Archive for the ‘Update’ Category

On Saturday, May 4, the Fort Myers Miracle will welcome WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler to Hammond Stadium. The game between the Miracle and the St. Lucie Mets will start at 6:05 p.m. and gates will open at 5 p.m.

Lawler is one of the most beloved wrestlers in history. A long time co-host of Monday Night Raw, Lawler joined the broadcast team in 2001 and has been a part of many memorable moments in wrestling. Monday Night raw is the longest running weekly entertainment show in television history.

In 1982, Lawler began a notorious feud with comedian Andy Kaufman. At the time, Kaufman wrestled women as a part of his comedic routine and declared himself the Intergender Heavyweight Champion. Lawler took exception to the skits and on April 5, 1982, “The King” wrestled Kaufman in Memphis, Tenn. During the course of the match, Lawler delivered two pile drivers, sending Kaufman to the hospital.

On July 29, 1982, Lawler slapped Kaufman in the face on an episode of Late Night with David Letterman. Kaufman responded by throwing his coffee on Lawler. Years later, Lawler appeared as himself in the Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon.

On September 10, 2012, Lawler suffered a heart attack while live on the air with Monday Night Raw. The heart attack caused Lawler to miss two months of the broadcast schedule. On November 12, 2012, Lawler returned to Monday Night Raw to a standing ovation.

Orginally a disc jockey in Memphis, Lawler started wrestling professionally in 1970. During his career, Lawler won more than 160 titles including the AWA World Championship. In 2007, Lawler was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by none other than William Shatner.

While at the Miracle game on Saturday, May 4, Lawler will sign autographs, pose for pictures and throw out a ceremonial first pitch. Media outlets wishing to get in touch with Lawler for interviews should contact John Kuhn in the Miracle offices at (239) 768-4210 or jkuhn@miraclebaseball.com.

FORMER CWFC middleweight champion Chris Fields (pictured) will return to action for a clash with French star Norman Paraisy at Cage Warriors 55.

Fields (10-5), who relinquished his title with a loss to Jesse Taylor at Cage Warriors 51 on New Year’s Eve, will tackle Paraisy in his hometown of Dublin on Saturday, June 1.

The 29-year-old SBG Ireland fighter had been crowned champion in Jordan last September courtesy of a third-round TKO victory over Pavel Kusch in the final of the CWFC middleweight title tournament.

“I’m really happy to be fighting on this show and I feel like I owe the Irish fans a performance. It’s coming on June 1,” said Fields.

“I’m in a great place in my training and I’m looking forward to showing off some new skills, as well as some old ones. There will be a shin hitting a chin by the time this one is done.”

Paraisy (11-3-1-1), a three-time Bellator veteran and contestant on the 11th instalment of The Ultimate Fighter, will be appearing on a CWFC card for the first time since defeating Jack Mason at Cage Warriors 43.

The 27-year-old said: “I’m very happy to be back at Cage Warriors, fighting against such a good opponent and former champion in front of an amazing crowd that is world famous for its passion and enthusiasm.”

Another middleweight contest has also been added to the Cage Warriors 55 main card, with Dublin-based Nigerian fighter Henry Fadipe set to take on Mike Ling.

On the preliminary card, SBG Ireland’s Philip Mulpeter will face Englishman Avi Jack in a welterweight bout, Liam James returns to featherweight to clash with Ireland’s Stephen Coll, while Piotr Ptasinski will face Dublin’s own John Redmond in a welterweight clash.

Cage Warriors 55 will be co-headlined by a CWFC welterweight title bout between champion Cathal Pendred and challenger Che Mills, and a flyweight bout between Neil Seery and Mikael Silander for the vacant title.

Tickets are available HERE. Keep track of Cage Warriors on Facebook and Twitter for more news, updates and fight announcements.

Matt Mitrione has been a lightning rod for controversy since he made some remarks about transgendered fighter Fallon Fox a few weeks ago. Since his rant he was fined and suspended by the UFC and he seemed to have learned his lesson. But ever since UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones went off on Mitrione earlier this week sticking up for Fox it looks like Dana White has a ready made fight should Jones want to move up to the heavyweight division.

According to Jones;

“People like Matt Mitrione are scumbags. He’s a scumbag. I don’t care if he’s off suspension or doesn’t fight again. He’s a ridiculous person. He needs to shut his mouth. That’s how I feel about that kid. He’s scum.”

Not to be outdown Mitione took to Twitter and called out Jones and wants him to come up in weight to fight him.

Last time I spoke, gotNtrouble4 talking bout sum1 using hands2hurt women, guess thats a lot better than Bentleys&Telephone poles @jonnybones

— Cornholio (@mattmitrione) April 26, 2013

Ur a spoiled brat that needs 2b taught a lesson & I’m the guy2do it. Come fight me at hvywgt within 1 year or ur a coward, kid @jonnybones

— Cornholio (@mattmitrione) April 26, 2013

Ok ok ok, I shouldn’t have said coward. You’re not a coward but we’ve got problems to solve & we fight for a living so….1+1= 2 @jonnybones

— Cornholio (@mattmitrione) April 26, 2013

Jones has stated in the past that he wanted to fight at heavyweight and a fight against Mitrione could be the first step in that direction should he decide to do it.

Former WWE champ JBL took to Twitter yesterday to remind fans that he is retired and will stay retired. Fans in the UK earlier this week at the TV tapings tried to entice Layfield back into the ring by chanting “One more match”.

To those who chanted ‘one more match’, after standing in the ring with @themarkhenry I gotta say…NOT A CHANCE!! I’m retired, he’s strong.

— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) April 25, 2013

JBL is still fairly young but he has made a lot of money over the years in the stock market and doesn’t need to get back in the ring. Now he has transitioned into commentary and seems to be comfortable there.

Benson Henderson had a pretty good night. First, he defeated Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez and then he proposed to his girlfriend, Maria Magana in the center of the octagon. The future Mrs. Henderson did accept his proposal. What was funny was that the pro-Melendez crowd was booing the entire time as they had just heard the judges decision.

Henderson will next face the winner of TJ Grant vs. Gray Maynard that goes down at UFC 160 next month. The bout will likely take place sometime later this year, perhaps at the year end show on New Years Eve.

Daniel Cormier is a fresh face in the UFC and will face Frank Mir tonight at UFC on Fox 7. With a win over Mir Cormier will be in the mix for a title shot but with his teammate, Cain Velasquez as champion it’s doubtful he will want a title shot. It’s more likely that Cormier would drop to 205 to face Jon Jones or Chael Sonnen later this year.

Mir, on the other hand needs a win tonight to stay relevant in the division after a loss to former champ Junior Dos Santos in his last outing last May at UFC 146.

Glory Sports International and CBS Sports Network have reached an agreement to showcase action from the world’s premier kickboxing league, beginning with the star-studded GLORY 7 event in Milan, Italy on Saturday, April 20.

The CBS Sports Network telecast of the nine-bout GLORY 7 Milan kickboxing event from Mediolanum Forum, headlined by a showdown between world No. 1 ranked lightweight (154 pounds/70 kilograms) Giorgio Petrosyan (75-1, 35 KOs) of Italy and fellow sensation Hafid El Boustati (67-7-3, 18 KOs) of The Netherlands, will air at 1:00 a.m. ET/10:00 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 21 (Same day delay).

“We look forward to expanding our relationship with CBS Sports Network, a tremendous national sports television platform, and bringing U.S. sports fans some of the hardest-hitting, world-class kickboxing action featuring elite martial arts fighters from around the world,” said GLORY Sports International CEO Andrew Whitaker.

GLORY action on CBS Sports Network continues from Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan with a one-night, eight-man, single-elimination tournament in GLORY’s featherweight (143 pounds/65 kilograms) division that airs Sunday, May 5 at 2:00 a.m. ET/11:00 p.m. PT (Same day delay). In addition to the tournament, several Superfights, including a heavyweight rematch between all-time great Jerome Le Banner (73-21-2, 59 KOs) of France and Muay Thai champion Koichi (26-8-1, 15 KOs) highlight the card.

Additional CBS Sports Network telecast dates of GLORY events will be announced soon.

GLORY made its debut on CBS Sports Network from Tokyo on December 31, 2012 with GLORY 4 Tokyo, a one-night, 16-man ‘Grand Slam’ tournament loaded with an unprecedented lineup of the world’s greatest heavyweight fighters.

CBS Sports Network is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information, and to access the CBS Sports Network channel finder, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.

One of the top women boxers of all time Holly Holm is walking away from boxing to pursue a career in MMA. After the success Ronda Rousey has had in the UFC a lot of women in boxing, judo, wrestling are looking to transition into mixed martial arts. Holm’s management sent out a press release yesterday.

Today at a Fresquez Productions media luncheon, 14-time, three-division world boxing champion Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm (32-2-3, 9 KOs) shocked the combat sports world by announcing her retirement from boxing, effective after her May 11 fight with “Merciless” Mary McGee (20-1, 11 KOs), in order to pursue her mixed-martial-arts career (3-0-0).

“Since I first started fighting, it became my passion,” Holly explained her decision. “I decided a long time ago, after quitting school to fight, that I would box as long as my heart was in it. One of my biggest and controversial fights was against Christy Martin. Then, it was Mary Jo Sanders. There’s always a champion. This is my own journey. Every one of my fights have helped me to believe in myself.

“When we were deciding which way to go with my future, my trainer, Mike Winkeljohn, said it best, ‘You want to climb a new mountain.’ This thing has created a new spark in me and I’m following my heart. I wish much success to Cecilia (Braekhus) but not fighting her does not, by any means, define my boxing career. I know there’s a lot of talk about that but what does that say about all the women I’ve already fought? I’ve never been a paper champion. I’ve grown so much every step of the way. I’m in this fight, on May 11,100 percent; I’m not distracted. This is obviously an emotional, spiritual and physical journey and I’m so grateful for the people who have supported me. I just want to fight where my passion is (MMA). I train in an MMA gym and always have.”

Holm defends her International Boxing Association and World Boxing Federation (WBF) junior welterweight titles in the 10-round main event on the “Mayhem” card, presented by Fresquez Productions, at Route 66 Casino Hotel in Albququerque, New Mexico.

“I love Holly’s team – the chemistry, the fans, the loyalty,” Holm’s promoter Lenny Fresquez said. “Regarding Cecilia – Holly doesn’t need anybody! She is headed toward the boxing (International) Hall of Fame and is already named for the New Mexico Boxing Hall of Fame. We will continue the Holly Holm saga. She’s at the top of her game and we support her history-making decision.”

The 31-year-old Holm has defeated a Who’s Who list of woman boxers from the 140 through 154-pound weight classes, including Christy Martin, Anne Sophie Mathis, Mary Jo Sanders, Mia St. John, Jane Couch, Duda Yankovich and Chevelle Hallback (twice).

Holm has an amazing 21-1-1 record in world championship fights, as well as a 14-1-1 mark against world champions.

“We are going forward with Holly’s MMA career and there’s nobody better than Lenny Fresquez to take us to that next level,” Holm’s manager/trainer Mike Wonkeljohn added. “I found it hard to bounce back and forth between MMA and boxing. Holly is focused. Expect the best Holly ever. Her future is bright.”

Tickets for “Mayhem,” ranging between $25.00 and $200.00, are on sale and available to purchase at the Route 66 box office, going online to www.rt66casino.com, or calling 505.884.7484.

Tuff-N-Uff, the top amateur MMA promotion in the United States is headed to the rooftop of Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club in Las Vegas on April 26th. The main event will Mike Perez vs. Daniel Jiminez. Normally the promotion runs shows in the Orleans off the strip but combining sex and MMA might be a good idea for the promotion. Men love sex and fighting so it’s likely to be a successful venture from Tuff-N-Uff.

Tuff-N-Uff really established itself in recent years by being centrally located in Las Vegas and using top amateurs from the big high profile gyms in town such as Xtreme Couture, Tapout, Wand Fight Team, and Throwdown. Some of the top fighters in the game today came up competing in their shows and used the promotion to hone their skills before going pro. Ronda Rousey, Ryan Couture, Aaron Riley Jesse Taylor, Jon Fitch, and Javier Torres.

TOMORROW’S Cage Warriors 53 headliners Jim Alers and Joni Salovaara are both on weight for their CWFC featherweight title bout at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland.

The pair came in under the 145lbs limit at this afternoon’s weigh-ins, as they prepare to clash in a bid to succeed Conor McGregor as the next champion of the Cage Warriors featherweight division.

All other main-card fighters also hit the mark after stepping on to the scales, with only Jean N’Doye failing to make the contracted weight for his Facebook prelim against Richie Edgeworth.

N’Doye, aiming to make the cut to bantamweight for the first time, could only go as far as 137.2lbs and therefore surrenders 25 percent of his purse to Edgeworth.

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