SANTA MONICA, Calif. (February 22, 2015) – This Friday, Bellator MMA brings a world championship matchup between two highly skilled mixed martial arts practitioners when bantamweight champion Marcos “Loro” Galvao (17-6-1) defends his strap against former champion and former friend and training partner, Eduardo “Dudu” Dantas (17-4) at “Bellator 150: Galvao vs. Dantas 2.

The event emanates from the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas this Friday, February 26, and airs live on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary bouts will stream live on Bellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App. Tickets for “Bellator 150: Galvao vs. Dantas 2,” which start at just $27, are on sale now at KansasStarEventCenter.com or Ticketmaster.com, as well as the Kansas Star Arena box office.

In addition to the title fight, a heavyweight co-main event of Cheick Kongo (23-10-2) against Vinicius Queiroz (8-3) will anchor the number two spot. Also on the card, Kendall Grove (22-15) takes on Francisco “Kiko” France (13-3-1), hometown favorite David Rickels (16-4, 1 NC) will return to action against Bobby Cooper (12-5), plus the Bellator MMA debut of newly signed women’s flyweight Lena Ovchynnikova (10-3), who takes on Rebecca Ruth (5-1).

“Loro,” who has fought for world-renowned promotions the likes of World Extreme Cagefighting and Shooto since 2003, will be competing for the 11th time under the Bellator MMA banner. The 34-year-old is presently in the midst of a four-fight winning streak and has emerged victorious in seven of his last eight scraps. In his last outing, Galvao finished Joe Warren at “Bellator 135: Warren vs. Galvao” via submission to win his first-ever championship and fulfil a promise he made to his mother before her unfortunate passing.

Meanwhile, Dantas will be looking to duplicate the success he had against Galvao in their first meeting, which resulted in a second-round knockout at “Bellator 89.” Last May, the 27-year-old Nova Uniao product dispelled of Mike Richman via unanimous decision at “Bellator 137: Halsey vs. Grove.” The Bellator Season 5 Bantamweight Tournament winner is looking to become a two-time bantamweight champion come October 23.

Kongo will be making his eighth appearance under the Bellator MMA banner, looking to add to his impressive promotional mark of 5-2. The Parisian native has fought a who’s who in the mixed martial arts landscape, with notable wins against Mirko Cro Cop, Pat Barry, Matt Mitrione, and Alexander Volkov already on his record. In his last outing – which just so happened to be inside the Kansas Star Arena — Kongo impressively defeated Volkov via unanimous decision.

After nearly two years out of action, Queiroz returned to the Bellator MMA cage against Ewerton Teixeira at “Bellator 139: Kongo vs. Volkov,” defeating his fellow Brazilian opponent via second round arm-triangle choke. “Spartan” hopes to plant the seeds for a busy 2016 with the matchup against Kongo, where a win can undoubtedly place him in the midst of the heavyweight title picture.

Grove capped off 2015 with an emphatic knockout of Joey Beltran at “Bellator 143: Warren vs. Davis,” in September. The winner of “The Ultimate Fighter: 3,” has fought professionally since 2003 for promotions all around the world, notably ProElite and UFC. This will be “Da Spyder’s” sixth appearance under the Bellator MMA banner as he hopes to climb back towards a 185-pound title shot – he competed for the gold last year against Brandon Halsey.

A veteran of Strikeforce, “Kiko” France has strung together a five-fight winning streak as of late, most recently handing the formerly undefeated Ben Reiter the first loss of his young career at “Bellator 146: Kato vs. Manhoef.” It’s safe to classify the 33-year-old Arizona native as a “submission specialist,” with 12 of his 13 wins as a professional coming by way of making his opponent tap.

A Bellator MMA event in Mulvane, Kansas just wouldn’t be the same without “The Caveman,” who will return to action for the first time since competing against Michael Chandler this past November. Rickels always comes ready to put on a show, whether it’s on his way to the cage, or when he’s taking on a who’s who of Bellator MMA lightweight talent. The 27-year-old will be making his 16th appearance under the promotional banner.

The last time Bobby Cooper fought inside the Kansas Star Arena, he took home a closely contested split decision victory over “Bellator 147” co-headliner Pablo Villaseca. Now, “Super Duper” will look to move to 3-0 under the Bellator MMA banner when he faces Rickels in hostile territory. It’s worth noting that the Missouri native has only lost twice in his last eight MMA appearances.

Hailing from Ukraine, Ovchynnikova will enter the fray fresh off a new exclusive, multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA. “Hunter” has previously fought the likes of Joanne Calderwood and at only 28-years-old has already competed professionally since 2006. Now, Ovchynnikova looks to solidify herself as a top contender in the budding women’s flyweight division on February 26 against a tough foe in Ruth.

“Becky” Ruth was undefeated in 2015, winning all three of her matchups by technical knockout under the Shamrock Fighting Championships banner. The lone loss on the Missouri native’s record came against Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger, via controversial split decision.

Complete “Bellator 150: Galvao vs. Dantas 2” Fight Card:

Bellator MMA Bantamweight Title Main Event: Marcos Galvao (17-6-1) vs. Eduardo Dantas (17-4)
Bellator MMA Heavyweight Co-Main Event: Cheick Kongo (23-10-2) vs. Vinicius Queiroz (8-3)
Bellator MMA Lightweight Feature Bout: Dave Rickels (16-4, 1 NC) vs. Bobby Cooper (12-5)
Bellator MMA Middleweight Feature Bout: Kendall Grove (22-15) vs. Francisco France (13-3-1)
Bellator MMA Flyweight Feature Bout: Lena Ovchynnikova (10-3) vs. Rebecca Ruth (5-1)

Preliminary Card:

Bellator MMA Heavyweight Feature Bout: David Hammons (1-1) vs. Kyle Noblitt (1-0)
Bellator MMA Middleweight Feature Bout: Brandon Farran (12-10) vs. Gregory Babene (16-11)
Bellator MMA Welterweight Feature Bout: Manny Meraz (7-1) vs. Andre Fialho (5-0)
Bellator MMA Featherweight Feature Bout: Gaston Reyno (5-0) vs. Chuka Willis (6-2)
Bellator MMA Middleweight Feature Bout: Chris Harris (4-0) vs. Julian Marquez (2-0)
Bellator MMA Lightweight Feature Bout: Marcio Navarro (14-11) vs. Henry Lindsay (4-5)
Bellator MMA Featherweight Feature Bout: Thai Clark (5-0) vs. Deron Carlis (4-1)
Bellator MMA Lightweight Feature Bout: Jason Witt (7-2) vs. Jonathan Gary (11-6)

About Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA is a leading Mixed Martial Arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 400 million homes worldwide in over 120 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike, the MMA television leader. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Santa Monica, California and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world’s premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.

About Spike:
Spike is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

About Kansas Star Arena
The Kansas Star Arena, a Boyd Gaming facility, is located just off Exit 33 on the Kansas Turnpike and is adjacent to the Kansas Star Casino. The 42,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Kansas Star Arena is south-central Kansas’ home for big-name national acts such as Journey, Pat Benatar, Championship Rodeo, mixed martial arts events and more. The Arena accommodates up to 6,500 guests for headliner events. In 2014, Midwest Gaming and Travel awarded the Kansas Star more than 25 honors in its annual Reader’s Choice Awards, including “Best Concert Venue” in the state of Kansas. For more information, visit kansasstarcasino.com. Connect with Kansas Star Arena at facebook.com/kansasstararena and www.kansasstarcasino.com/entertain/arena. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Boyd Gaming is a leading diversified owner and operator of 22 gaming entertainment properties located in Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Jersey. Boyd Gaming and Kansas Star Casino press releases are available at boydgaming.mediaroom.com.

In the battle of Cowboys, Donald Cerrone forced Alex Oliveira in the first round of their scheduled five round Welterweight bout at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

Cerrone got Oliverira down and got him in a front triangle choke and Oliveira tapped immediately at 2:33.

Cerrone, 170 lbs of Albuquerque, NM is 29-7-1.  Oliveira, 171 lbs of Rio de Jineriro, BRA is 13-3-1-1.

Derek Brunson stopped Roan Carneiro in the first round of their Middleweight bout.

Brunson had Carneiro on the ground and landed about 30 consecutive punches and the fight was stopped at 2:38.

Brunson, 186 lbs of Wilmington, NC is 15-3.  Carniero, 184.5 lbs of Atlanta, GA is 20-10.

Cody Garbrandt stopped Augusto Mendes in the first round battle of undefeated Featherweights.

Garbrandt dropped Mendes with an overhand right.  Garbrandt celebrated briefly but landed two more punches on the ground and the fight was stopped at 4:18.

Garbrandt, 140 1/2 lbs of Sacramento, CA is 8-0.  Mendes, 142 lbs of Glendale, AZ is 5-1.

Dennis Bermudez won a three round unanimous decision over Tatsuya Kawajiri in a Featherweight bpout.

Bermudez, 146 lbs of Lindhurst, NY won by scores of 29-28 on all cards and is now 16-5.  Kawajiri, 146 lbs of Ibaraki , JP is 35-7-2.

Chris Camozzi stopped Joe Riggs in the first round of their Middleweight bout.

Camozzi landed a jab and he followed that up with five knees to the face and Riggs fell to the canvas and the fight was stopped at 26 seconds.

Camozzi, 185.5 lbs of Englewood, CO is now 23-10.  Riggs, 186 lbs of Glendale, AZ is 41-17-1.

James Krause won a unanimous decision over Shane Campbell in a Lightweight bout.

Krause, 155.5 lbs of Lee Summitt, MO won all cards 29-28 and is now 23-7. Campbell, 156 lbs of Kelowna, BC, CAN is 12-4.

Sean Stricland stopped Alex Garcia in the final round of their Welterweight bout.

Strickland bloodied Garcia around the eye. In round three, Strickland wobbled Garcia all over the Octagon until a huge right hand dropped Garcia and the bout was stopped at 4:25 of round three.

Strickland, 170.5 lbs of Corona, CA is 17-1. Garcia, 171 lbs of Montreal, CAN is 13-3.

Oluwale Bamgbose stopped Daniel Sarafian in round one of their Middleweight bout.

Bamgbose landed a big left kick to the head that knocked Sarafian down and two hard punches later the fight was stopped at 1:00.

Bamgbose, 185 lbs of New York is 6-1. Sarafian, 186 lbs of Sao Paulo, BRA is 10-6.

Anthony Smith won a three round unanimous decision over Leonardo Augustu Leleco in a Middleweight bout.

In round two, Lelenco began to bleed from his forehead.

Smith, 185.5 lbs of Omaha, NE won by scores of 29-28 on all cards and is now 25-11. Leleco, 184.5 lbs of Salvador, BRA is 11-2-1.

Nathan Coy won a three round unanimous decision over Jonivan Webb in a Welterweight bout.

Coy, 170 lbs of Coconut Creek, FL won by scores of 29-28 on all cards and is now 15-6. Wbb, 169 1/2 lbs of Marlton, NJ is now 8-2-1.

20 February 2016 – Jakarta, Indonesia: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), rocked the Istora Senayan with another evening of world-class mixed martial arts action. The best in local and international MMA athletes graced the stage at ONE: TRIBE OF WARRIORS to provide an unforgettable experience for the packed crowd in Jakarta. In the main event, Luis Santos returned to the ONE Championship cage with another epic performance, defeating Rafael Silva by technical knockout.

Visit the official ONE: TRIBE OF WARRIORS photo gallery by clicking: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ivh34n9pza3q94o/AADwuMwRg-gnDecd5AIBoQyTa?dl=0

In the main event of the evening, Luis “Sapo” Santos of Brazil delivered the goods in a successful return to the ONE Championship cage by making quick work of Portugal’s Rafael “The Machine” Silva. After a brief moment where both fighters carefully sized each other up, Santos unleashed a single knee to Silva’s body which dropped him to the mat. A technical ground kick from Santos landed shortly after and the referee stepped in to stop the contest.

An exciting battle of dynamic strikers ensued as Kotetsu “No Face” Boku went head-to-head against Vincent “Magnivincent” Latoel. After an electric first round from both fighters, Boku’s accurate striking started to take its toll in the second. With Boku in full mount, the Japanese veteran went immediately for the ground-and-pound to earn the technical knockout.

Colossal heavyweights Marcin Prachnio and Alexandre Machado traded some serious leather at the center of the cage in a crowd-pleasing fight. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist Machado looked to take matters to the ground but Prachnio had different plans. After rocking Machado with a punch, Prachnio followed up with a lethal combination of strikes, forcing the stoppage.

American wrestler Andrew Leone earned a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over the durable Koetsu Okazaki of Japan after spending two years away from professional competition. Leone drove Okazaki with his cage control and various takedowns throughout the fight. Although Okazaki found success with ground-and-pound late in the second round, Leone regained command in the third by taking Okazaki’s back and threatening with a choke. All three judges saw the bout in favor of the American.

Anthony “The Archangel” Engelen of the Netherlands made quick work of featherweight prospect Rocky “The Outlaw” Batolbatol of the Philippines, forcing the latter to tap out due to a rear naked choke in round one. Batolbatol used his boxing to keep Engelen temporarily at bay but once the Dutch fighter was able to close the gap, things went south quickly for the Filipino. An outside leg trip brought the fight to the mat where Engelen was quick to secure Batolbatol’s back and lock in the submission.

The Philippines’ Trestle Tan returned to the winner’s circle with a submission victory over Djatmiko Waluyo. Tan secured a rear naked choke to force the tap in the first round.

“Unstoppable” Angela Lee continued her winning ways by defeating Rebecca Heintzman of the United States with another submission — her fourth straight as a professional. Although Heintzman had some success in striking exchanges, Lee dominated in the grappling department, eventually securing a rear naked choke to force the stoppage in the second round.

Jimmy “The Silencer” Yabo of the Philippines made quick work of Pakistan’s Bashir Ahmad, earning the stoppage in under 30 seconds. As Ahmad rushed in aggressively, Yabo stepped back to unleash a sharp counter right hook which landed on the button, dropping the Pakistani. With Ahmad out in one fell swoop, the referee called a halt to the bout.

Indonesians Yohan Mulia Legowo and Mario Satya Wirawan set the pace of the entire card with a furious energy, attacking each other with vicious strikes from the opening bell. After the action wound up against the cage, Legowo secured a standing Guillotine choke and pulled guard, forcing Wirawan to tap out.

Li Hao Jie of China and Jerome S Paye of Liberia kicked off ONE: TRIBE OF WARRIORS with a gruelling three-round scrap. Li dominated in his ONE Championship debut with striking and takedowns to earn a unanimous decision.

Official results for ONE: TRIBE OF WARRIORS
Welterweight bout: Luis Santos defeats Rafael Silva by TKO (Strikes) at 1:17 minutes of round 1
Catchweight bout (71.5 kg): Kotetsu Boku defeats Vincent Latoel by TKO (Strikes) at 4:04 minutes of round 2
Heavyweight bout: Marcin Prachnio defeats Alexandre Machado by TKO (Strikes) at 2:44 minutes of round 1
Catchweight bout (64kg): Andrew Leone defeats Koetsu Okazaki by Unanimous Decision
Featherweight bout: Anthony Engelen defeats Rocky Batolbatol by Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Welterweight bout: Trestle Tan defeats Djatmiko Waluyo by Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Female catchweight bout (54.5kg): Angela Lee defeats Rebecca Heintzman by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:08 minutes of round 2
Catchweight bout (71.5kg): Jimmy Yabo defeats Bashir Ahmad by Knockout at 0:21 minutes of round 1
Featherweight bout: Yohan Mulia Legowo defeats Mario Satya Wirawan by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:44 minutes of round 1
Bantamweight bout: Li Hao Jie defeats Jerome S Paye by Unanimous Decision

In case you missed the action log on to www.onefc.com/livestream for the full replay of the fights at only US $9.99.

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 best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Championship™ has partnered with FOX and STAR Sports for an unprecedented 10-year cable television deal with a coverage that spans 70+ countries across the world.

MOSCOW (February 20, 2016) – Veteran Russian fighters Alexander Shlemenklo and Alexander Volkov were the big winners in M-1 Challenge 64 action last night at Olympic Stadium in Moscow.

Shlemenko (52-9-0), a three-time Bellator champion, returned to M-1 Global in grand style, winning a close but unanimous decision over former 2-division M-1 Challenge division Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (28-3-0), of Russia, in their M-1 Global Grand Prix Middleweight Tournament match. Shlemenko advances to the championship final later this year to face the winner of the other semifinals fight (April 8) at M-1 Challenge 65 between reigning M-1 Challenge middleweight champion Ramazan Emeev (13-3-0) and Brazilian Maiquel “Big Rig” Falcao (35-8-0). Emeev was the 2015 M-1 Global Fighter of the Year.

M-1 Global’s newly signed Alexander “Drago” Volkov (25-6-0), of Russia, captured the vacant M-1 Challenge heavyweight championship, defeating Estonian strongman Denis Smoldarev (11-2-0) by way of a third-round submission via a triangle choke.

In the M-1 Challenge Bantamweight Semifinals Eliminator matches, Pavel Vitruk (13-2-0) and Ukrainian Vitaly Branchuk (21-5-0) both won unanimous decisions to advance to the championship final to determine the new M-1 Challenge bantamweight champion. Vitruk got past his previously undefeated Kazakh opponent Sergey Morozov (6-1-1), while Branchuk got the better of Antun “Killer” Racic (18-7-0), of Croatia.

Late replacement Vladimir Kathyhin (32-6-1), of Ukraine, won a decision over American middleweight Joe Ray (13-5-0) in the other main card fight.

On the preliminary card, Russian middleweight Magomed Mutaev (7-2-0), Russian welterweight Maksin Grabovich (3-2-0) and Ukrainian featherweight Andrey “Iron” Lezhnev (8-5-0) were all unanimous decision winners, respectively, against Ukrainian Vadim “Archie” Orischak (5-5-0), German Stefan Larisch (8-4-0) and Russian Timur Nagibin.

Russian heavyweight Kurban Ibragimov (4-1-0) knocked out Dmitriy Mikutsa (5-3-0), of Ukraine, in the opening round, while Russian middleweight Valery “The Russian Hammer” Myasnikov (9-1-1) locked in a rear naked choke on Ukrainian foe Vyacheslav “Bison” Bogomol (8-2-0) to win by second-round submission.

Complete results and picture gallery below (all winners listed first):

MAIN CARD

MAIN EVENT
M-1 GLOBAL GRAND PRIX MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNAMENT – SEMIFINALS
Alexander Shlemenko (52-9-0, M-1: 3-0-0), Russia
WDEC5
Vyacheslav Vaselevsky (27-4-0, M-1: 10-2-0), Russia
(Shlemenko advances to M-1 Global Grand Prix middleweight final)

CO-FEATURE
VACANT M-1 CHALLENGE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Alexander Volkov (25-6-0, M-1: 9-3-0), Russia
WSUB3 (Triangle Choke – 0:32)
Denis Smoldaraev (11-2-0, M-1: 7-2-0), Estonia
(Volkov captures M-1 Challenge heavyweight title)

M-1 CHALLENGE BANTAMWEIGHT SEMIFINALS ELIMINATOR
Pavel Vitruk (13-2-0, M-1: 7-2-0), Russia
WDEC3
Sergey Morozov (6-1-0, M-1: 2-1-0), Kazakhstan

Vitaly Branchuk (21-5-0, M-1: 1-1-0), Ukraine
WDEC3
Antun Racic (18-7-0, M-1: 3-4-0), Croatia

(Vitruk & Branchuk advance to M-1 Challenge bantamweight title fight)

MIDDLEWEIGHTS

Vladimir Katyhin (32-6-1, M-1: 2-0-0), Ukraine
WDEC3
Joe Ray (13-5-0, M-1: 0-1-0, United States

PRELIMINARY CARD

HEAVYWEIGHTS
Kurban Ibragimov (4-1-0, M-1: 3-1-0, Russia
WKO1 (4:33)
Dmitriy Mikutsa (5-3-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Ukraine

MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Magomed Mutaev (7-2-0, M-1: 4-0-0), Russia
WDEC3
Vadim Orischak (5-5-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Russia

Valery Myasnikov (9-1-1, M-1: 1-1-1), Russia
WSUB2 (Rear Naked Choke – 2:37)
Vyacheslav Bogomol (5-2-0, M-1: 1-1-0), Russia

WELTERWEIGHTS
Maksin Grabovich (3-2-0, M-1: 3-0-0), Russia
WDEC3
Stefan Larisch (8-4-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Germany

FEATHERWEIGHTS
Andrey Lezhnev (8-5-0, M-1: 2-1-0), Ukraine
WDEC3
Timur Nagibin (5-2-0, M-1: 1-1-0), Russia

Information

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

Twitter & Instagram:

@M1GlobalNews
@VFinkelchtein
@M1Global

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/M-1-GlobalNews

ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL:
Founded in 1997, M-1 Global has established itself in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premier entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With its office in St Petersburg, Russia, the M-1 brand has staged more than 170 events worldwide, including M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge, M-1 Global and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the U.S. network, Showtime. Captivating live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 Global events have featured some of the sport’s top names, including legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Sergei Kharitonov, Aleksander Emelianenko, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2016 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition, featuring a full calendar of Challenge events, fueled by a talent-rich contention system to rank M-1 Global Champions among the greatest fighters in the sport.

ABOUT M-1GLOBAL.TV: Enjoy MMA action now in high definition brought to you by M-1Global.tv, offering only the best fights from M-1 Global and other MMA organizations. M-1Global.tv is a great platform developed specifically to bring together the most exhaustive fight video database. It also provides an easy and intuitive interface, helping everyone to start using the platform in no time while avoiding any spoilers. Besides watching the past fights on demand at any time convenient to the customer, viewers are able to enjoy the action LIVE, all available to M-1Global.tv users through a low-priced month to month digital subscription. Your world of action. Anytime!

Toronto – Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 television channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, presents a trio of exciting live mixed martial arts events this weekend, beginning on Friday, Feb. 19 at 10 p.m. ET with RFA 35: Moises vs. Castillo from Orem, Utah. The following night, Saturday, Feb. 20 at 9 p.m. ET, World Series of Fighting returns with WSOF 28: Moraes vs. Barajas from Garden Grove, Calif. Finally, Fight Network presents live coverage of UFC Fight Night™: Cowboy vs. Cowboy, including the live prelims, which take place Sunday, Feb. 21 from Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Penn.

Fight Network will air the live UFC Fight Night™: Cowboy vs. Cowboy prelims exclusively in Canada at 7 p.m. ET. The main card airs live on TSN2 at 9 p.m. ET.

In featured prelim action on Sunday night, Montreal-based “Dominican Nightmare” Alex Garcia (13-2) battles once-beaten American welterweight standout Sean “Tarzan” Strickland (16-1). Meanwhile, Brazil’s Daniel Sarafian (10-5) looks to make it two straight when he collides with Oluwale Bamgbose (5-1) in a middleweight matchup, Anthony “Lionheart” Smith (24-11) makes his Octagon return against newcomer Leonardo Augusto Leleco (11-1, 1NC) in a middleweight bout, plus Jonavin Webb (8-1) throws down with Nathan Coy (14-6) in the welterweight televised opener.

Fight Network’s original one-hour UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Cowboy Pre-Show, which premieres on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. ET, will serve as a lead-in to the live prelims on Sunday night. Check listings for additional airings.

Before they enter the Octagon, Fight Network is your destination for the official live UFC Fight Night™: Cowboy vs. Cowboy weigh-ins on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. ET, as headliners Donald Cerrone and Alex Oliveira tip the scales ahead of their anticipated welterweight showdown.

Immediately following Sunday’s main card, Fight Network will broadcast the official live UFC Fight Night™: Cowboy vs. Cowboy 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.

The full card for UFC Fight Night™: Cowboy vs. Cowboy includes:

Main Card (Live on TSN2, 9 p.m. ET):
-Donald Cerrone (28-6, 1NC) vs. Alex Oliveira (13-2-1, 1NC)
-Derek Brunson (14-3) vs. Roan Carneiro (20-9)
-Cody Garbrandt (7-0) vs. Augusto Mendes (5-0)
-Dennis Bermudez (15-5) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (35-8-2)
-Chris Camozzi (22-10) vs. Joe Riggs (41-16, 1NC)
-James Krause (22-7) vs. Shane Campbell (12-3)

Preliminary Card (Live on Fight Network, 7 p.m. ET):
-Alex Garcia (13-2) vs. Sean Strickland (16-1)
-Daniel Sarafian (10-5) vs. Oluwale Bamgbose (5-1)
-Anthony Smith (24-11) vs. Leonardo Augusto Leleco (11-1, 1NC)
-Jonavin Webb (8-1) vs. Nathan Coy (14-6)

Preliminary Card (Live on UFC Fight Pass, 5:30 p.m. ET):
-Marion Reneau (6-2) vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith (3-1)
-Lauren Murphy (8-2) vs. Kelly Faszholz (3-0)
-Anthony Hamilton (14-4) vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov (15-3)

WSOF 28 on Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET is headlined by reigning bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes (15-4-1) making the third defense of his coveted title against fast-rising star Joseph Barajas (12-1). In the bantamweight co-main event, Timur “Lucky” Valiev (10-1) will put his 10-fight winning streak on the line against fellow rising star Chris “El Guapo” Gutierrez (8-1-1), who is unbeaten in his last seven fights. Rounding out the card, Jamie “The Chosyn 1” Yager (6-4) battles Greg Parker (5-1), while Ozzie Alvarez (6-3) meets Andrew “The” Ramm (4-3) in a pair of welterweight matchups.

The live festivities get underway on Friday night at 10 p.m. ET, as RFA 35 features a clash for the RFA lightweight championship with late replacement Thiago Moises (6-1) challenging regional standout Dave Castillo (19-7). In other action, Thiago Alves (9-3) meets David Putvin (7-1) in a 160-pound affair, welterweight sensation James Nakashima (4-0) risks his perfect record against fellow unbeaten Brad Darrington (4-0), Dervin Lopez (7-3) takes on Joe Rodriguez (7-3) in a middleweight pairing, Ricky Steele (4-0) faces Lynn Schulz (5-2) in a bantamweight bout, plus Curtis Blaydes (4-0) looks to stay perfect in a heavyweight slugfest with Luis “The Hulk” Cortez (3-2).

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.

19 February 2016 – Jakarta, Indonesia: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), announced today that the mixed martial artists competing at ONE: TRIBE OF WARRIORS have made weight and are ready for all the action which takes place tomorrow evening, 20 February at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia. All fighters have passed medicals, and are in the process of preliminary weight and hydration checks. All bouts are on track as scheduled.

Visit the official ONE: TRIBE OF WARRIORS weigh-in photo gallery by clicking: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6k384krsvdao0f3/AABoZfKfuYDUszYYrjf_77sta?dl=0.

CEO of ONE Championship, Victor Cui stated, “Our ONE Championship athletes are professionals through and through. Their dedication to proper weight management and being able to perform at their absolute best makes them true warriors of mixed martial arts. Jakarta is all set for action this Saturday night, and things are shaping up to be an amazing evening.”

Tickets for ONE: TRIBE OF WARRIORS, are available at http://www.kiostix.com/tuk_kiostixevt/one-championship-tribe-of-warriors-2/.

COMPLETE WEIGH-IN RESULTS
MAIN EVENT
Welterweight bout (77.2kg – 83.9kg): Luis Santos VS Rafael Silva

MAIN CARD
Indonesia Warrior Catchweight bout (70.3kg): Vincent Latoel VS Kotetsu Boku
Catchweight bout (64 kg): Koetsu Okazaki VS Andrew Leone
Heavyweight bout (102.2kg – 120.2kg): Marcin Prachnio VS Alexandre Machado
Featherweight bout (65.9kg – 70.3kg): Anthony Engelen VS Rocky Batolbatol
Featherweight bout (65.9kg – 70.3 kg): Yohan Mulia Legowo VS Mario Satya Wirawan
Bantamweight bout (61.3kg – 65.8kg): Jerome S. Paye VS Li Hao Jie

UNDERCARD
Welterweight bout (77.2kg – 83.9kg): Djatmiko Waluyo VS Trestle Tan
Catchweight bout (71.5 kg): Bashir Ahmad VS Jimmy Yabo
Catchweight bout (54.5 kg): Angela Lee VS Rebecca Heintzman

Fans from around the world can witness the action online via live streaming at http://www.onefc.com/livestream. The event will be available for purchase at just US$9.99.

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

*A final weigh-in will take place three (3) hours before the event to ensure athletes are on target and properly hydrated.

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 best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Championship™ has partnered with FOX and STAR Sports for an unprecedented 10-year cable television deal with a coverage that spans 70+ countries across the world. A final weigh-in will take place three (3) before the event to ensure athletes are on target and in great condition.

Houston, TX, (February 18, 2016) – Scott Coker, President of Bellator MMA and one of combat sport’s most accomplished promoters, will launch “Bellator Kickboxing” this April with his partners at Spike. The announcement was made today at a press conference ahead of “Bellator 149: Shamrock vs. Gracie,” which airs tomorrow night on Spike at 9e/8c.

Bellator Kickboxing will feature many of the world’s best kickboxers including Joe Schilling, Raymond Daniels, Kevin Ross, Keri Melendez and Anastasia Yankova, who were in attendance at today’s press conference. The current Bellator MMA team based out of Santa Monica, CA will run the new league.

Coker has over 30 years of experience promoting combat sports, overseeing both K-1 and Strikeforce Kickboxing leagues during his illustrious career. “Kickboxing is a thrilling, non-stop action-packed sport that I believe will resonate with MMA fans,” said Coker. “Our first goal is to develop stars and showcase these incredible athletes on the #1 home for combat sports, Spike TV.”

The first event for Bellator Kickboxing will be a co-promoted show with Bellator MMA and Oktagon Kickboxing on April 16 at the Pala Alpitour in Torino, Italy.

The Bellator Kickboxing event’s headliner will feature Melvin Manhoef vs. Alexandru Negrea as well as a 5-round title fight when current ISKA 72kg champion Mustapha Haida will move up in weight to challenge Karim Ghajii for his ISKA 75 KG belt. Other participants competing at the inaugural Bellator Kickboxing extravaganza include Ross, Daniels and Denise Kielholtz. Opponents for these participants will be announced in the near future.

The event will also include “Bellator 152,” a mixed martial arts card will feature Alessio Sakara vs. Brian Rogers, and also features Bellator MMA stars Patricky “Pitbull” Freire, Brent Primus, Anastasia Yankova and A.J. McKee.

Bellator Kickboxing’s debut event will air on Spike Saturday, April 16 at 9:00pm ET/PT on brief tape delay. Earlier that day, Spike will broadcast Bellator MMA’s first international show, “Bellator 152,” LIVE at 3:00pm ET.

Details on future events will be announced in the near future.

About Bellator MMA:
Bellator MMA is a leading Mixed Martial Arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 500 million homes worldwide in over 140 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike, the MMA television leader. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Santa Monica, California and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world’s premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.

About Spike:
Spike is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

M-1 GLOBAL GRAND PRIX MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNAMENT – SEMIFINALS – 5 X 5
Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko (51-9-0, M-1: 2-0-0), Russia 184 ½ lbs. (83.8 kg)
vs.
Vyacheslav Vaselevsky (27-3-0, M-1: 10-1-0), Russia 184 ½ lbs. (83.8 kg)

CO-FEATURE
VACANT M-1 CHALLENGE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP – 5 X 5
Alexander “Drago” Volkov (24-6-0, M-1: 8-3-0), Russia 236 ½ lbs. (107.5 kg)
vs.
Denis Smoldaraev (11-1-0, M-1: 7-1-0), Estonia 269 ½ lbs. (122.4 kg)

M-1 CHALLENGE BANTAMWEIGHT SEMIFINALS ELIMINATOR – 3 X 5
Pavel Vitruk (12-2-0, M-1: 6-2-0), Russia 135 lbs. (61.3 kg)
vs.
Sergey Morozov (6-0-0, M-1: 2-0-0), Kazakhstan 134 lbs. (60.9 kg)

Antun “Killer” Racic (18-6-0, M-1: 3-3-0), Croatia 134 lbs. (61.0 kg)
vs.
Vitaly Branchuk (20-5-0, M-1: 0-1-0), Ukraine 134 ½ lbs. (61.1 kg)

MIDDLEWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
Joe Ray (13-4-0, M-1: 0-0-0, United States 184 lbs. (83.6 kg)
vs.
Vladimir Katyhin (31-6-1, M-1: 1-0-0), Ukraine 183 ½ lbs. (83.4 kg)

PRELIMINARY CARD

HEAVYWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
Kurban Ibragimov (3-1-0, M-1: 2-1-0, Russia 230 lbs. (104.5 kg)
vs.
Dmitriy Mikutsa (5-2-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Ukraine 239 ½ lbs. (108.8 kg)

MIDDLEWEIGHTS- 3 X 5
Magomed Mutaev (6-2-0, M-1: 3-0-0),Russia 185 lbs. (84.0 kg)
vs.
Vadim “Archie” Orischak (5-4-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Russia 184 lbs. (83.6 kg)

Valery “The Russian Hammer” Myasnikov (8-1-1, M-1: 0-1-1), Russia 185 lbs. (84.0 kg)
vs.
Vyacheslav “Bison” Bogomol (5-1-0, M-1: 1-0-0) 183 lbs. (83.3 kg)

WELTERWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
Stefan Larisch (8-3-0, M-1: 0-0-0), Germany 168 ½ lbs. (76.6 kg)
vs.
Maksin Grabovich (2-2-0, M-1: 2-0-0), Russia 168 lbs. (76.3 kg)

FEATHERWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
Andrey “Iron” Lezhnev (7-5-0, M-1: 1-1-0) 145 lbs. (65.8 kg)
vs.
Timur Nagibin (5-1-0, M-1: 1-0-0), Russia 145 lbs. (65.8 kg)

WHAT: M-1 Challenge 64

WHEN: Friday, February 19, 2016

WHERE: Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia

PROMOTER: M-1 Global

M-1 Challenge 64 will be streamed live from Moscow 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.

Information:

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

Twitter & Instagram:

@M1GlobalNews
@VFinkelchtein
@M1Global

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/M-1-GlobalNews

ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL: Founded in 1997, M-1 Global has established itself in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premier entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With its office in St Petersburg, Russia, the M-1 brand has staged more than 170 events worldwide, including M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge, M-1 Global and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the U.S. network, Showtime. Captivating live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 Global events have featured some of the sport’s top names, including legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Sergei Kharitonov, Aleksander Emelianenko, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2016 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition, featuring a full calendar of Challenge events, fueled by a talent-rich contention system to rank M-1 Global Champions among the greatest fighters in the sport.

ABOUT M-1GLOBAL.TV: Enjoy MMA action now in high definition brought to you by M-1Global.tv, offering only the best fights from M-1 Global and other MMA organizations. M-1Global.tv is a great platform developed specifically to bring together the most exhaustive fight video database. It also provides an easy and intuitive interface, helping everyone to start using the platform in no time while avoiding any spoilers. Besides watching the past fights on demand at any time convenient to the customer, viewers are able to enjoy the action LIVE, all available to M-1Global.tv users through a low-priced month to month digital subscription. Your world of action. Anytime!

LAS VEGAS (February 17, 2016) –World Series of Fighting (WSOF.com) came out of the gates swinging to begin the new year and its fourth year of operation, generating impressive NBCSN television viewership figures for its first live event of 2016, as well as record levels of traffic and engagement on its web platform and a pair of new sponsor partners.

The live NBCSN telecast of WSOF27: Firmino vs. Fodor, which took place at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn. on Saturday, Jan. 23, generated an average viewership of 213,000, and peaked at 245,000, up 13% from NBCSN’s World Series of Fighting 2015 average. An immediate replay of the event that began at midnight, garnered another 111,000 viewers.

The number of unique visits to the league’s website skyrocketed by 515 percent between December and January, while World Series of Fighting secured two new sponsor partners in Talk2Legends and 1800 Tequila.

“It has been a tremendous start to a very promising year, and this is just the beginning,” said World Series of Fighting CEO Carlos Silva. “With a full schedule of world championship live events; a new, athlete-focused web TV series that we will be rolling out; and a host of other opportunities we are exploring with potential partners, it’s going to be an exciting year for World Series of Fighting and MMA fans.

“We are off to a great start, and we have a lot more in store for fans, with a new live event nearly every month this year,” said World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo. “We made some strong additions to our fighter roster last year, and fans can expect to see some more top level talent join our ranks in 2016.”

“We are looking forward to continued growth of the league and delivering our audience another year of exciting world championship MMA action,” said Gary Quinn, NBC Sports Group’s vice president of programming.

WSOF.com engagement soared by 400 percent between December and January, and the number of user sessions increased by 480 percent over the same time period. World Series of Fighting’s social media channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) all achieved their highest reach and levels of engagement since the

The partnerships with Talk2Legends and 1800 Tequila kicked off during WSOF27 last month. Utilizing the Talk2Legends video chat app, World Series of Fighting offered fans unprecedented, one-on-one access to both its athletic and NBCSN on-air talent, including Chael Sonnen, Bas Rutten, Jon Fitch and reigning, undefeated world lightweight (155 pounds) champion Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje.

Live World Series of Fighting action returns to NBCSN from Garden Grove, Calif. on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT with WSOF28: Moraes vs. Barajas. Headlining the four-bout telecast will be a world bantamweight (135 pounds) championship showdown between reigning kingpin Marlon Moraes (15-4-1), who will risk his title against fast-rising star, Joseph Barajas (12-1).

About World Series of Fighting (WSOF)
“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a worldwide premier professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering the best action-packed fights for fight fans by producing the best possible match-ups between elite fighters 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.

16 February 2016 – Yangon, Myanmar: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), in partnership with AGD Bank, returns to Yangon to bring world-class mixed martial arts (MMA) action to combat sports fans in Myanmar. The Thuwanna Indoor Stadium is set to play host to ONE: UNION OF WARRIORS on 18 March. The card will be headlined by hometown hero, “The Burmese Python” Aung La N Sang, as he takes on Mohamed Ali of Alexandria, Egypt.

CEO of ONE Championship, Victor Cui stated, “Last year, as part of our growth plan to bring opportunities to countries with a rich history in martial arts, we entered Myanmar for the first time in June, bringing our signature brand of world-class MMA to fans here in Yangon with the support of Z Corp, Skynet, the Lethwei Federation, and the Ministry of Sports. This time, we intend to play off our success and establish yet another amazing night of MMA action.”

With 25 professional fights on his resume, Aung La N Sang is arguably one of the world’s most renowned fighters from Myanmar, with a constricting style of fighting that has earned him the moniker of the “Burmese Python”. Born in Myitkyina in the mountainous Kachin State, Aung belonged to an ethnic minority known as the Kachin. He sought asylum in the United States when he was 18 years old but was always proud of his heritage. Victorious in his ONE Championship debut, Aung now returns to the ONE Cage to headline against Mohamed Ali.

Mohamed Ali of Alexandria, Egypt, is a mixed martial arts veteran with a 10-7 record. He was unsuccessful in his ONE Championship debut against Jake Butler in 2014, being stopped within three rounds, but showed true grit and determination in a tough bout. Ali now looks for redemption as he makes his way back to the spotlight in a main event battle against Myanmar’s Aung La N Sang.

Former ONE Flyweight World Champion Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes had his title reign cut short in his last bout, dropping a heartbreaking split decision to current titleholder Kairat Akhmetov. As champion, Moraes was skillful and dominant, and was rarely opposed inside the ONE Cage. Now, he’s on the comeback trail, and his next bout is against rising Filipino flyweight Eugene Toquero.

Flyweight standout Eugene Toquero is a former celebrity mixed martial arts and fitness coach in his native Manila, Philippines. The 165cm Filipino stalwart has a knack for highlight reel striking techniques and operates at a pace which opponents find hard to keep up with. In his last bout, Toquero improved his record to 8-2 with a technical knockout victory over China’s Li Wei Bin. Now he faces his toughest test to date in Brazil’s Adriano Moraes.

17-year-old Christian Lee, younger brother of Angela “Unstoppable” Lee, has impressed in his first two outings in ONE Championship. Lee is riding the momentum of two stoppage wins inside the ONE Cage, one by highlight reel knockout and the other by crafty submission. Lee looks to continue his early success but will face a stern test when he takes on fellow rising star, Keanu Subba of Malaysia.

At just 21 years of age, Keanu Subba is a former amateur MMA champion and one of the most promising young talents on ONE Championship’s roster. Subba is on a three-fight win streak that saw him stop countryman Rayner Kinsiong by technical knockout in his last bout. With momentum in his favor, the promising Subba will look to replicate his success by taking on Christian Lee next.

Robin “The Rock” Catalan of Iloilo City, Philippines, is making his ONE Championship debut against 33-year-old Alex “Little Rock” Silva of Brazil. Catalan is a mixed martial artist and trainer currently based in Metro Manila, while Silva is 3-1 as a professional and riding a two-fight win streak.

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 best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Championship™ has partnered with FOX and STAR Sports for an unprecedented 10-year cable television deal with a coverage that spans 70+ countries across the world.

About AGD Bank

AGD Bank aims to build the future for a progressive Myanmar. Myanmar is embarking on several decades of fundamental change. The future will look very different, and it will be full of opportunities that will touch every aspect of the lives of the people of Myanmar. At AGD Bank, our vision is to provide the vitally important banking infrastructure that will make a lasting and sustainable impact on this future, building the economic foundations for a progressive Myanmar.

In order to achieve our vision, we will deliver banking excellence through inspired and outstanding customer service. We will strive in everything we do to set our own unique, industry-leading, standard for banking excellence. We will accomplish this by always focusing on future opportunities and translating these into a commitment to outstanding levels of service, delivered day after day to each and every customer, helping them fulfil their needs and achieve their aspirations.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (February 15, 2016) – M-1 Global has announced that M-1 Challenge 65 has been rescheduled from March 4 to April 8 at Ice Palace Sports Center in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Ice Hockey World Championships will be held this May in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Many sports venues in St. Petersburg are closed in March due to renovations, resulting in the switched date for M-1 Challenge 65.

In the M-1 Challenge 65 main event, reigning M-1 Challenge middleweight champion Ramazan Emeev (13-3-0, M-1: 7-1-0) will take on Brazilian challenger Maiquel “Big Rig” Falcao (35-8-0, M-1: 0-0-0) in the M-1 Grand Prix middleweight semifinals match.

The other M-1 Grand Prix middleweight semifinals match is set as three-time Bellator champion Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko (51-9-0, M-1: 2-0-0) takes on former M-1 Challenge middleweight and light heavyweight titlist Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (27-3-0, M-1: 10-1-0) at this Friday’s (Feb. 19) M-1 Challenge 64 at Olympic Stadium in Moscow.

The winners of Shlemenko vs. Vasilevsky and Emeev vs. Falcao will advance to the M-1 Grand Prix middleweight championship later this year.

In other M-1 Global news, M-1 Challenge lightweight champion Mansour “Tarzan” Barnaoui’s (13-2-0, M-1: 2-2-0) title defense versus challenger Artium Damkovsky (20-9-0, M-1: 10-6-0), has been moved from M-1 Challenge 64 to M-1 Challenge 65.

Replacing Barnaoui vs. Damkovsky on M-1 Challenge 64 is a classic striker-wrestler matchup between American Joe Ray (13-4-0, M-1: 0-0-0) and Nodar Kudukhashvili (10-2-0, M-1: 2-1-0), of Georgia.

M-1 Challenge 64 & 65 will be streamed live from Russia 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.

Information

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

Twitter & Instagram:

@M1GlobalNews
@VFinkelchtein
@M1Global

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/M-1-GlobalNews

LBUQUERQUE, N.M. (February 15, 2016) – The second annual World MMA Association (WMMAA) Pan-American Congress, recently held at The Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was a major success by all standards.

(L-R) — WMMAA Pan-American president Tomas Yu, MMA superstar
Jon Jones and legendary coach Chris Luttrell

“The Pan-American Movement”, as it was named, brought together sports, tourism, and education for a common goal with more than 12 participating countries.

The Congress provided a rare opportunity for the entire WMMAA Pan-American family to collaborate with special partnerships like The Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce and The Mexico Consulate in Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Global Education Department. PANAM Members, representatives of National Federations, Commissions, Association and the Organizing Committee of the WMMAA Pan-American Championship (OCPC), as well as athletes, coaches, media, sponsors and other stakeholders to meet and discuss issues of importance to the entire MMA movement.

In his closing speech to the Congress, Pan-American Division President Tomas Yu paid tribute to the excellent collaboration between Pan-American members.

“If you asked me to sprawl a couple of times, I would most definitely need some nitro coffee from Villa Myriam before I run out of breath, followed by the guaranteed use of Sore No More,” Yu said. “But when it comes to fighting for our youth, for our MMA global goals – for cleaner competition, for a healthier, more peaceful and more flourishing SPORT – I will sprawl-jab-cross-kick like a champion. I will sprint the steepest trail in the Sandia Mountains. I will never stop until we raise our hands by victory. I am counting and exhorting all involved in the MMA industry to join us. We must go for the KO.”

Over the course of the three-day Congress and 13-day PANAM Camp, there were special guest such as Legacy Champion Damacio Page, former UFC champion Jon “Bones” Jones and Carlos Condit. Participants heard from many respected speakers such as Health Committee Director Curt Chavez from eVOLV Strong, Hector Molina, Director of PANAM Regulatory Committee and Director of PANAM Medical Committee, Dr. Justo Pavia. The congress had interesting discussions on the following themes: athletes, 2016 Expo MMA, structure of the “WMMAA Pan-American Movement”, global officials’ license and database, new era of Digital Sports Marketing Revolution, and the 2016 Pan-American Championships.

Each day was divided in two general sessions with a half-day devoted to Rules and Regulations discussions for PANAM. The plenary sessions were followed by three simultaneous breakout sessions on respective sub-themes.

All sessions were live-cast over the internet to allow the general public to hear discussions as it happened.

Two sessions began with presentations from a panel of speakers. The moderators of each panel were then responsible for the ensuing discussion period, which gave participants an opportunity to voice their opinions on issues. The main points from each session were carefully recorded by “ENLACE” – the new exclusive WMMAA correspondent program – to inform the Editorial Committee of the discussions at the end of each day. The final document reflected the main ideas to come out of the proceedings in Albuquerque, as well as information collected through the virtual WMMAA Pan-American Congress, allowing the WMMAA Pan-American family and public to submit written contributions.

The mission of the 2016 WMMAA Pan-American Congress was to bring together sports, tourism and education for a united front and review the status of the WMMAA PANAM Movement in today’s evolving global society. Information was gathered and opinions sought regarding its future, in addition to providing structure, guidance, proposals and recommendations to all constituents and other stakeholders of the WMMAA PANAM Movement for its structured showcase and harmonious development within the global youth community.

The 2016 WMMAA Pan-American Congress was a great success and has left the WMMAA Pan-American Movement with a blueprint for the future. It is now time, once again, for the PANAM family to translate words into action: We are the Future of MMA!

Information:

www.WMMAA.org
www.facebook.com/World.MMA.Association
www.facebook.com/WMMAA-Pan-American-Division-694183597342781/?fref=ts
www.facebook.com/Noticias-WMMAA-1011671952178470/

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. (February 10, 2015) – The main card of “Bellator 151: Warren vs. Caldwell” on March 4 is complete with today’s announcement that Gilbert Smith (12-4) will replace Michael Page and now face Fernando Gonzalez (24-13) in the evening’s co-main event.

In addition, Sirwan Kakai (12-3) will make his promotional debut against Joe Taimanglo (21-6) in the fourth and final main card contest. Seven preliminary scraps have also been confirmed and can be found below.
Tickets for “Bellator 151: Warren vs. Caldwell” are on sale now and start at just $45. You can purchase tickets at the WinStar World Casino and Resort Box Office, as well as Ticketmaster.com and Bellator.com. Doors for the event open at 5:00 p.m. CT local time, with the first contest taking place one hour later.

“Bellator 151: Warren vs. Caldwell” airs live and free on SPIKE at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary bouts will stream live on Bellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App.

Smith will be making his Bellator MMA debut against a fighter who is currently in the midst of a four-fight winning streak. “Midnight Magic” is on a bit of a roll of his own, coming into the promotion riding a two-bout winning streak. A veteran of UFC and most recently RFA, Smith won the regional promotion’s welterweight belt in June, defending the title one time before signing with Bellator.

Gonzalez took a brief hiatus from MMA to compete in the kickboxing portion of the groundbreaking “Bellator MMA: Dynamite 1” event in September, losing a tightly contest decision to world-renowned striker Paul “Semtex” Daley. Gonzalez now returns to his comfort zone of MMA, where he has strung together an impressive four-fight winning streak. A veteran of the Scott Coker-founded Strikeforce promotion, as well as World Extreme Cagefighting, Gonzalez has been competing professionally since 2003.

Kakai is one of Bellator MMA’s latest signings, joining the fray after a two-fight stint in the UFC. “Zohan,” 26, hails from Sweden and owns 10 finishes in his 12 victories as a professional fighter. With a bantamweight title fight one-week prior and another marquee 135-pound pairing in the main event, it will be interesting to see what a win does for Kakai in the grand scheme of things.

Taimanglo will be making his seventh appearance under the Bellator MMA umbrella, and is riding a two-fight winning streak. A Guam-native, “The Juggernaut” has stopped his opponent in 21 of his victories and has only lost twice in his last 14 fights. Look for the 31-year-old to make an impression against the bantamweight division’s newest commodity.

Updated “Bellator 151: Warren vs. Caldwell” Fight Card:

Bellator MMA Bantamweight Main Event: Joe Warren (13-4) vs. Darrion Caldwell (8-0)
Bellator MMA Welterweight Co-Main Event: Gilbert Smith (12-4) vs. Fernando Gonzalez (24-13)
Bellator MMA Featherweight Feature Bout: Goiti Yamauchi (19-2) vs. Bubba Jenkins (10-2)
Bellator MMA Bantamweight Feature Bout: Sirwan Kakai (12-3) vs. Joe Taimanglo (21-6-1)

Preliminary Card:

Bellator MMA Featherweight Preliminary Bout: Chris Jones (10-3) vs. Ray Wood (5-1)
Bellator MMA Bantamweight Preliminary Bout: Steve Garcia (6-0) vs. Ricky Turcios (5-0)
Bellator MMA Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Justin Patterson (6-1) vs. Chance Rencountre (8-1)
Bellator MMA Featherweight Preliminary Bout: Treston Thomison (8-4) vs. Aaron Roberson (5-3)
Bellator MMA Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Roger Carroll (16-13) vs. Neiman Gracie (3-0)
Bellator MMA Middleweight Preliminary Bout: Derek Palmer (Debut) vs. Jermayne Barnes (0-1)
Bellator MMA Featherweight Preliminary Bout: Shane Peterson (13-4) vs. Stephen Banaszak (5-5)

About Bellator MMA:
Bellator MMA is a leading Mixed Martial Arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 500 million homes worldwide in over 140 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike, the MMA television leader. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Santa Monica, California and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world’s premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.

About Spike:
Spike is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

Las Vegas, Nevada – The biggest month in the two-year history of UFC FIGHT PASS®, UFC’s over-the-top digital streaming service, has arrived.

On Saturday, February 27, former UFC middleweight champion and pound-for-pound great Anderson Silva will return to the Octagon to face elite contender Michael Bisping. The clash between two of the most established fighters in the 185-lbs division can only be seen exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS.

UFC Senior Vice President and UFC FIGHT PASS General Manager Eric Winter said: “Anderson Silva vs Michael Bisping is a can’t-miss match-up with huge implications for the entire division. UFC is underlining its commitment to FIGHT PASS – and our great FIGHT PASS customers – by making FIGHT PASS the only place you can see not only Silva vs Bisping, but the entire 13-fight card live from London.”

Click here for footage of Bisping video-bombing FIGHT PASS customers.

Winter announced a raft of exciting shoulder programming which will count down the weeks and days until Silva and Bisping square off in the center of the sold-out O2 Arena.

Winter added: “Silva vs Bisping is a huge fight, not just for FIGHT PASS but also on its own terms, and FIGHT PASS will present the definitive coverage of the build-up to the February 27 showdown. Coming later this month, the inaugural episode of the new UFC Battle Lines will focus on Silva and Bisping’s preparation going into the fight. Plus camera crews are already shadowing the London card fighters for a series of the critically acclaimed UFC Embedded.”

Both UFC Battle Lines: Silva v Bisping and the episodes of UFC Embedded: Silva v Bisping will drop during the final week leading to UFC FIGHT NIGHT: SILVA vs BISPING. Additionally, FIGHT PASS will present the following original programming supporting Silva vs Bisping:

Michael Bisping’s Greatest Feuds (premieres Feb 22)
Bisping has been known to talk a little trash from time to time and here “The Count” recalls all the incidents and insults of his most bitter feuds in the UFC.

Fightography: Ian Freeman (premieres Feb 23)
Before Michael Bisping, heavyweight Ian Freeman was the face of British MMA. The first Brit to compete in the UFC, “The Machine” scored the upset of 2002 when he blasted Frank Mir to defeat in the UFC’s inaugural event in the UK. For the first time, Freeman speaks openly about the family tragedy that struck just hours before the greatest fight of his career.

The Best of Cage Rage, Volume 1 – With Michael Bisping (premieres Feb 12)
Cage Rage was a British based MMA organization that enjoyed major successes during its 2002 – 2008 years of operation. A host of major names, and future UFC stars, completed in Cage Rage. In the first of a regular series, Bisping introduces eight of the biggest fights in the Cage Rage archive – including his own epic battles over the Cage Rage light heavyweight title and Silva’s first run as a middleweight champion.

FIGHT PASS has also resurfaced other great Silva v Bisping exclusive and Original Programming, including Greatest Hits: Anderson Silva, Main Event: Silva vs Belfort, Main Event: Silva vs Sonnen II, Fightography: Michael Bisping and Britain’s Ultimate Fighter along with presenting collections of all of Silva and Bisping’s greatest fights.

In addition to UFC FIGHT NIGHT: BISPING vs SILVA, three MMA events from around the world will live-stream exclusively on FIGHT PASS in February: Shooto Brazil 61 on February 13, Victory FC 48 on February 19 and EFN Moscow on February 26.

Winter said: “February is a huge month for FIGHT PASS. From Original Programming, to live MMA events from three continents to a must-see main event featuring the greatest UFC champion of all time – FIGHT PASS has it all this month.”

UFC FIGHT PASS is available now 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.

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 150 countries and territories to more than one billion TV households worldwide in 21 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 and Instagram: @UFC.

Stephen Thompson announced himself as a contender as he stopped former world Welterweight champion Johny Hendricks in the first round of their scheduled 5-round Welterweight bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Thompson landed a perfect right hand that hurt Hendricks and continued to land punched and a couple of massive kicks until Hendricks was on the ground. two punches later and the fight was stopped at 3:31

Thompson, 170 lbs of Simpsonville, SC is 12-1. Hendricks, 170 lbs of Fort Worth, TX is 17-4.

Roy Nelson won a unanimous decision over Jared Rosholt in a Heavyweight bout.

Nelson, 258 lbs of Las Vegas won by scores of 30-27 twice and 29-28 and is now 21-12. Rosholt, 245 lbs of Arlington, TX is 14-3.

Ovince Saint Preux won a unanimous decision over Rafael Feijao in a Light Heavyweight bout.

Saint Preux, 206 lbs of Knoxville, TN won by 30-27 scores on two cards & 29-28 and is now 19-7. Feijao, 205 lbs of Rio de Jineiro, BRA is 12-7-1.

Joseph Benavidez won a 3-round unanimous decision over Zack Makovsky in a Flyweight bout.

Benavidez, 125 lbs of Sacramento, CA won by scores of 30-27 twice and 29-28 and is now 24-4. Makovsky, 125 lbs of Philadelphia, PA is 19-7.

Misha Cirkunov choked out Alex Nicholson in round two of their Light Heavyweight bout.

Cirkunob locked in a rear naked on Nicholson who already had a jaw injury and he tapped out at 1:28.

Cirkunov, 206 lbs of Toronto, CAN is 11-2-1. Nicholson of Orlando, FL is 6-2.

Mike Pyle scored a 3rd round stoppage over Sean Spencer in a Welterweight bout.

In round three, Pyle landed a reverse punch and landed some vicious knees to the face until the bout was stopped at 4:25.

Pyle, 170 lbs of Las Vegas is 27-11-1. Spencer, 170 lbs of Dallas, TX is 12-5.

Josh Burkman won a 3-round unanimous decision over KJ Noons in a Welterweight bout.

Both guys had bloody noses but Burkman won by scores of 30-27 on all cards.

Burkmann, 156 lbs is 28-12-1. Noons, 156 lbs of San Diego is 13-9-1.

Derrick Lewis stopped Damian Grabowski in round one of their Heavyweight bout.

Lewis pounded Grabowski on the canvas that opened up a nasty cut on the top of the head. After more punishment the fight was stopped at 2:17.

Lewis, 263 lbs of Houston, TX is 14-4-1. Grabowski of Opole, POL is 20-3.

Justin Scoggins with a 3-round unanimous decision over Ray Borg in a Flyweight bout.

Borg was bleeding from the nose in the 2nd round.

Scoggins, 125 lbs of Spartenburg, SC won by scores of 30-27 twice and 30-26 and is now 11-2. Borg, 125 lbs of Albuquerque, NM is 9-2.

Diego Rivas scored an explosive 2nd round knockout over Noad Lohat in a Featherweight bout.

Rivas caught Lohat with an explosive jumping kick on the jaw that slumped Lohat down to the canvas and after a couple punches the fight was stopped at 23 seconds of round two

Rivas, 144 lbs of Chile is 7-0. Lohat, 145 lbs of San Jose, CA is 10-1.

SANTA MONICA (February 6, 2015) – Bellator MMA is proud to announce the signing of Chris “The Crippler” Leben (22-11) to an exclusive multi-year, multi-fight contract. The former World Extreme Cagefighting Middleweight World Champion has fought professionally since 2002, and holds the record for most fights in the UFC at 185-pounds (22).

Since taking a break from the sport in 2014, Leben has resided in San Diego, Calif. and served as a coach at Victory MMA & Fitness. Known for his tendency to put on an exciting show each and every time he enters the cage, Leben was a member of the inaugural cast of “The Ultimate Fighter” alongside fellow Bellator MMA competitors Stephan Bonnar and Josh Koscheck. The 35-year-old has fought elite talent throughout his mixed martial arts tenure, against names the likes of: Wanderlei Silva, Anderson Silva, Brian Stann, Michael Bisping, Patrick Cote, Mark Munoz, and Bellator MMA’s own Alessio Sakara.

“If I were to draw up the prototypical Bellator MMA competitor, there would be parts of Chris [Leben] in there,” Bellator MMA President Scott Coker said. “The guy has never had a boring fight and as I’ve said from day one, we’re going to continue to grow from the ground up and buy from the top down. I know that Chris still has a lot of fight left in him and I’m excited to see him fight We are hoping to see his Bellator debut this Spring.”

“Focusing on just coaching at Victory MMA has been amazing, but recently, I started to get the itch to compete again,” Leben said. “So I extended an olive branch to the people at Bellator and here I am. I’m in great shape, I love the possible matchups this roster has to offer and I’m ready to show the world why they call me ‘The Crippler.’”

Leben joins a budding roster of Bellator MMA talent, with recent signings that include: Benson Henderson, Anastasia Yankova, Lena Ovchynnikova, and Sergei Kharitonov.

It has yet to be determined what weight class Leben will compete at, but when asked what division he hopes to settle in, Leben made it clear: “I’ll go wherever the big fights are.”

About Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA is a leading Mixed Martial Arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 500 million homes worldwide in over 140 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike TV, the MMA television leader. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Santa Monica, California and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world’s premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.

About Spike:
Spike is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

Las Vegas – UFC® today announced a five-year extension of its partnership with Cleveland Clinic, and its support of the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study. The multi-year commitment and one million dollar contribution to the clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas where the study is conducted, makes UFC the largest combat sport contributor to the study.

“Research and awareness are key in setting new standards for athlete health and safety,” UFC Chief Operating Officer Ike Lawrence Epstein said. “UFC is always looking for opportunities to invest in industry-leading health and wellness programs and providing resources to develop its athletes inside and outside the Octagon.”
“We have learned quite a bit in the first four years of the study about how repetitive head trauma affects the brain and how we can detect accumulating injury,” Charles Bernick, M.D., Associate Medical Director at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and principal investigator of the study said. “The involvement of the fighting community and organizations like UFC will only help us better understand the field and protect our athletes. Their support has helped sustain the infrastructure of this very large study and will allow us to follow the participants over longer periods of time and develop ways to improve safety in combat sports, along with others exposed to repetitive head trauma.”

Established in 2011, the Professional Fighters Brain Health study is focused on developing methods to detect the earliest and most subtle signs of brain injury in athletes exposed to head trauma, as well as determining which individuals may be more likely to develop chronic neurological disorders. Now in its fifth year, researchers are confident the findings will benefit the safety and health of professional fighters as well as those exposed to repetitive head trauma in other sports and activities.

UFC’s commitment to aid in the funding of the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study is provided in conjunction with other leading combat sports organizations. These funds will help provide the necessary support to continue the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study at Cleveland Clinic, with future plans to publish and advocate about the importance of this research to the sport.

To date, the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study has enrolled nearly 600 active and retired athletes. Participation is voluntary, and fighters in the study receive free, ongoing assessments of their brain health and function, including MRI scans. Individual tests will be repeated annually for a minimum of four years.

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 150 countries and territories to more than one billion TV households worldwide in 21 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 and Instagram: @UFC.

About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. More than 3,000 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 11,000 nurses represent 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. The Cleveland Clinic health system includes a main campus near downtown Cleveland, eight community hospitals, more than 90 northern Ohio outpatient locations, including 18 full-service family health centers, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Cleveland Clinic Canada, and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. In 2014, there were 5.9 million outpatient visits throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system and 152,500 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every state and 147 countries. Visit us at www.clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at www.twitter.com/ClevelandClinic.

About Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health
Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health provides state-of-the-art care for cognitive disorders and for the family members of those who suffer from them. The physicians and staff at the Center for Brain Health continuously work towards the development of early diagnosis and the advancement of knowledge concerning mild cognitive disorders, which could one day delay or prevent their onset. Patients receive expert diagnosis and treatment at the Center for Brain Health, which offers a multidisciplinary patient-focused approach to diagnosis and treatment, promoting collaboration across all care providers, offering patients a complete continuum of care and infusing education and research into all that it does. The facility, designed by Frank Gehry, houses clinical space, a diagnostic center, neuroimaging rooms, physician offices, laboratories devoted to clinical research and the Keep Memory Alive Event Center. For more information, visit clevelandclinic.org/brainhealth.

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. (February 4, 2015) – The main card of “Bellator 151: Warren vs. Caldwell” on March 4 is coming together with today’s addition of Goiti Yamauchi (19-2), who will meet Bubba Jenkins (10-2) in featherweight action, with both men hoping to keep their current winning streaks intact.
Tickets for “Bellator 151: Warren vs. Caldwell” are on sale now and start at just $45. You can purchase tickets at the WinStar World Casino and Resort Box Office, as well as Ticketmaster.com and Bellator.com. Doors for the event open at 5:00 p.m. CT local time, with the first contest taking place one hour later.

“Bellator 151: Warren vs. Caldwell” airs live and free on SPIKE at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary bouts will stream live on Bellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App.. Additional preliminary bouts will be announced in the coming weeks.

Yamauchi comes into the fight riding a wave of momentum he’s caught after wins against Mike Richman, Martin Stapleton, and Isao Kobayashi. The 23-year-old Japanese fighter has only lost once in six appearances under the Bellator MMA banner and has notched 15 of his 19 wins as a professional by way of submission.

It’s hard to ignore Jenkins inside or outside the Bellator MMA cage, being that “The Highlight Kid” also doubles as a podcast host during his free time. The Arizona State alum notched two straight wins to cap off 2015, most recently, an impressive offensive display against a promising prospect in Jordan Parsons.

Updated “Bellator 151: Warren vs. Caldwell” Fight Card:

Bellator MMA Bantamweight Main Event: Joe Warren (13-4) vs. Darrion Caldwell (8-0)
Bellator MMA Welterweight Co-Main Event: Michael Page (9-0) vs. Fernando Gonzalez (24-13)
Bellator MMA Featherweight Feature Bout: Goiti Yamauchi (19-2) vs. Bubba Jenkins (10-2)

About Bellator MMA:
Bellator MMA is a leading Mixed Martial Arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 500 million homes worldwide in over 140 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike, the MMA television leader. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Santa Monica, California and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world’s premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.

About Spike:
Spike is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

06 February 2016 – Jakarta, Indonesia: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), has just announced its return to Jakarta with ONE: TRIBE OF WARRIORS. Set to take place on 20 February at the Istora Senayan, the card features an international main event headlined by welterweights Luis “Sapo” Santos and Rafael “The Machine” Silva. In the local main event, Dutch mixed martial arts veteran Vincent “Magnivincent” Latoel takes on the hard-hitting Kotetsu “No Face” Boku of Japan, while in the Indonesia Warrior Bout, Mario Satya Wirawan of Bogor, Indonesia will square off against countryman Yohan Mulia Legowo.

CEO of ONE Championship, Victor Cui stated, “Jakarta will always be one of our favorite destinations because of its energy and passion for mixed martial arts. ONE: TRIBE OF WARRIORS is set to bring out the best in our local and international ONE Superstars, and we’re excited to give fans another evening of electrifying mixed martial arts action.”

Luis “Sapo” Santos is a mixed martial arts veteran from Brazil with over 70 professional 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 made a successful ONE debut with a highlight-reel knockout of Bakhtiyar Abbasov. Known for his aggressiveness and brute strength, Santos looks to wreak havoc inside the ONE cage. He’s set to take on the tough Rafael Silva in his next bout.

Rafael “The Machine” Silva of Portugal has a wealth of experience competing in different promotions over almost 15 years of professional competition. Silva has amassed 40 wins and just 15 losses against some of the toughest opponents. He now goes up against one of the strongest welterweights in the division, putting his grappling skills to the test against the hulk-like Luis Santos.

Vincent Latoel was successful in his last bout, scoring an emphatic second round TKO over a game opponent. The 36-year-old mixed martial arts veteran is in his 15th year as a professional fighter and is looking for success in his next bout, this time against hard-hitting Kotetsu Boku.

Kotetsu Boku of Shizuoka, Japan is never in a boring fight. The MMA standout from Krazy Bee is one of the toughest competitors in the promotion, and he is coming off an impressive victory over highly-regarded Major Overall of the United States. Now, Boku will once again put his striking skills to the test against Dutch fighter Vincent Latoel in a 71.5kg catchweight bout.

Mario Satya Wirawan of Bogor, Indonesia recently recorded the fastest knockout victory in ONE Championship history with a six-second stoppage of Chan Heng last December. The former university soccer player is on the right track in his young MMA career and is aiming to stay in the winner’s column when he takes on countryman Yohan Mulia Legowo in the evening’s Indonesia Warrior Bout.

Yohan Mulia Legowo from Central Java, Indonesia is looking for his first win inside the ONE Cage. The Kung Fu and Boxing practitioner is also a well-rounded grappler incorporating various techniques from wrestling, Judo, and Jiu-Jitsu. Legowo suffered a couple of setbacks in his last two fights but will look to put his full array of offensive weapons on display when he takes on fellow Indonesian, Mario Satya Wirawan.

Anthony Engelen is a Dutch fighter who trains full-time in Indonesia. Engelen’s strength lies in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, usually making his overall game a potential war of attrition on the ground. Engelen was met with a recent setback, but he now looks to advance his position in an extremely stacked division. Standing in his way is the Philippines’ Rocky Batolbatol.

Rocky Batolbatol of the Philippines is a former professional boxer who has transitioned into mixed martial arts. The hard-hitting Filipino constantly uses well-placed combinations in search of spectacular knockouts and will be looking for a stoppage against his next opponent. He’ll have his hands full with Anthony Engelen, who is a technical grappling ace.

Marcin Prachnio from Poland is a mixed martial artists with a 9-2 professional record. He is a victor of his last four bouts and has a whopping seven stoppage wins. Always looking for the finish, Prachnio will make his ONE Championship debut against Brazilian submission specialist, Alexandre Machado.

Alexandre Machado of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is a mixed martial artist with a 7-1 record. What’s even more impressive is his ability to finish opponents either by knocking them out or submitting them. Out of seven total victories, Machado has only reached the distance once in his young career. The Brazilian finisher is set to take on Polish fighter Marcin Prachnio.

Japan’s Koetsu Okazaki is a mixed martial arts veteran who has faced the best fighters in his division in ONE Championship. The Japanese fighter currently holds a 10-4 record and has experience facing the likes of Yusup Saadulaev, Kevin Belingon, and ONE bantamweight world champion Bibiano Fernandes. His next opponent is a tough one – New York’s Andrew Leone.

Andrew Leone of Cortland, New York trains at Bali Muay Thai & MMA gym with some of the most talented athletes in Asia. With a standout record of seven wins and only two losses, Leone is coming off two spectacular victories over solid opponents in Geje Eustaquio and Shinichi Kojima. In his next bout, Leone will be put to the test against Japanese veteran Koetsu Okazaki.

Angela “Unstoppable” Lee is originally from Singapore but has lived and trained in mixed martial arts in Mililani, Hawaii. Lee is one of the most promising young fighters on ONE Championship’s growing roster and has impressed inside the ONE cage with her all-round striking and grappling skills. She looks to impress fans once again as she battles New York’s Rebecca Heintzman.

Rebecca Heintzman of Binghamton, New York is a 29-year-old female strawweight making her ONE Championship debut. With great all-round skills, Heintzman had a solid amateur career, transitioning well into professional MMA. Heintzman’s full arsenal should be on display as she faces one of the most promising young fighters in 19-year-old Angela Lee.

Bashir Ahmad is widely known as the ‘Father of Pakistani MMA’. He is extremely quick and relentless with his striking and will look to overwhelm opponents from the beginning of the match. He is a ONE Championship veteran and features a full range of striking and grappling skills. His next challenge will be against the Philippines’ Jimmy Yabo.

Jimmy Yabo is a former URCC standout with an impressive mixed martial arts record. He boasts one of the best knockout percentages in the division, having finished all four of his opponents when victorious. Yabo has had a few heartbreaking setbacks, but he’s back in the ONE Cage, dedicated and looking for victory. He’ll take on Bashir Ahmad in what should be an action-packed matchup.

Djatmiko Waluyo of Mexico City, Mexico is of part-Indonesian descent. He is unbeaten at five wins and no losses. Of his five victories, two have come by knockout and two by submission, making him both a threat as a striker and a grappler. Waluyo makes his ONE Championship debut against the heavy-handed Trestle Tan in his return home to the capital city of Jakarta.

Trestle Tan of Manila, Philippines is one of the hardest punchers in his weight class. With two knockout victories and one submission victory on his record, Tan is a highly-skilled opponent for any fighter. Tan has had two setbacks recently, and is now looking to get back in the winner’s column with a victory over Djatmiko Waluyo.

Jerome S. Paye of Liberia and Li Hao Jie of China will kick off ONE: TRIBE OF WARRIORS with an intense bantamweight battle to set the tone for what should be an amazing event.

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 best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Championship™ has partnered with FOX and STAR Sports for an unprecedented 10-year cable television deal with a coverage that spans 70+ countries across the world.

About MNC Group
PT Media Nusantara Citra Tbk, or MNC, operates 4 of Indonesia’s 11 free-to-air (FTA) TV stations and has additional core businesses in television content production and delivery. MNC’s four FTA stations – RCTI, MNCTV, GlobalTV and SINDOTV – are complemented by a further 19 pay-TV MNC Channels. MNC also owns radio, print media, talent management and TV production companies, whose operations support MNC’s core business focus.

LAS VEGAS (February 3, 2016) –World Series of Fighting (WSOF.com) announced today the addition of three main card matchups, including a heavyweight co-main event contest between Josh “Cuddly Bear” Copeland (11-3) and Mike “300” Hayes (19-10-2), to its highly anticipated WSOF29: Gaethje vs. Foster world lightweight (155 pounds) championship event at the Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colo. on Saturday, March 12, live on NBCSN at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

In other action on the four-bout live telecast that will be headlined by the lightweight championship showdown between reigning, undefeated kingpin Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje (15-0) and number one contender Brian Foster (25-9), middleweight (185 pounds) standouts Cory “The One” Devela (15-6) and Louis “Handgunz” Taylor (11-3) will collide in their respective World Series of Fighting debuts.

Kicking off the live, four-fight telecast will be a welterweight (170 pounds) scrap pitting Josh Cavan (11-6) against Kris Hocum (7-4).

Priced from $39.99, tickets for WSOF29: Gaethje vs. Foster, are on sale at WSOF.com and the University of Northern Colorado’s online ticketing platform.

Josh Copeland vs. Mike Hayes

The 6-foot-1 Copeland of Denver, Colo. is a former number one ranked heavyweight in his home state, and a four-time title holder since turning professional in 2010.

The 33-year-old, former Youth Ministry student at Dallas Baptist College, has earned 8 of his 11 career victories as a professional by way of (T)KO or submission, with 5 of those wins coming in less than 2 minutes.

A teammate of Gaethje’s at Grudge Training Center, Copeland will look to rebound from a second round (2:50) submission (kimura) defeat at the hands of Vitaly Minakov on December 11, a result that snapped a two-fight win streak for Copeland.

During his professional career spanning eight-plus years, the 6-foot-4, 35-year-old Hayes of Redmond, Wash. has faced off with elite level competition, including former world champion Andrei Arlovski and superstar Ruslan Magomedov, both of whom he fought to a decision.

On November 2, 2013, Hayes notched his most impressive victory to date, scoring a devastating, third round (3:11) KO on decorated MMA, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and wrestling champion Jeff “The Snowman” Monson with a head kick.

In his last start on June 4, 2015, Hayes produced another impressive result, fighting former South African national wrestling champion and four-time MMA titlist Trevor Prangley, to a draw.

Cory Devela vs. Louis Taylor

The 6-foot-2, 31-year-old Devela of Bonney Lake, Wash., will enter the decagon cage in the midst of a four-fight win streak that includes a unanimous decision victory over superstar Nick “The Promise” Ring on June 26, 2015.

A longtime protégé of MMA superstar and submission expert Dennis “Superman” Hallman, Devela, who has notched 11 of his 16 career wins by way of (T)KO or submission, burst into the national spotlight at a Strikeforce promoted event in Tacoma, Wash. on February 23, 2008, scoring a first round (1:22) TKO on heralded superstar Joe “Diesel” Riggs with a thunderous slam that rendered Riggs unable to continue fighting.

Devela’s recent ascendance that has him knocking on the door of becoming a world championship contender again, comes after he took an extended, three-year hiatus from competition to care for a sick loved one between 2010 and 2013.

Also looking to earn his fifth consecutive win, the 5-foot-11, 36-year-old Taylor of Chicago, Ill. is the number one ranked middleweight in his home state, according to the latest Tapology.com ratings.

A prolific striker who has finished 10 of his 11 opponents to date by way of (T)KO or submission, Taylor’s last four victories all came inside of the first round of battle.

Prior to becoming a mixed martial artist, Taylor was a wrestling standout for the NCAA Division I program at Eastern Illinois University where he benefited from training with fellow, former team member turned assistant coach Matt Hughes, who went on to become a two-time UFC champion and Hall of Fame member.

Josh Cavan vs. Kris Hocum

Fighting out of Denver, Cavan is a 5-foot-10, 32-year-old, lifelong athlete who competed at the minor league level of professional hockey before turning his attention to MMA. A winner of 9 of his 11 professional career fights by way of (T)KO or submission, Cavan will look to bounce back from a second round (1:28) TKO (punches) defeat at the hands of Joe Eichelberger on November 6.

The 5-foot-11, 30-year-old Hocum of Fort Collins, Colo. made his professional debut on October 27, 2012 as a participant in a one-night, eight-man tournament, defeating multiple opponents to emerge the victor of the grueling affair. He will look to regain momentum after back-to-back losses in his last two appearances.

The WSOF29 preliminary bout card will be announced soon.

ABOUT WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a worldwide premier professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering the best action-packed fights for fight fans by producing the best possible match-ups between elite fighters 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.

SANTA MONICA (February 3, 2015) – Sergei Kharitonov (23-5) is the newest free agent by Bellator MMA, with the news that the Russian heavyweight has been signed to an exclusive multi-year, multi-fight contract. A veteran of both Strikeforce and Pride Fighting Championships, Kharitonov remains on active duty with the Russian Airborne Troops.

Doubling as a kickboxer at different points throughout his combat sports career, “The Paratrooper” has decided to parlay his recent five-fight winning streak and focus purely on mixed martial arts. Kharitonov’s resume is extensive, with the 35-year-old scoring wins against some of the sport’s most notable names including UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski, Pedro Rizzo, Murilo “Ninja” Rua, and Alistair Overeem.

“I have had the best seat in the house for some of Kharitonov’s heavyweight outings,” Bellator MMA President Scott Coker said, “and I know Sergei [Kharitonov] can come in and make an immediate impact on our heavyweight division. He is an extremely skilled and experienced fighter who can end a fight in the blink of an eye, and we look forward to having him do just that inside the Bellator cage. Plus, he’s already competed at one ‘Dynamite’ event before, maybe he could do so again in the future!”

Kharitonov joins a division that is currently championed by fellow Russian fighter Vitaly Minakov, other top names include Bobby Lashley, Cheick Kongo, Vinicius Queiroz, Kimbo Slice, Tony Johnson, Justin Wren, Dan Charles, and James Thompson.

About Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA is a leading Mixed Martial Arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 500 million homes worldwide in over 140 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike TV, the MMA television leader. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Santa Monica, California and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world’s premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.

About Spike:
Spike is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. (February 2, 2015) – On the heels of what is one of the biggest free agent moves in mixed martial arts history, the man at the center of the shift, Benson Henderson (23-5), now has a debut date.

Today, Bellator MMA is pleased to announce that “Smooth” will compete for welterweight gold against current champion Andrey Koreshkov (18-1) at the newly announced “Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson” card on April 22 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Tickets for “Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson” start at just $30 and go on sale this Friday, February 5 at Bellator.com, Ticketmaster.com and the Mohegan Sun Box Office. A special presale offer for Bellator Nation members will be available starting Wednesday, February 3.

“Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson” airs live and free on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary bouts will stream live on Bellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App. Additional contests will be announced in the coming weeks.

Henderson has accomplished a great deal over the course of his 10-year professional career as a mixed martial artist. A former World Extreme Cagefighting and Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titlist, “Smooth” holds black belts in both Taekowndo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and also earned NAIA All-American honors in both 2005 and 2006. Multiple media outlets named Henderson the fighter of the year in 2012, and he has been one half of several epic battles that have received “Fight of the Year” accolades: Donald Cerrone (2009), Anthony Pettis (2010), Frankie Edgar (2012), and Brandon Thatch (2015).

The Glendale, Az., resident has shown that he can compete at both 170 and 155-pounds and few have done so as frequently as Henderson. Since his MMA debut in 2006, there’s only been one year where the MMA Lab-competitor has fought less than three times in a calendar year. If that’s any indication of what to expect, 2016 could be huge for the 32-year-old.

Standing opposite of Bellator MMA’s newest acquisition will be Koreshkov, a 25-year-old fighter out of Russia who took the title from Douglas Lima during a main event bout at “Bellator 140: Lima vs. Koreshkov” in July of last year. With only one defeat on his impressive resume, “Spartan’s” first title defense will likely put him in the position of underdog, a spot that champions rarely find themselves heading into a matchup. With 13 finishes in 18 victories, the 10-fight Bellator MMA veteran will attempt to stop a fighter who has only lost by knockout or submission three times in 28 outings.

“Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson” Updated Fight Card

Bellator MMA Welterweight World Title Fight: Andrey Koreshkov (18-1) vs. Benson Henderson (23-5)

About Bellator MMA:
Bellator MMA is a leading Mixed Martial Arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 500 million homes worldwide in over 140 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike, the MMA television leader. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Santa Monica, California and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world’s premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.

About Spike:
Spike is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. (February 2, 2015) –An injury to Mike Bronzoulis has shifted things during the SPIKE-televised main card of “Bellator 149: Shamrock vs. Gracie” on Feb. 19 at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Now, the lightweight contest will pit Melvin Guillard (32-15-2) against Derek Campos (15-6).

In addition, Justin “The Big Pygmy Viking” Wren (11-2) returns to action in what will be his second appearance under the Bellator MMA banner, when he meets Juan Torres (4-4) in heavyweight fisticuffs.

The fights join a card that already features a double main event — Ken Shamrock (28-16-2) meets Royce Gracie (14-2-3) for a third time and Kimbo Slice (5-2) will fight the man who has been calling him out since their friendship ended years ago, Dhafir Harris, better known as “Dada 5000” (2-0). In featherweight action, Emmanuel Sanchez (12-2) will look to continue his torrid pace when he meets Daniel Pineda (21-11) and former light heavyweight titlist Emanuel Newton (25-9) battles Linton Vassell (15-5).

Tickets for this mixed martial arts extravaganza start at just $50 and are on sale now at Bellator.com, as well as HoustonToyotaCenter.com, the Toyota Center Box Office and Houston area Randall’s locations.

“Bellator 149: Shamrock vs. Gracie” airs live and free on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary bouts will stream live on Bellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App.

Guillard suffered a horrific broken hand during his Bellator MMA debut against Brandon Girtz earlier this year. “The Young Assassin” has made it clear that he intends on eventually fighting for the 155-pound title, and his road to the gold begins on Feb. 19 against a tough Texas native with plenty to prove. Of Guillard’s 32 wins as a professional, 23 victories have come before reaching the judges’ scorecards.

Known as “The Stallion” to those familiar with his mixed martial arts career, Campos will come into his meeting with Guillard riding a two-fight skid. During his eight-fight tenure with Bellator MMA, the 27-year-old Texan has faced a plethora of top lightweight talent, going up against names the likes of: Michael Chandler, Patricky Freire, Brandon Girtz (2x), and Estevan Payan.

You would be hard-pressed to find a better story in all of MMA than the one that Wren can tell. The two-time National High School Wrestling Champion generated massive amounts of media attention on the road to his promotional debut at “Bellator 141: Guillard vs. Girtz,” where he defeated Josh Burns. His story begins several years earlier, in 2010, when Wren confronted an opponent tougher than any he could face in combat sports: addiction.

With an opportunity to continue fighting on the table, Wren left the sport and began his recovery process. A chance meeting with a friend led Wren on a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he came across and developed a deep connection with the Mbuti Pygmies, many of whom were enslaved, living on only the scraps the slave masters would pay them with. Wren found his calling there and wanted to do everything in his power to help the Pygmies. With multiple visits to the Congo, including a stint that lasted a year, Wren started a foundation called “Fight for the Forgotten.” Through his efforts, Wren and his staff of 17 have systematically bought the land of the slave owners, and have thus far legally given 2,740 acres of rainforest to the Pygmies, effectively freeing them from slavery.

Partnering with other groups like Shalom University and joining forces with Water4.org, Wren and his charity are responsible for drilling 26 water wells to help provide both the Pygmies and the former slave masters with clean water, and have plans to drill hundreds more. In addition, the team has begun a sustainable farming project to benefit and provide food to both the Pygmies and non-Pygmies of the community.

Take a look below at the complete 19-fight “Bellator 149: Shamrock vs. Gracie” card and be sure to tune into SPIKE on February 19 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT for an event that has something for every fight fan.

Completed “Bellator 149: Shamrock vs. Gracie” Fight Card

Bellator MMA Openweight Main Event: Ken Shamrock (28-16-2) vs. Royce Gracie (14-2-3)
Bellator MMA Heavyweight Main Event: Kimbo Slice (5-2) vs. “Dada 5000” (2-0)
Bellator MMA Light Heavyweight Feature Bout: Emanuel Newton (25-5) vs. Linton Vassell (15-5)
Bellator MMA Lightweight Feature Bout: Melvin Guillard (32-15-2) vs. Derek Campos (15-6)
Bellator MMA Featherweight Feature Bout: Emmanuel Sanchez (12-2) vs. Daniel Pineda (21-11)

Preliminary Card:

Bellator MMA Heavyweight Preliminary Bout: Justin Wren (11-2) vs. Juan Torres (4-4)
Bellator MMA Bantamweight Preliminary Bout: Davis Sylvester (5-3) vs. Jeremy Mahon (5-4)
Bellator MMA Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Charlie Ontiveros (6-4) vs. James Christopherson (2-2)
Bellator MMA Middleweight Preliminary Bout: Ruben Esparsa (1-0) vs. C.J. Hancock (Debut)
Bellator MMA Middleweight Preliminary Bout: Adrian Yanez (3-1) vs. Daniel Santos (3-0)
Bellator MMA Middleweight Preliminary Bout: Isaac Villanueva (9-7) vs. Richard Knepp (3-3)
Bellator MMA Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Mike Trinh (2-3) vs. Angel Zamora (2-2)
Bellator MMA Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Jason Langellier (2-0) vs. Anthony Ivy (1-0)
Bellator MMA Bantamweight Preliminary Bout: Manny Lozoya (Debut) vs. Jacob Norsworthy (1-5)
Bellator MMA Bantamweight Amateur Bout: Leomana Martinez (2-0) vs. Casey Jones (2-0)
Bellator MMA Flyweight Amateur Bout: Chris Solis (2-0) vs. Alex Macedo (2-0)
Bellator MMA Flyweight Amateur Bout: Jonathan Davis (2-0) vs. Shawn Solis (1-0)
Bellator MMA Lightweight Amateur Bout: Hunter Scott-Gregg (1-0) vs. Ricardo Deluque (1-0)

About Bellator MMA:
Bellator MMA is a leading Mixed Martial Arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 500 million homes worldwide in over 140 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike, the MMA television leader. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Santa Monica, California and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world’s premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.

About Spike:
Spike is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

About Toyota Center:
Since opening in October 2003, Toyota Center has set a new standard for sports and entertainment, becoming one of the premier live entertainment venues in the nation. Laid over the span of six city blocks, Toyota Center is home to the NBA’s Houston Rockets and annually hosts over 100 events including the nation’s top concerts and touring shows. The arena’s playing surface is set nearly 32-feet below street level giving Toyota Center the largest lower level of any arena in the nation. Coupled with the exclusive 1510 Reserve, Lexus Lounge, trendy Woodforest Club and Red and White Bistro’s superior food and service, Toyota Center offers something for

LAS VEGAS (February 1, 2016) –World Series of Fighting (WSOF.com) has announced the addition of two welterweight (170 pounds) bouts – Jamie “The Chosyn 1” Yager (6-4) vs. Greg Parker (5-1) and Ozzie Alvarez (6-3) vs. Andrew “The” Ramm (4-3) – to complete the live NBCSN televised (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT), main card portion of its WSOF28 world bantamweight (135 pounds) championship event at Next Level Sports Complex in Garden Grove, Calif. on Saturday, Feb. 20.

In the main event of the four-fight telecast, reigning World Series of Fighting bantamweight kingpin Marlon Moraes (15-4-1) will put his title on the line for the third time against ferocious contender Joseph Barajas (12-1).

The co-main event will pit two other bantamweights – red-hot contenders Timur “Lucky” Valiev (10-1) and Chris “El Guapo” Gutierrez (8-1-1) – against one another.

Jamie Yager vs. Greg Parker

The 32-year-old Yager of Huntington Beach, Calif. will return to the cage after being sidelined for three years due to injuries.

A lifelong athlete who took up Jiu-Jitsu while attending Pasadena City College, Yager was the middleweight winner of the 2008 MMA competition reality television series, The Iron Ring, that aired on BET.

Yager went on to compete in season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, scoring a punishing, 26 second KO on Ben Stark with a head kick in the first episode and, later, a first round (1:09) TKO (strikes) on Charles Blanchard.

In his last effort, the 31-year-old Parker of Irvine, Calif. rebounded from his first career defeat, submitting Daniel McWilliams with a rear-naked choke in the first round (2:22) of their meeting on October 2, 2015.

Between March 2009 and April 2011, Parker was perfect as an amateur, compiling a 3-0 record, before running to four consecutive wins, all by way of (T)KO or submission, in his first four professional bouts.

Ozzie Alvarez vs. Andrew Ramm

Originally from Miami, Fla., the 30-year-old Alvarez fights out of Huntington Beach, Calif. and has gained recognition as a dangerous power puncher since he turned professional in 2010.

In what will be his first start of 2016, Alvarez will look to bounce back from a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Justin Patterson on September 17, a result that snapped a five-fight win streak.

Alvarez’s five consecutive victories all came by way of (T)KO or submission, and all but one of them occurred inside the first round of action.

Ramm of Costa Mesa, Calif. via Bremerton, Wash. is a 31-year-old submission expert who recently earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under mentor and famed trainer Eddie Bravo.

To date, Ramm has produced all of his professional career victories by way of submission and, in a span of just 11 months between 2012 and 2013, he amassed a perfect 6-0 record under amateur status.

The WSOF28 preliminary bout card will be announced soon.

ABOUT WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a worldwide premier professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering the best action-packed fights for fight fans by producing the best possible match-ups between elite fighters 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.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (February 1, 2016) – Bellator MMA President Scott Coker continues to make good on his commitment of adding value to the Bellator roster, as he and the promotion are pleased to announce the signing of former UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson (23-5) to an exclusive, multi-fight deal. The signing was scheduled to be announced today on “The MMA Hour,” which is hosted by 6-time MMA Journalist of the Year, Ariel Helwani. When news of the signing broke earlier than anticipated, the flood of traffic to the website may have been responsible for technical difficulties causing some of the interview to not stream live; However, the interview will be available in its entirety this afternoon at www.mmafighting.com.

Henderson has accomplished a great deal over the course of his 10-year professional career as a mixed martial artist. A former WEC and UFC lightweight titlist, “Smooth” holds black belts in both Taekowndo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and also earned NAIA All-American honors in both 2005 and 2006. Multiple media outlets named Henderson the fighter of the year in 2012, and has been a part of several epic battles that have received “Fight of the Year” accolades: Donald Cerrone (2009), Anthony Pettis (2010), Frankie Edgar (2012), and Brandon Thatch (2015).

“Benson is a tremendous athlete who puts forth an exciting effort each and every time he steps into the cage,” said Coker. “Whether he chooses to fight at lightweight or welterweight, he’s without question a great addition to this promotion, and brings countless amazing matchups to the table. We’re looking forward to having him put on a show for the great Bellator MMA fans that tune into Spike. We plan on announcing his Bellator debut in the very near future.”

Having competed at both lightweight and welterweight, there are plenty of enticing potential matchups in Henderson’s future. Bellator’s lightweight division is currently championed by Will Brooks, and features many of the world’s best including: Michael Chandler, Josh Thomson, Marcin Held, Brandon Girtz, Brent Primus, Derek Anderson, and Melvin Guillard. Meanwhile, Andrey Koreshkov sits atop the welterweight division with studs the likes of Paul Daley, Brennan Ward, Michael Page, Josh Koscheck, Douglas Lima and Chris Honeycutt vying for his gold.

About Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA is a leading Mixed Martial Arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 500 million homes worldwide in over 140 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike TV, the MMA television leader. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Santa Monica, California and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world’s premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.

About Spike:
Spike is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

29 January 2015 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), electrified the iconic Stadium Negara with another evening of world-class mixed martial arts action. Fight fans in Malaysia were on the edge of their seats as the best in local and international mixed martial arts talent battled it out inside the ONE Cage. In the Malaysia Warrior Bout main event, Malaysia’s own Ev “E.T.” Ting defeated the Philippines’ Eric “The Natural” Kelly by submission and took the time to call out reigning champion Marat Gafurov in the post-fight interview.

Visit the official ONE: CLASH OF HEROES photo gallery by clicking: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ivh34n9pza3q94o/AADwuMwRg-gnDecd5AIBoQyTa?dl=0

In the Malaysia Warrior Bout main event, an exhausted Ev Ting pulled out a gutsy victory over Eric “The Natural” Kelly of the Philippines, winning by submission in round three. Ting dominated the striking exchanges throughout the bout, blasting Kelly with various combinations. Kelly spent most of his time defending against Ting’s aggression, biding his time and pacing himself for a distance finish. In the third, Ting latched on a standing Guillotine that transitioned into a mounted Guillotine, leaving Kelly no choice but to tap out.

“Marat Gafurov I’m coming for you, where is that belt at?” said Ting, looking for a shot at the ONE Featherweight World Championship.

“With the new weight cut policy I wanna fight as much as I can and fight full time to feed my family. I want to fight Marat Gafurov. The fight was harder than I expected. I didn’t know he could take so much hits. I respect Kelly as a fighter and it was a great fight,” Ting added.

Eduard “Landslide” Folayang of Baguio City, Philippines showcased Team Lakay’s famous Wushu base by dominating opponent Tetsuya Yamada of Japan over three rounds. Folayang completely shut down Yamada, keeping the Japanese fighter at the long end of his straight right hand and occasional spinning back kick. Folayang also landed various flush shots and stuffed numerous takedowns to earn the unanimous decision victory.

Former American freestyle wrestler Jake Butler returned to action against mixed martial arts veteran Tatsuya Mizuno to win by first round stoppage. Butler controlled the Japanese fighter with his world-class wrestling from the opening bell, pulling Mizuno down to the canvas on a successful takedown. From there, Butler unleashed a series of elbows from top position, finishing Mizuno with only a few seconds remaining in the first round.

Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio scored an electrifying first round knockout over Malaysia’s Saiful “The Vampire” Merican. After a brief moment where both fighters took the time to size each other up, Merican lunged in looking to put together a combination but Eustaquio took a step back and unleashed a counter left hook as Merican was coming in. With Merican face down on the mat, the referee stopped the bout after a technical ground kick landed for good measure.

Samir Mrabet of Brussels, Belgium remained unbeaten in a second-round submission victory over Sami Amin of Cairo, Egypt. Mrabet controlled the action on the ground, grinding away against Amin who tried his best to defend. The end came when Mrabet secured mount and worked on the Head and Arm Choke to seal the deal.

“I’m blown away by the support I get from this new family that I’ve made in Malaysia. It really humbles me,” said Mrabet.

Keanu Subba and Rayner Kinsiong brought some local flavor into the mix with an all-Malaysian lightweight bout. After a brief exchange of strikes, Subba dumped Kinsiong to the mat via an outside leg trip. From top position, Subba landed a plethora of downward punches as the referee intervened to stop the bout.

“I saw my opportunity and took him down, and capitalized on that. That was the plan, to take him down and land some big shots,” said Subba.

Former Pankration world champion, Christian “The Warrior” Lee made quick work of Egypt’s Mahmoud Mohamed, continuing his fast rise through the featherweight ranks with a crafty submission victory. Lee swarmed Mohamed with lightning quick punches from the opening bell. An emphatic slam put Mohamed on his back and from there, Lee put the finishing touches on a Single-Arm Chicken Wing, forcing Mohamed to tap out.

Colossal ONE athletes Agilan “Alligator” Thani of Malaysia and James Kouame of Canada induced a stream of cheers from the Kuala Lumpur crowd with their intense middleweight matchup. Thani impressed with various successful takedowns throughout the bout. In round two, after a slam led to full mount, Thani worked on ground-and-pound before seizing the opportunity for a fight-ending Rear Naked Choke.

Saygid ‘Dagi’ Guseyn Arslanaliev impressed fans in his ONE Championship debut with an all-out, aggressive style, taking care of business against Jakarta, Indonesia’s Mishal Alfad in just under a minute. ‘Dagi’ put on a showcase of powerful strikes and emphatic slams and after a Suplex put Alfad on his back, ‘Dagi’ went straight for the ground-and-pound to force the referee stoppage.

Female ONE athletes Jenny Huang of Chinese Taipei and Amira Badr of Egypt kicked off the action at ONE: CLASH OF HEROES. Huang dominated both the first and second rounds with her boxing until she finished the bout by Triangle Choke submission in round two.

Official results for ONE: CLASH OF HEROES
Featherweight Malaysia Warrior bout: Ev Ting defeats Eric Kelly by Submission (Mounted Guillotine) at 1:58 minutes of round 3
Lightweight bout: Eduard Folayang defeats Tetsuya Yamada by Unanimous Decision
Catchweight bout (95kg): Jake Butler defeats Tatsuya Mizuno by TKO (Strikes) at 4:30 minutes of round 1
Catchweight bout (66.8kg): Geje Eustaquio defeats Saiful Merican by Knockout at 1:21 minutes of round 1
Lightweight bout: Samir Mrabet defeats Sami Amin by Submission (Head and Arm Choke) at 1:31 minutes of round 2
Lightweight bout: Keanu Subba defeats Rayner Kinsiong by TKO (Strikes) at 2:01 minutes of round 1
Featherweight bout: Christian Lee defeats Mahmoud Mohamed by Submission (Single-Arm Chicken Wing) at 2:20 minutes of round 1
Middleweight bout: Agilan Thani defeats James Kouame by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:12 minutes of round 2
Lightweight bout: Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev defeats Mishal Alfad by TKO (Strikes) at 0:32 minutes of round 1
Female catchweight bout (49kg): Jenny Huang defeats Amira Badr by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 3:09 minutes of round 2

In case you missed the action log on to www.onefc.com/livestream for the full replay of the fights at only US $9.99.

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 best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Championship™ has partnered with FOX and STAR Sports for an unprecedented 10-year cable television deal with a coverage that spans 70+ countries across the world.

MONTE CARLO, Monaco (January 28, 2015)- The mission of the World Mixed Martial Arts Association (WMMAA) is to continue growing as the world’s governing body for professional and amateur MMA. WMMAA has already granted more than 50 memberships worldwide in its less than four-year existence.

WMMAA SANCTIONED MEMBERS

Afghanistan, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Chinese Taipei, Columbia, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, FYR of Macedonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mexico, Moldova, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Netherland Antilles, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Paraguay, Poland, Romania, Russia, Senegal, South Korea, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Suriname, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan Venezuela
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“My personal vision for WMMAA is extremely optimistic,” WMMAA president Vadim Finkelchtein commented. “Short term, we plan to launch female divisions. Midterm, we
aim to sign agreements with institutions like WADA and other world agencies and unions. It’s really essential in order for MMA – and that’s our long term goal – to become recognized internationally, including by the Olympic Committee, and to become official in SportAccord as well as the Olympic Games.

“Three years ago, when we first started, I didn’t dream we would have achieved as much in such a short time span. As of today our association has close to 60 members. We are just gearing up and the interest towards WMMAA keeps growing exponentially. The level of competition evolves with each new championship under the WMMAA banner and participating teams keep getting stronger. The National Federations that are members of WMMAA are evolving as well. To date, we’ve held three World Championships, several World Cups, European and Asian Championships, and this year the Pan-Am Championship will follow.”

The WMMAA’s philosophy stresses respect, honor, loyalty, self-discipline, competition, safety and education, as opposed to strictly fighting, hurting or defeating an opponent. WMMAA has made tremendous strides around the world, particularly in 2015, and its future appears to be boundless.

“The WMMAA had a deeper impact in 2015, not only within the sport, but also the perception of what MMA really is in terms of it being a non-professional platform,” WMMAA Vice President Tomas Yu said. “For the past two years, we’ve been focused on structure, developing financial models through data mining, which have resulted in value proposition that proved to be transformational, setting the standard for how we would proceed. Once we set this agenda, everyone in our organization had a very clear focus.

“It’s important to note that our sport is not just a sport, it’s an art featuring mixed martial artists, not fighters. Trash talking and aggressive public behavior may get MMA on TMZ but, as far as role models are concerned, I’d much rather have somebody like Holly Holm than Ronda Rousey because of their contrasting personalities. Media, unfortunately, follows irrelevant gossip, instead of helping to drive an educated movement in MMA.”

Understanding the need to reach a global market, Yu introduced core business principals in a sport environment to drive organizational value, integrate athletes, provide a flexible showcase of talent, and much more. Yu also recognized the need for global leaders and he has aided in the development of the first Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs in Combat Sports Administration.

Through the initiative of Yu and Pan-American members, the WMMAA is the only organization to have a universal MMA officials’ database, yet, Yu has a tremendous challenge ahead in terms of common knowledge and perception of MMA in most countries. In many cases, the country’s Minister of Sport is reluctant to fund membership simply because it doesn’t consider MMA a sport due to its non-Olympic status.

First, Yu must approach the country’s Administrator of Sports with MMA updated data about why MMA is indeed a sport, even though it isn’t recognized by the Olympic Committee. In lieu of MMA not being an Olympic sport, the WMMAA does have its own version, The WMMAA World Championships. The next obstacle is gaining financial support, so he speaks with the Minister of Tourism about untapped potential revenue streams and economic growth resulting from fans, athletes, media and administrators who will be attending international events in his or her country.

“Fight week leading up to an event, for example, creates commerce,” added Yu, who is a New Mexico-based merchant banker. “We need to educate everyone in the industry that making money isn’t against our philosophy and MMA isn’t just about selling tickets and pay-per-view buys. MMA offers more opportunities to create corporate sponsors than any Olympic-sponsored sport.

“Unsanctioned MMA events in non-WMMAA member countries are clearly unsafe for its participants. I believe that official MMA sanctioning by a worldwide organization like the WMMAA has to be sold for its added values. What other sport teaches respect like MMA? Hurting people, other than to defend yourself, isn’t part of true MMA teachings.”

The WMMAA philosophy is working, though, based on its remarkable growth in such a relatively short time period. Last December in Prague, the 2015 WMMAA World Championships set records with 49 represented countries and nearly 200 athletes.

“We’ve (Yu is also President of the WMMAA Pan-American Division) more than doubled membership (North America, South American Central American and Caribbean) in the past year with seven official members and five more on the way. In 2016, we need to better educate people worldwide about MMA values, as we are what the WMMAA does and stands for. We’re not promoters; WMMAA is a sanctioning body. And equally important is to determine what is needed for the future of MMA, in addition to effectively achieve our goal to be the world’s official MMA governing body.”

Information

www.WMMAA.org
www.facebook.com/World.MMA.Association
www.youtube.com/user/TheWMMAA
CONTACT: Bob Trieger, Full Court PRESS, 1.978.590.0470, bobtfcp@hotmail.com @FightPublicist

ABOUT WMMAA: The goal of the World MMA Association is to provide unbiased structure and guardrail the growth of MMA as the official world governing body for Mixed Martial Arts. A non-profit organization founded in 2012, WMMAA is on a mission to develop a standardized and regulated organization, including competition, training, officiating, testing and growth when necessary. More than 50 countries have been granted WMMAA membership.