LUIS SANTOS AND IGOR SVIRID HEADLINE ONE: TITLES & TITANS ON 27 AUGUST IN JAKARTA

02 August 2016 – Jakarta, Indonesia: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), has announced a massive fight card set for 27 August at the state-of-the-art Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia. ONE: TITLES & TITANS features the return of Brazil’s Luis “Sapo” Santos as he takes on former ONE Middleweight World Champion Igor “Lionheart” Svirid in a five-round main event showdown.

CEO of ONE Championship, Victor Cui stated: “These are exciting times for Asian MMA. As ONE Championship continues to push the envelope in sports entertainment across the region, delivering to fans world-class mixed martial arts action, Jakarta is once again set for another explosive evening of fights. In a truly international fight experience, Brazil takes on Kazakhstan as Luis Santos faces the toughest test of his career against the heavy-handed Igor Svirid.”

Tickets information for ONE: TITLES & TITANS are available at www.onefc.com.

Luis “Sapo” Santos is a mixed martial arts veteran from Brazil with over 70 fights on his record and over half of his wins ending by either TKO or KO. With a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a penchant for spectacular finishes, Santos has emerged as one of the promotion’s most overwhelming physical specimens — a fighter capable of finishing a bout in a variety of ways at any given moment. Known for his aggressiveness and brute strength, Santos looks to continue his dominance inside the ONE Championship cage in his next bout against Igor Svirid.

Igor “Lionheart” Svirid is a 30-year old fighter from Almaty, Kazakhstan and is the former ONE Middleweight World Champion. He captured the title with a stunning 17-second knockout victory over Leandro Ataides in 2014 but later succumbed to now reigning champion Vitaly Bigdash in a memorable contest last year. At his best, Svirid employs a tenacious offensive attack partnered with iron-clad toughness to subdue foes inside the cage. He is moving down to welterweight and is set to take on Luis Santos in the main event.

Marcin Prachnio is a Polish mixed martial artist with an impressive 11-2 professional MMA record. He’s won his last six bouts, four of which by devastating technical knockouts. He is currently unbeaten with the promotion, overcoming two tough challenges in both Alexandre Machado and Leandro Ataides in his first two appearances inside the ONE Championship cage. Prachnio is now ready for his biggest challenge yet — against American light heavyweight standout Jake Butler.

Jake Butler has firmly established himself as one of the top elite wrestlers in the division. He has a highlight reel of victories by exciting finishes, and possesses some of the best wrestling in the sport having honed his skills as captain of the Princeton wrestling team. Butler is unstoppable when he utilizes his signature techniques, but has also improved his striking skills by training with Muay Thai world champions in Asia. He’ll be moving down to middleweight next to face the streaking Marcin Prachnio.

Vincent “MagniVincent” Latoel is a Dutch mixed martial arts veteran of Mulakan roots with over 30 professional bouts on his record. A lightweight standout with deep ties to the country of Indonesia, Latoel’s experience in a stacked lightweight division against the very best fighters in his weight class has made him an incredibly resilient and dangerous fighter. Latoel is in his 15th year as a pro and is looking for success in his next bout, this time against the Philippines’ Edward Kelly.

Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly is a 32-year old Filipino MMA talent and is one of the brightest featherweight prospects to emerge from the Philippines. A mixed martial artist with a complete striking and ground game, Kelly brings Team Lakay’s world-renowned Wushu Sanshou to center stage as he looks to showcase his skills inside the ONE Championship cage. In his last bout, Kelly scored an impressive submission victory over the highly-regarded Jordan Lucas. He seeks to replicate the feat this time against Vincent Latoel.

Anthony Engelen is a Dutch mixed martial artist of Indonesian descent who spends his days training full-time in Indonesia. He is an exceptional grappler and a well-rounded striker capable of ending fights quickly and decisively. With a young 4-2 MMA record, Engelen prides himself in being an exciting fighter, willing to please the crowd by always seeking the highlight-reel finish. The talented featherweight will take on Egyptian Sami Amin.

34-year old Sami Amin is the EFC featherweight champion from Cairo, Egypt. He made his promotional debut against Fransino Tirta in 2014, and is now looking for victory inside the ONE Championship cage. A highly-aggressive and fast starter, Amin likes to bring the fight to opponents by blitzing them with powerful combinations. In his next bout, Amin takes on the dynamic Anthony Engelen.

Indonesian mixed martial artists Sunoto and Yohan Mulia “The Iceman” Legowo will go head-to-head in a featherweight matchup of talented local fighters. Sunoto is a highly-aggressive Indonesian warrior while Legowo has proven to be a stellar grappling ace.

Mario Satya Wirawan, who owns a ONE Championship record of fastest knockout finish with a six second stoppage of Cambodia’s Chan Heng last year, will represent Bogor, Indonesia against the Philippines’ Burn Soriano in a bantamweight contest among the preliminary bouts at ONE: TITLES & TITANS.

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.

About ONE Championship™
ONE Championship is the largest sports media property in Asian history. Headquartered in Singapore, the world’s most exciting mixed martial arts organization hosts the largest sports entertainment events across Asia featuring the best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Championship is broadcast to over 1 billion viewers across 118+ countries around the world with some of the largest global broadcasters, including FOX Sports, Setanta, MNC, Astro, Thairath TV, ABS-CBN, TV5, Physique TV, MYTV, HTV, Esporte Interativo and more.




WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING HITS MADISON SQUARE GARDEN ON NEW YEAR’S EVE, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31 LIVE ON NBC

LAS VEGAS (July 30, 2016) – On the heels of the historic and long-awaited passage of legislation making professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) bouts legal in New York State, World Series of Fighting (www.WSOF.com) tonight announced that it will bring its star-studded, championship fight series to Madison Square Garden along with a live broadcast of the show on NBC, on Saturday, December 31, pending the approval of the New York State Athletic Commission.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring our exciting, world championship live event series to The Big Apple, where fans have been anxiously waiting for years, for live, professional MMA action to be able to happen in their city,” said World Series of Fighting CEO Carlos Silva tonight, during the live NBCSN telecast of WSOF32: Moraes vs. Hill II.

“We have been working diligently,” continued Silva, “with the staff at the New York State Athletic Commission as well as the executives at Madison Square Garden to complete all of the necessary steps to make this historic and great event happen on New Year’s Eve.”

Participating fighters and featured matchups for the New Year’s Eve extravaganza at Madison Square Garden are being worked on by World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo, and will be announced soon.

The event will mark the second live World Series of Fighting broadcast on NBC, which has also been airing one hour, taped programs featuring a collection of the league’s top fights and highlights, twice annually since 2013. To date, the league has aired 31 live events on NBCSN.

ABOUT WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a worldwide premier, professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion partnered with NBC, NBCSN and international media distribution giant, IMG. Established in 2012 and headquartered in Las Vegas with satellite offices in New York City and Boston, the company is dedicated to delivering an incredible experience for sports fans by producing action-packed, live fights between elite athletes from around the world. For more information please visit WSOF.com and follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries. WSOF and World Series of Fighting are registered trademarks of MMAWC, LLC.




EARLY UFC 201 RESULTS

ufc_title-belt_206
Nikita Khrylov stopped Ed Hermann in the 2nd round of their light heavyweight bout.

Khrylov landed a visious kick to the head sent Hermman down limp to the canvas.

Khrylov, 206 lbs of Doenesk, UKR is 21-4. Hermann, 205.5 lbs of Portland, OR is 24-12-1.

Jorge Masvidal won a unanimous decision over Ross Pearson in a welterweight bout.

Masvidal, 171 lbs of Miami, FL won by scores of 30-27 and 29-28 and is now 30-11. Pearson, 170 lbs of San Diego, CA is 21-12-1.

Anthony Hamilton destroyed Damian Grabowski in 14 seconds of their heavyweight bout.

Hamilton landed an uppercut and left that made Grabowski curl up along the cage. Two more punches made Grabowski go to the deck and the fight was over.

Hamilton, 258.5 lbs of Albuquerque, NM is 15-5. Grabowski, 256 lbs of Opole, POL is 20-4.

Wilson Reis choked out Hector Sandoval in the first round of their flyweiht bout.

Reis got Sandoval on his back and made him tap out at 1:49

Reis, 126 lbs of San Diego, CA is 21-6. Sandoval, 126 lbs of Sacramento is 12-3.




UFC 201 Weights from Atlanta

ufc_title-belt_206
Robbie Lawler 170 – Tyron Woodley 170
(UFC Welterweight Title)
Rose Namajunas 116 – Karolina Kowalkiewicz 114.5
Matt Brown 171 – Jake Ellenberger 170
Francisco Rivera 135.5 – Erik Perez 135
Ryan Benoit 126 – Freddy Serrano 126
Nikita Krylov 206 – Ed Herman 205.5
Ross Pearson 170 – Jorge Masvidal 171
Anthony Hamilton 258.5 – Damian Grabowski 256
Wilson Reis 126 – Hector Sandoval 126
Michael Graves 170.5 – Bojan Velikovic 170.5
Cesar Arzamedia 155 – Damiam Brown 155.5




Vadim Finkelchtein: “The Emelianenko-Maldonado situation is getting ridiculous”

MONTE CARLO, Monaco(July 28, 2016)- World MMA Association (WMMAA) Vadim Finkelchtein has gone public to explain the recent WMMAA decision regarding Team Maldonado’s appeal, which resulted in the change of the official Fedor Emelianenko-Fabio Maldonado fight result to a draw, in addition to terminating its Head of Judges, Radmir Gabdullin.

WMMAA president Vadim Finkelchtein

Vadim, talk us through the appeal process. Why did you accept it in the first place since Russian MMA Union rejected Maldonado manager’s appeal?

VF: “Everyone could see what was going on in the media and MMA community after the bout. Being the founder of both the Russian MMA Union and World MMA Association, I received tons of messages and calls from people demanding an explanation about how it was possible for Russian MMA Union employees to officiate their own boss’ fight. I read hundreds of negative comments disparaging the Russian MMA Union and WMMAA. Some even went so far to say it was about Russian Mafia doing business there, all Russian judges are bought, etc. I tried to stay away from this debacle, since the fight occurred in another promotion, but when Maldonado’s manager sent an appeal to the WMMAA, asking to reassess the fight outcome, we couldn’t say no. WMMAA’s reputation was on the line as well as that of the Russian MMA scene, too.”

What did the process of choosing the reassessment commission look like and why was head judge Radmir Gabdullin suspended?

VF: “Basically, I had to make Radmir, as the WMMAA’s head judge, responsible for the whole process. However, since he was one of the reasons the appeal surfaced in the first place, the most logical decision was to suspend him temporarily and appoint WMMAA’s Secretary General (Alexander Engelhardt) to handle it.”

Click these links to read WMMAA press releases about this subject: http://wmmaa.org/news/wmmaa-terminates-head-of-judges-radmir-gabdullin-1007/ and http://wmmaa.org/news/wmmaa-appeal-review-results-in-draw-for-june-17th-emelianenko-vs.-maldonado-fight-990/

In his recent interview, Radmir Gabdullin belittled the significance of WMMAA’s verdict, stating it was all unofficial and that he had never received any appeal.

VF: “There’s nothing to comment about here. It’s a pure lie. I don’t understand what he was trying to accomplish by saying something like this. If necessary, I can show the manager’s e-mail with Russian MMA Union employees, Kamil Gadzhiev and WMMAA employees as recipients. Saying he’s never received an appeal is absurd and a silly excuse.”

At the same time he insulted the professionals that reassessed the fight by calling them incompetent.

VF: “When I read it my first reaction was vast disappointment. How could he, as the official head judge, state something like this towards his colleagues who he knows really well? He used to officiate multiple events with them. Their experience is ten or maybe even hundred times greater than Radmir’s. Marco Broersen has been officiating major European events, including KSW, M-1 Global and many others, for 15 years. He’d been working in this field when Radmir was still in school. It’s a shame for him to say something like that. It’s degrading for both Radmir and the Russian MMA Union.”

Can you explain why 24-year-old Radmir had been chosen to become the head judge in both WMMAA and Russian MMA Union having no experience or appropriate education whatsoever?

VF: “You know, it all started back in 2010-2011, when I decided to start developing amateur MMA in order to provide thousands of young athletes with career opportunities. For that to happen the MMA Union in Russia was necessary, as well as official recognition of Mixed Martial Arts as a sport. It was hard. I had no experience working in a Federation; plenty of paper work. We lacked a qualified staff when we started to look for people. I offered Fedor Emelianenko to be the Union president with me heading the WMMAA. Gabdullin’s name was mentioned by Fedor. He said there was this young and promising guy, let’s see what he can do. I agreed completely, although I realized he had neither experience nor knowledge.”

What was your reaction to Kamil Gadzhiev’s comments claiming in each interview that a draw was the best outcome, but after the result was changed by Sherdog following the WMMAA’s verdict, he changed his mind and promised to call and mail Sherdog to protest its action?

VF: “I had a phone chat with Kamil. He made it clear that he trusts the WMMAA and Russian MMA Union, while repeating his personal opinion that the draw would be the most righteous decision. I don’t know why his words were not consequently supported by his deeds.”

Russian MMA Union has a lot of officials. Yet, no one would comment on the situation, including Fedor himself. Why is that?

VF: “I can’t answer this question. Most important for me is justice and reputation and that holds for Russian MMA and WMMAA, too. I couldn’t choose sides, which is the reason why an international commission of judges was created. No one tried to take the other man’s victory, as some have claimed in comments. As the WMMAA president, I feel ashamed the situation went that far. The vast majority of the leading MMA sites supported the WMMAA’s verdict; Sherdog changed the outcome. Another example is the Match TV poll result, in which 56-percent of Russian voters said Fedor didn’t win the fight. ‘Big’ John McCarthy said it. Sergey Kharitonov, Alexey Oleinik and many others have said the same. People who have been cheering for Fedor for years realized that. And now we have one person stating the opposite, saying our decision is unofficial, that experienced judges have become incompetent in no time, and he’d never received an appeal. That’s a sad situation and we need to handle it appropriately. The world awaits sound and reasoned decisions but gets excuses and lies instead. Our reputation is on the line because of that.”

Schedule of Major 2016 MMA Events
http://wmmaa.org/events/

Aug.3-8 – Asian MMA Championship in Hwasun, South Korea
http://wmmaa.org/events/2016_asia_hwasoon/

Sept. 14-16 – European MMA Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia
http://wmmaa.org/events/31/

Oct. 7-9 – Inaugural Pan-American Championships in Santiago, Chile
http://wmmaa.org/news/design-chosen-for-the-2016-pan-american-championship-950/

Nov. 18-20 – World MMM Championship in Macau, China
http://wmmaa.org/events/38/




Video: UFC Rankings Report: Lawler Returns & Shevchenko on the Rise




Video: UFC 201 Embedded: Vlog Series – Episode 4




Shevchenko decisions Holm

ufc_title-belt_206
Valentina Shevchenko won a five-round unanimous decision over former world champion Holly Holm in a bantamweight bout at the United Center in Chicago.

Shevchenko, 133 lbs of Lima, Peru won on all cards by a 49-46 score and is now 13-2. Holm, 135 lbs of Albuquerque, NM is now 10-2.

Edson Barboza won a unanimous decision over Gilbert Melendez in lightweight fight.

Barboza, 155 lbs of Rio de Jineairo, BRA won by cores of 30-27 twice and 29-28 and is now 18-4. Melendez, 155 lbs of San Francisco, CA is 22-6.

Francis Ngannou stopped Bojan Mihalavic in the first round of their heavyweight bout.

Ngannou got Mihalovic on the gorund and pounded him out at 1:34.

Ngannou, 259 lbs of Paris, FRA is 8-1. Mihalavic, 228 lbs of Serbia is 10-4.

Felice Herrig scored a 1st round chokeout of Kailan Curran in a strawweight bout.

Herrig made Curran tap from a rear naked choke at 1:59.

Herrig, 115 lbs of Crystal Lake, IL is now 11-6. Curran, 116 lbs of Ewa Beach, HAW is 4-3.

Eddie Wineland stopped Frankie Saenz in the third round of their bantamweight bout.

Wineland landed a booming right in the final frame that crumpled Saenz to the canvas. Wineland landed several shots on the ground. Saenza got to his feet but was quickly pummeled and the fight was stopped at 1:54.

Wineland, 135 lbs of Chesepan, IN is 22-11-1. Saenz, 135 lbs of Scottsdale, AZ is 11-4.

Darren Elkins won a three round unanimous decision over Godofredo Pepe in a featherweight bout.

Elkins, 145 lbs of Portage, IN is won by scores of 30-26 and 29-27 twice and is now 22-5. Pepe, 145 lbs of Brazil is now 13-4.

Kamau Usman won a three round unanimous decision over Alexander Yakovlov in a welterweight bout.

Yakovlev was deducted a point in the first round for grabbing the fence. Yakovlov was cut under the eye in round three.

Usman, 170 lbs of Boca Raton, FL is now 8-1. Yakovlov. 170 lbs of Fairfield, NJ is now 23-7-1.

Michel Prazeres won a unanimous decision over JC Cottrell in a lightweight bout.

Prazeres, 155 lbs of Belim, BRA won by scores of 30-26 and 30-27 twice and is now 20-2. Cottrell, 155 lbs of Oklahoma City, OK is 17-4.




Video: XCC 24 Bevon Lewis vs Kris Gratalo – GFL Full Fight




WMMAA terminates head of judges Radmir Gabdullin

MONTE CARLO, Monaco(July 20, 2016)- The World MMA Association (WMMAA) has terminated its Head of Judges, Radmir Gabdullin, due to his imprudence, inexperience, and technical inability to evaluate Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in the professional sector.

Regarding recent statements that he recently made in the Russian press, Gabdullin expressed himself disrespectfully to other colleague judges, WMMAA Board member Alexander Engelhardt and the Association itself, as Worldwide WMMAA President Vadim Finkelchtein expressed, “One of the key factors of MMA is respect. This is a line we should and can never cross. That being said, it leaves me no other choice than to release Radmir Gabdullin from his function. We also severely advise that the Russian MMA Union do the same. (The Russian MMA Union is a full member of the World MMA Union.)

“We are working hard on standardizing in all countries of the world, all continents, in terms of Rules, Regulation and Referees committees, including anti-doping.We are a real worldwide organization and therefore we also have to reflect this in all of the WMMAA committees. Also, Russia will be, of course, represented in these as part of the WMMAA. More information will follow soon.”

Finkelchtein, who as WMMAA president reserves any other actions towards the associate judge, noted that, during the November 4-6 WMMAA Congress in Macau, China, a board of judges will be discussed and created.

Schedule of Major 2016 MMA Events
http://wmmaa.org/events/

Aug.3-8 – Asian MMA Championship in Hwasun, South Korea
http://wmmaa.org/events/2016_asia_hwasoon/

Sept. 14-16 – European MMA Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia
http://wmmaa.org/events/31/

Oct. 7-9 – Inaugural Pan-American Championships in Santiago, Chile
http://wmmaa.org/news/design-chosen-for-the-2016-pan-american-championship-950/

Nov. 18-20 – World MMM Championship in Macau, China
http://wmmaa.org/events/38/

Information

www.WMMAA.org
www.facebook.com/WMMAA-665064310170463/
www.youtube.com/user/TheWMMAA
Twitter: @theWMMAA
Instagram: @worldmmaa
CONTACT: Bob Trieger, Full Court PRESS, 1.978.590.0470, bobtfcp@hotmail.com @FightPublicist

ABOUT WMMAA: World MMA Association (WMMAA) is a world federation of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). The WMMAA is organized by Continental and National federations and it has presence on all five continents. Its goal is to provide unbiased structure and guardrail the growth of MMA as the official world governing body for Mixed Martial Arts. The WMMAA is a non-profit organization headquartered in Monte Carlo (Principality of Monaco). WMMAA is on a mission to develop a standardized and regulated organization, including competition, training, officiating, testing and growth when necessary. WMMAA is for all stakeholders in MMA, creating and developing the sport with competition for amateurs and sanctioning and advising the world’s leading promoters in terms of their professional events. WMMAA is an independent sport’s governing body of Mixed Martial Arts, a sports organization that has a regulatory and sanctioning function.




EIGHT BOUTS COMPLETE FOR ONE: HEROES OF THE WORLD ON 13 AUGUST

18 July 2016 – Macau, China: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), has just announced its first event in Macau, China. ONE: HEROES OF THE WORLD is set to take place on Saturday, 13 August, in the Cotai Arena at The Venetian Macao. All bouts save for one have been confirmed. In the main event, former ONE Flyweight World Champion Adriano Moraes will take on elite wrestler Andrew Leone for the Interim ONE Flyweight World Championship.

Victor Cui, CEO of ONE Championship, stated: “ONE continues its rise as the world’s most exciting mixed martial arts promotion with another massive fight card planned in Macau next month. We have some tremendous match-ups for fight fans out there, including a thrilling main event between two of the world’s best flyweights in Adriano Moraes and Andrew Leone.”

Tickets for ONE: HEROES OF THE WORLD are available at www.onefc.com.

“Real champions pick themselves up when they are down,” said top contender Moraes. “I feel renewed as a fighter and ready to reclaim my place at the top of my division. I’m going to get inside the cage against Andrew [Leone] and show the world that I’m back.”

“It’s my time now. I’ve been working very hard on my game, and feel I’m at that point in my career where I’m ready to just take the reins and show everyone who I am,” said Andrew Leone. “With an amazing team behind me, I have all the tools I need to compete at the highest level.”

Former ONE Flyweight World Champion Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes is a highly-skilled Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt with solid striking techniques. As champion, Moraes was rarely opposed inside the cage, using his long limbs to wreak havoc from range while posing the constant threat of submissions on the ground. He is on the comeback trail to regain his title, but first he’ll have to get past the talented Andrew Leone.

26-year-old flyweight Andrew Leone of Cortland, New York, made waves in ONE Championship when he debuted with a victory over top Filipino flyweight Geje Eustaquio in 2013. He has since strung together two solid victories over high-level opponents, including a unanimous decision over Japanese MMA veteran Koetsu Okazaki in his last bout. Now Leone looks to continue his winning ways by taking on his toughest assignment yet in former champion Adriano Moraes.

Adrian “The Hunter” Pang is a mixed martial arts veteran from Queensland, Australia, with a 22-8-2 professional record. Throughout his storied career, Pang has decimated opponents with his powerful strikes, overwhelming them with brute strength. In his last bout, Pang easily handled Malaysian star Peter Davis, stopping him with punches just 48 seconds into the first round. In his next bout, Pang will take on top Filipino lightweight Eduard Folayang.

Eduard “Landslide” Folayang is one of the Philippines’ most well-rounded mixed martial artists, amassing an impressive 15-5 record over eight years as a professional competing in various promotions. A ONE Championship veteran since its first event in 2011, Folayang is a famed wushu champion who has won tournaments all across Asia, but he has also recently added solid grappling to his growing skill set. He now takes on his sternest challenge yet in Adrian Pang.

Eddie “The Magician” Ng is a 30-year-old lightweight standout originally from Hong Kong. A ONE Championship veteran who has been with the promotion since its first event in 2011, Ng is known for being a devastating striker with lightning quick hands and feet, as well as a highly technical grappler with a wide range of submissions. He returns to the ONE Championship cage against former champion Honorio Banario.

A former ONE Featherweight World Champion, Team Lakay’s Honorio “The Rock” Banario has long been one of the Philippines’ most respected mixed martial arts veterans. His vast cage experience has brought him all over Asia, encompassing several memorable battles against top divisional talent. Among his many talents, wushu expert Banario’s strength lies in his striking, but he has recently improved on his grappling as well. He is now ready to showcase his growing skills against Eddie Ng.

Christian Lee, younger brother of ONE Women’s Atomweight Champion Angela “Unstoppable” Lee, has impressed in his first few outings inside the ONE Championship cage. His growing skillset boasts unorthodox and unpredictable striking techniques, as well as technical grappling and creative submission maneuvers. The undefeated Lee is riding the momentum of five straight stoppage wins inside the ONE cage—three by highlight reel knockout and the other two by crafty submission—and looks to continue his early success against Martin Nguyen, his toughest opponent to date.

27-year-old Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen of Sydney, Australia, is a former ONE Featherweight title challenger with a 6-1 professional mixed martial arts record. All of Nguyen’s victories have come within the distance in the form of four solid TKO wins and two submissions, proving how dangerous he is in all areas. Nguyen’s complete skillset allows him to compete at the highest level as a professional, and he’ll be seeking to re-enter title contention with a victory against the promising Christian Lee.

Alain “The Panther” Ngalani trains out of Impakt MMA in Hong Kong, and is a veteran heavyweight contender with massive size and strength. Armed with the agility and quickness of a lighter fighter, Ngalani is a terrifying combination of size and speed, and is always looking to end fights early. In his last bout, Ngalani needed just a little over a minute to stop Ukraine’s Igor Subora, winning by TKO in the first round. Ngalani now looks to entertain local fans in attendance with another spectacular performance as he takes on Alexandre Machado.

Brazilian heavyweight champion Alexandre “Bebezao” Machado is a rare breed of heavyweight with a penchant for submissions. A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, he currently sports a 7-2 professional mixed martial arts record, and will be making his second appearance inside the ONE cage. He will have his hands full dealing with the hulking Alain Ngalani in what promises to be a classic and colossal clash of striker vs. grappler.

In the evening’s initial bout offerings, rising Chinese prospects Ma Jia Wen and Ma Hao Bin take on Filipino veteran Jimmy Yabo and Cambodian star Chan Rothana respectively, while Thai national wrestling champion Kritsada “Dream Man” Kongsrichai takes on Team Lakay’s undefeated prospect Joshua Pacio.

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com and follow Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship and Facebook at www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.

About ONE Championship™
ONE Championship is the largest sports media property in Asian history. Headquartered in Singapore, the world’s most exciting mixed martial arts organization hosts the largest sports entertainment events across Asia featuring the best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Championship is broadcast to over 1 billion viewers across 118+ countries around the world with some of the largest global broadcasters, including FOX Sports, Setanta, MNC, Astro, Thairath TV, ABS-CBN, TV5, Physique TV, MYTV, HTV, Esporte Interativo and more.




M-1 Challenge 69 results from Russia: Smoldarev decisions Garner

INGUSHETIA, Russia (July 17, 2016) – Former two-time M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion Denis Smoldarev (13-2-0, M-1: 8-2-0) positioned himself for another title shot, taking a decision from former M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion Kenny “Deuce” Garner (16-10-0, M-1: 9-8-0), last night in the M-1 Challenge 69: Battle in the Mountains 5 main event, at Targin in Ingushetia, Russia.

The judges were very busy as five of six main event fights went the full distance, headlined by Smoldarev, representing Estonia, defeated American veteran Garner by way of a unanimous three-round decision.

Smoldarev was in control vs. Garner

American featherweight Lee “Bulldog” Morrison (15-7-0, M-1: 2-4-0) fell short against Ukrainian Andrey “Iron” Lezhnev (9-6-0, M-1: 3-2-0), dropping a three-round unanimous decision.

In another featherweight match, Sergey Morozov (7-1-0, M-1: 3-1-0), of Kazakhstan, won a three-round decision versus always tough Ukrainian Andrey “Iron” Lezhnev (8-7-0, M-1: 2-3-0).

Brazilian heavyweight Marcus “Montanha” Vinicius Lopes’ (10-4-0, M-1: 1-0-0) M-1 Global debut was a success as he won a three-round decision over Russian Kurban “Shkaf” Ibragimov (5-2-0, M-1: 3-2-0).

Russian flyweight Khamzat Dalgiev (6-1-0, M-1: 3-1-0) turned in an impressive performance, stopping Spaniard Ronny Gomez (3-5-0, M-1: 0-1-0) midway through the opening round on punches.

Croatian featherweight Antun “Killer” Racic (18-7-1, M-1: 3-4-1) unbeaten Russian prospect Movsar Evloev (5-0-1, M-1: 5-0-1), who took the fight on late notice, fought to a three-round draw..

Rounding out the main card are two other featherweight bouts: Brazilian Rafael Dias (11-3-0, M-1: 0-0-0) vs. Kazakh Sergey Morozov (6-1-0, M-1: 2-1-0)

In preliminary card action, Russian lightweight Lom-Ali Nalgiev (7-4-0, M-1: 4-0-0) remained undefeated in M-1 Global competition, winning a three-round majority decision over Gabriel Sabo (7-1-1, M-1: 1-0-0), of Switzerland, while Russian featherweight Zaur Akhmedov (1-0-0, M-1: 1-0-0) won his M-1 Global debut with a three-round decision against Adam Gagiev (0-2-1, M-1: 0-2-0).

Russian light heavyweight Amirkhan Guliev (3-1-0, M-1: 3-0-0) used a heel hook for a win by opening-round submission versus Spaniard Darwin Rodriguez (0-2-0, M-1: 0-1-0); Russian welterweight Magomed Maasaev (1-0-0, M-1: 1-0-0) locked in a triangle choke on Russian Ingiskhan Ozdoev (1-3-0, M-1: 1-3-0) for a submission victory in the second round; Adam Gagiev (1-1-0, M-1: 1-1-0) won a three-round decision over Russian pro-debuting Zaur Akhmedov (0-1-0, M-1: 0-1-0).

In the M-1 Medieval Knight fight between Russian heavyweights, Rustam Kukurkhoev won by second-round technical knockout over Vitaly Kravchenko.

Complete results and photo gallery below:

MAIN CARD
(all winners listed first)

HEAVYWEIGHTS
Denis Smoldarev (12-2-0, M-1: 8-2-0), Estonia
WDEC3
Kenny Garner (16-10-0, M-1: 9-8-0), Russia

Marcus Vinicius Lopes (10-4-0, M-1: 1-0-0), Brazil
WDEC3
Kurban Ibragimov (5-2-0, M-1: 3-2-0), Russia

FEATHERWEIGHTS
Rafael Dias (12-3-0, M-1: 1-0-0), Brazil
WDEC3
Sergey Morozov (6-2-0, M-1: 2-2-0), Kazakhstan

Andrey Lezhnev (9-6-0, M-1: 3-2-0), Ukraine
WDEC3
Lee Morrison (15-7-0, M-1: 2-4-0), USA

Antun Racic (18-7-1, M-1: 3-4-1), Brazil
DRAW3
Musa Kazikhanov (3-0-1, M-1: 0-0-1), Russia

FLYWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
Khamzat Dalgiev (6-1-0, M-1: 3-1-0), Russia
WKO/TKO1 (Punches – 2:28)
Ronny Gomez (4-4-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Spain

PRELIMINARY CARD

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
Amirkhan Guliev (3-1-0, M-1: 3-0-0), Russia
WSUB1 (Heel Hook – 3:16)
Darwin Rodriguez (0-2-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Spain

WELTERWEIGHTS
Magomed Maasaev (1-0-0, M-1: 1-0-0), Russia
WSUB2 (Triangle Choke – 1:50)
Ingiskhan Ozdoev (1-3-0, M-1: 1-3-0), Russia

LIGHTWEIGHTS
Lom-Ali Nalgiev (7-4-0, M-1: 4-0-0), Russia
WDEC3
Gabriel Sabo (6-2-1, M-1: 0-1-0), Switzerland

Sergey Astapov (7-4-0, M-1: 2-0-0), Ukraine
WKO/TKO1 (Punches – 1:10)
Abubaker Mestoev (1-1-0, M-1: 1-1-0), Russia

FEATHERWEIGHTS
Adam Gagiev (1-1-1, M-1: 1-1-0), Russia
WDEC3
Zaur Akhmedov (0-1-0, M-1: 010-0), Russia

M-1 MEDIEVAL KNIGHT FIGHT – HEAVYWEIGHTS
Rustam Kukurkhoev, Russia
WKO/TKO2
Vitaly Kravchenko, Russia

(L-R) – Kenny Garner & Denis Smoldarev

Dalgiev vs. Gomez

Sabo vs. Nalgiev

Kravchenko vs. Kukurkhoev

Information

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www.mixfight.ru
www.wmmaa.org

Twitter & Instagram:

@M1GlobalNews
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RIZIN FF: Mirko Cro Cop Returns For 16-Man, Open Weight Tourney

TOKYO – July 16, 2016 – RIZIN FF, the combat sports federation headed by former PRIDE Fighting Championships boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara, announced at a press conference today that all-time great Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (MMA: 31-11-1, 1 NC; Kickboxing: 23-8, 12 KO’s) will come out of retirement and return to Japan, where his legendary career was born, to compete in the highly-anticipated, 16-man, open weight “Grand Prix” tournament that begins in Tokyo on Sunday, Sept. 25.

A former PRIDE and K-1 Grand Prix tournament champion, Filipovic earned his place as one of the greatest martial arts combatants in history with an elite set of striking skills that helped him earn the most first round finishes as well as the most head kick knockouts in PRIDE history.

It was also announced today that 4 of the 16 Grand Prix participants, including superstar Wanderlei Silva (35-12-1, 1 NC) of Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, will receive a bye in the first stage, and automatically advance to the tournament’s second, or quarterfinal stage, which will take place at a location to be announced on Thursday, Dec. 29.

Joining Sakakibara, Filipovic and Silva at the press conference were veteran warhorse Kazuyiki Fujita (15-11) of Funabashi, Chiba, Japan and former sumo wrestling champion turned MMA upstart Baruto Kaito (1-0) of Estonia, both of whom have been tabbed for battle in the first stage of the tournament.

The round of 16 matchups will be announced at the end of July.

In other, single-fight action on September 25, two striking sensations – Daron Cruickshank (17-8, 1 NC) and Andy Souwer (MMA: 1-0, Kickboxing: 159-19, 98 KO’s) – will collide in a lightweight (155) affair.

Cruickshank of Wayne, Mich. is a 13-fight veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) who made a successful RIZIN FF debut on April 17, scoring a first round (4:36) TKO with a series of kicks on a downed Shinji Sasaki.

A longtime kickboxing icon, Souwer of Den Bosch, Netherlands, is a two-time winner of the K-1 World Max tournament and a four-time Shootboxing world champion. On December 31, 2015, he made his long-awaited MMA rules debut at the inaugural RIZIN FF event in Saitama, Japan, decimating Yuichiro “Jienotsu” Nagashima by way of first round (5:29) KO with an onslaught of punches.

Unbeaten women’s light heavyweight and nine-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Gabi Garcia (2-0) and three-time junior Olympic wrestling medalist and undefeated flyweight (125 pounds) MMA star Kanako Murata (3-0) of Ehime, Japan will each see action against an opponent to be announced soon.

Garcia of Porto Alege, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil made quick work of both of her MMA opponents to date, scoring a first round (2:36) TKO (punches) in her professional debut on Lei’d Tapa at the RIZIN FF promotional kick-off event on December 31, and submitting Anna Malyukova with an armbar in the second round (2:04) of battle at the RIZIN FF affair on April 17.

Just 22 years of age, Murata made her professional MMA debut under the promotion of RIZIN FF on April 17, notching a unanimous decision over Natalia Denisova, and has since already competed twice more, defeating Maia Kahaunaele-Stevenson via third round (3:43) TKO (punches) and Ilona Wijmans by way of first round (1:17) TKO (punches), on June 4 and July 7, respectively.

Kizaemon Saiga (2-1) of Sakai, Osaka, Japan will take on fellow upstart Asen Yamamoto at a weight to be determined.

Women’s shoot boxing champion and unbeaten MMA competitor Rena Kubota (1-0) of Osaka, Japan will make her second start under MMA rules against an opponent to be announced.




WMMAA appeal review results in draw for June 17th Emelianenko vs. Maldonado fight

MONTE CARLO, Monaco(July 15, 2016)- The World Mixed Martial Arts Association (WMMAA) has issued an announcement regarding an appeal recently filed by Stefano Sartori, manager of Brazilian fighter Fabio Maldonado, to reassess the result of his June 17th fight with Fedor Emelianenko, which headlined Fight Nights Global 50 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

WMMAA General Secretary & Senior Vice President Alexander Engelhardt (pictured to right) has declared that Emelianenko vs. Maldonado, which was originally ruled a majority decision victory in favor of Emeliananko, officially be changed to a draw.

Team Malondado’s appeal to the WMMAA was filed claiming a conflict of interest because all of the judges are employed by the Russian MMA Union, of which Emelianenko serves as president, as well as for the initial appeal to the Russian MMA Union, a sanctioned WMMAA member, being unjustly rejected by the head jury.

Engelhardt was appointed by WMMAA present Vadim Finkelchetein to handle the appeal procedure. A committee was formed comprised of Engelhardt, Hector Molina (Mexico), Chairman of the Rules, Regulations and Referee Committee; Ino Alberga (The Netherlands), Member of the Rules, Regulations and Referee Committee; Poalo Biotti (Italy), Chairman Ethics and Disciplinary Committee; Zaya Zaya (Australia), Member Professional Referee Committee.

In addition, independent judge Marco Broersen (The Netherlands), Chairman of Professional Referee Committee and Ethics and Disciplinary Committee, was responsible for selecting an independent judges’ panel to reassess the original result. The three-judges were Youri Lamoureux (Canada), Lukasz Bosacki (Poland) and Alexey Zemskov (Russia).

Each of the three aforementioned judges scored the first round in favor of Emelianenko, 10-8, and the second and third rounds for Maldonado, 10-9 each, resulting in a 28-28 draw.

The appeal procedure was divided into two parts for review in terms of whether the procedural mistakes related to the fight were made and that an independent international judges’ panel had to review the fight.

The WMMAA came to the conclusion that the appeal was legitimate and it was accepted due to the fact one of the fighters, Emelianenko, as President of the Russian MMA Union, and Head of Judges, Radmir Gabdullin, had a working relationship that could potentially affect the judgmental decisions. The WMMAA made it clear that it wasn’t saying the aforementioned relationship led to a different outcome of the result, just that it was an unfortunate choice.

Additionally, the WMMAA ruled that initially refusing the appeal was a mistake based on WMMAA amateur rules as Emelianenko vs. Maldonado was conducted under WMMAA rules.

The appeal decision that resulted in the result being changed to “Unanimous Draw” was accepted by the WMMAA, which informed Fight Nights, the promoter of Emelianko vs. Maldonado, Emelianenko, Sartori and the Russian MMA Union of its decision, and that it official had closed the appeal.

Schedule of Major 2016 MMA Events
http://wmmaa.org/events/

Aug.3-8 – Asian MMA Championship in Hwasun, South Korea
http://wmmaa.org/events/2016_asia_hwasoon/

Sept. 14-16 – European MMA Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia
http://wmmaa.org/events/31/

Oct. 7-9 – Inaugural Pan-American Championships in Santiago, Chile
http://wmmaa.org/news/design-chosen-for-the-2016-pan-american-championship-950/

Nov. 18-20 – World MMM Championship in Macau, China
http://wmmaa.org/events/38/

Information

www.WMMAA.org
www.facebook.com/WMMAA-665064310170463/
www.youtube.com/user/TheWMMAA
Twitter: @theWMMAA
Instagram: @worldmmaa




M-1 Challenge 69 weights

DENIS SMOLDAREV (11-2-0, M-1: 7-2-0), Estonia 270 lbs. (122.7 kg)
vs.
KENNY “Deuce” GARNER (16-9-0, M-1: 9-7-0), Russia 271 ½ lbs. (123.3 kg)

MARCUS “Montanha” VINICIUS LOPES (9-4-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Brazil 225 lbs. (102.3 kg)
vs.
KURBAN “Shkaf” IBRAGIMOV (5-1-0, M-1: 3-1-0), Russia 224 lbs. (101.9 kg)

FEATHERWEIGHTS – 3 X 5

RAFAEL DIAS (11-3-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Brazil 133 ½ lbs. (60.7 kg)
vs.
SERGEY MOROZOV (6-1-0, M-1: 2-1-0), Kazakhstan 134 ½ lbs. (65.6 kg)

ANDREY “Iron” LEZHNEV (8-6-0, M-1: 2-2-0), Ukraine 144 lbs. (65.4 kg)
vs.
LEE “Bulldog” MORRISON (15-6-0, M-1: 2-3-0), USA 144 lbs. (65.6 kg)

ANTUN “Killer” RACIC (18-7-0, M-1: 3-4-0), Brazil 136 lbs. (62.0 kg)
vs.
MUSA KAZIKHANOV (3-0-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Russia 136 lbs. (62.0 kg)

FLYWEIGHTS – 3 X 5

RONNY GOMEZ (3-4-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Spain 145 lbs. (65.8 kg)
vs.
KHAMZAT DALGIEV (5-1-0, M-1: 2-1-0), Russia 145 lbs. (65.8 kg)

PRELIMINARY CARD

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS – 3 X 5

DARWIN RODRIGUEZ (0-1-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Spain 203 lbs. (92.4 kg)
vs.
AMIRKHAN GULIEV (2-1-0, M-1: 2-0-0), Russia 208 lbs. (94.7 kg)

WELTERWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
MAGOMED MAASAEV (pro debut), Russia 171 lbs. (77.8 kg)
vs.
INGISKHAN OZDOEV (1-2-0, M-1: 1-2-0), Russia (M-1: 1-2-0) 173 ½ lbs. (78.9 kg)

LIGHTWEIGHTS – 3 X 5

GABRIEL SABO (6-1-1, M-1: 0-0-0), Switzerland 154 lbs. (70.0 kg)
vs.
LOM-ALI NALGIEV (6-4-0, M-1: 3-0-0), Russia 155 lbs. (70.6 kg)

SERGEY “Bender” ASTAPOV (6-4-0, M-1: 1-0-0), Ukraine 155 lbs. (70.4 kg)
vs.
ABUBAKER MESTOEV (pro debut), Russia 155 ½ lbs. (70.7 kg)

FEATHERWEIGHTS – 3 X 5

ZAUR AKHMEDOV (pro debut), Russia 140 ½ lbs. (63.9 kg)
vs.
ADAM GAGIEV (0-1-1, M-1: 0-1-0), Russia 208 lbs. (94.7 kg)

MEDIEVAL KNIGHT FIGHT — HEAVYWEIGHTS

VITALY KRAVCHENKO, Russia 244 lbs. (110.9 kg)
vs.
RUSTAM KUKURKHOEV, Russia 234 lbs. (106.2 kg)

WHEN: Saturday, July 16, 2016

WHERE: Targim, Ingushetia, Russia

PROMOTER: M-1 Global

LIVE STREAM: www.m-1global.tv (5 a.m. ET / 2 a.m. PT in USA)

Information

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www.mixfight.ru
www.wmmaa.org

Twitter & Instagram:

@M1GlobalNews
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@M1Global

Facebook:

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COMBATE AMERICAS RETURNS TO UFC FIGHT PASS® WITH HARD-HITTING, HISPANIC MMA ACTION LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 11

NEW YORK – July 14, 2016 – Combate Americas, the first-ever U.S. Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise, today announced its return to UFC FIGHT PASS® with a stacked, 10-bout fight card that will air live from The Exchange in Los Angeles, Calif. on Thursday, Aug. 11 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Tickets for “Aspira A Mas Presents Combate Americas: Combate Ocho,” priced from $40, are on sale at ItsMySeat.com as well as at The Exchange box office. UFC FIGHT PASS is available on personal computers, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV and Roku devices.

In the featherweight (145 pounds) main event, Urijah Faber protégé Erick Sanchez (7-2) of Sacramento, Calif. will look for his third win in the Combate Americas cage, or “La Jaula,” and fourth consecutive victory overall when he squares off with dangerous finisher Angel “Tito” Cruz (5-2) of Rio Piedras, P.R.

In the women’s atomweight (105 pounds) co-main event, emerging star Kyra “Mogwai” Batara (5-3) of Las Vegas, Nev. will collide with battle-tested veteran Lisa Ellis (15-10) of Olympia, Wash.

“We are excited to be back in action on UFC FIGHT PASS with a tremendous fight card featuring the best, up-and-coming Hispanic fighters in the U.S., some of whom have been climbing the ranks with explosive performances under our promotion since last year and others whom we recently recruited because of their outstanding results elsewhere,” said McLaren.

In other action on the five-fight main card, ferocious knockout artist Jonathan “Dragon” Martinez (8-1) of Plainview, Texas will battle fellow finisher Benjamin Vinson (8-3-1) of Portland, Ore. in a flyweight (125 pounds) contest.

Another flyweight matchup will see undefeated, submission ace Heinrich “Ricky Scraps” Wassmer (4-0) of Los Angeles put his perfect record on the line against dangerous puncher Benji “The Brawler” Gomez (5-5) of Oxnard, Calif.

Izic Fernandez (2-1) of Santa Ana, Calif. and Marcos Bonilla (3-2) of Los Angeles will face off in a featherweight scrap.

In preliminary card action, Yoandy Carrillo (1-0) of Naples, Fla. will battle Erick Gonzalez (4-1) of Los Angeles.

Carrillo, the cousin of former World Boxing Association (WBA) world lightweight champion Richar Abril, is coming off a devastating, second round (:19) knockout (punches) of George Hernandez at Combate Americas on April 25.

Gonzalez, who has notched three of his four professional career wins by way of (T)KO, was also victorious at the Combate Americas event on April 25, earning a split decision over Victor Martinez.

In another lightweight preliminary bout, Jose “Froggy” Estrada (1-0) of Oxnard, Calif. will return to action after his explosive debut in La Jaula, in which the 25-year-old scored a highlight reel, first round (1:44) knockout (punch) on Jonathan Quiroz on April 18, and collide with Christian Cardona (0-1) of Las Vegas, Nev.

Elsewhere on the preliminary bout card, Jonathan Santa Maria (3-3) of Whittier, Calif. will face Albert Tapia (3-5) of Huntington Beach, Calif. in a flyweight affair.

Unbeaten Daniel Rodriguez (1-0) of Alhambra, Calif. will meet Hector Saldana (1-2) of Murrieta, Calif.

The final undercard bout will be announced soon.

# # #

ABOUT COMBATE AMERICAS
Combate Americas, LLC. is the first U.S. Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise in history, designed to build Latino fighting champions and serve Hispanic fans, one of the world’s most avid groups of prize fighting enthusiasts. The Combate Americas franchise includes reality TV programming, live events and mobile programming. The company’s CEO, Campbell McLaren, is universally recognized as the co-founder/co-creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). New York Magazine described McLaren as “the marketing genius behind the UFC” and Yahoo! Sports proclaimed that he “knows more about the sport than just about anyone in it today.” With an unprecedented product and a blue-chip ownership and management team, Combate Americas is poised to break new ground and bring about a new era in world championship level MMA competition.

About UFC®
UFC® is a premium global sports brand and the largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Sao Paulo and Singapore, UFC produces more than 40 live events annually that consistently sell out some of the most prestigious arenas around the globe. UFC programming is broadcast in over 156 countries and territories to more than 1.1 billion TV households worldwide in 29 different languages. UFC FIGHT PASS®, a digital subscription service, delivers exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content to fans around the world. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram: @UFC.




WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING SIGNS WELTERWEIGHT STAR PAUL BRADLEY TO EXCLUSIVE, MULTI-FIGHT AGREEMENT

LAS VEGAS (July 14, 2016) –World Series of Fighting (WSOF.com) announced today that it has signed another heralded star – welterweight (170 pounds) powerhouse Paul “The Gentleman” Bradley (23-6, 2 NC) – to an exclusive, multi-fight agreement.

The 5-foot-9, 33-year-old Bradley of San Diego, Calif. will make his debut inside the World Series of Fighting decagon cage on a date to be announced.

“We are excited to welcome aboard Paul Bradley, and look forward to having him test his skills in our highly competitive welterweight division,” said World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo. “Paul has fought and triumphed over some top caliber opposition during his 10-year career, so we are confident that he will be a great addition to our roster.”

In his last start on January 29, Bradley, who originally hails from Tama, Iowa, scored a stunning, 40-second TKO (punches) on previously undefeated, rising star and fellow, former collegiate wrestling ace Chris Honeycutt at Bellator 148.

A veteran of both the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Strikeforce and a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest reality series, Bradley will look for his third consecutive win when he competes under the World Series of Fighting promotional banner for the first time.

Prior to the victory over Honeycutt, Bradley notched a unanimous decision over Josh “The Dentist” Neer at Bellator 129 on October 17, 2014.

A lifelong athlete, Bradley twice earned All-American honors while wrestling for the University of Iowa. He placed as high as fourth in the NCAA national championships during his tenure at the NCAA Division I program.

Live World Series of Fighting action returns to NBCSN on Saturday, July 30 at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT, with star-studded event featuring two world championship rematches.

In the main event of WSOF32, reigning bantamweight (135 pounds) champion Marlon Moraes (16-4-1) will risk his title for the second time against Josh “Gentleman” Hill (14-1) while, in the co-main event, featherweight (145 pounds) champion Alexandre “Capitao” Almeida (18-5) will defend his title against the fighter he took it from – Lance Palmer (10-2).

ABOUT WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a worldwide premier, professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion partnered with NBC, NBCSN and international media distribution giant, IMG. Established in 2012 and headquartered in Las Vegas with satellite offices in New York City and Boston, the company is dedicated to delivering an incredible experience for sports fans by producing action-packed, live fights between elite athletes from around the world. For more information please visit WSOF.com and follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries. WSOF and World Series of Fighting are registered trademarks of MMAWC, LLC.




Lineker stops McDonald in 1 at UFC Fight Night 91

ufc_title-belt_206
Eighth-ranked John Lineker stopped fifth-ranked Michael McDonald in one explosive round in their bantamweight bout in the main event of UFC Fight 91 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Lineker dropped McDonald twice and almost had the Modesto, California native out. McDonald got to his feet only to be dropped again and was basically out on the ground. Lineker added a couple more shots for good measure and referee Herb Dean stopped the bout at 2:43.

Lineker, 136 lbs of Brazil is now 28-7. McDonald, 135 lbs is 17-4.

Number-three ranked lightweight, Tony Ferguson had some anxious moments, but he came back to make Lando Vannata tap out in round two of their wild bout.

After almost being stopped on a few occasions in the first round, Ferguson came back to land a plethora of jabs and huge kick to the head that cut Vannata’s face in round two. Moments later, Ferguson had Vannata on the mat and made him tap out from a guillotine choke at 2:22.

Ferguson, 155 lbs of Orange County, CA is 22-3. Vannata, 155.5 lbs of Albuquerque, NM is now 8-1.

Tim Boetsch stopped Josh Samman in round two of their middleweight bout.

Boetsch pounded away at Samman in round two, which opened up a cut on Samman’s face. More hard shots forced referee John McCarthy to stop the bout at 3:49 of round two.

Boetsch, 186 lbs of Sunbury, PA is 19-10. Josh Samman, 186 lbs of Tallahassee, FL is 12-4.

Daniel Omiellanczyk won a three round majority decision over Aleksey Oliynyk in a Heavyweight bout

Oliynyk was bleeding from the right eye in round two from a left elbow

Omielanczyk, 238 lbs won by scores of won by scores of 29-28 times 28-28 and is now 19-5-1-1. Oliynyk, 243 1/2 lbs is 50-10-1.

Keita Nakamura made Kyle Noke tap with one second to go in round two of their welterweight bout.

Noke’s face was a bloody mess in round two from the striking of Nakamura. Nakamura had Noke in a choke when Noke submitted just as the bell sounded to end the round.

Nakamura, 171 lbs of Tokyo, JAP is now 32-7-2-1. Noke, 170 1/2 lbs of Albuquerque, NM is 22-9-1.

#12-ranked flyweight Louis Smolka stopped Ben Nguyen in round two of their flyweight bout.

Nguyen took some vicious shots while on the ground in round one that forced blood from the nose. Smolka continued to pound Nguyen more in round two and the blood flowed all over the face of Nguyen. Finally, Smolka continued to punish Nguyen and referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at 4:41 of round two

Smolka, 125.5 lbs of Kapeolei, HI is now 11-1. Nguyen, 125 lbs of Brisbane, AUS is 15-6.

Katlyn Chookagian won a unanimous decision over #13-ranked Lauren Murphy in a Bantamweight bout.

Chookagian, 135 lbs of Kenilworth, NJ is now 8-0. Murphy, 135.5 lbs of Glendale, AZ is 9-3.

Sam Alvey scored a 1st round submission over Eric Spicely in a middleweight bout.

Alvey made Spicely tap out with a front choke along the Octagon at 2:43.

Alvey, 185.5 lbs of Temecula, CA is 27-8-1. Spicely, 185 lbs of Olneyville, RI is 8-2.

Cortney Casey scored a 1st round stoppage over Cristina Stanciu in a straweight bout.

Casey got Stanciu on the ground and landed 8 elbows to the prone head of Stanciu and the bout was stopped at 2:36.

Casey, 116 lbs of Maui, HA is 5-3. Stanciu, 114 lbs of Bucharest, ROM is 5-2.

Scott Holtzman won a unanimous decision over Cody Pfister in a lightweight bout.

Holtzman, 155.5 lbs of Knoxville, TN won by scores of 30-27 twice and 29-28 and is now 9-1. Pfister, 156 lbs of Amarillo, TX is 12-6-1.




HELICONIA SUPPORTS ONE CHAMPIONSHIP TO GROW SPORTS MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY IN ASIA

13 July 2016 – Singapore: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), has announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with a consortium-led by Heliconia Capital Management (“Heliconia”) for an investment into the company.

With this new partnership, ONE Championship will continue to expand and break new ground, and increase the number of live Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events across Asia, especially in China.

Chatri Sityodtong, Founder and Chairman of ONE Championship, stated: “In less than five years, ONE Championship has grown into a global brand with a broadcast reach to over 1 billion homes across 118 countries around the world. We have consistently broken attendance records at many of the largest stadiums across Asia. I expect to see an acceleration in business fundamentals across the board for ONE Championship. My team and I are fully committed to building a global business with strong ethics and values such as integrity, respect, humility, courage and inspiration. As Asia’s largest sports media property and the 2nd largest MMA organization in the world, ONE Championship will benefit significantly from Heliconia’s ecosystem, network, and resources.”

MMA is currently the fastest growing sport, accelerating exponentially by over 30 times in the past 10 years. In the past five years, ONE Championship has accelerated the growth of MMA in Asia as the market leader, organising live events across the region and broadcasting around the world.

Derek Lau, CEO of Heliconia stated: “We believe ONE Championship can potentially be the next big thing for consumers in Asia. They have the right product for Asia, they understand Asia and know how to monetise the value proposition in various ways in the New Economy. We are really excited to see ONE Championship taking the lead in the coming years to grow the sports media and entertainment industry in Asia.”

Lee Ark Boon, CEO of IE Singapore, said: “Traditional media and entertainment companies in Asia are facing strong headwinds with declining content sales and advertising revenues. ONE Championship’s foresight to identify and create unique content with global appeal illustrates the need for our companies to embrace new business models and transform themselves into globally competitive companies.”

Victor Cui, CEO of ONE Championship, stated: “I believe this partnership marks the beginning of a long and fruitful journey to bring ONE Championship to the rest of the world. Heliconia is a well-respected investment firm with the expertise, resources and contacts across Asia. For us, this investment by Heliconia represents a strong vote of confidence and a belief in the value that ONE Championship can bring. This partnership will unlock additional markets and opportunities for ONE Championship.”

ONE Championship has consistently partnered with the best blue chip global brands around the world such as Disney, Facebook, Marvel, Under Armour, Sony, Universal Music Group, L’Oreal, and others. It currently has a roster of the best local and international athletes and champions in Asia. ONE Championship is dedicated to developing these athletes into true Asian heroes to inspire fans across Asia.

For more updates on ONE Championship™, please visit www.onefc.com and follow Twitter and Instagram @ONEFCMMA and Facebook at www.facebook.com/ONEFCMMA.

About ONE Championship™
ONE Championship is the largest sports media property in Asian history. Headquartered in Singapore, the world’s most exciting mixed martial arts organization hosts the largest sports entertainment events across Asia featuring the best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Championship is broadcast to over 1 billion viewers across 118+ countries around the world with some of the largest global broadcasters, including FOX Sports, Setanta, MNC, Astro, Thairath TV, ABS-CBN, TV5, Physique TV, MYTV, HTV, Esporte Interativo and more.

About Heliconia Capital Management
Heliconia Capital Management Pte Ltd is an investment firm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore investment company Temasek that provides growth capital for Singapore’s leading small and medium sized enterprises, helping them become globally competitive companies. For more information about Heliconia, please visit www.heliconiacapital.com.




WSOF32: MORAES VS. HILL II UNDERCARD COMPLETE WITH NINE BOUTS FEATURING SEATTLE, WASH. AREA PROSPECTS

LAS VEGAS (July 12, 2016) –World Series of Fighting (WSOF.com) announced today the completion of a nine-fight preliminary card for the highly-anticipated WSOF32: Moraes vs. Hill II, world championship doubleheader that airs live on NBCSN at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT from XFINITY Arena in Everett, Wash. on Saturday, July 30.

The preliminary card will stream live, in its entirety, beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT, on an embeddable video player on WSOF.com.

Joining the previously announced, headlining featherweight (145 pounds) preliminary card showdown between undefeated, rising stars Hakeem Dawodu (5-0-1) of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and Marat Magomedov (7-0-1) of Dagestan, Russia, are 8 fights stacked with a collection of 12 local upstarts.

“We have a phenomenal fight card in store for fans for our debut in Washington State, and are looking forward to touching down in Everett, and seeing some of the best prospects in the area, and potential, future World Series of Fighting athletes in action,” said World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo.

In a featured, middleweight (185 pounds) preliminary card battle, Rex “T-Rex” Harris (9-2) will put a five-fight win streak on the line against undefeated Nicolai “Blanka” Salchow (6-0).

The 33-year-old Harris of West Pittston, Pa. is a perfect 2-0, to date, inside the World Series of Fighting decagon cage. In his last start at WSOF30 on April 2, he earned a unanimous decision over Clinton Williams.

Salchow of Dusseldorf, Germany is a 32-year-old finisher who has been taken the distance of a fight only once since turning pro in 2004. He is coming off a first round (2:25) TKO (punches) of Steve Montgomery on May 7.

In another middleweight preliminary card contest and rematch, Alfonso “Big Smooth” Gonzales (9-1) of Tacoma, Wash. and Thomas Hoeper (4-2) of Arlington, Wash. will revisit their first meeting that took place on September 26, 2015 and ended with Gonzales scoring a second round (1:29) TKO (punches) on Hoeper.

Elsewhere on the undercard, recent World Series of Fighting signee and former K-1 star Andrews Nakahara (4-3-2) of Mogi Das Cruzes, Brazil will make his promotional debut against Travis “The Praying Mantis” Doerge (5-8) of Renton, Wash. in a welterweight (170 pounds) bout.

Unbeaten prospects Patrick Benson (2-0) of McKenna, Wash. and Brett Malone (1-0) of Marysville, Wash. will put their perfect records on the line against each other in a lightweight (155) matchup.

Also at lightweight, Matt Coble (9-7) of Bellingham, Wash. will collide with Colt Hausauer (5-4) of Eastsound, Wash.

Following a stellar, near perfect amateur career during which he amassed an overall record of 10-1, 28-year-old Tycen “Shin To Chin” Lynn of Everett will make his highly-anticipated professional debut in a bantamweight (135 pounds) matchup with 23-year-old, fellow upstart Justin Hugo (1-1) of Everett.

In heavyweight action, Matt “The Attack” Kovacs (11-13) of Everett will face off with Bill Widler (9-6) of Redding, Calif.

Kicking off the WSOF32 preliminary bout card will be a bantamweight contest between Jon Marc Cortez (0-2) of Renton and Joe Elea (0-1) of Everett.

Priced from $29, tickets for WSOF32: Moraes vs. Hill II are on sale at XFINITYArenaEverett.com and WSOF.com.

In the world bantamweight (135 pounds) championship main event, Marlon Moraes 16-4-1) will defend his coveted title for the second time against Josh “Gentleman” Hill (14-1) while, in the co-main event and a second world championship rematch, Alexandre “Capitao” Almeida (18-5) will put his featherweight (145 pounds) belt on the line against the fighter he took it from – Lance Palmer (10-2).

Doors at XFINITY Arena Everett will open at 3:30 p.m. PT for WSOF32, and the first preliminary card bout will begin at 4:00 p.m.

WSOF32: MORAES VS. HILL II

MAIN CARD (Live on NBCSN)

World Series of Fighting Bantamweight Championship Main Event:
Marlon Moraes (Champion) vs. Josh Hill (Challenger)

World Series of Fighting Featherweight Championship Co-Main Event:
Alexandre Almeida (Champion) vs. Lance Palmer (Challenger)

Catchweight (162 pounds): Caros Fodor vs. Phoenix Jones
Middleweight: Phil Hawes vs. Louis Taylor

PRELIMINARY CARD (Live on WSOF.com)

Featherweight: Hakeem Dawodu vs. Marat Magomedov
Middleweight: Rex Harris vs. Nicolai Salchow
Welterweight: Andrews Nakahara vs. Travis Doerge
Middleweight: Alfonso Gonzales vs. Thomas Hoeper
Heavyweight: Matt Kovacs vs. Bill Widler
Lightweight: Patrick Benson vs. Brett Malone
Lightweight: Matt Coble vs. Colt Hausauer
Bantamweight: Justin Hugo vs. Tycen Lynn
Bantamweight: Jon Marc Cortez vs. Joe Elzea

ABOUT WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a worldwide premier, professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion partnered with NBC, NBCSN and international media distribution giant, IMG. Established in 2012 and headquartered in Las Vegas with satellite offices in New York City and Boston, the company is dedicated to delivering an incredible experience for sports fans by producing action-packed, live fights between elite athletes from around the world. For more information please visit WSOF.com and follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries. WSOF and World Series of Fighting are registered trademarks of MMAWC, LLC.

ABOUT NBCSN
NBCSN, part of the NBC Sports Group, is dedicated to serving passionate sports fans. Now in more than 85 million homes, the Emmy Award-winning network is the cable television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics, National Hockey League (NHL) – including two games of the Stanley Cup Final — Premier League, Formula One, IndyCar, Tour de France, the 34th America’s Cup, and beginning in 2015, NASCAR. In addition, NBCSN features college football, college basketball, college hockey, cycling, outdoor programming, horse racing surrounding the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, Fight Night boxing, Ironman, the Dew Tour and USA Sevens Rugby. The network is also home to original programs such as Costas Tonight, NFL Turning Point, Pro Football Talk, The Dan Patrick Show, and NASCAR America. NBCSN is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

About XFINITY Arena at Everett
The XFINITY Arena at Everett, recipient of the International Association of Venue Manager’s (IAVM)
prestigious Venue Excellence Award 2010, was developed by the Everett Public Facilities District.
The 10,000-seat venue hosts a myriad of events including concerts, ice skating and family shows and
is home to the Everett Silvertips, a Western Hockey League franchise. The venue is managed by
Spectra by Comcast Spectacor and embodies all three of its divisions: Venue Management, Food
Services & Hospitality and Ticketing & Fan Engagement.




Solid main card set for this Saturday’s M-1 Challenge 69 in Ingushetia, Russia

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (July 11, 2016) – M-1 Global has put together a solid main card for this Saturday night’s M-1 Challenge 69: Battle in the Mountains 5, headlined by heavyweights Denis Smoldarev (11-2-0, M-1: 7-2-0), a two-time M-1 Challenge heavyweight title challenger, and former M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion Kenny “Deuce” Garner (16-9-0, M-1: 9-7-0), at Targin in Ingushetia, Russia.

M-1 Challenge 69 will be streamed live from Ingushetia in high definition on www.M1Global.TV. Viewers will be able to watch the preliminary fights and main card by logging on to register at www.M1Global.TV. Fans may watch all of the action on their computers, as well as on Android and Apple smart phones and tablets.

One other previously announced M-1 Challenge 69 fight is Croatian featherweight Antun “Killer” Racic (18-7-0, M-1: 3-4-0) versus undefeated Russian prospect Movsar Evloev (5-0-0, M-1: 5-0-0).

Rounding out the main card are two other featherweight bouts: Brazilian Rafael Dias (11-3-0, M-1: 0-0-0) vs. Kazakh Sergey Morozov (6-1-0, M-1: 2-1-0) and Ukrainian Andrey “Iron” Lezhnev (8-6-0, M-1: 2-2-0) vs. American Lee “Bulldog” Morrison (15-6-0, M-1: 2-3-0), along with a heavyweight match between Brazilian Marcus “Montanha” Vinicius (9-4-0, M-1: 0-0-0) and Russian Kurban “Shkaf” Ibragimov (5-1-0, M-1: 3-1-0).

One preliminary card fight has been announced in the flyweight division as Ronny Gomez (3-4-0, M-1: 0-0-0), of Spain, faces Russian Khamzat Dalgiev (5-1-0, M-1: 2-1-0).

Additional preliminary card bouts will be finalized and announced this week.

Information

www.M1Global.tv
www.mixfight.ru
www.wmmaa.org

Twitter & Instagram:

@M1GlobalNews
@VFinkelchtein
@M1Global

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/M-1-GlobalNews




EARLY UFC 200 RESULTS

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Juliana Pena won a three-round unanimous decision over Cat Zingano in a bantamweight bout.

Pena, 135.5 lbs of Spokane, WA won by scores of 29-28 on all cards and is now 9-2. Zingano, 135.5 lbs of Denver, CO is also now 9-2.

Kevin Gastelum won a three round unanimous decision over former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks.

Gastelum, 171 lbs of Yuma, AZ won by scores of 30-27 twice and 29-28 and is now 13-2. Hendricks, 171.25 lbs of Firt Worth, TX us 17-5.

TJ Dillashaw won a three round unanimous decision over Rapahel Assucao in a bantamweight bout.

Scores were 30-27 on all cards for Dillashaw, 136 lbs of Dencer, CO and is now 14-3. Assuncao, 135.5 lbs of Alpharetta, GA is 23-5.

Sage Northcutt won a unanimous decision by scores of 29-28 on all cards




Video: Matt “The Belt Collector” MacGrath vs. Jesse “The Body Snatcher” Ronson on GFL.tv




NFC #85 Friday, July 22 Electric Cowboy in Kennesaw Tickets Start At Only $25

NFC #85 is set for Friday, July 22 at Electric Cowboy in Kennesaw with a HUGE main event as undefeated Chazz Walton takes on Warren Smith for the NFC Georgia Lightweight Championship.

Walton comes into the fight with a perfect 6-0 pro record. Warren steps in with a 5-4 record, but has never lost at 155 lbs; the weight that this title fight will take place.

There’s a total of 15 fights on the card with a record-setting 5 pro fights for Electric Cowboy.

Tickets are available online at www.cagetix.com/NFC.

To view the NFC Engage preview of the fight, click HERE




Video: The Ultimate Fighter Finale: Official Weigh-in at 6:30 PM ET




Video: UFC 202: McGregor – Diaz II Tickets On-Sale Press Conference at 2:30 PM ET




Video: Jon Jones Speaks Live at 11:30 AM ET




Video: Fight Night Las Vegas: Official Weigh-in at 7 PM ET




UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs. Alvarez Live Main Card Highlights UFC 200 Fight Week Coverage on Fight Network

ufc_title-belt_206
Toronto – Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 multi-platform channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, today announced extensive live coverage for UFC International Fight Week™ in Las Vegas, the biggest week in UFC history, highlighted by a live broadcast of the main card for UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: DOS ANJOS vs. ALVAREZ from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Thursday, July 7 at 10 p.m. ET, plus the live prelims for THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE®: Team Joanna vs. Team Claudia on Friday, July 8 at 8 p.m. ET.

Fight Network will air the live UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: DOS ANJOS vs. ALVAREZ main card across Canada on July 7 at 10 p.m. ET, preceded by a live Pre-Show at 9 p.m. ET.

In the main event, dominant UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos (24-7) puts his championship on the line in a five-round barnburner against top contender Eddie Alvarez (27-4). In other featured bouts, Roy “Big Country” Nelson (22-12) throws down with Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis (15-4, 1NC) in an explosive heavyweight collision, Alan Jouban (13-4) takes on undefeated Belal Muhammad (9-0) in a welterweight affair, plus “Irish” Joe Duffy (14-2) welcomes Canada’s Mitch “Danger Zone” Clarke (11-3) back to action in a lightweight matchup.

Live fight week coverage begins on Wednesday, July 6 at 2 p.m. ET with a live presentation of the final UFC 200 pre-fight press conference, featuring UFC president Dana White and main card superstars Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Brock Lesnar, Mark Hunt, Miesha Tate, Amanda Nunes, Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar.

On Thursday, July 7 at 2:30 p.m. ET, Fight Network presents a live broadcast of the official on-sale press conference for UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2, featuring Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor on the same stage for the first time since their heated encounter this past March.

Later, on July 7 at 6 p.m. ET, Fight Network presents the live weigh-ins for THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE®: Team Joanna vs. Team Claudia, as headliners Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha weigh in ahead of their heated women’s strawweight championship rematch.

Following Thursday’s main card, Fight Network will broadcast the live UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: DOS ANJOS vs. ALVAREZ post-fight press conference in its entirety.

On Friday, July 8 at 6 p.m. ET, UFC 200 fighters will come face-to-face during Fight Network’s live broadcast of the UFC 200: Cormier vs. Jones 2 weigh-ins, as all the stars from the biggest UFC event in history will tip the scale ahead of their highly anticipated clashes on Saturday night.

Fight Network will air the live prelims for THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE®: Team Joanna vs. Team Claudia across Canada on July 8 at 8 p.m. ET. The main card airs live on TSN5 at 10 p.m. ET.

In featured preliminary bouts, Joaquim Silva (8-0) faces Andrew Holbrook (11-0) in a clash of unbeaten lightweights, former title challenger Gray Maynard (12-6-1, 1NC) makes his first appearance at featherweight against Brazilian Fernando Bruno (16-3), fiery flyweight contenders face off when John Moraga (16-4) takes on Matheus Nicolau (11-2-1), inaugural TUF Brazil winner Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira (10-5) meets fellow middleweight Anthony “Lionheart” Smith (25-11), highly touted Australian prospect Jake “The Celtic Kid” Matthews (11-1) faces dangerous lightweight Kevin “The Motown Phenom” Lee (12-2) and China’s Li Jingliang (10-4) takes on Australia’s Anton Zafir (7-2) in a welterweight bout.

Following Friday’s main card, Fight Network will broadcast THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE®: Team Joanna vs. Team Claudia live post-fight press conference in its entirety.

Leading into Saturday’s blockbuster pay-per-view, Fight Network presents an encore of the first meeting between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier, as UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier from January 2015 airs at 2 p.m. ET.

Later, on July 9 at 6 p.m. ET, Fight Network presents a live UFC 200: Cormier vs. Jones 2 Pre-Show, featuring previews, predictions, analysis, exclusive interviews conducted on-site in Las Vegas and much more. Following Saturday’s event, Fight Network will broadcast the live UFC 200: Cormier vs. Jones 2 post-fight press conference in its entirety.

In addition to all the live events, Fight Network is the destination for UFC library content, specials and series, including The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Unleashed, UFC Now, UFC Ultimate Insider and classic UFC PPV events.

This Sunday, July 10 at 9 p.m. ET, Fight Network presents UFC 87: Seek and Destroy from August 2009 in Minneapolis, Minn., featuring Georges St-Pierre vs. Jon Fitch for the UFC welterweight title, plus Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring and Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta.

For a full listing of Fight Network’s broadcast schedule, please visit www.fightnetwork.com, follow us on Twitter @fightnet, become a fan on Facebook and visit us on Instagram @fightnet.




WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING SIGNS WORLD-RANKED BANTAMWEIGHT JESSE BROCK

LAS VEGAS (July 5, 2016) –World Series of Fighting (WSOF.com) announced today that it has inked world-ranked bantamweight (135 pounds) star Jesse Brock (22-8) to an exclusive, multi-fight agreement.

The promotional debut of the 34-year-old Brock of Boise, Idaho will be announced soon.

“We are very excited to welcome Jesse Brock to our stable of world-class athletes,” said World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo. “Jesse is a true performer who has taken on some of the best fighters in his weight class, and he has clearly earned the opportunity to contend in our bantamweight division.”

Ranked as high as 38 in the world in the bantamweight division, Brock will enter the World Series of Fighting decagon cage riding a six-fight win streak that he recently extended with a third round (3:57) submission (rear-naked choke) of Olly Bradstreet at Bellator 155 on May 20, 2016.

The victory marked Brock’s second under the Bellator banner. On October 25, 2013, he bested Adrian Cruz by way of unanimous decision.

To date, Brock’s experience with top caliber opposition includes Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Caol Uno and Tyson Nam, whom Brock defeated via five-round, unanimous decision on January 28, 2011.

A former high school state wrestling champion in his native Alaska, Brock went on to compete four years for NCAA Division I Boise State University where he emerged a two-time Pac 10 conference winner.

Brock’s signing comes just three weeks before World Series of Fighting’s bantamweight title is put on the line in a main event rematch between reigning kingpin Marlon Moraes (16-4-1) and contender Josh “Gentleman” Hill (14-1) at WSOF32, live on NBCSN at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT from XFINITY Arena in Everett, Wash. on Saturday, July 30.

ABOUT WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a worldwide premier, professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion partnered with NBC, NBCSN and international media distribution giant, IMG. Established in 2012 and headquartered in Las Vegas with satellite offices in New York City and Boston, the company is dedicated to delivering an incredible experience for sports fans by producing action-packed, live fights between elite athletes from around the world. For more information please visit WSOF.com and follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries. WSOF and World Series of Fighting are registered trademarks of MMAWC, LLC.