Sherdog:

“It seems like such a short time ago that EliteXC’s middleweight title fight between champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (Pictures) and challenger Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (Pictures) was stopped prematurely due to Lawler unintentionally poking Smith in the eye.

Said stoppage produced one of the MMA year’s great looks of anguished frustration on Smith’s boyish California countenance and only slightly less pained expressions on gaggles of MMA fans’ faces watching the bout on CBS.

For Lawler vs. Smith, an unabashedly violent mano y mano slugfest between two of the sport’s premier knockout artists, was the stuff of MMA enthusiasts’ dreams, clearly shaping up to be a fight of the year contender before it was declared a no contest at 3:26 of the third round.

Wait a minute. It was such a short time ago. Like May 31, less than two months past. Realizing it had a ratings winner on its hands — it was MMA’s first-ever primetime broadcast on free network television, a true cultural zeitgeist unequivocally trumpeting the skyrocketing, ever-more-popular sport’s arrival in the mainstream — Elite wasted little time in announcing Lawler/Smith 2, this Saturday at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif.

Now that’sone quick rematch, one that goes a long way to relieve Smith’s — and fans’ — frustration. Sweetening things even more for the two fighters is that whereas Kimbo Slice was the big draw on May 31, this time around, Elite and CBS are showcasing Lawler and Smith at the top of the card.

“The one thing about that first fight — I mean obviously he dominated me in the first round and I was clearly coming back in the second and third and I had him stunned a couple times … and I’m really thinking in my head, ‘Man, I got this fight, it’s in my hands,’” Smith told Sherdog.com. “To go from that to a fight stoppage from an eye gouge is so, you know, so devastating. So yeah, I’m excited to get to do it again right away.

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