Las Vegas, Nevada – Two of the best strikers in the middleweight division collide at UFC® FIGHT NIGHT MACAO on Saturday, August 23, and fans around the world can catch the action live and on-demand on UFCFIGHTPASS.com, the UFC’s digital streaming service.

UFC veteran Michael “The Count” Bisping, 25-6, from Manchester, England, looks to regain his top five ranking when he throws down in the five-round main event with the uniquely talented former Strikeforce champion Cung Le, 9-2, fighting out of San Jose, California.

In the co-main event, the hard-hitting No. 4 ranked welterweight, Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley, 13-3 with wins over the likes of Carlos Condit, Josh Koscheck, Paul Daley and Tarec Saffiedine – faces off with No.9 ranked “Stun Gun”, Dong Hyun Kim, 19-2-1, who is riding four consecutive wins over the likes of John Hathaway and Erick Silva.

Before flying to Asia, Bisping and Le gave their thoughts on this crucial middleweight match-up.

BISPING SAYS HIS BACK IS AGAINST THE WALL
“This is a must-win fight for me. I have to prove to the UFC, I have to prove to the fans, and I have to prove to myself that I’m still an elite fighter who can go on, get some wins over contenders, and fight for the UFC title. My last fight against Tim Kennedy sucked – it was the worst performance of my life. Kennedy had a gameplan to hold me down and he executed that gameplan well. In hindsight, I should never have accepted a fight just seven weeks after getting cleared to return to the gym after my eye injury. Yes, I was anxious to get back in there and earn my first paycheck in over a year but, with hindsight, I needed several months in the gym getting rid of ringrust. Instead, I made a huge mistake in taking on a wrestler like Kennedy without putting the work in – and I paid for it.

“But I’ve never lost two in a row in my life, and I don’t plan to. I’ve been fighting high-level competition for the last six, seven years. But I don’t want to be one of the guys in the top 10, who wins a few and loses a few, I want to be No.1 and I want to fight for the UFC title.

“My back is against the wall in terms of making that happen. I need to win to prove that I’m not just some fighter with a name who is fighting here and there for paydays. My record over my last six fights is win one, lose one, win one, lose one, and that’s just not good enough for what I want to do in my career.”

BISPING ON LE AS A FIGHTER
“He’s got good power, he’s a great striker if he can keep it long (at a distance) but he’s got nothing against the cage. He’s got no stamina, either. But he’s very dangerous if you let him do what he does best.”

BISPING ON HIS AND LE’S MOTIVATION
“Listen, Cung Le is basically back in the UFC to boost his brand and remind everybody of his existence. He hasn’t fought in a couple of years, so I’m guessing his profile has dipped, he’s probably not getting too many embarrassing kung-fu movie offers right now and – probably worst of all for him – Channing Tatum has stopped retweeting him.

“I’m going to put a beating on him, and he can disappear again back to b-movies. I have to close the distance on him, because he needs space to generate power in those fancy kicks of his. He’s got nothing at close range; everything is at a distance for him. And, at 42, he’s got no gas in the tank. He’s got four minutes or so in him – then he’s absolutely knackered. This is a five round fight and he’s 42 years old and hasn’t fought in two years. He had no gas in his first UFC fight three years ago, so he’s not going to be in better shape now. I’m going to take this win, cement my place in the top 10, and then go about getting back to the top four before the end of the year.”

BISPING BELIEVES LE IS “A PHONY”
“Cung Le is a bit of a phony. I went to Macao for the launch press conference with Cung Le in June, and I was very polite, very professional. I exchanged all the pleasantries, gave him all the small talk as you are supposed to in these situations and I even went as far as pretending to be absolutely blown away that he’s apparently friends with Channing Tatum. Basically, I went out of my way to be nice to him and everything was very civil. We promoted the fight, shook hands, and went back home to train for the fight.

“Then I see him on UFC.com doing a Fight Club QandA and he’s talking a load of bollocks about me. Basically, he’s jumped on the same old, boring bandwagon everyone else who fights me does with is to say what a smack-talker I am while, as always, they are the ones who talk crap first. What a phony. If he had a problem with me then he could have spared me all the boring anecdotes about Channing Tatum.

“One fan at the QandA asked him what his gameplan was and he said “Flying tornado kicks and thunder and lightning!” What does he think we are going to be doing in the Venetian Macao? Playing Tekken 4? It was another cheesy, embarrassing line from a cheesy, embarrassing actor.”

LE ON BISPING’S JIBES
“I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, Mike, but I was replying to a fan question. That was the point of the Fight Club QandA, to give the fans the chance to ask questions of me. If Bisping is offended on that, well, that’s just him. He should get his facts straight, and focus on himself. I don’t promote myself by talking; I do my talking with my results in the Octagon. As for the movies, he’s done movies too, so I don’t understand what he’s trying to say with that.”

LE ON BISPING AS A FIGHTER
“I’d say his best attributes as a fighter are his cardio, he’s a good striker, he’s hard to submit… and he’s a great talker.”

LE ON MOTIVATION
“My film career isn’t what this is about, fighting in the UFC at the highest level is what I am interested in. I have competed in martial arts since I was 10 years old, 32 years of competition and most of it was competing just for the love of martial arts. I didn’t make money from competing all over the world in Shidokan or Wushu or any of the martial arts I practiced; I did it because I love martial arts.

“That’s the reason I am still doing this, because I love it. I’m not back to promote a movie, or to increase my brand or any of that stuff Bisping claims. I am back in the Octagon because that’s exactly what I want to do. I’ve been out for two years because of injury; I had three elbow surgeries that’s the only reason I have been out this last few years.

WHAT A WIN OVER BISPING DOES FOR LE
“Right now, I’m thinking of the Bisping fight as my championship fight in the UFC. It is a main event in an amazing venue, it is five rounds and will be seen around the world on UFCFIGHTPASS.com, and it’s against one of the most recognizable names in the UFC. I got to the UFC very late in my career, so this to me if my championship fight. This is on the same level as my fight for the Strikeforce belt against Frank Shamrock in 2008. That’s how I see it and that’s how I’ve prepared. I think beating Bisping in a main event matters, a lot of people will see the fight and the result will stand out on my career (record).”

LE ON WHAT HIS AGE MEANS, AND HIS FUTURE IN THE UFC
“I may be 42, but my mind and body tell me I can still do this.

“I’m 42, but after the elbow surgeries I’ve been able to train harder and better than I have in years. I used to have to train around my injury, which could be frustrating and would tire out other parts of my body faster. Now I can train the way I want to and I feel fitter than I have in years. And Bisping is 35, he’s not that much younger than me, and he’s taken more damage than I have.

“I’m going to continue to be a martial artist for the rest of my life. It isn’t what I do, it is who I am. I work-out all the time, whether I have a fight or not, in martial arts. It is getting harder to do the cardio and strength train, but I will compete in the UFC as long as I can, enjoy myself in MMA, and when that eventually ends I will still be a martial artist until the day I die.

LE ON FIGHTING IN ASIA
“I don’t care where I fight. I was prepared to go to his hometown in Manchester, England, to fight him when there was talk of that maybe happening last year. But, of course, fighting in Asia is an honor for me. If I can help the UFC gain new fans in a new market, then it is an honor.”

UFC FIGHT PASS is available now at UFCFIGHTPASS.com on personal computers, iPad, iPhone, Chromecast, Android, Samsung, LG Smart TV and Roku. Subscriptions are $9.99 month to month, $8.99 per month for six months or $7.99 per month for a one-year subscription.

All bouts live and subject to change. Visit UFC.com for more information.

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC®) is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Singapore and Sao Paulo, 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 129 countries and territories to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT™ (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, Octagon™ branded apparel, DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.

18 August 2014 – SINGAPORE: ONE Fighting Championship™ (ONE FC), Asia’s largest mixed martial arts organization with a 90% market share, has added two bouts to the card at ONE FC: RISE OF THE KINGDOM. The event is set to take place at the Koh Pich Theatre in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 12 September. Highly ranked lightweights Caros Fodor and Vuyisile Colossa are set to clash once again in a rematch, while top rated Singaporean star Radeem Rahman will take on Taiwanese mixed martial arts pioneer Sung Ming Yen and fellow Singaporean Amir Khan will face Malaysia’s Jian Kai Chee. Cambodian-Australian Suasday Chau has also been added to the card, and will clash with Arnaud Lepont in his ONE FC debut.

CEO of ONE Fighting Championship™ Victor Cui stated, “ONE FC: RISE OF THE KINGDOM is set to be the biggest sporting event to ever take place in ‘The Kingdom’! Fans in Cambodia and viewers watching all over the world can expect a night of adrenaline-pumping mixed martial arts action that will have you on the edge of your seat the entire night! This is a night that you will not want to miss!”

Tickets for ONE FC: RISE OF THE KINGDOM are on sale now at MyTV and Nagaworld. Ticket categories begin with the full red carpet and cage side experience for USD80. Tickets priced at USD50 and USD20 are also available.

Caros Fodor was one of the top lightweights in Strikeforce where he ran up an impressive record and was on course for a title shot. A Muay Thai champion and submission grappling champion, he has gone to battle with some of the best in the business and wants to introduce himself to fight fans in Cambodia with a spectacular performance. He bounced back from an earlier loss to Colossa by defeating Willy Ni in convincing fashion at ONE FC: HONOR & GLORY in May, and now gets an opportunity to avenge his only loss in ONE FC.

Vuyisile Colossa is one of the best stand-up fighters to ever compete in MMA and the fact that most of his wins have come by way of KO reflects his ultra-aggressive style. Colossa, who is based in Hong Kong, has devastating low kicks and brutal knees as numerous opponents have discovered to their cost. Colossa has won his last two bouts, including a victory over former ONE FC Lightweight World Champion Kotetsu Boku.

Radeem Rahman is the first Singaporean to compete inside the ONE FC cage. He emerged victorious in his ONE FC debut when he defeated Susovan Ghosh from India in ONE FC’s first event back in 2011. He was scheduled to compete in 2012 but had to withdraw due to injury. He made a successful return to the ONE FC cage by defeating Malaysia’s Raymond Tan in May this year, and will look to keep that winning streak going against Sung Ming Yen.

Sung Ming Yen is a Taiwanese mixed martial arts pioneer who has proven himself as one of the top mixed martial artists in the country. Sung is equally adept in both grappling and striking, and prides himself on his aggressive style. He defeated Singaporean Nicholas Lee in less than a minute in his ONE FC debut and will look to notch another victory over an opponent from Singapore when he takes on Radeem Rahman.

Suasday Chau is a Cambodian refugee who migrated to Australia when he was two. Now the owner of a gym in Adelaide, he will get to fulfil his dream of returning to Cambodia to compete as a mixed martial artist when he takes on Arnaud Lepont. Chau has deadly grappling skills and has won all four of his bouts via submission.

Arnaud Lepont is legendary for his charisma and crazy entrances and always goes looking for the KO right from the start of the fight. Lepont has outstanding striking and knockout power in both hands. He is eager to get back on track to a championship opportunity and the road to redemption begins with a battle against Suasday Chau.

Amir Khan is a Singaporean who has an undefeated amateur record competing in the United States. He is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blue belt under Relson Gracie, and also has competitive wrestling and Muay Thai experience. With more than seven years of competitive combat sports experience under his belt, Khan will now make his professional mixed martial arts debut opposite Malaysia’s Jian Kai Chee.

Jian Kai Chee is a striking expert from Malaysia who has won national championships in both Sanda and Muay Thai. He has also taken on some of the best in Asia in his eight mixed martial arts bouts, and has even won three bouts on the same night. After winning his last ONE FC bout, he will now get to welcome Amir Khan to ONE FC.

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

About ONE FC
With a 90%+ market share in Asia, ONE Fighting Championship is Asia’s largest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) organization. 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 Fighting 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.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (August 16, 2014) – Undefeated challenger Marcin “Tyber” Tybura (11-0-0) dethroned defending M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion
Damian “Polish Pitbul” Grabowski (19-2-0) by way of a first-round submission in last night’s main event on theM-1 Challenge 50: Battle of Neva anniversary show held outdoors in the open center area of St. Petersburg, Russia.

In the co-feature, Stephan Puetz (11-1-0) successfully defended his M-1 Challenge light heavyweight title by second-round submission against Luis Fernando “Hulk” Miranda (12-2-0).

In a battle of Polish heavyweights, Tybura (pictured above) needed only 1:28 to force a submission of his fellow countryman, Grabowski, by skillfully using a North-South choke.

Puetz (pictured above on right), fighting out of Germany, made his first title defense memorable, locking a rear naked choke hold on Brazilian challenger Miranda, who submitted at 4:31 of the second round.

In one of three Super Fights, Spanish welterweight Daniel “The Gladiator” Tabera (18-5-3) took a three-round split decision from previously unbeaten Ilya Doderkin (5-1-0), who was fighting at home in St. Petersburg.

Slovakian featherweight Ivan “Buki” Buchinger (27-4-0) won a three-round majority decision over Russian veteran Mikhail Malyutin (26-13-0).

Russian featherweight Nikita Chistyakov (2-1-0), also fighting at home, came out on top of a unanimous three-round decision versus Polish invader Kamil Maron (5-2-0).

Also fighting on the main card, German lightweight Saba Bolaghi (1-0-1) and another hometown favorite, Zulfikar Usmanov (6-3-1), battled to a two-round majority draw.

In Ros Stroilnvest Cup action, St. Petersburg’s Anton Telepnev (8-4-0) used a rear naked choke to defeat Kyrgyzstan’s Zhyrgalbek Emilbekov (0-1-0)in the semifinals, as well as Artem Glybchak (1-1-0) in the championship final, both by first-round submission. Glybchak had won a unanimous two-round decision over fellow Russian, Daniyar Ismailov (0-1-0) in their semifinal match.

Also fighting in preliminary bouts, Russian lightweight Marat Balaev (1-0-0) won his professional debut with a two-round unanimous decision over Spaniard Issac Alvarado (1-1-0), Adam Tsurov (1-0-0) used a rear naked choke to submit Stanislav Rogov in a fight featuring a pair of Russian welterweight making their pro debuts, and Russian middleweight Khabib Isaev (1-0-0) won his pro debut by second-round split decision over Dauren Ermekov (0-1-0), of Kazakhstan.

Complete results and photo gallery below:

M-1 Challenge Title Fights

MAIN EVENT – M-1 CHALLENGE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Marcin Tybura (11-0-0), Poland
WSUB1 (1:28 – north-south choke)
Damian Grabowski(19-2-0), Poland
(Tybura won M-1 Challenge heavyweight title)

CO-FEATURE – M-1 CHALLENGE LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Stephan Puetz(11-1-0), Germany
WSUB2 (4:31 – rear naked choke)
Luis Fernando Miranda(12-2-0), Brazil
(Puetz retained M-1 Challenge light heavyweight title)

M-1 Challenge Super Fights

WELTERWEIGHTS
Daniel Tabera(18-5-3), Spain
WSDEC3
Ilya Doderkin(5-1-0), Russia

FEATHERWEIGHTS
Ivan Buchinger(27-4-0), Slovakia
WMDEC3
Mikhail Malyutin (26-13-0), Russia

Nikita Chustyakov(2-1-0), Russia
WUDEC3
Kamil Maron (5-2-0), Poland

Undercard Fights

LIGHTWEIGHTS
Saba Bolaghi(1-0-1), Germany
SD2
Zulfikar Usmanov(6-3-1), Russia

Marat Balayev (1-0-0), Russia
WUDEC2
Issac Alvarado (1-1-0), Spain

WELTERWEIGHTS
Adam Tsurov (1-0-0), Inqushetia
WSUB1 (2:00 – rear naked choke)
Stanlslav Rogov (0-1-0), Russia

MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Khabib Isaev (1-0-0), Russia
WSDEC2
Dauren Ermekov (0-1-0), Kazakhstan

ROS STROILNVEST CUP

SEMIFINALS — LIGHTWEIGHTS
Artem Glybchak(1-0-0), Russia
WUDEC2
Daniyar Ismailov (0-1-0), Russia

Anton Telepnev (7-4-0), Russia
WSUB1 (rear naked choke)
Zhyrgalbek Emilbekov (0-2-0), Kyrgyzstan

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
Anton Telepnev (8-4-0), Russia
WSUB1 (2:47 – rear naked choke)
Artem Glybchak(1-1-0), Russia

Marcin Tybura attacks Damian Grabowski

M-1 Global promoter Vadim Finkelchtein raises the hands of new M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion Marcin Tybura

Rising star Stephan Puetz enters ring in style before his first M-1 Challenge
light heavyweight title defense

Stephan Puetz (R) stalks Luis Fernando Miranda

Kamil Maron throws Nikita Chistyakov

Mikhail Malyutin catches Ivan Buchinger

Issac Alvarado (L) and Vadim Russul

Daniel Tabera hears decision over Ilya Doderkin

Ros Stroilnvest Cup lightweight champion Anton Telepnev

Saba Bolaghi (l) is about to counter Zulfikar Usmanov

Adam Tsurov blocks Stanislav Rogov’s kick

Information

www.M-1Global.com

www.mixfight.ru

www.WMMAA.org

www.M1Global.tv

Instagram:

@M1Global

@VadimFinkelchteinM1

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/pages/M-1-Global/145250878842244

Information

www.M-1Global.com

www.mixfight.ru

www.WMMAA.org

www.M1Global.tv

Instagram:

@M1Global

@VadimFinkelchteinM1

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/pages/M-1-Global/145250878842244
ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL: Founded in 1997, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Los Angeles and affiliates in Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged more than 150 events worldwide, including the M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge and M-1 Global and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the Showtime network in the United States. 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 Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2014 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition with a full calendar of Challenge events fueled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global’s Champions amongst the greatest in the sport. M-1 Global’s greatest asset is renowned heavyweight fighter, Fedor Emelianenko.

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!

MAIN EVENT – M-1 CHALLENGE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP – 3 X 5
DAMIAN GRABOWSKI (19-1-0), Champion, Poland 247 LBS. (112.0 KG.)
MARCIN TYBURA (10-0-0), Challenger, Poland 245 LBS. (111.1 KG.)

(L-R) Damian Grabowski, M-1 Global promoter Vadim Finkelchtein and Marcin Tybura

CO-FEATURE – M-1 CHALLENGE LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP – 5 X 5
STEPHAN PUETZ (10-1-0), Champion, Germany 204 ¼ LBS. (92.7 KG.)
LUIS FERNANDO MIRANDA (12-1-0), Challenger, Brazil 201 ½ LBS.(91.4 KG.)

(L-R) Stephan Puetz, M-1 Global promoter Vadim Finkelchtein and Luis Fernando Miranda

SUPER FIGHT – FEATHERWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
IVAN BUCHINGER (26-4-0), Poland 144 ¾ LBS. (65.7 KG.)
MIKHAIL MALYUTIN (26-12-0), Russia 145 LBS. (65.8 KG.)

(L-R) Ivan Buchinger, M-1 Global promoter Vadim Finkelchtein and Mikhail Malyutin

SUPER FIGHT – WELTERWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
DANIEL TABERA (17-5-3), Spain 170 LBS. (77.1 KG.)
ILYA DODERKIN (5-0-0), Russia 169 ¾ LBS. (77.0 KG.)

(L-R) Daniel Tabera, M-1 Global promoter Vadin Finkelchtein and Ilya Doderkin

SUPER FIGHT – FEATHERWEIGHTS – 3 X 5
KAMIL MARON (5-1-0), Poland 144 ½ LBS. (65.5 KG.)
NIKITA CHISTYAKOV (1-1-0), Russia 144 ½ LBS. (65.5 KG.)

(L-R) Kamil Maron, M-1 Global promoter Vadim Finkelchtein and Nikita Chistyakov

LIGHTWEIGHTS – 2 X 5
SABA BOLAGHI (1-0-0), Germany 154 ½ LBS. (70.1 KG.)
ZULFIKAR USMANOV (6-3-0), Russia 154 ¼ LBS. (70.0 KG.)

PRELIMINARY CARD

LIGHTWEIGHTS – 2 X 5
MARAT BALAYEV (pro debut), Russia, 154 ¾ LBS. (70.2 KG.)
ISSAC ALVARADO (1-0-0), Spain 155 LBS. (70.3 KG.)

WELTERWEIGHTS – 2X 5
STANLSLAV ROGOV (pro debut), Russia 165 LBS. (74.9 KG.)
ADAM TSUROV (pro debut), Inqushetia 169 ½ LBS. (76.9 KG.)

MIDDLEWEIGHTS – 2 X 5
DAUREN ERMEKOV (pro debut), Kazakhstan 185 ¾ LBS. (84.3 KG.)
HABIB ISAEV (pro debut), Russia 184 ½ LBS. (83.7 KG.)

ROS STROILNVEST CUP SEMIFINALS – LIGHTWEIGHTS – 2 X 3
ARTEM GLYBCHAK (pro debut), Russia 154 ½ LBS. (70.0 KG.)
DANIYAR ISMAILOV (pro debut), Russia 152 ½ LBS. (69.2 KG.)

ROS STROILNVEST CUP SEMIFINALS – LIGHTWEIGHTS – 2 X 3
ANTON TELEPNEV (6-4-0), St. Petersburg, Russia 154 ½ LBS. (70.0 KG.)
JYRGAL EMILBEK (pro debut), Russia 154 LBS. (69.9 KG.)
_______________________________________________________________________

WHAT: M-1 Challenge 50: Battle on Neva

WHEN: Friday, August 15, 2014

WHERE: Mitninskaya enb 6, St. Petersburg, Russia

PROMOTER: M-1 Global

LIVE STREAM: WWW.M1GLOBAL.TV
Main Card Fights $1.00 USD, Preliminary fights free
Hi Definition, Bitrate Auto Selection, Broadcast Provider: OCTOSHAPE CDN, Software Solution (OTT PLATFORM): FUUGO TV (by Finnish company, Axel)

REGISTER NOW!
Main card starting time around the world:
Moscow 20:00, Rome 18:00, London 17:00, New York 12:00 and Tokyo 1:00

Information

www.M-1Global.com

www.mixfight.ru

www.WMMAA.org

www.M1Global.tv

Instagram:

@M1Global

@VadimFinkelchteinM1

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/pages/M-1-Global/145250878842244
ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL: Founded in 1997, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Los Angeles and affiliates in Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged more than 150 events worldwide, including the M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge and M-1 Global and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the Showtime network in the United States. 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 Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2014 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition with a full calendar of Challenge events fueled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global’s Champions amongst the greatest in the sport. M-1 Global’s greatest asset is renowned heavyweight fighter, Fedor Emelianenko.

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 (August 14, 2014) – Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 television channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, presents a live broadcast of Cage Warriors 70 from The Helix in Dublin, Ireland this Saturday, August 16, at 4 p.m. ET.

Fight Network’s live broadcast will air on Cablevision’s Optimum TV in the U.S., nationwide in Canada and internationally in over 30 countries across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

In the main event, rising French star Damien Lapilus (9-3-1, 1NC) will take on former Cage Warriors lightweight title challenger Joseph Duffy (10-1).

In other featured bouts, Irish favorite Philip Mulpeter (7-4) returns to welterweight for what’s set to be an explosive clash with heavy-hitting Englishman Jake Bostwick (15-8, 1NC), who searches for his ninth consecutive victory.

An All-Irish lightweight tussle will see Paul Redmond (9-4) lock horns with Greece’s Alexis “The Furious Kid” Savvidis (8-1) and following his two-fight stint with Bellator, Andrew Fisher (12-6-1) will make his Cage Warriors debut against Artem Lobov (9-10, 1NC). Plus, England’s Lloyd Clarkson (8-7) faces undefeated Irishman Karl Moore (4-0), while Romania’s Paul Marin (7-4) takes on Northern Irish prospect Andy Young (6-5).

The full fight card for Cage Warriors 70 is below:

Main Card (Live on Fight Network, 4 p.m. ET):
-Joseph Duffy vs. Damien Lapilus
-Jake Bostwick vs. Philip Mulpeter
-Paul Redmond vs. Alexis Savvidis
-Andrew Fisher vs. Artem Lobov
-Lloyd Clarkson vs. Karl Moore
-Paul Marin vs. Andy Young

Preliminary Card (Facebook, 2:45 p.m. ET):
-Konrad Iwanowski vs. Peter Queally
-Tommy McCafferty vs. Dean Reilly
-Louis Chapman vs. Ryan Roddy

Preliminary Card (Untelevised, 2 p.m. ET):
-Catherine Costigan vs. Noelia Molina
-Dean Garnett vs. Martin Sheridan

Duffy returns to mixed martial arts in his native Ireland for the first time since October 2011, having had a successful stint as a professional boxer in the meantime, during which he accumulated a 7-0 record.

The 26-year-old, who was a contestant on the twelfth season of The Ultimate Fighter, holds submission wins over current UFC stars Norman Parke and Conor McGregor.

“I can’t wait to put some new skills on show for one of the best promotions in the world, especially in front of a home crowd,” said Duffy. “It’s going to be a cracker.”
Lapilus will provide an extremely difficult challenge for Duffy, as the 25-year-old Frenchman aims to stretch his unbeaten run to six bouts.

With just one loss in his last ten outings – which came at the hands of unbeaten Finnish star Teemu Packalen – Lapilus has carved out a reputation as one of Europe’s top prospects, having competed on highly-regarded events in France, Belgium, Finland and Sweden.

The clash with Duffy will be the fourth fight of 2014 for Lapilus, who has already picked up wins over Zyad Abada and Jean Francois Darmazil, as well as a draw with Daguir Imavov, so far this year.
Lapilus said: “This will be a big challenge for me but I’m excited for it. Fighting on this event for Cage Warriors is a great opportunity which I’m really looking forward to.”

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

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (August 13, 2014) – This Friday’s M-1 Challenge 50: Battle on Nev in Russia features a pair of dangerous and skilled Polish heavyweights, M-1 Challenge champion Damian “Polish Pitbull” Grabowski (19-1-0, 6 KO/TKO, 6 SUB) and undefeated No. 1 contender Marcin “Tybur” Tybura (10-0-0, 4 KO/TKO, 4 SUB) in the newly elevated main event.

M-1 Challenge 50 will be streamed live in high definition on www.M1Global.TV, outdoors from the St. Petersburg city center open area. Viewers will be able to watch the preliminary fights for free and the main card for a limited offer of only $1.00 USD by logging on to register at www.M1Global.TV. Fans may watch all of the action on their computers, as well as on Andriod and Apple smart phones and tablets. (see more details below)

In the co-feature, M-1 Challenge light heavyweight champion Stephan Puetz (10-1-0, 4 KO/TKO, 3 SUB), of Germany, makes his first title defense against Brazilian challenger Luis Fernando “Hulk” Miranda (12-1-0, 4 KO/TKO, 7 SUB).

The 6′ 1″, 240-pound Grabowski (pictured above with M-1 Global CEO/Founder Vadim Finkelchtein) has won six consecutive fights, highlighted by his M-1 Challenge title-winning performance November 14, 2013 against Kenny Garner, who Grabowski put to sleep in the third round with a choke hold.

Tybura (pictured above in black) exploded onto the M-1 Challenge scene in 2013, punching his way to a first-round win by submission against Chaban Ka in the semifinals of the 2013 M-1 Grand Prix, followed by an impressive win in the tournament final versus dangerous Konstantin Gluhov, who was choked into a first-round submission. His Grand Prix championship earned the 6′ 3″, 240-pound Tybura a title shot against Grabowski, originally scheduled March 14 but postponed until August 14 due to a neck injury suffered by Grabowski. Rather than stay inactive waiting to fight Grabowski, Tybura fought the best available heavyweight, Marco Perak, and stopped the Croatian in the third round by technical knockout (punches).

“Damian is a great fighter,” Tybura said. “We know each other and I’ve supported his career. Now, my task is to stop him. I’m honored to fight him. The delay didn’t affect my preparation very much. The most difficult moment was when I found out that he was out of our fight. Luckily, I got another fight and I didn’t have to waste those preparations. I think I’m in better shape than for my last fight.

“I wouldn’t say it’s strange to be fighting a fellow Pole on an M-1 Global show, but it certainly is a big deal. I would have never thought that I would take part in this kind of fight, but I don’t mind that somebody thought this fight had to be made. It is difficult to predict what will happen and whatever plan arranged by my coach will stay a secret until the fight.”

Scheduled battle in Super Fights are Slovenian featherweight Ivan “Buki” Buchinger (26-4-0, 6 KO/TKO, 16 SUB) vs. Russian veteran Mikhail Malyutin (26-12-0, 5 KO/TKO, 8 SUB), Spanish welterweight Daniel “The Gladiator” Tabera (17-5-3, 4 KO/TKO, 6 SUB) vs. unbeaten Russian prospect Ilya Doderkin (5-0-0, 5 SUB), and Polish featherweight Kamil Maron (5-1-0, 0 KO/SUB, 2 SUB) vs. Russia’s Nikita Chistyakov (1-1-0, 1 SUB). Also fighting on the man card is German lightweight Saba Bolaghi (1-0-0, 1 SUB) vs. Russia’s Zulfikar Usmanov 6-3-0, 1 KO/TKO, 4 SUB).

Fighting on the preliminary card is Donetsk lightweight Vadim Russul (6-2-0, 1 KO/TKO/5 SUB) vs. Spain’s Issac Alvaro Barrios Perez (1-0-0 (1 KO/TKO, 0 SUB), pro-debuting welterweights Stanislav Rogov, of Russia, vs. Adam Tsurov, of the Republic of Inqushetia, and Kazakhstan middleweight Dauren Ermekov vs. Khabib Isaev, of Russian, in their professional debuts.

Four Russian lightweights will compete in the semifinals of the Ros Stroilnvest Cup – Marat Balaev (pro debut) vs. Artem Glybchak (pro debut) and Anton Telepnev (6-4-0, 1 KO/TKO. 2 SUB) vs. Artur Gadzhiev – with the two winners facing off later in the card in the championship final.

All fights and fighters are subject to change.

The M-1 Challenge series has traditionally introduced a new wave of potential MMA stars, showcasing elite athletes from Russia and across Europe. M-1 Global is the No. 1 European MMA organization, as well as one of the oldest in the world, dating back to 1998. Superstar Fedor Emelianenko, considered by many to be the greatest fighter in MMA history, has been the face of M-1 Global around the combat sports world for the past decade.

Information

www.M-1Global.com

www.mixfight.ru

www.WMMAA.org

www.M1Global.tv

Instagram:

@M1Global

@VadimFinkelchteinM1

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/pages/M-1-Global/145250878842244
ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL: Founded in 1997, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Los Angeles and affiliates in Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged more than 150 events worldwide, including the M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge and M-1 Global and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the Showtime network in the United States. 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 Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2014 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition with a full calendar of Challenge events fueled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global’s Champions amongst the greatest in the sport. M-1 Global’s greatest asset is renowned heavyweight fighter, Fedor Emelianenko.

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 – UFC® officials announced today that UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones suffered a leg injury while training for his bout against No. 2 contender Daniel Cormier, forcing the postponement of the title fight. Jones will now battle bitter rival Cormier in their highly anticipated title showdown on Saturday, Jan. 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

With Jones injured, UFC 178 will now be headlined by the UFC flyweight title bout between champion Demetrious Johnson and surging contender Chris Cariaso. The Johnson-Cariaso bout moves from its originally scheduled date of Saturday, Aug. 30 in Sacramento to Saturday, Sept. 27 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 178 also features Conor McGregor taking on Dustin Poirier in a can’t-miss featherweight bout. Other key bouts include Cat Zingano vs. Amanda Nunes in a pivotal women’s bantamweight title contender bout, Tim Kennedy vs. Yoel Romero in a middleweight clash, and former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz returning from an extended absence to battle Japanese star Takeya Mizugaki. More information on UFC 178, including additional bouts, will be announced in the days to come.

Due to the UFC 178 main event change, refunds for the Sept. 27 card will be given upon request at point of sale only. Deadline for refunds will be August 22.

Tickets for UFC® 178: JOHNSON vs. CARIASO, presented by MetroPCS, are on sale now and priced at $800, $600, $400, $250, $125 and $75 (prices do not include applicable service charges). Tickets are available for purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (800) 745-3000 and will be available at the MGM Grand Garden Arena box office. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person.

UFC® 178: JOHNSON vs. CARIASO will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High -Definition.

All bouts live, subject to change, and subject to approval by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC®) is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Singapore and Sao Paulo, 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 129 countries and territories to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT™ (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, Octagon™ branded apparel, DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (August XX, 2014) – German mixed-martial arts rising star, Stephan Puetz (10-1-0, 4 KO/TKO, 3 SUB), hopes to duplicate his country’s success against Brazil in the recent FIFA World Cup on August 15, when he defends his M-1 Challenge light heavyweight title for the first time against Brazilian challenger Luis Fernando “Hulk” Miranda (12-1-0, 4 KO/TKO, 7 SUB) in M-1 Challenge 50’s co-feature event.

M-1 Challenge light heavyweight champion Stephan Puetz

M-1 Challenge 50: Battle on Neva will be streamed live in high definition on www.M1Global.TV, outdoors from the St. Petersburg city center open area. Viewers will be able to watch the preliminary fights for free and the main card for a limited offer of only $1.00 USD by logging on to register at www.M1Global.TV. Fans may watch all of the action on their computers, as well as on Andriod and Apple smart phones and tablets. (see more details below)

Stephan Puetz (R) and Viktor Nemkov

Puetz was originally scheduled to make his first title defense in a rematch against the previous champion he defeated last March in their M-1 Challenge 46 championship fight, Viktor Nemkov, who suffered torn ligaments in his hand during training camp that, unfortunately, forced him to pull out of celebrated M-1 Challenge 50 anniversary show and be sidelined for several months.

Nemkov’s replacement is equally worthy challenger Miranda, a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, in addition to being the Monster Black Combat and King of Combat champion back home in Brazil.

Germany shocked Brazil, 7-1, in the semifinals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, en route to becoming the world soccer/football champion with a 1-0 triumph over Argentina in the championship final match.

Stephan Puetz

“Football and martial arts are totally different sports,” Puetz noted, “but I would love to score some goals against Miranda, too. I will try to beat Miranda with all of my skills and power in order to stay M-1 champion. This has nothing to do with nationalities, though. The World Cup semifinals was a bad crushing and something unheard of before. Let’s put it like this: I will try to be as dominant as the German National Team has been.”

M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion Damian “Polish Pitbull” Grabowski (19-1-0, 6 KO/TKO, 6 SUB) takes on fellow Pole, undefeated No. 1 contender Marcin “Tybur” Tybura (10-0-0, 4 KO/TKO, 4 SUB), in the newly elevated main event.

Also scheduled to fight on main card are Slovenian featherweight Ivan “Buki” Buchinger (26-4-0, 6 KO/TKO, 16 SUB) vs. Russian veteran Mikhail Malyutin (26-12-0, 5 KO/TKO, 8 SUB), Spanish welterweight Daniel “The Gladiator” Tabera (17-5-3, 4 KO/TKO, 6 SUB) vs. unbeaten Russian prospect Ilya Doderkin (5-0-0, 5 SUB), Germany’s Saba Bolaghi (1-0-0, 1 SUB) vs. Russian lightweight Zulfikar Usmanov 6-3-0, 1 KO/TKO, 4 SUB), Polish featherweight Kamil Maron (5-1-0, 0 KO/SUB, 2 SUB) vs. Russia’s Nikita Chistyakov (1-1-0, 1 SUB), and pro-debuting middleweights Khabib Isaev, of Russia, and Dauren Ermekov, of Kazakhstan.

On the preliminary card in the RosStroilnvest Cup lightweight semifinal matches are Russian prospects Radzhi Aliev (2-2-0, 1 KO/TKO, 0 SUB) vs. Anton Telepnev (6-4-0, 1 KO/TKO), and Artem Glybchak vs. Marat Balaev making their respective professional debuts.

All fights and fighters are subject to change.

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Main card starting time around the world:
Moscow 20:30, Rome 18:30, London 17:30, New York 12:30 and Tokyo 1:30

The M-1 Challenge series has traditionally introduced a new wave of potential MMA stars, showcasing elite athletes from Russia and across Europe. M-1 Global is the No. 1 European MMA organization, as well as one of the oldest in the world, dating back to 1998. Superstar Fedor Emelianenko, considered by many to be the greatest fighter in MMA history, has been the face of M-1 Global around the combat sports world for the past decade.

LAS VEGAS – (Aug. 9) – Peru’s top mixed-martial-artist may soon find himself fighting for a World Series of Fighting title, as Luis Palomino (23-9) scored a devastating first-round knockout win of a previously undefeated Lewis Gonzalez (9-1).

Palomino was looking to trade bombs from the start, and he defended his opponent’s takedowns while using foot sweeps to keep him off-balance and delivering crisp punches in combinations. Gonzalez did briefly work the fight to the floor, but Palomino worked immediately back to his feet and resumed the assault.

The attacks opened a cut on Gonzalez’s head, and as blood streamed down his face, Palomino again swept his legs before throwing a high kick that saw the knee land flush. Gonzalez crumpled to the canvas, and Palomino landed two more punches before referee Herb Dean could call of the fight with 18 seconds left in the first round.

“I’m a natural-born striker,” Palomino said. “I love knocking people out. I feel like that’s something I had over him. And the experience factor.”

Palomino added: “The kid has a bright future. His strength is his wrestling and he really believes in the wrestling; that’s how he’s won most of his fights. So whether he’s feeling good or if he’s feeling under pressure, he’s always looking for the takedown. So I just had to wait, time it right and clip him.”

In the night’s co-feature, Brazilian wrestling standout Ronny Markes (15-3) grinded out a win over Cully Butterfield (13-4), scoring a unanimous-decision victory in a grappling heavy affair.

Markes came close to finishing the fight on a few occasions, nearly securing a rear-naked choke in the first round and ending the second round by punching away from back mount, but Butterfield simply refused to go away. Still, Markes was always in control of the moderately paced affair, and the action seemed more one-sided than the three 29-28 scored indicated.

In 195-pound catchweight action, Elvis Mutapcic (14-3) proved to be just a little too much for an impressive Kelvin Tiller (6-1), outwrestling his opponent en route to a unanimous-decision win.

The two had brief clashes of strikes on the feet, but Mutapcic found his most dominant opportunity against a creative opponent was to put him on his back. Mutapcic did exactly that, and Tiller simply couldn’t get back to his feet. At the final bell, it was clear Mutpacic had done enough to win, and was awarded the victory with scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

Afterward, Mutapcic admitted he was happy with the win but was disappointed with the process.

“I’m usually a finisher, but I’m trying to expand my game, so it was good to get some experience on the ground tonight,” Mutapcic said. “I’ll have to watch the fight and see what I need to improve on. I think I should have moved more. I was a little flat-footed.”

In an important bantamweight matchup, Brandon Hempleman (10-2) shut down the vaunted wrestling of Olympic medalist Alexis Vila (14-5) and kickboxed his way to a unanimous-decision win.

Vila was a game competitor from start to finish, but Hempleman matched his speed on the feet and was often quicker on the trigger with his punches and kicks. Vila was aggressive until the end, but Hempleman was just a touch better and was awarded the decision win with scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27.

“I thought I won the fight,” Hempleman said after the win. “I had the better shots. He’s a little bit shorter than me so I had to watch my reach, but he hit hard. He didn’t feel small.”

In the night’s first main-card contest, bantamweight prospect Matt Sayles (3-0) earned an impressive decision win over Bryson Hansen (7-2), battling back after nearly being finished in the opening round.

It was a Hansen left that sent his opponent crashing to the floor, but Sayles crawled back up, survived the following onslaught and then took over for the rest of the fight. Sayles showed incredible movement and angles as he picked apart his powerful opponent, rifling in right hands from all angles and racking up points. At the end of 15 minutes, Sayles was awarded the come-from-behind win, 29-28 on all three judges’ cards.

“I just survived it at the start,” Sayles said after the win. “I just survived. I knew I had to get back up and could win the fight.”

In the night’s final preliminary bout, Lucas Montoya (7-3) picked up a thrilling win over Jimmy Spicuzza (5-2), stopping his opponent with a rapid-fire barrage of strikes at the 4:11 mark of the first round.

Montoya’s jab was crisp from the beginning of the fight, and he busted up Spicuzza’s nose in the early going. A gritty Spicuzza battled back, throwing quick combinations as he looked to stage a comeback. Just when it looked like things were going his way, Montoya clipped him again and then fired non-stop punches until Spicuzza hit the floor and referee Kim Winslow waved off the fight.

Las Vegas-based welterweights Danny Davis Jr. (10-8-1) and Jorge Lopez (11-5) turned in an early thriller, as the two went back and forth on the feet for three full rounds. In the end, it was Davis Jr. who was awarded the unanimous-decision win.

The longer Davis Jr. tried unsuccessfully to bring the fight to the floor a handful of times and was forced instead to compete in the feet. That suited him just fine, as he danced and moved and worked long punches while also firing kicks to the body. Meanwhile, Lopez relied on more on power shots with his hands, and while he landed his fair share of big blows, he was never able to truly hurt his foe. That allowed Davis to rack up points, and he was awarded a unanimous-decision victory, 29-28 on all three cards.

In a back-and-forth bantamweight affair, Adam Acquaviva (2-1) earned a hard-fought split-decision win over a game Cody Maltais (2-1).

Maltais looked frequently to bring the fight to the floor, but Acquaviva defended each advance and remained on the feet. Forced to fight his opponent’s game, Maltais obliged by standing and trading in the pocket, but was Acquaviva’s accuracy that earned him the nod in a razor-thin decision

In the night’s first contest, featherweight prospect Bryson Gutches (3-0) kept his perfect career record intact with a second-round submission win over fellow Las Vegas resident Soslan Abanokov (4-2).

The two went back and forth in the grappling game in the opening frame, but when Gutches worked quickly to mount in the second, Abanokov turned and exposed his back. Gutches happily latched on and worked in a rear-naked choke, scoring a tapout win 67 seconds into the frame.

Ring card girls: Kat Kelley, Michelle Ulibarri, Emily Miller, Jessica Sutton and Janey B.
Dan Severn, Ray Sefo, Bas Rutten and Renzo Gracie.

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. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

About NBC Sports Network
NBC Sports Network, part of the NBC Sports Group, is dedicated to serving passionate sports fans. Now in more than 80 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics, National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France and the 34th America’s Cup, and beginning in 2013, the Premier League and Formula One. In addition, NBC Sports Network features college football, college basketball, college hockey, outdoor programming, horse racing surrounding the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, Fight Night boxing, Ironman, the Dew Action Sports Tour and USA Sevens Rugby. The network is also home to original programs such as Costas Tonight, The Crossover, NFL Turning Point, Pro Football Talk and The Dan Patrick Show. NBC Sports Network is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

About Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas’ off-strip playground, just minutes and less than three miles from McCarran International Airport. The premier destination entertainment resort is owned by Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund II and managed by WG-Harmon, LLC, a subsidiary of Warner Gaming, LLC. Built in 1995, the property completed a $750 million expansion in 2010. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino offers an energetic entertainment and gaming experience with the services and amenities associated with a boutique luxury resort hotel. The property is known for its innovative nightlife and music scene where acts such as The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Incubus, Foo Fighters, Carlos Santana, Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses have all performed. Features of the property include an 11-story Casino Tower with 640 guest rooms, 17-story Paradise Tower with 490 rooms and suites and the all-suite HRH Tower with 359 suites, eight spa villas and seven penthouse suites; 72,000 square feet of casino space featuring Peacock High-Limit gaming and Asian gaming amenities; 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention space; more than $4 million in rare music memorabilia; Body English Nightclub; Reliquary Water Sanctuary, Spa & Salon; 4.5 acres of tropical pool paradise housing world-famous pool parties REHAB Sunday and RELAX Monday; live music/entertainment venues The Joint and Vinyl; Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.; restaurants Culinary Dropout, Nobu, The Ainsworth, 35 Steaks + Martinis, Pink Taco, Mr. Lucky’s Café and ?Fú; a state-of-the-art fitness center and trendsetting retailers John Varvatos, Affliction, Love Jones, Rocks The Jewelers and Rock Paper Photo. For room availability and additional information call 800.HRD.ROCK (800.473.7625) or visit hardrockhotel.com. Follow Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagramfor the latest news and updates.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Aug. 8th, 2014) – Julian Lane appears to have found a second home in the heart of the northeast.

Fighting in front of a nationwide audience on AXS TV, Lane (8-3-1) choked out Providence’s Luis Felix (11-8), putting him to the sleep face-first on the canvas, via the guillotine to capture the vacant CES MMA Lightweight Title in the third round of the scheduled five-round main event of “CES MMA XXV” at Twin River Casino.

Felix and Lane were supposed to fight in June, but Felix withdrew the week of the fight due to a rib injury. Bad blood between the two developed when Lane accused Felix of faking the injury so he could instead watch Lane fight Philadelphia’s Gemiyale Adkins that same night at Twin River.

Lane promised to “knock his head off” and nearly delivered, catching Felix with a right hook to the chin late in the third and subsequently locking in the guillotine, choking Felix unconscious with just four seconds remaining in the round. Lane, a Mansfield, Ohio, native more commonly known for his brief stint on The Ultimate Fighter, has now won three consecutive fights, including the last two in Rhode Island.

Felix came out strong, trading blows with Lane in the opening round and nearly catching him in a rear-naked choke in the closing seconds. Lane survived and turned the tables in the second, locking Felix in a similar hold just seconds before the bell rang.

“CES MMA XXV,” which aired live on AXS TV, also featured an impressive win by Brazilian Gil de Freitas and Adkins, who returned to defeat the previously unbeaten Nate Andrews.

Having lost three consecutive bouts and six of his last seven entering Friday, Philadelphia lightweight Adkins (9-8) recorded what might’ve been the biggest win of his career on the televised main card, defeating Andrews (6-1), the East Providence, R.I., native, by unanimously decision, 29-28, on all three scorecards.

Andrews used his height and reach advantage to control the opening round against the 5-foot-10 Adkins, but couldn’t finish him despite several attempts at a rear-naked choke. Adkins survived the opening round and used his strength and ability to fight on the inside to gain control of the fight. Both fighters exchanged submission attempts throughout the final 10 minutes of the bout, surviving each time and inevitably rising to their feet to bring the action back to the center of the cage.

Andrews continued to use his reach, but Adkins never buckled and used his ground game to win rounds two and three and snap Andrews’ six-fight win streak. Andrews’ inability to finish on several attempts kept Adkins in the fight; the Philadelphia slugger looked fresh down the stretch while Andrews appeared winded, particularly in the final round. Friday marked Adkins’ first win since he beat Adam Penberthy in 2013.

Arguably the best-kept secret in the northeast, the heavy-hitting de Freitas (17-5, 6 KOs) earned yet another explosive victory, knocking out crafty lightweight George Sheppard (15-9) of Richmond, Va., with a right hook to the chin in the closing seconds of the second round. Sheppard managed to survive a series of right hands toward the end of the opening round and even managed to land some effective blows of his own in the second, but de Freitas eventually caught him trying to backpedal and sent him crashing to the canvas at the 4:52 mark, prompting referee Dan Miragliotta to stop the bout.

The heavy-handed de Freitas, who trains out of Ludlow, Mass., has now won four consecutive bouts, among them an equally explosive win over former UFC vet Chuck O’Neil in August of 2013.

Japanese bantamweight Tateki Matsuda (10-5) won his second consecutive fight in the opening bout of the televised main card, submitting the tough Robbie Leroux (5-5) of Fall River, Mass., in the closing seconds of the opening round. Matsuda, who fights out of Boston-based Sityodtong, softened Leroux with effective ground and pound toward the end of the round and earned the victory at the 4:53 mark with a rear-naked choke. Leroux dislocated his right shoulder in the process and immediately tapped out.

Also on the main card, Amsterdam, N.Y., middleweight Harley Beekman (6-2), ranked No. 2 in the northeast, narrowly defeated top-ranked Chip Moraza-Pollard (8-7) of Plymouth, Mass., by split decision, 29-28, 28-29, 29-28. Known primarily for his striking ability, Pollard never found his rhythm as Beekman scored early and often with aggressive takedowns to keep Pollard from letting his hands go.

The loss for Pollard comes just five months after a critical win over Tom Egan in March. Beekman will more than likely rise to No. 1 in the northeast when the updated rankings are announced.

Unbeaten featherweight prospect Charles Rosa (9-0) of Coconut Creek, Fla. (Peabody, Mass.) kept his perfect record intact, submitting Jake Constant (5-5) of Springfield, Ill., via arm bar 3:36 into the opening round.

On the preliminary card, Providence middleweight Eric Spicely (5-0, 2 KOs) remained unbeaten with an impressive win over 37-fight veteran Nuri Shakur (17-21) of Nashua, N.H. Spicely earned the stoppage at the 1:34 mark of the opening round, bludgeoning Shakur with a series of unanswered lefts, rights and short elbows, forcing referee Kevin MacDonald to stop the bout.

Welterweight Wayne Ahlquist (1-0, 1 KO) of Nashua, N.H., debuted in spectacular fashion, making quick work of Tommy Venticinque (1-2) of Warwick, R.I., with a lethal kick to the liver just 29 seconds into the opening round. Ahlquist also won his final two amateur bouts in 2013 before turning pro Friday.

Bellingham, Mass., flyweight Billy Giovanella (6-3) won his second consecutive bout Friday, defeating a game Kody Nordby (3-3) of Woonsocket, R.I., by triangle choke submission at the 3:05 mark of the second round. Giovanella has now won both of his fights in 2014 since losing three in a row last year.

Northboro, Mass., lightweight Jay Bakanowski (2-1, 1 KO) defeated Providence’s Keenan Raymond (2-1) in bizarre fashion in the opening bout, earning the win when Raymond suffered a left ankle injury falling off his own stool in between the first and second round. Raymond could not put pressure on his foot and was forced to quit before the start of the second round. For Bakanowski, it was his first win in his first fight since October of 2012.

LAS VEGAS – (Aug. 8) – “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” fighters weighed in a day before the highly anticipated night of fights, headlined by a lightweight main event between hard-hitting Peruvian veteran Luis Palomino (22-9) and undefeated Californian wrestling champion Lewis Gonzalez (9-0). The Saturday five-fight main card airs live on NBCSN at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT local time) and all international viewers will be able to watch the entire card on NBCSports.com or WSOF.com.

Tickets for “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” start at just $39 and are on sale now at AXS.com.

The complete “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” weights and photos follow:

NBCSN-televised and NBCSports.com-streamed card:

Luis Palomino (155 lbs.) vs. Lewis Gonzalez (155.4 lbs.)

Ronny Markes (206 lbs.) vs. Cully Butterfield (205.4 lbs.)

Elvis Mutapcic (195.4 lbs.) vs. Kelvin Tiller (195.8 lbs.)
Alexis Vila (134.6 lbs.) vs. Brandon Hempleman (136 lbs.)

Bryson Hansen (135.0 lbs.) vs. Matt Sayles (135.4 lbs.)

NBCSports.com live stream Undercard:

Jimmy Spicuzza (154.4 lbs.) vs. Lucas Montoya (156 lbs.)
Danny Davis Jr. (169.8 lbs.) vs. Jorge Lopez (171 lbs.)

Adam Acquaviva (135.6 lbs.) vs. Cody Maltais (135.8 lbs.)
Bryson Gutches (146 lbs.) vs. Soslan Abanokov (146 lbs.)
WSOF Ring Card girls: Kat Kelley, Emily Miller, Jessica Sutton and Michelle Ulibarri

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. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

About NBC Sports Network
NBC Sports Network, part of the NBC Sports Group, is dedicated to serving passionate sports fans. Now in more than 80 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics, National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France and the 34th America’s Cup, and beginning in 2013, the Premier League and Formula One. In addition, NBC Sports Network features college football, college basketball, college hockey, outdoor programming, horse racing surrounding the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, Fight Night boxing, Ironman, the Dew Action Sports Tour and USA Sevens Rugby. The network is also home to original programs such as Costas Tonight, The Crossover, NFL Turning Point, Pro Football Talk and The Dan Patrick Show. NBC Sports Network is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

About Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas’ off-strip playground, just minutes and less than three miles from McCarran International Airport. The premier destination entertainment resort is owned by Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund II and managed by WG-Harmon, LLC, a subsidiary of Warner Gaming, LLC. Built in 1995, the property completed a $750 million expansion in 2010. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino offers an energetic entertainment and gaming experience with the services and amenities associated with a boutique luxury resort hotel. The property is known for its innovative nightlife and music scene where acts such as The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Incubus, Foo Fighters, Carlos Santana, Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses have all performed. Features of the property include an 11-story Casino Tower with 640 guest rooms, 17-story Paradise Tower with 490 rooms and suites and the all-suite HRH Tower with 359 suites, eight spa villas and seven penthouse suites; 72,000 square feet of casino space featuring Peacock High-Limit gaming and Asian gaming amenities; 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention space; more than $4 million in rare music memorabilia; Body English Nightclub; Reliquary Water Sanctuary, Spa & Salon; 4.5 acres of tropical pool paradise housing world-famous pool parties REHAB Sunday and RELAX Monday; live music/entertainment venues The Joint and Vinyl; Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.; restaurants Culinary Dropout, Nobu, The Ainsworth, 35 Steaks + Martinis, Pink Taco, Mr. Lucky’s Café and ?Fú; a state-of-the-art fitness center and trendsetting retailers John Varvatos, Affliction, Love Jones, Rocks The Jewelers and Rock Paper Photo. For room availability and additional information call 800.HRD.ROCK (800.473.7625) or visit hardrockhotel.com. Follow Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagramfor the latest news and updates.

LINCOLN, R.I. (Aug. 7th, 2014) – Listed below are the final weights for all of the participants for “CES MMA XXV,” live mixed martial arts scheduled for Friday, Aug. 8th, 2014 live on AXS TV from Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I. The first bout is scheduled for 7 p.m.

JULIAN LANE
Mansfield, Ohio
7-3-1, 1 KO
155

LUIS FELIX
Providence, R.I.
11-7, 4 KOs
155

GEORGE SHEPPARD
Richmond, Va.
15-8, 9 KOs
162

GIL DE FREITAS
Sao Paulo, Brazil (Ludlow, Mass.)
16-5, 5 KOs
162 ½

JAKE CONSTANT
Springfield, Ill.
5-4, 2 KOs
149

CHARLES ROSA
Coconut Creek, Fla.
8-0, 3 KOs
146

HARLEY BEEKMAN
Amsterdam, N.Y.
5-2, 3 KOs
185

CHIP MORAZA-POLLARD
Plymouth, Mass.
8-6, 3 KOs
185

GEMIYALE ADKINS
Philadelphia, Pa.
8-8, 3 KOs
165

NATE ANDREWS
East Providence, R.I.
6-0, 3 KOs
165

ROBBIE LEROUX
Fall River, Mass.
5-4, 2 KOs
139

TATEKI MATSUDA
Boston, Mass. (Tokyo, Japan)
9-5, 3 KOs
136

NURI SHAKIR
Nashua, N.H.
17-20, 8 KOs
186

ERIC SPICELY
Providence, R.I.
4-0, 1 KO
185

BILLY GIOVANELLA
Bellingham, Mass.
5-1, 2 KOs
131

KODY NORDBY
Woonsocket, R.I.
3-2
130

WAYNE AHLQUIST
Nashua, N.H.
Pro debut
169

TOMMY VENTICINQUE
Warwick, R.I.
2-0
170

JAY BAKANOWSKI
Northboro, Mass.
1-1
160

KEENAN RAYMOND
Providence, R.I.
2-0
160

Las Vegas, Nevada – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® has confirmed that top 15 welterweight contenders Gunnar Nelson and Rick Story will collide in the five round main event of UFC FIGHT NIGHT STOCKHOLM on October 4. The entire card will stream live and on-demand on UFCFIGHTPASS.com, the UFC’s digital streaming service, to subscribers in 167 countries and counting.

The main event pits Iceland’s No.12 ranked Gunnar Nelson, 14-0-1 in MMA and 4-0 in the UFC, against No.15 ranked American Rick “The Horror” Story, a five-year UFC veteran who’s 14-8 MMA record includes a 2010 victory of reigning UFC champion Johny Hendricks.

Nelson said: “To headline a card in Sweden is huge for me. They love my kind of style of fighting and I am of course Scandinavian so we have a good connection. I am honored to fight in Sweden and to headline this card.

“Rick Story has fought many of the best fighters. He beat the current champion in Johny Hendricks, he is very experienced and is a very good wrestler. He is a tough opponent and I am happy to be fighting him. Now I will head straight into training. I plan to go to Las Vegas to train with Conor McGregor and to help him prepare for his fight, and then I will most likely go to Sweden from there.”

Story said: “Oh man this is a really exciting match up! Stylistically it’s going to be great because Gunnar is a grappler and an attacker, when it comes to fighting you can’t ask for more than someone who comes at you. As soon as I found out I started to watch his fights on UFC FIGHT PASS.

“I have fought in Germany before but it will be my first time in Stockholm so I am looking forward to seeing the city. My schedule now will be to pack up, leave Vancouver, Washington where I am at the moment and head down to Arizona to the MMA Lab to start training. I’m really excited for this fight.”

LAS VEGAS – (August 5) – “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” Features a key lightweight matchup between hard-hitting Peruvian veteran Luis Palomino (22-9) and undefeated Californian wrestling champion Lewis Gonzalez (9-0). The evening’s five-fight main card airs live on NBCSN at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT local time) and all international viewers will be able to watch the entire card on NBCSports.com or WSOF.com.

Tickets for “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” start at just $39 and are on sale now at AXS.com.

“We are always expanding our international reach, and are proud to already be on television networks in more than 80 countries around the world,” World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. “Starting now, regardless of whether or not you have access to a television set, international fans be able to watch our fights live on the Internet. This is something we are very proud of, and we’ve taken steps to streamline the process and make it easy for our fans to view.”

The complete “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” lineup includes:

(NBCSN-televised and NBCSports.com-streamed card)

Luis Palomino vs. Lewis Gonzalez

Cully Butterfield vs. Ronny Markes

Elvis Mutapcic vs. Kelvin Tiller

Brandon Hempleman vs. Alexis Vila

Bryson Hansen vs. Matt Sayles

(NBCSports.com live stream)

Lucas Montoya vs. Jimmy Spicuzza

Danny Davis Jr. vs. Jorge Lopez

Adam Acquaviva vs. Cody Maltais

Soslan Abanokov vs. Bryson Gutches

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. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

About NBC Sports Network

NBC Sports Network, part of the NBC Sports Group, is dedicated to serving passionate sports fans. Now in more than 80 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics, National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France and the 34th America’s Cup, and beginning in 2013, the Premier League and Formula One. In addition, NBC Sports Network features college football, college basketball, college hockey, outdoor programming, horse racing surrounding the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, Fight Night boxing, Ironman, the Dew Action Sports Tour and USA Sevens Rugby. The network is also home to original programs such as Costas Tonight, The Crossover, NFL Turning Point, Pro Football Talk and The Dan Patrick Show. NBC Sports Network is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

About Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas’ off-strip playground, just minutes and less than three miles from McCarran International Airport. The premier destination entertainment resort is owned by Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund II and managed by WG-Harmon, LLC, a subsidiary of Warner Gaming, LLC. Built in 1995, the property completed a $750 million expansion in 2010. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino offers an energetic entertainment and gaming experience with the services and amenities associated with a boutique luxury resort hotel. The property is known for its innovative nightlife and music scene where acts such as The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Incubus, Foo Fighters, Carlos Santana, Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses have all performed. Features of the property include an 11-story Casino Tower with 640 guest rooms, 17-story Paradise Tower with 490 rooms and suites and the all-suite HRH Tower with 359 suites, eight spa villas and seven penthouse suites; 72,000 square feet of casino space featuring Peacock High-Limit gaming and Asian gaming amenities; 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention space; more than $4 million in rare music memorabilia; Body English Nightclub; Reliquary Water Sanctuary, Spa & Salon; 4.5 acres of tropical pool paradise housing world-famous pool parties REHAB Sunday and RELAX Monday; live music/entertainment venues The Joint and Vinyl; Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.; restaurants Culinary Dropout, Nobu, The Ainsworth, 35 Steaks + Martinis, Pink Taco, Mr. Lucky’s Café and ?Fú; a state-of-the-art fitness center and trendsetting retailers John Varvatos, Affliction, Love Jones, Rocks The Jewelers and Rock Paper Photo. For room availability and additional information call 800.HRD.ROCK (800.473.7625) or visit hardrockhotel.com. Follow Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagramfor the latest news and updates.

6 August 2014 – SINGAPORE: ONE Fighting Championship™ (ONE FC), Asia’s largest mixed martial arts organization with a 90% market share, has confirmed all nine bouts set to take place at ONE FC: REIGN OF CHAMPIONS. The event, which will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on 29 August, is set to be the largest in mixed martial arts history. It will feature multiple ONE FC World Championship bouts, including a ONE FC Featherweight World Championship clash between current champion Koji Oishi and Mongolian striking expert, Narantungalag Jadambaa. James McSweeney will drop a division to light heavyweight to take on Cristiano Kaminishi while Ann Osman steps in for Irina Mazepa, and will face Ana Julaton in a flyweight clash. Mohamad Walid will also enter the ONE FC cage to take on Filipino standout Vaughn Donayre while Muay Thai champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke returns to the ONE FC cage against fellow Muay Thai specialist, Ali Yaakub.

CEO of ONE Fighting Championship™ Victor Cui stated, “ONE FC: REIGN OF CHAMPIONS is set to be the biggest night in the history of mixed martial arts! A historic three world championship titles will be on the line on 29 August and will feature some of the greatest mixed martial artists from all over the world. Fans can expect a historic night featuring world class and adrenaline-pumping mixed martial arts action!”

Tickets for ONE FC: REIGN OF CHAMPIONS will be on sale from 1 August at www.platinumlist.net. Ticket categories begin with the full red carpet and cage side experience for AED 2,000. Tickets priced at AED 1,000, AED 500, AED 300 and AED 150 are also available. All applicable service charges apply.

Koji Oishi was originally scheduled to face Eric Kelly, but Kelly was not medically cleared to accept the bout after his recent victory at ONE FC: WAR OF DRAGONS. Naratungalag Jadambaa will step in to take his place opposite Oishi fresh off a victory over former ONE FC Featherweight World Champion Honorio Banario last May.

ONE FC Featherweight World Champion Koji Oishi is a veteran of 44 fights and a former Lightweight King of Pancrase. He has only lost two of his last 18 fights and is a seasoned veteran who has been consistently facing the best opposition in the world. At ONE FC: RISE TO POWER, he captured the ONE FC Featherweight World Championship title by knocking out Honorio Banario in front of Banario’s home crowd. Oishi has fought more than 100 rounds in his career, making him one of the most experienced Featherweights in the world. This bout against Jadambaa will mark Oishi’s second title defence, and he is determined to hold on to the biggest accomplishment of his career till he retires.

Narantungalag Jadambaa is the top mixed martial artist to emerge from Mongolia. He boasts an impressive record of nine wins and three losses against top competition in Asia. He also has kickboxing experience, facing the likes of renowned kickboxing champions Buakaw Banchamek and Masato. Jadambaa made an impressive ONE FC debut by defeating former ONE FC Featherweight World Champion Honorio Banario at ONE FC: HONOR & GLORY. He now gets the biggest opportunity in his career when he takes on current ONE FC Featherweight World Champion Koji Oishi.

James McSweeney is a top English mixed martial artist and kickboxer who have competed against some of the best mixed martial artists in the world, racking up numerous titles in the process. He is currently on the best streak of his career, with nine wins in his last 12 fights. McSweeney is a proven finisher and have gone to a decision only once in 24 fights.

Cristiano Kaminishi has gone 8-1 while competing predominantly in Japan and will be making his debut for Asia’s largest mixed martial arts organization on 29 August. Kaminishi is a former Heat heavyweight champion and has also won multiple Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu titles across multiple weight divisions. Originally from Brazil, he made the move to Japan at the age of 17. Kaminishi is a BJJ black belt under Taka Watanabe of Axis Jiu-Jitsu, one of the pioneering academies in Japan. Kaminishi has spent years training with some of the best fighters in the world, including Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and has also cornered luminaries such as Nogueira, Paulo Filho and Mario Sperry.

Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton is the first Filipina boxer to win the women’s WBO Super Bantamweight and IBA Super Bantamweight World Championships. Julaton’s signing with ONE FC marks her first step to becoming a two-sport athlete. Her overpowering attacks in the ring earned her the nickname “The Hurricane” and made her a fan favorite in the Philippines. It took her only five professional bouts to win a championship in boxing and she hopes her mixed martial arts career will be equally successful. She made a successful ONE FC debut by defeating Aya Saber of Egypt and will return to the ONE FC cage looking for the second win in her mixed martial arts career.

Ann Osman is the first female Malaysian mixed martial artist to compete in a major mixed martial arts organization. Osman possesses wrestling skills and powerful ground and pound, making her a tough test for any opponent. She made her debut in an empathic battle last October, and has been eagerly awaiting an opportunity to get back into the ONE FC cage.

Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke has an impressive Muay Thai record of 282-65, and is a 3x Lumpinee World Champion. Now an instructor at Evolve MMA, he has trained extensively in mixed martial arts in anticipation of this bout. His prolific striking skills was on full display in his ONE FC debut, when he dismantled Filipino boxer Jomanz Omanz with devastating kicks and punches en route to a TKO victory in the first round.

Ali Yaakub is one of the best Muay Thai practitioners to emerge from Malaysia. A former WMC Asian Champion and I-1 Asian Champion, he has faced and defeated several top strikers in his weight class. After training in mixed martial arts for several years, he will now make his debut in the sport against a fellow Muay Thai champion.

Mohamad Walid is the first Syrian mixed martial artist to compete for Asia’s largest mixed martial arts organization. Walid is currently undefeated after competing in local promotions in the United Arab Emirates. Walid is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt and also a black belt in karate. He has finished all three opponents and hopes to keep that streak going when he takes on Donayre.

Vaughn Donayre is a Filipino mixed martial artist currently based in Dubai. The Cebu-native quit his mechanical engineering job and moved to Dubai to chase his passion, mixed martial arts. He has won seven of his last eight bouts and is regarded as an exciting mixed martial artist constantly in the pursuit of the finish.

Fans in Asia can catch all the action live on STAR Sports. Check your local listings. Also, fans from around the world can witness the action online via live streaming at www.onefc.livesport.tv. The event will be available for purchase at just US$9.99.

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

About ONE FC
With a 90%+ market share in Asia, ONE Fighting Championship is Asia’s largest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) organization. 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 Fighting 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.

Las Vegas, Nevada – UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones looks to extend his historic reign over the talented 205-pound division Saturday, Sept. 27 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas when he takes on bitter rival and No. 2 contender Daniel Cormier. Jones will look to make his record eighth light heavyweight title defense against the two-time U.S. Olympian Cormier.

The bad blood between Jones (20-1, fighting out of Endicott, N.Y.) and Cormier (15-0, fighting out of San Jose, Calif.) has brewed for months with the two trading heated words in the press. The talk comes to an end in Las Vegas next month in one of the most anticipated title fights of the year!

In addition, Irish phenom Conor McGregor (15-2, fighting out of Dublin, Ireland) will meet sixth-ranked Dustin Poirier (16-3, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) in a featherweight showdown that could have major title implications. McGregor is coming off a first-round knockout of Diego Brandao and will be looking to stay unbeaten inside the Octagon® against Poirier, one of the most devastating finishers in the division who has won nine of his last eleven.

Also, undefeated No. 1-ranked women’s bantamweight contender Cat Zingano (8-0, fighting out of Broomfield, Colo.) will clash with Brazilian knockout artist and No. 8-ranked Amanda Nunes (9-3, fighting out of Miami, Fla.) in a bout that could determine the next challenger for Ronda Rousey’s crown.

Other bouts for UFC 178 include:

· No. 7-ranked Bobby Green (23-5, fighting out of Fontana, Calif.) vs. No. 14-ranked Jorge Masvidal (27-8, fighting out of Miami, Fla.) in a lightweight battle.

· Two top middleweights clash as No. 6-ranked Tim Kennedy (18-4, fighting out of Austin, Texas) faces No. 11-ranked Yoel Romero (8-1, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.).

· Former UFC bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz (19-1, fighting out of San Diego, Calif.) makes his long awaited return to the Octagon as he meets No. 5-ranked Takeya Mizugaki (20-7-2, fighting out of Kanagawa, Japan).

· Hard-hitting welterweight Patrick Cote (21-8, fighting out of Montreal, Quebec Canada) vs. electrifying kickboxer Stephen Thompson (9-1, fighting out of Simpsonville, S.C.).

· Welterweight striker John Howard (22-9, fighting out of Boston, Mass.) vs. gritty veteran Brian Ebersole (50-16-1, 1NC, fighting out of Phuket, Thailand).

· Lightweight rising star Jon Tuck (8-1, fighting out of Phoenix, Ariz.) vs. submission specialist Kevin Lee (8-1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.).

Tickets for UFC® 178: JONES vs. CORMIER, presented by MetroPCS, go on sale Friday,

August 8 at 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $800, $600, $400, $250, $125 and $75 (prices do not include applicable service charges). Tickets are available for purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (800) 745-3000 and will be available at the MGM Grand Garden Arena box office. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person.

Get your VIP package today! The UFC VIP Experience packages together your tickets with behind-the-scenes access to the official weigh-ins, backstage tours, meet and greet and autograph signings with top UFC stars, Q&A sessions, and photo opportunities, access to an in-arena VIP party room, a chance to hold the championship belt inside the Octagon® and more!

UFC Fight Club® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, August 6 at 10 a.m. PT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, August 7 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC®178: JONES vs. CORMIER will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High -Definition.

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®

Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC®) is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Singapore and Sao Paulo, 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 129 countries and territories to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT™ (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, Octagon™ branded apparel, DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.

About the MGM Grand Garden Arena
The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and premier sporting and special events. The Arena offers comfortable seating for as many as 16,800 with excellent sightlines and state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. Prominent events to date have included world championship fights between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson as well as Oscar de la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez; and concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, George Strait, Janet Jackson, Phil Collins, Billy Joel, U2, Lady Gaga, Sting, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Jimmy Buffett and the Barbra Streisand Millennium Concert. The MGM Grand Garden Arena also is home to the annual Academy of Country Music Awards, annual Billboard Music Awards, annual iHeartRadio Music Festival and the Frozen Fury NHL pre-season game which features the Los Angeles Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche.

LAS VEGAS – (July 30) – The lineup for next week’s “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” is now complete with the addition of a four-bout preliminary card.

The new additions to the event include lightweights Lucas Montoya (6-3) vs. Jimmy Spicuzza (4-0), welterweights Danny “Dee1” Davis Jr. (9-8-1) vs. Jorge “Lil’ Monster” Lopez (11-4), bantamweights Adam Acquaviva (1-1) vs. Cody Maltais (2-0) and featherweights Soslan Abanokov (4-1) vs. Bryson Gutches (2-0).

“World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” takes place Aug. 9 at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Featuring a key lightweight matchup between hard-hitting Peruvian veteran Luis Palomino (22-9) and undefeated Californian contender Lewis Gonzalez (9-0), the evening’s five-fight main card airs live on NBCSN at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT local time). The newly announced four-fight preliminary card streams live on NBCSports.com at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT local time).

Tickets for “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” start at just $39 and are on sale now at AXS.com.

“Part of our job at World Series of Fighting is to seek out the best up-and-coming talent in mixed martial arts and put them in matchups that truly test their ability to perform at the highest level of the sport,” World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. “Seven of the eight fighters on this preliminary card live and train right here in our home base of Las Vegas, the ‘Fight Capital of the World.’

“This event will give them all a chance to shine and perhaps earn their way into a televised main-card matchup in the very near future.”

Lucas Montoya is a part of Utah’s Blackout MMA and makes his World Series of Fighting debut. Fighting professionally since 2007, Montoya started his career at just 1-2 but has since rebounded with an impressive stretch of five wins in his past six bouts, with all five of those wins coming by first-round stoppage. He now meets the Robert Drysdale product Jimmy Spicuzza, who already owns World Series of Fighting wins over Justin Jaynes and Gil Guardado. Both of those wins came earlier this year.

Danny Davis Jr. is a longtime veteran of the Las Vegas fight scene who boasts previous appearances for Strikeforce and King of the Cage, among others. While dealing with his share of losses throughout the years, Davis has been fine-tuning his game at Xtreme Couture and Robert Drysdale Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and currently owns a three-fight winning streak, including a World Series of Fighting 9 win over Phil Dace. Meanwhile, Jorge Lopez is a longtime Wanderlei Silve protege who is now training at Syndicate MMA. He’ll look for a much-needed win after dropping three heartbreaking fights in a row by decision, including two razor-thin split-decision results.

Just 22 years old, Syndicate MMA’s Adam Acquaviva made his World Series of Fighting debut in June, turning in a thrilling performance in a hard-fought loss to Timur Valiev. He now returns to action against undefeated Californian Cody Maltais, who now works under submission master Robert Drysdale.

Following a successful amateur career, Syndicate MMA fighters Bryson Gutches made his professional debut in December and has since earned a pair of victories. He now meets 25-year-old Soslan Abanokov, who fights for the first time this year after putting together a perfect 3-0 campaign in 2013.

The complete “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” lineup includes:

(NBCSN-televised card)
Luis Palomino vs. Lewis Gonzalez
Cully Butterfield vs. Ronny Markes
Elvis Mutapcic vs. Kelvin Tiller
Brandon Hempleman vs. Alexis Vila
Bryson Hansen vs. Matt Sayles

(NBCSports.com live stream)Lucas Montoya vs. Jimmy Spicuzzai
Danny Davis Jr. vs. Jorge Lopez
Adam Acquaviva vs. Cody Maltais
Soslan Abanokov vs. Bryson Gutches

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. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

About NBC Sports Network
NBC Sports Network, part of the NBC Sports Group, is dedicated to serving passionate sports fans. Now in more than 80 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics, National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France and the 34th America’s Cup, and beginning in 2013, the Premier League and Formula One. In addition, NBC Sports Network features college football, college basketball, college hockey, outdoor programming, horse racing surrounding the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, Fight Night boxing, Ironman, the Dew Action Sports Tour and USA Sevens Rugby. The network is also home to original programs such as Costas Tonight, The Crossover, NFL Turning Point, Pro Football Talk and The Dan Patrick Show. NBC Sports Network is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

About Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas’ off-strip playground, just minutes and less than three miles from McCarran International Airport. The premier destination entertainment resort is owned by Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund II and managed by WG-Harmon, LLC, a subsidiary of Warner Gaming, LLC. Built in 1995, the property completed a $750 million expansion in 2010. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino offers an energetic entertainment and gaming experience with the services and amenities associated with a boutique luxury resort hotel. The property is known for its innovative nightlife and music scene where acts such as The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Incubus, Foo Fighters, Carlos Santana, Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses have all performed. Features of the property include an 11-story Casino Tower with 640 guest rooms, 17-story Paradise Tower with 490 rooms and suites and the all-suite HRH Tower with 359 suites, eight spa villas and seven penthouse suites; 72,000 square feet of casino space featuring Peacock High-Limit gaming and Asian gaming amenities; 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention space; more than $4 million in rare music memorabilia; Body English Nightclub; Reliquary Water Sanctuary, Spa & Salon; 4.5 acres of tropical pool paradise housing world-famous pool parties REHAB Sunday and RELAX Monday; live music/entertainment venues The Joint and Vinyl; Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.; restaurants Culinary Dropout, Nobu, The Ainsworth, 35 Steaks + Martinis, Pink Taco, Mr. Lucky’s Café and ?Fú; a state-of-the-art fitness center and trendsetting retailers John Varvatos, Affliction, Love Jones, Rocks The Jewelers and Rock Paper Photo. For room availability and additional information call 800.HRD.ROCK (800.473.7625) or visit hardrockhotel.com. Follow Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagramfor the latest news and update

LAS VEGAS (July 29, 2014) – World Series of Fighting hosted a media conference call on Tuesday, a week and a half before “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” is set to take place on Saturday, Aug. 9, at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Featuring a lightweight headliner between exciting Peruvian veteran Luis “Baboon” Palomino (22-9) and undefeated Californian “Lethal” Lewis Gonzalez (9-0), “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” will once again be televised on NBCSN.

Other matchups on the main-event card include: Brazilian brawler Ronny Markes (14-3) vs. Cully Butterfield (13-3) in a light heavyweight battle; Elvis “The King” Mutapcic (13-3) vs. Kelvin “The Mama’s Boy” Tiller (6-0) in a catchweight affair at 195 pounds; Olympian Alexis Vila (13-4) vs. Brandon “Hot Rod” Hempleman (9-2) in a bantamweight tilt; and bantamweights Bryson Hansen (7-1) and Matt “Robo” Sayles (2-0) will kick off the event.

Tickets for “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” start at just $39 and are on sale now at AXS.com. The evening’s main card airs live on NBCSN starting at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT local time). Preliminary contests will be announced shortly and will stream live on NBCSports.com.

The following are highlights from the conference call:

RAY SEFO:
“We’ve had a lot of changes because of injuries but we’ve ended up with an amazing lineup headlined by Luis Palomino and Lewis Gonzalez…. Luis Palomino, as everyone knows, is a type of guy who lets it all hang out and comes out swinging for the fences. He’s a jiu jitsu guy and a wrestler but that doesn’t give you as much satisfaction as knocking somebody out. Lewis Gonzalez is also that type of guy. He’s a grinder. I like to compare him to some of the greats like Randy Couture and Chael Sonnen who brings a type of game to the table that is just grind, grind, grind.”

LUIS PALOMINO:
“I’m grateful that the WSOF has made me the main event for this WSOF 12. I think it’s a highlight of my life that I get to show a greater amount of people what I’ve been up to for the last seven years of my life. I’ve been working my butt off for this and I finally get a chance to show a lot of people what I’ve been doing.

“The game plan has been adjusted (to account for Gonzalez’s strong wrestling). We’ve seen when I get a little over-excited in my striking what happens. If he’s going to be waiting for me to miss, it’s going to be a very short fight. Accuracy is on point and I’ve been getting ready for this fight for like seven months. There is no off-season for me. My game has only improved. I’ve been facing wrestlers since the beginning of my career. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: he’s a talented fighter and I respect him, but he’s not bringing anything new to the table.”

LEWIS GONZALEZ:
“I have the mentality, like Ray said, as being known as a grinder. I work hard and I pride myself on having more heart than my opponent and I just keep the pace longer than they do. No matter what happens I just keep going forward and I just think my mental toughness is what has kept me undefeated so far.

“I was already offered the fight (against Justin Gaethje) back in January but unfortunately I got hurt. I can see why they gave it to Melvin (Guillard), but I think with a win next weekend, that would put me next in line for that title shot against whoever wins that fight.

“(Luis) is a very heavy-handed guy and I’ve watched a couple of his fights and his hands are dangerous. I’ve just got to play it smart and keep my range. The one thing that I’ve noticed was in the fights he’s won by knockouts that even before he knocks them out he’s taken down a couple of times. He swings for the fences and when he connects it’s devastating, but when he misses he leaves himself open for takedowns. I feel like I’m a stronger wrestler than most of the guys he has fought.

“The pressure builds a little every time (having an undefeated record). Especially being on the big stage and having that zero in the loss column. But when you get in the cage all the fights are the same and it all goes away. The nerves are up a little more but once you get in there it all goes away and the pressure is all off.”

RONNY MARKES:
“This camp I did not do my training in Rio (Grande do Norte, Brazil), but instead with my first coach. I did not train with as many big names as I have in the past, but I did have a lot of really great training partners…. So I felt just as great as when I go out and do my training camp in Rio.

“I’m really motivated for this fight. I’ve forgotten about my last loss and I think this is just a great opportunity for me to put on a good show and start winning fights again. That’s my goal.”

CULLY BUTTERFIELD:
“My first couple of fights I was just training out of the wrestling room where I went to college, and I didn’t really have any good coaching. I mean, the guy that was running it would pretty much just watch UFC and took advice from them on what happened on the show. I eventually moved away and started doing it full-time and that’s what did it for me. The good training and the good coaching, I actually became a full mixed martial artist instead of just a wrestler with no hands. So that’s what has made the difference in my game.”

ELVIS MUTAPCIC:
“I don’t try to look too much at other fighters because they are evolving all the time. But I’ve picked up on (Tiller’s) general habits. One of the things he’s very good at is he’s very explosive. He’s young, he’s hungry and he’s undefeated. When you’ve got a young undefeated guy, they have a little bit less fear, which is good for him and bad at the same time. He’s just an explosive guy who’s pretty well-rounded and he brings it.

With your loss to Jesse Taylor, what did you learn from that, and how have you changed your approach?
“I made a few mistakes leading up to that fight. I changed my style. I made mistakes leading up to the fight and in my training camp. I didn’t have the sense of urgency and I didn’t think he’d be able to control me the way he did. I learned the lesson the hard way. I’ve improved my wrestling quite a bit and this is the first camp where I’ve been able to train full-time without working a full-time job. I feel like I’m five years younger. My will for it is a lot deeper than it was before and I’ve just fixed some holes I had in that fight.”

KELVIN TILLER:
“I don’t like studying my opponents. If you look at my fights, I stick with my style. I like to pressure people a lot and use a lot of takedowns. On the outside I like to use jabs and kicks. I’ve been training really hard and I’m just grateful for this opportunity.”

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. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

About NBC Sports Network
NBC Sports Network, part of the NBC Sports Group, is dedicated to serving passionate sports fans. Now in more than 80 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics, National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France and the 34th America’s Cup, and beginning in 2013, the Premier League and Formula One. In addition, NBC Sports Network features college football, college basketball, college hockey, outdoor programming, horse racing surrounding the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, Fight Night boxing, Ironman, the Dew Action Sports Tour and USA Sevens Rugby. The network is also home to original programs such as Costas Tonight, The Crossover, NFL Turning Point, Pro Football Talk and The Dan Patrick Show. NBC Sports Network is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

About Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas’ off-strip playground, just minutes and less than three miles from McCarran International Airport. The premier destination entertainment resort is owned by Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund II and managed by WG-Harmon, LLC, a subsidiary of Warner Gaming, LLC. Built in 1995, the property completed a $750 million expansion in 2010. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino offers an energetic entertainment and gaming experience with the services and amenities associated with a boutique luxury resort hotel. The property is known for its innovative nightlife and music scene where acts such as The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Incubus, Foo Fighters, Carlos Santana, Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses have all performed. Features of the property include an 11-story Casino Tower with 640 guest rooms, 17-story Paradise Tower with 490 rooms and suites and the all-suite HRH Tower with 359 suites, eight spa villas and seven penthouse suites; 72,000 square feet of casino space featuring Peacock High-Limit gaming and Asian gaming amenities; 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention space; more than $4 million in rare music memorabilia; Body English Nightclub; Reliquary Water Sanctuary, Spa & Salon; 4.5 acres of tropical pool paradise housing world-famous pool parties REHAB Sunday and RELAX Monday; live music/entertainment venues The Joint and Vinyl; Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.; restaurants Culinary Dropout, Nobu, The Ainsworth, 35 Steaks + Martinis, Pink Taco, Mr. Lucky’s Café and ?Fú; a state-of-the-art fitness center and trendsetting retailers John Varvatos, Affliction, Love Jones, Rocks The Jewelers and Rock Paper Photo. For room availability and additional information call 800.HRD.ROCK (800.473.7625) or visit hardrockhotel.com. Follow Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagramfor the latest news and updates.

Las Vegas – No. 1 light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson has suffered a knee injury that has forced him to withdraw from his UFC 178 bout with champion Jon Jones. As a result, No. 2 contender Daniel Cormier will challenge Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title on Saturday, Sept. 27 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Undefeated at 15-0 in his pro career, Cormier owns UFC victories over the likes of Frank Mir, Roy Nelson, Patrick Cummins and Dan Henderson. A two-time U.S. Olympian and former standout wrestler at Oklahoma State University, Cormier has long been considered a potential threat to Jones’ reign as 205-pound champion.

He and Jones have traded words in the press for months regarding a potential fight and their feud only intensified once Cormier moved to the light heavyweight division at the start of 2014. This heated rivalry will now finally be settled inside the Octagon® on Sept. 27 in what could be one of the biggest events of the year.

An updated UFC 178 press tour schedule, as well as ticket information, will be released in the days to come.

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Beijing, Singapore and Sao Paulo, 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 145 countries to 800+ million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT™ (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, Octagon™ branded apparel, best-selling DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit www.UFC.com and follow UFC at www.Facebook.com/UFC and on Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (July 23, 2014) — M-1 Global CEO & Founder Vadim Finkelchtein has announced a 10-year agreement to promote M-1 Challenge in China on an annual basis, starting this November 11 at Wukesong Arena in Beijing, in conjunction with the International Economic Forum. Russian heavyweight star Sergei Kharitonov is scheduled to headline against an opponent to be determined.

Top fighters from China, Russia and other countries will compete Nov. 11 and distinguished guests from around the world are expected to attend.

M-1 Challenge in China will be held in one of the largest arenas in Beijing, Wukesong Arena, which is an Olympic basketball palace and sports complex built for the 2008 Olympics.It was the site for the preliminary and final competitions in men and women’s basketball during the 2008 Olympic basketball tournament. Construction of the complex was completed in January 2008.The total area is more than 206,000 square feet (63,000 square meters) and the arena can accommodate18,000spectators.

“It is a big deal for M-1 and MMA to have an event in China,” Finkelchtein said. “We have an exclusive contract for 10 years and that means every year we will promote an event in China. The first on November 11 will take place in Beijing.

“We will do our best to put together a really good fight card. We plan to feature some of our best heavyweight fighters, including one of the best Russian fighters, Sergei Kharitonov. I think he will represent Russia as one of the strongest countries in MMA. He is strong and very experienced. I’m glad we have him headlining M-1 Challenge in China.”

The 6′ 4″, 260-pound Kharitonov (21-5-0, 11 KO/TKO, 9 SUB) was a star in the United States-based Strikeforce, as well as Japanese MMA organizations Dream and PRIDE Fighting Championships. His victims during his 5 ½ year professional fighting career have included Fabricio Werdum, Pedro Rizzo, Andrei Arlovski and Alistar Overeem, among the more notables.

“This event is very important for me,” Kharitonov said. “I am very pleased that Vadim Finkelchtein thinks I’m an elite athlete. I’m glad I got the invitation to fight and I gladly accepted the offer.

“I’m not sure who I will be fighting but I’m know M-1 will select a high-quality opponent for me. I have trained a long time with a variety of fighters who possess different kinds of martial arts. Respectfully, I will prepare very seriously.”

Go to www.M-1Global.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/M-1-Global/145250878842244for more information about M-1 Global and M-1 Challenge in China.

ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL: Founded in 1998, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Los Angeles and affiliates in Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged more than 150 events worldwide, including the M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge and M-1 Gobal and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the Showtime network in the United States. 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 Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2014 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition with a full calendar of Challenge events fueled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global’s Champions amongst the greatest in the sport. M-1 Global’s greatest asset is renowned heavyweight fighter, Fedor Emelianenko.

Las Vegas – The UFC® announced that former champion Vitor Belfort was granted a license to compete in the state of Nevada at a commission hearing held today. A winner of three straight, Belfort will now face UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC 181 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Saturday, Dec. 6.

Since returning to the UFC in 2009, Belfort has scored victories over some of the biggest names in the sport, including Rich Franklin, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Anthony Johnson, Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold, and Dan Henderson. Now he’ll challenge the champion Weidman, who is the only man to defeat UFC legend Anderson Silva twice. The 30-year-old New Yorker is fresh off a victory over Lyoto Machida early this month in a candidate for 2014 Fight of the Year.

UFC® 181: WEIDMAN vs. BELFORT will be available live on Pay-Per-View on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High -Definition.

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Beijing, Singapore and Sao Paulo, 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 145 countries to 800+ million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT™ (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, Octagon™ branded apparel, best-selling DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit www.UFC.com and follow UFC at www.Facebook.com/UFC and on Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.

LAS VEGAS (July 23) – With undefeated Bulgarian standout Krasimir Mladenov (10-0) forced to withdraw from next month’s “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” event, submission ace Kelvin Tiller (6-0) has agreed to drop down to 195 pounds and meet Elvis Mutapcic (13-3) in a catchweight affair.

That switch left Brazilian veteran Ronny Markes (14-3) without an opponent for the night’s co-main event, but promotional newcomer Cully Butterfield (13-3) has agreed to step in to fill the void.

The two new matchups now complete the five-fight main card for “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez,” which takes place Aug. 9 at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The two-hour NBCSN broadcast kicks off at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT local time). Preliminary contests will be announced shortly and will stream live on NBCSN.com.

Tickets for “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” start at just $39 and are on sale now at AXS.com.

The 26-year-old Ronny Markes is a member of Brazil’s famed Nova Uniao fight team, home to some of the top fighters in the world. Markes returns to the 205-pound division, where he won 12 of his 13 bouts as a professional before embarking on a four-fight run at middleweight. He now meets Cully Butterfield, a Wisconsin native who fights out The Grind Fitness Factory. “The Mason” turned pro in 2009, and while he opened his career with a respectable 3-2 record, he’s since gone 10-1 in his past 11 appearances. Additionally, 10 of his 13 career wins have come by way of stoppage.

Kelvin Tiller is perfect through the first six fights of his career and now looks to prove himself on a national stage. Tiller has earned four of his six wins by submission, and three of those came in the opening round. He now faces Elvis Mutapcic, who was a member of World Series of Fighting’s inaugural middleweight championship tournament but suffered a decision loss to tourney finalist Jesse Taylor. Still, Mutapcic is 5-1 in his past six career outings, and 11 of his 13 career wins have come by knockout or submission. Meanwhile, the durable fighter has never been finished, as all three of his losses came by way of decision.

About “World Series of Fighting” (WSOF)

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a world wide 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. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

About NBC Sports Network

NBC Sports Network, part of the NBC Sports Group, is dedicated to serving passionate sports fans. Now in more than 80 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics, National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France and the 34th America’s Cup, and beginning in 2013, the Premier League and Formula One. In addition, NBC Sports Network features college football, college basketball, college hockey, outdoor programming, horse racing surrounding the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, Fight Night boxing, Ironman, the Dew Action Sports Tour and USA Sevens Rugby. The network is also home to original programs such as Costas Tonight, The Crossover, NFL Turning Point, Pro Football Talk and The Dan Patrick Show. NBC Sports Network is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

About Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas’ off-strip playground, just minutes and less than three miles from McCarran International Airport. The premier destination entertainment resort is owned by Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund II and managed by WG-Harmon, LLC, a subsidiary of Warner Gaming, LLC. Built in 1995, the property completed a $750 million expansion in 2010. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino offers an energetic entertainment and gaming experience with the services and amenities associated with a boutique luxury resort hotel. The property is known for its innovative nightlife and music scene where acts such as The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Incubus, Foo Fighters, Carlos Santana, Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses have all performed. Features of the property include an 11-story Casino Tower with 640 guest rooms, 17-story Paradise Tower with 490 rooms and suites and the all-suite HRH Tower with 359 suites, eight spa villas and seven penthouse suites; 72,000 square feet of casino space featuring Peacock High-Limit gaming and Asian gaming amenities; 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention space; more than $4 million in rare music memorabilia; Body English Nightclub; Reliquary Water Sanctuary, Spa & Salon; 4.5 acres of tropical pool paradise housing world-famous pool parties REHAB Sunday and RELAX Monday; live music/entertainment venues The Joint and Vinyl; Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.; restaurants Culinary Dropout, Nobu, The Ainsworth, 35 Steaks + Martinis, Pink Taco, Mr. Lucky’s Café and ?Fú; a state-of-the-art fitness center and trendsetting retailers John Varvatos, Affliction, Love Jones, Rocks The Jewelers and Rock Paper Photo. For room availability and additional information call 800.HRD.ROCK (800.473.7625) or visit hardrockhotel.com. Follow Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

Las Vegas, Nevada – The UFC® returns to Connecticut for the first time in nearly a decade on Friday, September 5 at Foxwoods® Casino Resort in Mashantucket, Conn. with a five-round main event pitting two of the best middleweights against one another as fourth-ranked Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza takes on seventh-ranked Gegard Mousasi in a bout that could determine the division’s next title contender. The UFC’s last visit to the state saw Andrei Arlovski knock out Paul Buentello in just fifteen seconds of the very first round to defend the UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 55 on October 7, 2005.

Currently riding a six-fight win streak, and undefeated inside the Octagon, (No. 4) “Jacare” (20-3, 1 NC, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) will look to continue his climb toward a UFC title shot with a victory in September. A former STRIKEFORCE® middleweight champ with victories over Robbie Lawler, Tim Kennedy and Francis Carmont, “Jacare” is also looking to avenge a previous loss to Mousasi and solidify his spot as a title contender. A long-time dominant light heavyweight and former STRIKEFORCE champ, Mousasi (35-4-2, fighting out of Leiden, Holland, The Netherlands) has won five of his last six bouts and boasts career wins over Mark Munoz, Mark Hunt, Ovince Saint Preux, as well as a KO victory in the 2008 meeting against Souza. The winner of the bout could potentially set themselves up as the frontrunner in the wide open 185-pound division against current champ Chris Weidman.

In addition, a heavyweight slugfest will feature (No. 7) Alistair Overeem (37-13, 1NC, fighting out of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) colliding with Ben Rothwell (33-9, fighting out of Kenosha, Wis.). With an astonishing 64 finishes between the two giants, fans won’t want to blink, as this bout has “Fight of the Night” written all over it.

Also in the heavyweight division, former pro football defensive tackle Matt Mitrione (7-3, fighting out of Boca Raton, Fla.), who is coming off a “Performance of the Night” knockout victory over Shawn Jordan, will look to continue his winning ways when he meets surging contender Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis (11-2, 1NC fighting out of Houston, Texas.) who is also fresh off of a first-round knockout victory.

Other bouts for UFC Fight Night include:
· Local fan-favorite Joe Lauzon (23-10, fighting out of Bridgewater, Mass.) against The Ultimate Fighter: Live winner, Michael Chiesa (11-1, fighting out of Spokane Valley, Wash.) in the lightweight division.

Providence, R.I’s own Sean Soriano (8-1, fighting out of Boca Raton, Fla.) vs. featherweight knockout artist Andre Fili (13-2, fighting out of Sacramento, Calif.).
No. 9-ranked featherweight contender Nik Lentz (27-6-2, 1NC, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) vs. submission specialist and No. 14-ranked Charles Oliveira (18-4, 1NC, fighting out of Houston, Texas) in a highly-anticipated rematch.
Devastating finisher and New England-based Rob Font (11-1, fighting out of North Reading, Mass.) vs. undefeated bantamweight Chris Beal (9-0, fighting out of Ventura, Calif.).
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Rafael Natal (17-6-1, fighting out of New York, N.Y.) vs. well-rounded middleweight Chris Camozzi (19-8, fighting out of Lakewood, Colo.).
New York-based lightweight Al Iaquinta (8-3-1, fighting out of Garden City, N.Y.) vs. seven-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Rodrigo Damm (12-7, fighting out of Vila Velha, Espirito Santo Brazil).

Tickets for UFC FIGHT NIGHT™: JACARE vs. MOUSASI go on sale Friday, July 25 at 10 a.m. ET and are priced at $350, $250 and $100. Tickets may be purchased online at www.foxwoods.com, by calling the Foxwoods’ Box Office at 800-200-2882, Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are available for purchase at. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.

UFC Fight Club® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, July 23 at 10 a.m. ET via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, July 24 starting at 10 am. ET. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT™: JACARE vs. MOUSASI will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Friday, September 5, with the prelims kicking off the evening on FOX Sports 1 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC®) is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Beijing, Singapore and Sao Paulo, 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 145 countries to 800+ million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT™ (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, Octagon™ branded apparel, best-selling DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit www.UFC.com and follow UFC at www.Facebook.com/UFC and on Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.

About Foxwoods® Resort Casino
Foxwoods Resort Casino is one of the premier entertainment destinations in the Northeast. As the largest resort casino in North America, Foxwoods offers a vast array of gaming in six casinos; AAA Four-Diamond hotels, restaurants from gourmet to express, world-renowned spas, awarding-winning golf, state-of-the-art theaters, and exclusive retailers. Perfect for both recreation and business, Foxwoods provides modern and versatile convention and meeting space to infuse new life into any meeting or event. Foxwoods Resort Casino is owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. For a comprehensive look at Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation visit Foxwoods.com.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (July 22 2014) – Former M-1 Challenge light heavyweight champion Victor Nemkov has pulled out of a rematch against current holder Stephan Puetz (10-1-0, 4 KO/TKO, 3 SUB) in the main event on a special M-1 Global anniversary show, M-1 Challenge 50: Battle on Neva,” outdoors Friday, August 15 in the St. Petersburg city center open area.

Nemkov, who lost a hard-fought decision to Puetz last March in their M-1 Challenge 46 championship match, recently suffered torn ligaments in his hand that will sideline him for several months. Exciting Brazilian light heavyweight Luis Fernando “Hulk” Miranda (12-1-0, 4 KO/TKO, 7 SUB) will now challenge Puetz for the coveted title.

Luis Fernando Miranda (gold and black trunks) connects with straight right

A black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Miranda is the Monster Black Combat and King of Combat champion back home in Brazil.

“The fight against Nemkov is not going to happen on August 15th and I wish him a quick recovery,” Puetz said. “I will focus on Miranda and my objective hasn’t changed a bit. I want to keep my belt and bring it back to Germany.

“I am not upset (with the change of opponent) at all. It would have been bad if I didn’t have an opponent at all. It is great M-1 came up with an immediate replacement. I believe Miranda is a worthy opponent and a big challenge, too. The change of opponent hasn’t changed by training at all.”

The co-feature showcases two dangerous Polish heavyweights, M-1 Challenge champion Damian “Polish Pitbull” Grabowski (19-1-0, 6 KO/TKO, 6 SUB) and undefeated No. 1 contender Marcin “Tybur” Tybura (10-0-0, 4 KO/TKO, 4 SUB).

Scheduled to fight on the undercard in Super Fights is Slovenian featherweight Ivan “Buki” Buchinger (26-4-0, 6 KO/TKO, 16 SUB) vs. Russian veteran Mikhail Malyutin (26-12-0, 5 KO/TKO, 8 SUB), Spanish welterweight Daniel “The Gladiator” Tabera (17-5-3, 4 KO/TKO, 6 SUB) vs. unbeaten Russian prospect Ilya Doderkin (5-0-0, 5 SUB), Germany’s Saba Bolaghi (1-0-0, 1 SUB) vs. Russian lightweight Zulfikar Usmanov 6-3-0, 1 KO/TKO, 4 SUB), and Polish featherweight Kamil Maron (5-1-0, 0 KO/SUB, 2 SUB) vs. Russia’s Nikita Chistyakov (1-1-0, 1 SUB).

The M-1 Challenge series has traditionally introduced a new wave of potential MMA stars, showcasing elite athletes from Russia and across Europe. M-1 Global is the No. 1 European MMA organization, as well as one of the oldest in the world, dating back to 1998. Superstar Fedor Emelianenko, considered by many to be the greatest fighter in MMA history, has been the face of M-1 Global around the combat sports world for the past decade.

All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Go to www.M-1Global.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/M-1-Global/145250878842244for more information about M-1 Global and M-1 Challenge 50.

ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL: Founded in 1998, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Los Angeles and affiliates in Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged more than 150 events worldwide, including the M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge and M-1 Gobal and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the Showtime network in the United States. Captivating live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and matchups, M-1 Global events have featured some of the sport’s top names, including Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2014 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition with a full calendar of Challenge events fueled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global’s Champions amongst the greatest in the sport. M-1 Global’s greatest asset is renowned heavyweight fighter, Fedor Emelianenko.

LAS VEGAS (July 22) – World Series of Fighting’s return to Las Vegas now features five main-card matchups, as bantamweights Bryson Hansen (7-1) and Matt “Robo” Sayles (2-0) will kick off World Series of Fighting’s NBCSN-televised main card.

Featuring a lightweight headliner between exciting Peruvian veteran Luis “Baboon” Palomino (22-9) and undefeated Californian “Lethal” Lewis Gonzalez (9-0), “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” takes place Aug. 9 at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

In addition to the headliner, the newly announced Hansen vs. Sayles contest joins previously announced matchups of Brazilian brawler Ronny Markes (14-3) vs. undefeated submission machine Kelvin “The Mama’s Boy” Tiller (6-0), Bosnian-born Elvis “The King” Mutapcic (13-3) vs. undefeated Bulgarian-born standout Krasimir Mladenov (11-0) and ageless Olympian Alexis Vila (13-4) vs. Brandon “Hot Rod” Hempleman (9-2).

“Bryson Hansen looked fantastic in his World Series of Fighting debut, so we’re excited to have him back in the decagon so quickly and see if he can turn in another performance like that,” World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. “On the other side of the cage is Matt Sayles, who has been absolutely destroying his competition early on in his career and already looks prepared for a step up in quality. This fight should kick off our broadcast with real fireworks.”

Tickets for “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” start at just $39 and are on sale now at AXS.com. The evening’s main card airs live on NBCSN. The broadcast begins on Saturday, Aug. 9, at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT local time). Preliminary contests will be announced shortly and will stream live on NBCSN.com.

Originally from Hawaii, Bryson Hansen made his World Series of Fighting debut in March and needed just 46 seconds to score a TKO win over Sean Cantor. Hansen now trains at Las Vegas’ Xtreme Couture, and five of his seven career wins have come by way of knockout, including four victories that came in the first round.

Meanwhile, Matt Sayles turned pro in January and has already registered two victories, needing just 121 seconds to earn first-round stoppages of Dylan Stanfield and Chris Floyd. Those wins came after a successful amateur career that saw “Robo” stop three different opponents. A San Diego resident, Sayles is currently a member of top California academy Alliance MMA.

About “World Series of Fighting” (WSOF)

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a world wide 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. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

About NBC Sports Network

NBC Sports Network, part of the NBC Sports Group, is dedicated to serving passionate sports fans. Now in more than 80 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics, National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France and the 34th America’s Cup, and beginning in 2013, the Premier League and Formula One. In addition, NBC Sports Network features college football, college basketball, college hockey, outdoor programming, horse racing surrounding the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, Fight Night boxing, Ironman, the Dew Action Sports Tour and USA Sevens Rugby. The network is also home to original programs such as Costas Tonight, The Crossover, NFL Turning Point, Pro Football Talk and The Dan Patrick Show. NBC Sports Network is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

About Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas’ off-strip playground, just minutes and less than three miles from McCarran International Airport. The premier destination entertainment resort is owned by Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund II and managed by WG-Harmon, LLC, a subsidiary of Warner Gaming, LLC. Built in 1995, the property completed a $750 million expansion in 2010. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino offers an energetic entertainment and gaming experience with the services and amenities associated with a boutique luxury resort hotel. The property is known for its innovative nightlife and music scene where acts such as The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Incubus, Foo Fighters, Carlos Santana, Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses have all performed. Features of the property include an 11-story Casino Tower with 640 guest rooms, 17-story Paradise Tower with 490 rooms and suites and the all-suite HRH Tower with 359 suites, eight spa villas and seven penthouse suites; 72,000 square feet of casino space featuring Peacock High-Limit gaming and Asian gaming amenities; 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention space; more than $4 million in rare music memorabilia; Body English Nightclub; Reliquary Water Sanctuary, Spa & Salon; 4.5 acres of tropical pool paradise housing world-famous pool parties REHAB Sunday and RELAX Monday; live music/entertainment venues The Joint and Vinyl; Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.; restaurants Culinary Dropout, Nobu, The Ainsworth, 35 Steaks + Martinis, Pink Taco, Mr. Lucky’s Café and ?Fú; a state-of-the-art fitness center and trendsetting retailers John Varvatos, Affliction, Love Jones, Rocks The Jewelers and Rock Paper Photo. For room availability and additional information call 800.HRD.ROCK (800.473.7625) or visit hardrockhotel.com. Follow Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

CJ Marsh 184
Will Noland 185.5
Contract Weight: 185+1 Lbs.

Harrison Bevens 156
*Chris Sowell 158.5
Contract Weight: 155+1 Lbs.

Katie Howard 115
Amy Montenegro 116
Contract Weight: 115+1 Lbs.

Bobby McIntyre 155.5
Woo Johnson 156
Contract Weight: 155+1 Lbs.

Omar Avelar 150.5
Jason Gray 152
Contract Weight: 155+1 Lbs.

Taki Uluilakepa 170
Ricky Carrillo 170
Contract Weight: 170+1 Lbs.

*Emily Corso 128.5
Hadley Griffith 125.5
Contract Weight: 125+1 Lbs.

Lupe Hudgens 145
Paul Deveglio 145
Contract Weight: 145+1 Lbs.

*Trent Tyler 171.5
Lonya Champion 168
Contract Weight: 170+1 Lbs.

Hector Lopez 134.5
Alex Eastman 135
Contract Weight: 135+1 Lbs.

*Opponents were compensated financially to offset the failure of making weight.

July 17th, 2014 (Tacoma, WA) – Local favorite, CJ Marsh (5-5), has stepped up to fight Will Noland (8-4) in the main event of CageSport 31, this Saturday night at the Emerald Queen Casino. Earlier this week, Noland’s opponent, Alfonso Gonzales, injured his rotator cuff while training and had no choice, but to being pulled out of the fight.

Marsh serves as an exciting replacement, coming off two spectacular knockouts in his last two fights, which were both taken on late notice. If history repeats itself, then Marsh is certainly in line for a good outcome on Saturday night.

“Sometimes these replacement fights end up being a better fight than the original,” said promoter, Brian Halquist. “CJ has really come on as of late and is showcasing his one punch knockout power. This fight will be a barn burner!”

Marsh has a lot of momentum heading into Saturday’s fight. Taking two last minute fights, Marsh knocked out well respected Hawaiian MMA fighter, Maki Pitolo, in the first round. Two weeks later, he knocked out Jacob Harkness in the third round.

“The Northwest MMA fans will be treated to a great fight,” Halquist said. “CJ is on a big winning streak Will Noland is a tough fighter.” This fight has all the makings to be a classic.”

Marsh is no stranger to sports. His father, Curt Marshall, was an All-American football player at the University of Washington eventually becoming the 23rd overall pick in the 1981 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders.

The undercard features the best up and coming MMA fighters the west coast has to offer.

Amy Montenegro (2-0) vs. Katie Howard (2-2) at 115+1 Lbs.
Harrison Bevens (6-2) vs. Chris Sowell (2-0) at 155+1
Bobby McIntyre (debut) vs. Woo Johnson (2-0) at 155+1
Trent Tyler (1-4) vs. Lonya Champion (0-1) at 170+1
Hadley Griffith (1-1) vs. Emily Corso (2-0) at 125+1
Hector Lopez (2-0) vs. Alex Eastman (0-4) at 135+1
Paul Deveglio (1-0) vs. Lupe Hudgens (6-4) at 145+1
Taki Uluilakepa (1-0) vs. Ricky Carrillo (0-1) at 170+1

Tickets for CageSport 31 are still available and can be purchased at the Emerald Queen Casino and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Prices start at $35. Doors will open at 6 PM with the first fight scheduled for 7 PM. For more information about CageSport 31, and all other Halquist Productions events, please visit the Facebook and Twitter pages of CageSport MMA and Battle at the Boat.

Las Vegas, Nev. – Monster Products, the world leader in high-performance headphones, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization are pleased to announce that UFC® women’s bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey, has chosen Monster as her headphone and audio products partner.

Fresh from successfully defending her championship title against Alexis Davis at UFC 175 in Las Vegas on July 5, with an impressive 16 second knockout victory, and about to make her movie debut in The Expendables 3, Rousey is no stranger to success and working with the best, making the partnership with Monster a knockout choice.

“Music is a huge part of my life. It motivates me while training and before my fights while also helping me relax in my down time,” said Rousey. “Monster shares the same standards for perfection and performance in their products that I bring to the UFC. Regardless of the song, Monster headphones sound incredible and amp up my listening experience.”

Monster and the UFC: The Fusion of Music, Sports and Lifestyle
Monster Products Octagon headphones are the official headphone of the UFC, which includes individual endorsements of UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, and now, Rousey.

“UFC’s collaboration with Monster has been hugely successful in bringing great music to UFC fans. The Octagon headphones unique color and design are an expression of the UFC lifestyle,” stated Head Monster Noel Lee.

Noel continues: “Monster is incredibly proud that Ronda has chosen to partner with us. She is really a superstar inside the Octagon® as well as outside. Ronda represents the Monster brand in her approach to be the very best in what she does. From the first American woman to win a bronze medal in Judo in the Olympic Games, to her current undefeated record as the UFC women’s bantamweight champion, she truly embodies the essence of Monster.”

About Ronda Rousey
Ronda Jean Rousey is an American mixed martial artist and judoka. She has never lost a fight, and is the first and current UFC women’s bantamweight champion, as well as the former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion. Rousey became the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in Judo at the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008. Outside of the Octagon, she stars in two major blockbusters: Expendables 3, which will be released this summer, and Fast and the Furious 7, which will be released in Summer 2015. Ronda is also one of the female leads of the upcoming Entourage movie.

About Monster®
For the past 35 years, Monster has been a catalyst for innovation and big ideas. Discovering that cables in hi-fi systems influenced the sound, Head Monster Noel Lee developed Monster Cable – an immediate hit. Monster engineered the sound of Beats® headphones, and has since become the world’s leading manufacturer of high-performance headphones, all featuring Pure Monster Sound™ technology. Today, the company offers advanced connectivity solutions for professional musicians, home entertainment, computing, mobile and gaming, as well as high performance AC Power and conditioning products. Monster continues to lead in innovation with Monster having been granted over 500 Patents and 100 patents pending worldwide, offering more than 5,000 products in over 160 countries. Monster® also prides itself in helping those who are in less-than-fortunate circumstances through Monster Cares. Above all, Monster does what it does Because The Music Matters. Explore the world of Monster at www.monsterproducts.com. To become a fan of Monster products, please follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/monsterproducts) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/monsterproducts).

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Beijing, Singapore and Sao Paulo, 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 129 countries to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT™ (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, Octagon™ branded apparel, DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.

LAS VEGAS – Fresh off a successful debut on network television, World Series of Fighting returns to NBCSN for “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez,” which takes place Aug. 9 at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

In the night’s main event, two of the promotion’s top lightweights bid for a shot at World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, as exciting Peruvian veteran Luis “Baboon” Palomino (22-9) faces undefeated Californian “Lethal” Lewis Gonzalez (9-0).

In the night’s co-feature, Brazilian brawler Ronny Markes (14-3) returns to light heavyweight to make his World Series of Fighting debut against undefeated submission machine Kelvin “The Mama’s Boy” Tiller (6-0).

The night’s main card also features a middleweight attraction when Bosnian-born Elvis “The King” Mutapcic (13-3) returns to the World Series of Fighting decagon against undefeated Bulgarian-born standout Krasimir Mladenov (11-0). Two exciting bantamweights kick off the NBCSN telecast, as ageless Olympian Alexis Vila (13-4) takes on Brandon “Hot Rod” Hempleman (9-2).

“We had an incredible July event on network television, and our roster is full of hungry fighters who want to have that same type of opportunity,” World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. “We’re happy to be back at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for World Series of Fighting 12, where all four main-card matchups feature fighters who can really make an impact with a solid performance, and it’s capped off by what looks like a thrilling fight between Luis Palomino and Lewis Gonzalez, both of whom want to be the next to challenge our incredible lightweight champion, Justin Gaethje.”

The evening’s main card airs live on NBCSN. The broadcast begins on Saturday, August 9, at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT local time). Preliminary contests will be announced shortly and will stream live on NBCSN.com.

Tickets for “World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez” start at just $39 and are on sale now at AXS.com.

Luis Palomino returns to action for the first time since a “Fight of the Year” candidate knockout win over Jorge Patino at January’s World Series of Fighting 8 event. The eight-year veteran boasts 12 knockouts among his 22 career wins and is known for putting on thrilling performances. He now meets gritty 26-year-old Lewis Gonzalez, who is unbeaten through the first nine fights of his professional career. Gonzalez made an immediate impact at World Series of Fighting in his promotional debut, scoring an upset win over gritty veteran Antonio McKee at World Series of Fighting 4.

The 26-year-old Ronny Markes is a member of Brazil’s famed Nova Uniao fight team, home to some of the top fighters in the world. Markes returns to the 205-pound division, where he won 12 of his 13 bouts as professional before embarking on a four-fight run at middleweight. He now meets the undefeated Kelvin Tiller, who is perfect through the first six fights of his career and now looks to prove himself on a national stage. Tiller has earned four of his six wins by submission, and three of those came in the opening round.

Elvis Mutapcic was a member of World Series of Fighting’s inaugural middleweight championship tournament but suffered a decision loss to tourney finalist Jesse Taylor. Still, Mutapcic is 5-1 in his past six career outings, and 11 of his 13 career wins have come by knockout or submission. Meanwhile, the durable fighter has never been finished, as all three of his losses came by way of decision. He now meets Krasimir Mladenov, who has already notched a pair of wins under the World Series of Fighting banner with past victories over Angel DeAnda and Kendrick Miree.

Alexis Vila remains one of the top bantamweights in the world, even at 43 years old. The Cuban national was a bronze medal-winning wrestler at the 1996 Summer Olympics and is currently 3-1 in his past four fights, with the lone loss coming in a heartbreaking decision result to a game Josh Rettinghouse at World Series of Fighting 6. He now faces Brandon Hempleman, who came up short in a hard-fought No. 1 contender fight against current World Series of Fighting bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes at World Series of Fighting 4. Hempleman lost the fight but gained fans as he weathered an incredible storm of offense in a losing result that snapped six-fight winning streak.

About “World Series of Fighting” (WSOF)

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a world wide premier profesional 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. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

About NBC Sports Network

NBC Sports Network, part of the NBC Sports Group, is dedicated to serving passionate sports fans. Now in more than 80 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics, National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France and the 34th America’s Cup, and beginning in 2013, the Premier League and Formula One. In addition, NBC Sports Network features college football, college basketball, college hockey, outdoor programming, horse racing surrounding the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, Fight Night boxing, Ironman, the Dew Action Sports Tour and USA Sevens Rugby. The network is also home to original programs such as Costas Tonight, The Crossover, NFL Turning Point, Pro Football Talk and The Dan Patrick Show. NBC Sports Network is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

About Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas’ off-strip playground, just minutes and less than three miles from McCarran International Airport. The premier destination entertainment resort is owned by Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund II and managed by WG-Harmon, LLC, a subsidiary of Warner Gaming, LLC. Built in 1995, the property completed a $750 million expansion in 2010. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino offers an energetic entertainment and gaming experience with the services and amenities associated with a boutique luxury resort hotel. The property is known for its innovative nightlife and music scene where acts such as The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Incubus, Foo Fighters, Carlos Santana, Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses have all performed. Features of the property include an 11-story Casino Tower with 640 guest rooms, 17-story Paradise Tower with 490 rooms and suites and the all-suite HRH Tower with 359 suites, eight spa villas and seven penthouse suites; 72,000 square feet of casino space featuring Peacock High-Limit gaming and Asian gaming amenities; 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention space; more than $4 million in rare music memorabilia; Body English Nightclub; Reliquary Water Sanctuary, Spa & Salon; 4.5 acres of tropical pool paradise housing world-famous pool parties REHAB Sunday and RELAX Monday; live music/entertainment venues The Joint and Vinyl; Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.; restaurants Culinary Dropout, Nobu, The Ainsworth, 35 Steaks + Martinis, Pink Taco, Mr. Lucky’s Café and ?Fú; a state-of-the-art fitness center and trendsetting retailers John Varvatos, Affliction, Love Jones, Rocks The Jewelers and Rock Paper Photo. For room availability and additional information call 800.HRD.ROCK (800.473.7625) or visit hardrockhotel.com. Follow Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest news and updates.