Archive for June, 2012

Bellator’s memorable Summer Series will leave an indelible mark in its finale as the world’s top tournament-based MMA promotion will feature THREE championship fights in one night at Bellator 73: Curran vs. Pitbull on Friday, August 24 from Harrah’s Tunica Hotel and Casino in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi.

One of the biggest fights of the year will take place as Bellator Featherweight World Champion Pat Curran makes his first title defense against the dangerous Patricio Pitbull, plus the Season 6 Bantamweight Tournament Championship will be on the line as submission aces Marcos Galvao and Luis Nogueira square off. The night will also feature the Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament Championship, which saw four finishes in the quarterfinal round.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased via Ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000. Ticket prices range from $25-$100.

The event will take place LIVE on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX with the preliminary fights being streamed online at Spike.com. As the largest casino resort between Atlantic City and Las Vegas, Harrah’s Tunica offers a state of the art, 2,300 seat event center perfect for live MMA action. Along with 140,000 square feet of casino entertainment, the resort is also home to Willows Sporting Clays & Hunting Center.

“Harrah’s Tunica was a fantastic venue partner for us when we made our first visit last year, and I expect another energized, sold-out crowd on August 24th,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “Pat Curran vs. Patricio Pitbull is a world title fight between two of the most explosive and versatile featherweights on earth. Both can finish any fight with relentless strikes or vicious submissions. This will be an epic title fight to remember for years to come.”
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Asia’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) organization ONE Fighting Championship™ (ONE FC) scored a successful debut in the heart of Kuala Lumpur with ONE FC: Destiny of Warriors. The largest ever event held in Malaysia proved to be explosive with a series of world class MMA battles at Stadium Negara. Local heroes Adam Kayoom and Peter Davis fought their way to victory in front of a roaring home crowd.

MMA fans were treated to the sensational return of Renato “Babalu” Sobral in the cage tonight as he wasted no time in displaying his submission skills against DREAM Light Heavyweight GP Finalist Tatsuya Mizuno in the highly anticipated main event. After an 18-month hiatus, it took Sobral all of 31 seconds in the first round to secure an unexpected armbar and prove to his fans that he is back with a vengeance.

The packed Stadium Negara was treated to a night of action as Brazil’s Zorobabel Moreira took the Knock Out of the Night bonus with a perfectly timed soccer kick to the head of Roger Huerta. Huerta started off the fight with impressive combinations aimed at Moreira’s head and tried to drive the pace of the fight to secure an early finish. Despite Huerta using his infamous dirty boxing to control most of the first round, Moreira came out swinging in the second and connected with a solid knee in the early part of round two. A visibly exhausted and stunned Huerta went to the mat and Moreira capitalized with a soccer kick to the head of Huerta, knocking him out cold.

Malaysian fans witnessed a milestone in the history of Malaysian MMA as local fighter Adam “Shogun” Shahir Kayoom’s scored an epic win against Gregor Gracie by unanimous decision. As the underdog walking into this fight, Kayoom gave his heartfelt thanks to the home crowd and said in his winning speech in Bahasa Melayu, “If you believe you can do it – you can!” As a well-known celebrity in Malaysia, Peter Davis did not disappoint the crowd as he beat his Singaporean pro-MMA fighter Quek Kim Hock via TKO.

The results of the other fights that took place tonight are as follows:

Marcos Escobar defeats Rodrigo Praxedes by submission choke.

Mitch Chilson defeats AJ Mansour by submission, rear naked choke.

Arnaud Lepont defeats Brian Choi by submission, rear naked choke.

Eric Kelly defeats Bae Young Kwon by unanimous decision.

Leandro Issa defeated Masakazu Imanari by unanimous decision.

For updates, visit www.ONEFC.com

Ultimate Victory Challenge is stacking the card for the biggest event in its history. The organization announced earlier today that “UVC 20: Clash at the Coliseum” will feature two major headlining fights, with the first two UVC professional titles up for grabs, on August 4, 2012 at the Ohio State Fair Coliseum.

In the main event, “The Ultimate Fighter” and Bellator veteran Luke Zachrich (fighting out of Columbus, OH / 10-2; 4 KO, 6 sub) will make his return to the cage after a two-plus year layoff, as he is set to face Indiana-based super prospect Nick “Ye Daddy” Kraus (fighting out of Ft. Wayne, IN / 1 KO, 4 sub) for the first-ever UVC middleweight title.

Previously known as a pure striker, Zachrich has honed his game under the training of Vitor Oliveira in his time off. In that time, he opened Ronin Training Center, one of the hottest gyms in Central Ohio. Now refocused on his fighting career, Zachrich will fight for the first time in his hometown of Columbus. With his training supplemented with some of the top fighters in the sport, including Rich Franklin, Matt Brown, and Jorge Gurgel, Zachrich is hungry to get back in the cage. He takes on Indiana’s Kraus, a the leader in all-time wins and pins as a wrestler at Trine University, who comes in riding a five-fight winning streak. With a goal to make it to the big leagues, a “name” win over a fighter like Zachrich could be all it takes for Kraus to get called up.

The first-ever UVC featherweight title will be up for grabs in a fight that already has Central Ohio fans buzzing. Four-time All-American and former Ohio State wrestler Lance “The Party” Palmer (fighting out of Sacramento, CA / 3-0; 2 sub) will battle former UVC amateur champion Jon “The Beast” Washington (fighting out of Columbus, OH / 5-2; 1 KO, 4 sub) for the inaugural 145-pound UVC pro title.

Palmer, a four-time All-American and the 2010 Big Ten Champion during his illustrious wrestling career at Ohio State in Columbus, has made the transition to California to train with UFC No. 1 bantamweight contender and former WEC Champion Urijah Faber at Team Alpha Male. One of the sport’s hottest prospects, the Lakewood, Ohio native returns to his home state for the first time as a professional fighter. Also training with top UFC contenders Joseph Benavidez, Chad Mendes, T.J. Dillashaw, and more, Palmer is on the fast-track to the big leagues and recently spent time as one of Faber’s assistant coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter Live.” Known as “The Beast,” Jon Washington is a rising prospect in his own right. A former UVC amateur champion, the Buckeye MMA product has finished all five of his pro victories and comes in looking to make a name for himself with a victory over Palmer.

“UVC 20 is, without a doubt, the biggest card in UVC history,” said UVC co-owner Rick Pyles. “We’re showing fight fans what Columbus can offer and we’re bringing a world class card to a place that deserves to have a world class card.”

With the mega-card, the UVC will need to move into a mega-arena, and that will happen as UVC 20 will take place in conjunction with the Ohio State Fair. With that partnership, “Clash at the Coliseum” is headed to the legendary 7,000-seat Ohio State Fair Coliseum, which has been home to some of Central Ohio’s best sporting events. Four more pro bouts will be added to this exciting card, as well as a full lineup of amateur bouts.

Tickets for UVC 20 are available via Ticketmaster, or at www.UltimateVictory.org.

Midnight starts the madness,Magic Mike in da house!Ladies enjoy!Dudes great date movie with a real love story being told.Won’t disappoint.

— Kevin Nash (@RealKevinNash) June 28, 2012

Former WWE and WCW champ Kevin Nash has a role in the new summer movie, Magic Mike. Nash plays a character named Tarzan in the film. The movie will no doubt be a hit with the ladies and might even spawn a sequel if they make enough cash at the box office.

Nash has expressed his interest in another run with the WWE but it’s pretty obvious that his best days in the ring are behind him. In the meantime you will have to catch Nash on the silver screen

Magic Mike opens today in theaters everywhere.

After a outspoken Anderson Silva promised to break Chael Sonnen’s teeth, arms, and legs earlier this week the UFC middleweight #1 contender finally broke his silence about the threats to ESPN earlier today. It sounds like he isn’t that scared.

“He says he’s going to knock out my teeth and break my jaw and break my head and all this,” Sonnen said. “He acts like I’ve never been to the orthodontist. I’ve fought 49 men, all professionals. He acts like I’ve never had a jaw set before. He acts like I’ve never had my head stapled shut in an emergency room before. Who gives a damn? He can do all those things.” he added. “But one thing he didn’t say is that he’s going to beat me. One thing he didn’t say he’d break is my will. One thing he didn’t say he’d do is win this fight. We’ll be in the middle of a cage stupid; I’d expect you to do those things.”

The two men will step into the Octagon next Saturday in Las Vegas to settle their differences in what will be the most anticipated rematch in the promotion’s history.

Former CageSport standout and Female Fighter of the Year Miesha “Takedown” Tate will appear at “CageSport XX” as a special cageside guest Saturday, July 14 at the Emerald Queen Casino in her hometown of Tacoma, WA.

A universally recognized top ten pound-for-pound fighter, Tate won both of her bouts under the CageSport banner by knockout and is amongst the most famous female martial artists in the world. In her most recent match Tate, 12-3, battled Rhonda Rousey in the main event of a Showtime card. Although she came up short against the unbeaten submission master, Tate earned worldwide recognition as the bout was one of the most viewed in Strikeforce history.
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FIGHT NOW TV TM- America’s only 24-hour combat sports and entertainment channel – announced today that Professional Arm Wrestling is coming to FIGHT NOW TV, beginning this Thursday (June 28) at 3 PM / ET exclusively through the Vendetta in Vegas series, live from the Crown Theater at The All-Suite Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

“The Vendetta in Vegas kickoff event this week has all the makings of a historic event for the sport of Arm Wrestling,” said Mike Garrow, Co-founder and GM of FIGHT NOW TV. “This card is stacked with competitors representing all corners of the globe. We are very excited to be adding professional arm wrestling to our programming line-up and we are confident our viewers will find this action to be fast paced and compelling to watch.”

The Vendetta in Vegas event will also be unique because as one of the competitors, Ukrainian strongman Andrey Pushkar, the World Cup Champion, will compete twice in one night seeking to capture the PAL World title, taking on Canadian great Devon Larratt in the evening’s opening match (Left Hand 95+ Kg. World Title).

The exciting card will feature, in order, three other six-round duels: Michael Todd vs. Sergiy Tokarev (Right Hand 95+ Kg.), Todd Hutchings vs. Khadzimurad Zoloev (Right Hand 95 Kg.), and Tim Bresnan vs. Pushkar (Right Hand 95 Kg.).

“The title says it best – Vendetta in Vegas,” commented Richard Erog, PAL Representative. “This will be pure adrenaline in a world-class event. These strongmen leave it all on the stage in this battle of strategy and strength. We’re equally excited for fans in America to be able to watch Vendetta in Vegas live on FIGHT NOW TV.”

FIGHT NOW TV is available on Cablevision channel 464 as part of the iO Sports & Entertainment Pak!

About FIGHT NOW TV: With offices in New Jersey, Las Vegas and Toronto, FIGHT NOW TV is a cross-platform media company that creates and distributes content through its television, video on demand, and online outlets.

Founded by Channel Zero, Inc. and media entrepreneur Mike Garrow, FIGHT NOW TV launched earlier this year as the first and only 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week combat sports channel in the nation. The network’s mandate is to bring the best battles, fiercest fights and stunning knockouts to America. FIGHT NOW TV caters to fight fans of every genre, giving them a front row seat to compelling coverage of MMA, boxing, wrestling/grappling, Muay Thai, kickboxing and other combat sports. FIGHT NOW TV is the place for the best analysis, live and current events, documentaries and news coverage of the biggest PPV events and match-ups from around the globe.

FIGHT NOW TV has also enlisted one of the fight game’s biggest names to join its camp, 5-time UFC champion and MMA legend Randy Couture, who serves as both spokesperson and analyst for the channel.

FIGHT NOW TV, It’s ON! Call Your Television Provider To Order

For more information about FIGHT NOW TV go on line at www.fightnow.com, or follow on Twitter@fightnowtv and Facebook.com/fightnowtv.

Submission specialist Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio (5-2) of San Jose, Calif. will replace injured Kelly Kobold in a bantamweight (135 pound) matchup against streaking superstar Vanessa Porto (14-4) of Sao Paulo, Brazil on the main card at the Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann all-women’s professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan. on Sat., July 28.

Kobold was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a shoulder injury sustained during a routine training session.

“Vanessa’s really tough, really strong, really aggressive and good on the ground, but I’m all of those things too,” said D’Alelio, analyzing the matchup with Porto. “This is a great fight and I think it’s going to be a serious battle. If I win, it will put me in top contender status.”

Both the 31-year-old D’Alelio and the 28-year-old Porto have shown their ability to dominate opponents on the ground. Porto holds a black belt in the submission grappling discipline of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu while D’Aelio holds a lower rank of blue belt. D’Alelio doesn’t feel Porto’s greater skill and experience level in one fighting art will be a deciding factor in the fight, though.

“Things like that don’t matter when there are punches involved,” D’Alelio said.

D’Alelio made an impressive appearance at the inaugural Invicta FC event on April 28, dominating and eventually stopping Vanessa Mariscal with a barrage of punches that prompted Mariscal to verbally submit. The win snapped D’Alelio’s two-fight losing streak
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The XFC middleweight division has been put on notice by Reggie Pena after his come from behind win over John Salter in the main event of ‘Music City Mayhem’ live on HDNet. After being dominated by Salter for most of the first round the Florida native caught the UFC veteran in a guillotine forcing him to tap just 36 seconds into the round. With the win Pena improves to 4-0 in the XFC.

“Reggie Pena is a warrior and I’m very happy with his performance at XFC 18,” XFC President John Prisco said. “John Salter is one of the top 185ers in the world and Pena submitted him after clearly losing the first round of the fight. On paper, Pena was the underdog and honestly I thought if the fight went to the ground that Salter was going to be the favorite. But, that’s the one thing about Pena that makes him one of the best in our middleweight division. He’s just so tough and you have to just about kill him to beat him. Everyone watching saw that armbar Salter had him in, and Reggie still refused to tap. Kid has incredible heart. He is very well rounded and he’s clearly one of the top guys at 185 in the XFC right now.”

Heading into the co-main event there were some questions about Heavyweight fighter Scott Barrett, after he broke his hand in his last appearance in the XFC cage. But, for three rounds Barrett displayed superior wrestling and impressive dirty boxing to grind out a split decision win over Heavyweight jiu jitsu ace Gabriel Salinas Jones.

“Scott Barrett is back,” exclaimed Prisco. “The last time we saw him he broke his hand and he didn’t get to perform like he usually does. Saturday night, Scott showed the world what he can do and now he’s sitting atop our Heavyweight division. Gabriel has defeated some of the best heavyweights in the world and Scott manhandled him. He took him down at least half a dozen times and made it look easy. Scott has a bright future with the XFC and I can’t wait to see him back in action.”

In the featured bout of the evening, Heather Jo Clark returned to her winning ways with a dominant win over Avery Vilche. It took just over a minute for Clark to sink in a rear naked choke to secure the victory. While womens MMA fans around the world were probably hoping for a much longer fight than what they received, Clark wanted to make quick work to show why she should be labeled as the top 125er in the XFC womens division. After the fight, Clark called out Marianna Kheyfets and put her notice that she was gunning for a rematch after their controversial doctor stoppage at XFC 16 earlier this year. Will matchmaker and president John Prisco make it mandatory, we are eager to see!

Joe Ray opened the televised portion of the card with fireworks against Nashville’s own Dustin West. The two men went toe to toe for most of the first round, before Ray landed a big knee that hurt West seconds before the round ended. In the second it was all Ray as he got the fight to the ground and sank in an arm triangle to get the submission and his third straight victory.

In addition to the live part of the show on HDNet / AXStv which also hosted victories the XFC Fighter Scott Holtzman, an exciting win by Donny Wallace, and a great matchup won by Luke Sanders; the undercard featured impressive knockout wins by local fighters Nate Landwehr and Justin Pennington. Landwehr made his pro debut a successful one by knocking out Billy Mullins in the second round and Pennington picked up his third straight win, with a big KO win over Dave Hurst in the first bout of the evening. Michael Graham and Devan Plaisance also picked up wins, by decision.

“I’m really proud of the all the guys who competed on the card,” said Prisco. “The undercard was terrific and we saw some future stars get their first XFC win. Justin Pennington looked sharp in his XFC debut with his big first round KO win and Nate Landwehr and Michael Graham were dominant in their pro debuts as well. Then when we went live on HDNet things really picked up. Scott Barrett and Scott Holtzman looked really sharp Saturday night and you will see them back in the XFC cage in a few months.”
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Bellator Fighting Championships kicked off its annual Summer Series Friday night from “The Mountain State” with the start of the Bellator Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament. Travis Wiuff, Attila Vegh, Emanuel Newton and Tim Carpenter will now move on to the semifinal round after securing quarterfinal wins while Brett Rogers picked up an impressive victory at Bellator 71 in Chester, West Virginia from The Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort LIVE on Bellator.com, Gametrailers.com and in HD on EPIX.

“Tonight at Mountaineer Casino was a perfect way to kick off our Light Heavyweight Summer Series Tournament,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Travis Wiuff continues his impressive march through Bellator, while Attila Vegh showed why he is considered one of the best young fighters in the world. Emanuel Newton was incredibly impressive in his Bellator debut, and Tim Carpenter put up a great performance after becoming a tournament participant just days ago.”

For longtime MMA veteran Travis “Diesel” Wiuff, a win Friday night against Chris Davis would likely solidify his status as a favorite in the Light Heavyweight Tournament after his impressive victory over Christian M’Pumbu last October. For Davis (10-4), it was an opportunity to pull off an upset and move one step closer to his shot at a rematch with the M’Pumbu who he lost to in Season 4. With the majority of the fight contested against the cage, Wiuff (67-14) kept pressure on the smaller Davis as he landed sharp body shots that had him visibly hurt. After dragging the fight to the ground, Wiuff used short, powerful shots to the temple and side of Davis’ head until he went unconscious at 4:12 of the first round.

“I’m ready to go. I want that belt,” said a fired up Travis Wiuff. “Christian, I’m coming for that belt.”

Travis also briefly went on to address the remaining fighters in the tournament field.

“These guys can’t handle my pressure. These guys can’t handle a nose bleed, how can they stop me?”

With a combined 30 finishes in 36 victories, a Bellator Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament quarterfinal matchup between Zelg Galesic and Attila Vegh was expected to provide fireworks for the packed crowd at The Mountaineer. After a quick back-and-forth exchange between both men, Vegh (26-4) caught Galesic (11-7) with a short right hand that had the Croatian on the mat. Vegh swarmed his opponent and immediately locked in a rear-naked choke that forced Galesic to tap exactly 1:00 into the fight.

“It was hard for me to get my rhythm going because Zelg came out very fast and aggressive,” said an excited Attila Vegh. “Right now I’m thinking about the whole tournament and who my next opponent will be. That’s what I’m focused on.”

Bellator newcomers Emanuel Newton and Roy Boughton certainly knew what was on the line going into their Bellator Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament quarterfinal fight, the opportunity to move one-step closer to a shot at reigning Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Christian M’Pumbu. Newton (18-6) controlled the majority of the first frame, landing takedowns and finishing with elbow strikes to the head of Boughton (8-3) to close out the round. In the second, while attempting a takedown, Boughton was struck by a knee from Newton that dropped him momentarily. That was all Newton needed to pounce on his injured opponent and secure a rear-naked choke at 0:49.

“This is so huge for me,” said an exhausted Newton. “I didn’t have a full training camp, so I wasn’t able to land my slams. Wait until I get a good five week training camp going, then you’ll see my slams.”

Bellator Light Heavyweight Beau Tribolet had been preparing to face Rich Hale in the quarterfinals of the Bellator Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament since the fight was announced last April. However, when an illness forced Hale to relinquish his spot in the tournament, Tribolet (7-2) was pitted against an entirely different opponent in Bellator Season 4 veteran Tim Carpenter. While the first round resembled a striking match dominated by Carpenter (9-1), the second produced a much more even round that seemed to favor Tribolet after he secured a well-timed takedown. Carpenter, however, never appeared discouraged off his back. With nine seconds left in the second, Carpenter was able to capitalize on a mistake from Tribolet and locked up an armbar that forced Tribolet to verbally submit at 4:51.

“I felt if I pushed the pace, he would slow down a little,” said Carpenter. I really didn’t expect to be at this point, stepping in on short notice.”

The Bellator Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament will continue on July 20 from The University of South Florida as Travis Wiuff will battle Tim Carpenter while Attila Vegh will take on Emanuel Newton in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Semifinals.

In the first fight of the evening, heavy-handed heavyweight Brett “Da Grim” Rogers made his Bellator debut against former friend and training partner Kevin Asplund, who came in to the fight riding a 19-fight winning streak. After a dominant first round that included a beautiful throw and devastating uppercut that opened a cut on Asplund (19-2), the much larger Rogers (12-4) opted to use his size and weight advantage in the second to control Asplund on the ground. After two rounds of punishment, referee Robert Riley deemed Kevin Asplund unfit to start the third round, awarding the TKO victory to Brett Rogers

“It was definitely a tough fight,” said Rogers. “We trained together in the past, so I knew it was going to be a hard fight.”

Rogers was also optimistic about his future in Bellator going forward.

“I just want to continue getting better here in Bellator. I just want to get in here and knock these guys out.”