XC/Affliction fight. The reason for that is that both fighters were scheduled to fight at Affliction II: Day of Reckoning on October 11th until the upstart promotion company announced plans to postpone until January. About 20 fighters were caught off guard by the announcement, but Arlovski and Nelson have landed on their feet, reportedly already agreeing to terms for the Elite XC event which will be aired live on CBS.

Elite XC "Heat" already had some marketing strength with its Ken Shamrock vs. Kimbo Slice main event. The Arlovski/Nelson fight adds two more recognizable names, not to mention some needed legitimacy. Shamrock is one of the sport's icons, no doubt, but he's 44 and hasn't won in over four years. Slice has yet to fight anyone currently relevant, and while it would be unfair to label Shamrock as such, he's not exactly the biggest threat outside the UFC.

Arlovski, on the other hand, is an explosive striker, especially for the heavyweight division. Nelson rose quickly through the IFL ranks prior to that organization's recent demise. That match-up has the potential to be very good.

The biggest upside from the addition of this bout, at least in terms of the health of MMA and its current growth trends, is that it should be a much better display of what the sport is all about than Elite XC's first CBS show back in May. In other words, casual fans who wouldn't normally purchase a pay-per-view fight should be treated to some quality MMA action this time around. Hopefully it will help create another batch of dedicated fans and chip away at the shrinking group of detractors.

Will "Heat" be as good as a UFC event? Probably not. Will I and about seven million others be watching anyway? You bet.

• Arlovski and Nelson added to Oct. 4th Elite XC card
• Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice pre-fight rivalry heats up
• Affliction postpones October 11th event and leaves fighters in tough spot