16 July 2014 – SINGAPORE: ONE Fighting Championship™ (ONE FC), Asia’s largest mixed martial arts organization with a 90% market share, has confirmed that flyweights Geje Eustaquio of the Philippines and Adriano Moraes of Brazil will battle for the inaugural ONE FC Flyweight World Championship at ONE FC: RISE OF THE KINGDOM to be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 12 September.

Tickets for ONE FC: RISE OF THE KINGDOM will go on sale starting 26 July.

CEO of ONE Fighting Championship™ Victor Cui stated, “ONE FC is the largest sports media property in Asian history, bringing world-class mixed martial arts action all over Asia, including Cambodia. ONE FC: RISE OF THE KINGDOM will feature a battle for the inaugural ONE FC Flyweight World Championship between Geje Eustaquio and Adriano Moraes. This highly anticipated bout pits two of the best flyweights in the world against each other and promises a night of intense action and heart-thumping excitement! ONE FC: RISE OF THE KINGDOM will feature a fight card that fans in Cambodia and the millions of fans watching around the world would not want to miss!”

Geje Eustaquio is a skilled flyweight who trains with Team Lakay in the high altitudes of Baguio City, Philippines. Extremely quick and agile, he is proficient in every facet of mixed martial arts. Eustaquio earned a shot at the ONE FC Flyweight World Championship by defeating the tough Kentaro Watanabe last June. He’s now set to take on one of the toughest challenges of his career in Moraes.

Adriano Moraes of Brazil is one of the most dangerous fighters in the world. His high-level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and lightning quick strikes have been instrumental in his 11 wins thus far. Moraes earned the right to compete for the ONE FC Flyweight World Championship with his sound technical submission of Kosuke Suzuki, a fight which he won by Arm-Triangle Choke. Moraes will be tested against Eustaquio, one of the toughest mixed martial artists from the Philippines.

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.

About Nagaworld
NagaWorld®, Phnom Penh is the first and best-in-class integrated Hotel, entertainment complex in fast-emerging Cambodia, owned by NagaCorp. The reputable business and entertainment hub played host to several of the world’s greatest leaders including a recent visit by Malaysian Prime Minister – YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak – and global blue-chip companies of commanding stature. NagaWorld® is a socially responsible organization with more than 3,000 associates who helped build infrastructure and communities under the distinguished patronage of the First Lady of Cambodia. NagaWorld® is an icon and widely recognised as the best Entertainment and M.I.C.E. destination in Indochina.

About MyTV
MyTV is a free-to-air interactive TV channel launched in 2003 aimed at providing original local programming to the younger generation, is owned and operated by Cambodian Broadcast Service (CBS), who also controls Cambodian Television Network (CTN) and Cambodian News Channel. It is currently the number 2 TV channel behind only CTN and is renowned for its cutting-edge innovation. MyTV has become the ‘social network’ broadcaster with mobile phone and internet applications, leading the charge for modern contemporary entertainment in Cambodia.

Las Vegas – In what will be remembered as one of the sport’s greatest upsets, UFC 173 saw 10-1 underdog TJ Dillashaw end the unprecedented nine-year, 35-fight unbeaten streak of Renan Barao to capture the UFC® bantamweight championship. Now, the two meet again in a highly anticipated rematch when the Ultimate Fighting Championship® returns to Sleep Train Arena in Dillashaw’s hometown of Sacramento on Saturday, Aug. 30.

“TJ Dillashaw shocked the world and ended Renan Barao’s nine-year unbeaten streak by knocking out one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport,” UFC president Dana White said. “He showed everyone why you can never trust the odds! Now, on Aug. 30 in TJ’s hometown of Sacramento, Barao will have his chance to get the belt back! I love this rematch!”

Prior to winning the title, Dillashaw (11-2, fighting out of Sacramento, Calif.) emerged as a standout from the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter®, and quickly established himself as a top contender with victories over the likes of Hugo Viana, Mike Easton and Issei Tamura. In his career-defining performance, Dillashaw silenced the oddsmakers by dethroning the then third-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Barao, at UFC 173, to claim the bantamweight title. Now, the newly cemented champion will make his first title defense in Sacramento with plans of starting his own reign as the 135-pound king.

During his tenure as champion, Barao (34-2, 1 NC, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) reigned supreme over the bantamweight division, dominating some of the world’s best, such as perennial contender and former WEC champion Urijah Faber (twice), Michael McDonald, and inaugural WEC bantamweight champion Eddie Wineland. With a nine-year unbeaten streak and a resume unmatched by any in the sport, the Nova Uniao star remains at the top of the world rankings. In an attempt to prove their first meeting was a fluke, “The Baron” returns Aug. 30 to settle the score and reclaim the belt for Brazil.

Other bouts for UFC 177 include:
The Ultimate Fighter® season 13 winner Tony Ferguson (16-3, fighting out of Ventura, Calif.) takes on Sacramento’s own Danny Castillo (17-6) in a lightweight bout.
Middleweight striker Lorenz Larkin (14-3, 1 NC, fighting out of Riverside, Calif.) meets three-time NCAA Division II All-American wrestler Derek Brunson (11-3, fighting out of Wilmington, N.C.).
10th-ranked women’s bantamweight contender Bethe Correia (8-0, fighting out of Natal, Rio Grande Do Norte, Brazil) puts her unbeaten streak on the line as she draws women’s MMA veteran Shayna Baszler (15-8, fighting out of Venice, Calif.), who is making her promotional debut.
Heavyweights Ruan Potts (8-2, fighting out of Boksburg South Africa) and Anthony Hamilton (12-3, fighting out of Albuquerque, N.M.) square off.
Hawaii’s Yancy Medeiros (9-2, 1 NC, fighting out of Honolulu, Hawaii) takes on Ohio native Justin Edwards (9-4, fighting out of Bellefontaine, Ohio) in a lightweight bout.

Tickets for UFC® 177: DILLASHAW vs. BARAO II, presented by HARLEY-DAVIDSON®, go on sale Friday, July 18 at 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $275, $175, $100, $75, and $50. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at Sleep Train Arena box office or www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.

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, July 16 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, July 17 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC® 177: DILLASHAW vs. BARAO II 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, 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.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (July 14th, 2014) – The opportunity to spoil someone else’s homecoming might mean more to Nick Gonzalez at this stage in his career than a trip to the big show or a lucrative endorsement deal.

With no major promoter behind him, or any sort of buzz on the fight scene back home in Austin, Tex., the 33-year-old Gonzalez is often forced to take his show on the road, fighting in someone else’s backyard in front of a one-sided crowd.

What might drive others to do something else with their spare time actually motivates Gonzalez, who continues to grind despite no opportunity with the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) or any other major promotion looming on the horizon. There’s more to it for Gonzalez than the notoriety.

“I just fight because I love it,” he said.

Out of action for almost a year, Gonzalez (18-12, 6 KOs) will return to face unbeaten featherweight Charles Rosa (8-0, 3 KOs) on the undercard of “CES MMA XXV” live on AXS TV Friday, Aug. 8th, 2014 at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I.

The live network broadcast also features the return of Providence’s Luis Felix, who will face for The Ultimate Fighter contestant Julian Lane for the vacant CES MMA lightweight title in the five-round main event. Tickets for “CES MMA XXV” are on sale now at $40.00, $55.00, $100.00 and $125.00 (VIP) and can be purchased online at www.cesmma.com or www.twinriver.com or by phone at 401-724-2253/2254. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Rosa, a Peabody, Mass., native who now trains out of American Top Team in Florida and continues fighting regionally, is rolling the dice putting his unbeaten record on the line against Gonzalez. A self-proclaimed “bad ass” with tremendous confidence in his striking ability, Gonzalez has more than 30 fights under his belt, including stints with Bellator and Strikeforce, in addition to a 2007 bout against 20-time UFC vet Yves Edwards, who now trains with Rosa.

“I know [Gonzalez] is a slick boxer who throws a lot of strong combos, but I also feel like that’s one of my strengths,” Rosa said. “I’ve sparred with some of the best boxers on the planet and have never had an issue. That’s what he’s best at, but I’m also really good at everything else.”

Rosa agreed to face Gonzalez at the behest of his manager, Charles McCarthy, a three-time UFC vet who’s guided him since the beginning of his amateur career. The 27-year-old featherweight has pushed the envelope with each fight, slowly climbing the ladder against tougher competition. After beating eight-time Bellator vet and submission specialist Brylan Van Artsdalen in March, Rosa will now switch gears against the heavy-handed Gonzalez.

“I trust Charles. He’s been with me since Day 1. He took me off the streets when I didn’t even have a car,” Rosa said. “The big reason he got into management was because of me. He’s always felt I could be a world champion.”

With nine professional boxing matches on his resume as well (three wins and two draws), Gonzalez has the punching power and footwork to spoil Rosa’s latest homecoming. Aug. 8th will be Rosa’s fifth fight in Rhode Island, where he studied to be a culinary chef at Providence’s Johnson & Wales University.

“Over the course of a 15-minute fight, I don’t care who you are or what you’ve done. I’m always confident, and I will eventually hit you,” Gonzalez said.

“And when I hit you, one of two things will happen. You’ll either fall down or you’ll think twice about why you’re fighting me in the first place. I have a lot of confidence in my ability.”

Gonzalez and Rosa have traveled two different career paths to get to this point. Rosa is the young, can’t-miss prospect with dreams of one day fighting for the UFC while Gonzalez has earned his stripes “beating up” the hometown fighters as the road-weary veteran. It’s gotten to the point where regional fighters in Gonzalez’s neck of the woods have gone to great lengths to avoid facing him, forcing him to take tougher fights elsewhere.

“Nowadays, guys want to be hometown heroes, sell a bunch of tickets and build their records,” he said. “At some point, you have to face a fighter like me. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I’m good enough to fight in the UFC, but I’m not signed to a big company like the UFC.

“[The UFC] isn’t what it used to be,” he continued. “Now they’re just looking for the next big thing, guys who are 7-0, 8-0 with no relevant fights. If I knew that’s what I had to do, I would’ve padded my record years ago, but I have big balls and a big heart. I’m an old school guy, way before my time.”

Beneath the tough talk and gritty exterior, Gonzalez genuinely respects Rosa as a “hard worker,” one of the few up-and-comers in the featherweight division willing to face him.

“He’s young and hungry,” Gonzalez said, “and those are the kind of challenges I accept.”

The way Rosa sees it, facing someone like Gonzalez is the only way he can reach heights Gonzalez – and others – never reached. A former hockey standout in high school, Rosa always dreamed of being a professional athlete, but gravitated more toward the ice rinks than the MMA gyms as a teenager.

“Once I got to [Johnson & Wales] and scrimmaged against the Providence Bruins and other professional teams, I realized it was a different level,” he said. “I was always more of a tough guy – gritty – but I didn’t have that natural touch, the soft hands. I wasn’t a goal-scorer.

“Fighting was always better for me. You can really dig in and use your heart more.”

Rosa eventually made the seamless transition from hockey to MMA and is now one of the hottest fighters in his weight class with seven of his eight career wins coming by submission or knockout in the first round. The ultimate goal is to advance to the sport’s biggest stage, but not without challenging himself Aug. 8th against a throwback fighter with nothing to gain other than respect.

“It’s exciting to be a part of this event and see yourself on TV, and see yourself on that big screen,” Rosa said. “It lets you know your dreams are coming true. Everyone wants to see that someday. I always wanted that as a kid growing up.”

In addition to the Felix-Lane main event, “CES MMA XXV” also features the return of Brazilian lightweight Gil de Freitas (16-5, 5 KOs) of Ludlow, Mass., in a three-round bout against Sherman’s Dale, Pa., vet Darrell Horcher (9-1, 4 KOs). Middleweight Chip Moraza Pollard (8-6, 3 KOs) of Plymouth, Mass., looks to build off his win in March when he faces Harley Beekman (6-2, 3 KOs) of Amsterdam, N.Y.; and fan-favorite Tateki Matsuda (8-4, 3 KOs) of Boston returns to face Robbie Leroux (5-2, 4 KOs) of Fall River, Mass., in a bantamweight bout.

Also on the undercard, Providence welterweight Eric Spicely (4-0, 1 KO) puts his undefeated record on the line against 37-fight veteran Nuri Shakir of Nashua, N.H.; Providence lightweight Keenan Raymond (2-0) battles Jay Bakanowski (1-1) of Northboro, Mass.; welterweight Tommy Venticinque (1-1) of Warwick, R.I., faces newcomer Wayne Alhquist of Nashua; and flyweight Billy Giovanella (5-1, 2 KOs) faces Andy Aiello (3-1, 2 KOs) of Bridgewater, Mass. Middleweights Raphael Correia (2-1) of Danbury, Conn., and Terrell Clark (1-1, 1 KO) of Framingham, Mass., battle in a three-round bout and East Providence, R.I., welterweight Nate Andrews (6-0, 3 KOs) will be featured in a separate three-round bout.

Visit www.cesmma.com for more information, follow CES MMA on Twitter at @CESMMA and Instagram at CESMMA, or “like” CES MMA on Facebook.

Toronto | New York (July 11, 2014) – Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 television channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, presents a live broadcast of Enfusion 20 from Mallorca, Spain this Saturday, July 12, at 2:30 p.m. ET, featuring some of Europe’s top kickboxing prospects.

Enfusion 20 will be aired live on Cablevision’s Optimum TV in the U.S. and nationwide in Canada.

The Enfusion female 54 kg world championship will be up for grabs as Morocco’s Iman Ghablou takes on England’s Iman Barlow.

In other featured bouts, Damian Garcia and Loren Jorge throw down in a clash of Spanish standouts, German Christian Brorhilker battles Dutchman Wendell Roche, Spain’s Kike Bonnin faces Germany’s Olli Koch, Spain’s Antonio Gomez takes on Portuguese prospect Ricardo Luiz, plus Spain’s Ruben Barnabe kicks off the festivities against Frenchman Thomas Alisier.

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.

Las Vegas, Nev. – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® makes its long-awaited return to Tulsa, Okla. on Saturday, Aug. 23 at BOK Center with an action-packed card headlined by a five-round lightweight main event between former UFC champion Benson Henderson and surging contender Rafael dos Anjos. The UFC’s previous trip to Tulsa took place on Dec. 16, 1994, as Royce Gracie defeated Dan Severn.

Henderson (21-3, fighting out of Glendale, Ariz.) returns to the Octagon® following an impressive fourth-round submission victory over Rustam Khabilov. Boasting victories over Evan Dunham, Donald Cerrone, and Jason High, dos Anjos (21-7, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) knows that a decisive win over a former champion in Henderson is his ticket to a shot at the title.

Other bouts include:
Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace (#8) Demian Maia (19-6, fighting out of Sao Paulo, Brazil) vs. hard-hitting (#12) Mike Pyle (26-9-1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.)
Dangerous welterweight finisher Jordan Mein (28-9, fighting out of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) vs. dynamic striker Brandon Thatch (11-1, fighting out of Denver, Col.)
Parisian middleweight Francis Carmont (22-9, fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada) vs. former title challenger Thales Leites (23-4, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
All-American wrestler Chas Skelly (11-1, fighting out of Arlington, Tex.) vs. Finnish featherweight Tom Niinimaki (21-6-1, fighting out of Turku, Finald)
Powerful puncher Aaron Phillips (8-1, fighting out of Lafayette, La.) vs. durable bantamweight Matt Hobar (8-2, fighting out of Dallas, Tex.)
Gifted striker Max Holloway (9-3, fighting out of Waianae, Hawaii) vs. Bosnian boxer Mirsad Bektic (8-0, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.)
Aggressive flyweight Tim Elliott (10-5-1, fighting out of Lee’s Summit, Mo.) vs. Brazilian veteran Wilson Reis (17-5, fighting out of Philadelphia, Pa.)

Tickets for UFC FIGHT NIGHT: HENDERSON vs. DOS ANJOS, go on sale Friday, July 11 at 10 a.m. CT and are priced at $150, $100, $75 and $50. Tickets are available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges. Tickets are also available at the BOK Center box office.

A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers TODAY, Thursday, July 10, starting at 10 a.m. CT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: HENDERSON vs. DOS ANJOS will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Saturday, Aug. 23 with the prelims kicking off the evening on FOX Sports 2 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

For more information or current fight news, visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

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, Nevada – UFC FIGHT PASS™, the UFC’s digital streaming service, is proud to announce UFCFIGHTPASS.com will be the place to see the eighth stacked card from the world’s leading all-female MMA promotion, Invicta Fighting Championships.

Invicta FC 8: Waterson vs Tamada will stream live on UFCFIGHTPASS.com on Saturday, September 6, from the Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO, and will be headlined by Invicta 105-lbs champion Michelle Waterson taking on Japanese contender Yusuko Tamada. The co-main event will see the vacant Invicta 115lbs division title contested by Florida’s Stephanie Eggink and Finland’s Katja Kankaanpaa.

UFC chief content officer Marshall Zelaznik said: “When we launched UFC FIGHT PASS last December, we said that we would never rest in bringing the best value to our subscribers. The addition of live and archived Invicta programming is going to be of enormous interest to our existing subscribers and will bring in new subscribers, too.

“We’re very excited to have these two fights headline our first Invicta live event on FIGHT PASS. This is a little bit of history, as it is the first time the UFC has been involved with the broadcast of a promotion not owned and operated by the UFC’s parent company, Zuffa LLC.”

Invicta Fighting Championships president Shannon Knapp said: “This is a great day for my company. Since the start of Invicta, I’ve been committed to providing the biggest and best possible platform for women athletes and, with this distribution deal with UFC FIGHT PASS, Invicta will reach the most passionate MMA fans in the world.”

Knapp added: “This new beginning for Invicta starts with a stacked card on September 6. Michelle Waterson is an amazing champion, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and she has a tough first title defense against a very experienced challenger in Yasuko Tamada. And both Stephanie Eggink and Katja Kankaanpaa are going to go all out to win the vacant 115lbs belt.

“Also on the stacked card we have Ediane Gomes dropping down to 135lbs to take on Tonya Evinger and we have our first 155lbs fight with Veronica Rothenhausler vs Charmain Tweet.”

Invicta FC 105-lbs champion Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson added: “I feel like I just got a huge promotion at my job, fighting on UFCFIGHTPASS.com. I’m the type of fighter who can rise to the occasion and I can’t wait to show off all the improvements I’ve made to my game since my last fight in April 2013.

“I know my opponent has fought almost everybody in the division in Japan, has a lot of experience and has this real scrappy, southpaw jiu-jitsu style. It’s going to be a real challenge but I will be ready on September 6.”

The full card – all of which will stream live on UFCFIGHTPASS.com – looks like this.

Michelle Waterson –vs- Yasuko Tamada (105lbs title)
Stephanie Eggink –vs- Katja Kankaanpää (115lbs title)
Ediane Gomes –vs- Tonya Evinger (135lbs)
Michelle Ould –vs- Deanna Bennett (125lbs)
Roxanne Modafferi–vs- Tara Larosa (125lbs)
Peggy Morgan –vs- Irene Aldana (135lbs)
Alexa Grasso –vs- Ashley Cummins (115lbs)
Veronica Rothenhausler –vs- Charmain Tweet (155lbs)
Jody Esquibel –vs- Jinh Yu Frey (105lbs)
JJ Aldrich –vs- Delaney Owen (115lbs)

Tickets will be available soon.

In addition, all seven previous Invicta events are now available on-demand on UFC FIGHT PASS here, allowing subscribers to check out fights featuring talents like Waterson, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, former Strikeforce champ Marloes Coenen, early-career fights of UFC stars like Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano and Liz Carmouche and most of the cast of the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter®.

The Invicta FC library joins the libraries of PRIDE FC, Strikeforce, WEC, WFA, EliteXC, Affliction Entertainment and the UFC on UFC FIGHT PASS

All bouts live and subject to change. Visit UFC.com.

About the UFC
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, the UFC produces more than 40 live events annually that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across 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 includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, 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. UFC also owns over 100 UFC GYM® locations,UFC.TV (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT™ (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC 360 (the internationally distributed magazine), a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, best-selling DVDs and Blu-rays, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, Octagon™ branded apparel and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit www.UFC.com and follow UFC at www.Facebook.com/UFC and Twitter: @UFC.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (July 9, 2014) – A pair of M-1 Challenge title fights highlight a special M-1 Global anniversary show, M-1 Challenge 50: Battle on the Neva,” outdoors Friday, August 15 in the St. Petersburg city center open area, Mitninskaya emb 6, near the famous panoramic ship-restaurant, “Flying Dutchman.” (see photo above)

M-1 Global is coming off a record-setting M-1 Challenge 49: Battle in the Mountains in Ingushetia last month, at which a Russian record was set for highest attendance of any event held above sea level (1500+-meters) with 23,255 fans.

M-1 Challenge 50 will be headlined by a much-anticipated rematch between M-1 Challenge light heavyweight champion Stephan Puetz (10-1-0, 4 KO/TKO, 3 SUB), of Germany, and former champion Viktor Nemkov (19-5-0, 3 KO/TKO, 9 SUB).
The co-feature showcase a pair of 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).

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.

“It’s an anniversary tournament (M-1 Challenge 50) that means a lot to all of us,” M-1 Global CEO and Founder Vadim Finkelstein said. “We are really proud and happy to have made MMA so popular among fans. This tournament, as usual, will be organized at the very highest level. We have support from the St. Petersburg state and this event is on the list of the most important sporting events in St. Petersburg. It features two title fights, heavyweight and light heavyweight, and both are expected to be spectacular. We also have other fights of tremendous interest for all MMA fans. During the fights every attending fan will enjoy a fantastic view of St. Petersburg’s well known sites: Neva River embankment, Rostral Columns, and Winter Palace.”

Last March at M-1 Challenge 46, Puetz won a hard fought five-round unanimous decision over Nemkov to capture the coveted M-1 challenge light heavyweight title in an exciting fight from start to finish, setting the stage for this rematch.

Puetz was recognized as one of the best German light heavyweights in a very competitive European division with a perfect record in Germany’s No. 1 promotion, Respect FC. He proved himself as a legitimate world-class fighter by coming to Russia and defeating the defending champion, Nemkov, in his own backyard.

Nemkov is a ‘Master of Sport’ in Sambo, as well as a brown belt in Judo. Nemkov, who was the 2011 World Combat Sambo Championship gold-medal winner, lives in Stary Oskol, Russia, where he trains with the aforementioned Emeliandenko’s legendary coaches, Mikhail Voronov and Alexander Mitchkov.
The 6′ 1″, 240-pound Grabowski has won six consecutive fights, highlighted by his M-1 Challenge heavyweight title-winning performance November 14, 2013 against Kenny Garner, who Grabowski went to the ground with in the third round, putting the tough American to sleep with a choke hold.

Tybura burst 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 chocked 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).

Scheduled to fight on the undercard in Super Fights is exciting Brazilian light heavyweight Luis Fernando “Hulk” Miranda (12-0-1, 4 KO/TKO, 7 SUB) vs. Russian favorite Arthur Astakhov (7-2-0, 4 KO/TKO, 3 SUB), 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).

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.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (July 7th, 2014) – The post-fight mayhem might’ve taken more out of Rob Font than the fight itself.

Within moments of his breakthrough win Saturday over George Roop at UFC 175 in Las Vegas, Font went from little-known regional standout to the talk of mixed martial arts, an overnight social media celebrity born from the impact of the fateful, overhand right that sent two careers spiraling in different directions.

“Everything changed,” said Font, the reigning CES MMA featherweight champ from Boston who dominated his UFC debut this past weekend with a first-round knockout win.

“My phone was blowing up. I probably had a thousand messages. Then I’m getting pulled back and forth backstage doing interviews and press conferences. It was crazy. It was mentally tiring, but it was definitely worth it. I got in, got out clean, and got paid. I can’t complain about anything.”

Font’s knockout of Roop at the 2-minute, 19-second mark also earned Font (11-1, 4 KOs) a $50,000 bonus check as one of two Performance of the Night award winners (the other went to female bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey for her 16-second knockout win over Alexis Davis in the co-feature).

“I’m going to buy my girl something nice,” Font said.

Riding a career-best 10-fight win streak (six with CES MMA), Font will take a few days to let it all sink in following his week-long stay in Vegas and then get right back into the gym to prepare for his next fight, which could come as early as September when the UFC returns to Connecticut for the first time since 2005 with UFC Fight Night 50 on Sept. 5. Font even has his sights set on a potential opponent, calling out three-time UFC vet Sergio Pettis moments after beating Roop this past weekend.

The 20-year-old Pettis is the younger brother of UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.

“I had his last fight recorded before we left for Vegas, and I remember watching it thinking, ‘Man, that would be a great fight for me,’” Font said. “He’s got a big name because of his brother, but he’s real talented, so it’d be a great fight for the fans and a great fight for me. I think I’d run through him, honestly.”

Until then, Font is still basking in Saturday’s win, a debut that all but guarantees he will get the opportunity to become a household name with the UFC, which has always been more important to him than just simply making it to the big stage.

“[UFC president] Dana White pulled me to the side afterward and said, ‘I loved the way you fought out there,’ and told [head trainer] Mark [DellaGrotte], ‘I want to keep this kid busy,’” Font said. “It was a great feeling.”

Knowing he had to drop from 145 pounds to 135 for Saturday’s fight, Font initially worried about adjusting to the speed of his opponent until he learned he was fighting the 6-foot-1 Roop, a taller fighter with a slower delivery.

The height differential didn’t bother the 5-foot-8 Font, who made his name on the northeast circuit dominating taller opponents such as Saul Almeida (6-foot-1) and Tristan Johnson (5-foot-11) while fighting for CES MMA.

“The taller guys are actually a little slower,” Font said. “With the shorter guys, that’s when speed becomes a factor.

“I just had to close the distance. If you watch it again, he kind of grazed me with a baby left hook, but it was real wide. He caught me that one time and I figured if he threw it again I was going to pounce on him. It was just something I picked up on during the fight. His biggest weapon was mainly his kicks because he’s so tall and long. Once I found my range, I just jumped on him.”

Font braced himself for the typical pre-fight jitters generally associated with fighting on the big stage for the first time, but they never came. In fact, Font was worried he might be too calm or too confident as he loosed up backstage.

“It felt like nothing, like another day in the gym,” Font said. “Nothing fazed me. Not the cameras, not [cage announcer] Bruce Buffer, [color commentator] Joe Rogan, the lights, nothing. Everything went smoothly.

“It’s complete chaos,” he added. “Everything is bigger. They have 5,000 people at their weigh-in, but it’s organized. It runs smoothly. We checked in, went to the cage, warmed up, and before I knew it I was out there ready to fight.”

Font, as always, looked cool, calm and collected. Just another day at the office for the UFC’s newest star.

For more information on Font and all of CES MMA’s upcoming events, visit www.cesmma.com, follow CES MMA on Twitter at @CESMMA and Instagram at CESMMA, or “like” CES MMA on Facebook by clicking the corresponding link.

Three was the lucky number for Frankie Edgar as he stopped BJ Penn in the 3rd round of their scheduled five round Featherweight bout at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

It was Edgar’s third victory over Penn in the battle of world champions.

Edgar dominated the bout from the beginning as he controlled the action from the stand up and ground position until he started busting up Penn in the 3rd frame. Edgar’s punching and elbows opened up a gash over the left eye of Penn and Edgar was relentless in his assault of Penn until referee Herb Dean mercifully stopped the bout at 4:16 of round three.

Edgar, 145.5 lbs of Toms River, NJ is now 16-4-1. Penn, 145 lbs may have fought his last fight and the native of Hilo, HI is now 16-10-2.

Corey Anderson won the Ultimate Fighter Light Heavyweight championship with a 1st round beat down over Matt Van Buren.

Anderson hit Van Buren with a right hand that sent him reeling into the cage. Anderson continued to pound away and got Van Buren on the ground and continued rocking Van Buren until the fight was stopped at 1:01.

Anderson, 204 lbs of Rockford, IL is now 5-0. Van Buren, 206 lbs of San Diego, CA is 7-3.

Eddie Gordon won the Ultimate Fighter Middleweight title by pounding out Dhiego Lima in the 1st round of their 3-round fight.

Gordon got Lima down and started drilling Lima with hard shots while Lima was prone and the fight was stopped just 71 seconds into the contest.

Gordon, 186 lbs of Uniondale, NY is now 8-1. Lima, 185 lbs of Atlanta, GA is now 10-2.

Derrick Lewis scored a 1st round stoppage over Guto Inocente in a Heavyweight bout.

Lewis had Inocente on the ground and landed 4 crushing blows to the face that bloodied the right eye of Inocente and the fight was stopped at 3:30.

Lewis, 264 lbs of Houston, TX is now 11-2-1. Inocente, 232 lbs of Boca Raton, FL is 6-1.

Dustin Ortiz scored a 3-round split decision over previously undefeated Justin Scroggins in a Flyweight bout.

Ortiz, 125 lbs of Franklin, TN is ranked number 13 and is now 14-3. Scroggins, 124 lbs of Coconut Creek, FL is now 9-1.

Kevin Lee scored a 3-round split decision over Jesse Ronson in a Lightweight bout.

Scores were 30-27 and 29-28 for Lee , 156 lbs and is now 8-1. Ronson, 155 lbs is 13-5.

Leandro Issa acored a 3rd round tap out via arm bar over Jumabieke Tuerxun in the final round of their Bantamweight bout.

The two landed some good shots. Issa was docked a point in round two for grabbing the cage. Issa was dominant in the 3rd round as he almost choked out Tuerxun, landed some hard punches and finally made him submit with the armbar at 3:49 of round three.

Issa, 135.5 lbs of Singapore is now 12-4. Tuerxun, 136 lbs of Xián, China is now 17-2.

Adriano Martins scored an explosive 1-punch knockout over Juan Manuel Puig in the 1st round of their Lightweight bout.

Martins landed a perfect left hand but seconds later he was hit low with a kick. That must have infuriated Martins as he landed a perfect inside right hook that knocked Puig out and the fight was immediately stopped at 2:21.

Martins, 155.5 lbs of Brazil is now 26-7. Puig, 155 lbs of Mexico City is now 11-3.

Patrick Walsh scored a 3-round unanimous decision over Daniel Spohn in a Light Heavyweight bout.

Walsh, 206 lbs of Stoughton, MA won by scores of 29-28 on all cards and is now 5-2. Spohn, 205 lbs of Columbus, OH is now 8-5.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (July 5, 2014) — World Series of Fighting 155-pound champion Justin Gaethje (12-0) kept his perfect career record intact by stopping previously undefeated and inspirational lightweight Nick Newell (11-1).

That bout served as the headlining bout of Saturday’s “World Series of Fighting 11: Gaethje vs. Newell” event, which took place at Ocean Center. The four-fight main card aired on NBC, a first for the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“All I’ve been asking for is a war, and that’s exactly what Nick gave me today,” Gaethje told WSOF announcer Joey Varner in front of the nationally televised audience. “So I appreciate him, and I thank him.”

Gaethje defended his WSOF Lightweight title and kept his belt by earning the TKO stoppage at 3:09 of the second round of a scheduled five-round fight.

Gaethje and Newell attacked from the opening bell, engaging in a ferocious firefight that entertained the enthusiastic Florida fight fans from the start. Both had moments of success on the feet, but it was Gaethje who began to gain steam as the frame wore on.

As the second round started, it was obvious the pace of the opening round had taken its toll on Newell. Meanwhile, Gaethje seemed to be getting stronger, and his pinpoint striking opened up a cut over his opponent’s left eye. The attending physician came in to view the wound, but a gutsy Newell insisted he was capable of continuing.

“There was a lot of blood,” Gaethje said. “I think it was satisfying to hear him say he was going to take me down, and he wasn’t able to. Because I knew that where he needed to get it and he knew that.”

Unfortunately for him, the courage was only rewarded with more strikes from Gaethje, who used a flashy high kick and a series of straight punches to send Newell to the canvas and seal his own successful title defense.

In the night’s co-main event, veteran fighters Jon Fitch (26-6-1) and Dennis Hallman (53-14-2) battled in a middleweight attraction with Fitch dominating throughout and earning the unanimous decision win, 30-27 on all three cards.

A powerful Fitch low kick swept Hallman to the floor in the early going, and he avoided a few submission attempts from the bottom as he rained down ground-and-pound blows from the top. In the second round, Fitch didn’t bother with the standup game, quickly slamming Hallman to the floor and pounding away with more punches from a dominant position. Hallman briefly threatened with a heel hook, but Fitch rolled through it and continued his assault from the top.

“During the first exchange I got a deep thumb in the eye so I was a little unsteady and didn’t know which way it was going to go,” Fitch said. “That changed the face of the fight because I could only see half of him.”

Bantamweight Cody Bollinger (16-2) picked up his second World Series of Fighting victory with an impressive first-round stoppage of Pablo Alfonso (9-6).

Bollinger was relentless from the start, and when the fight hit the floor, he shifted tirelessly from submission attempt to submission attempt. The non-stop attacks paid off in the form of a rear-naked choke, and Bollinger earned the tap from Alfonso at the 2:37 mark of the first round.

“”My strategy was to stay on my feet and hit him as hard as I could,” Bollinger said after the win. “I think I respected his jiu-jitsu too much, but I should because he’s great at that. I came in here with a lot of hype, and tonight I knew I had to put on a show.”

In the card’s first main-card matchup, lightweights Melvin Guillard (32-13-2) and Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante (18-8-1) engaged in an absolute shootout, just as both promised, but it was “The Young Assassin” who proved victorious in the battle of former training partners.

With punches, kicks and knees flying from the opening bell, the fighters marked an impressive launch of World Series of Fighting’s first live broadcast on NBC. Cavalcante tried to take the fight to the floor in the second frame, but Guillard climbed immediately back to his feet and began to unleash fury on the feet. Two straight punches wobbled Cavalcante, and Guillard pounced on his wounded foe with a barrage of punches and elbows that forced referee Telis Assimenios to stop the fight at the 2:36 mark of the second round.

“I went out there and had a hell of a debut,” Guillard said after the win. “He even got me on the ground, and I got back up and handled business.

“I’m going to take that strap and become the face of this organization. I’m here to make noise.”

In the night’s final preliminary bout, Jake Heun (6-3) returned from a year-long layoff to earn a hard-fought decision win over Kendrick Miree (5-2).

While Miree was successful with a few takedown attempts, he wasn’t able to ever truly capitalize on the position. Meanwhile, Heun peppered his opponent with powerful punches on the feet and racked up enough points to take home a decision win, 29-28 on all three judges’ cards.

Submission specialist Neiman Gracie (2-0) kept his professional record unblemished, but it certainly didn’t come easy. Dustin Holyko (2-1) floored Gracie with a big left hand in the opening round, but he wasn’t able to finish his opponent, and it would come back to cost him in the second frame.

Gracie recovered from the onslaught and brought the fight to the floor in the second round, where he was able to work to the back and scores a tapout by rear-naked choke at 2:21 mark of the frame.

In a 175-pound catchweight contest, Jose Caceres (8-5) outpointed Walber Brito de Barros (6-6) over the course of 15 minutes. While de Barros was a game competitor, Caceres was simply the busier fighters in all aspects of the contest and was justly awarded the win with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.

In the night’s first fight, light heavyweight Muhammed DeReese (2-0) outgrappled Rashaun Spencer (4-7) en route to picking a unanimous decision win with scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

JON FITCH (RIGHT) DEF. DENNIS HALLMAN MELVIN GUILLARD (WHITE SHORTS) DEF. JZ CAVALCANTE

CODY BOLLINGER DEF. PABLO ALFONSO

MICHELLE ULIBARRI, RAY SEFO, JUSTIN GAETHJE, ALI ABDELAZIZ AND KAT KELLEY

About “WorldSeries 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 GROUP
When the Comcast-NBCUniversal transaction was completed in January 2011, the sports assets of the two companies combined to form NBC Sports Group, which serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of a unique array of broadcast television, cable television, radio and digital sports assets, including NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN (NBC Sports Network), Golf Channel, 12 NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Radio and all of their respective digital properties. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of television rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, PGA of America, USGA, Churchill Downs, Premier League, MLS, World Series of Fighting, Tour de France, French Open, Formula One, IndyCar and many more.

About Ocean Center
The Ocean Center aims to be recognized as the premier convention facility in the Southeast. The Ocean Center offers competitive rates and excellent customer service and is conveniently located in east Central Florida. A service of Volusia County Government, the Ocean Center can accommodate meetings of 10 to 10,000 and offers more than 205,000 square feet of interior exhibit, meeting and convention space. Learn more at www.oceancenter.com.

Chris Weidman 185 – Lyoto Machida 184.5
(UFC Middleweight Title)
Ronda Rousey 135 – Alexis Davis 135
(UFC Women’s Bantamweight Title)
Matt Mitrione 254 – Stefan Struve 251.5
Uriah Hall 185 – Thiago Santos 185
Marcus Brimage 135.5 – Russell Doane 136
Urijah Faber 136 – Alex Caceres 135
Ildemar Alcantara 170 – Kenny Robertson 171
Chris Camozzi 185 – Bruno Santos 185
Rob Font 135 – George Roop 135
Guilherme Vasconcelos 185 – Luke Zachrich 185
Kevin Casey 185 – Bubba Bush 185

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (July 4, 2014) – World Series of Fighting Lightweight champion Justin Gaethje stepped off the scales weighing in at 154.8 pounds, looking rested and relaxed a day before he’s set to face fellow undefeated fighter Nick Newell in the main event of World Series of Fighting 11: “Gaethje vs. Newell” Saturday at Ocean Center.

“I’m feeling great,” Gaethje said. “I got in on Wednesday and I’ve had crab legs, steak, pasta. I played golf yesterday. All the hard work has been done in the gym. I didn’t want to get here and have to stress about making weight.”

Newell said he is friendly with Gaethje and hasn’t been bothered by all his pre-fight knockout talk. “Of course he’s going to say he’s going to knock me out,” Newell said. “He’d be a weirdo to say, ‘I think I’m going to get the decision.’ The fight is going to end before a decision, it’s just going to end with me as the winner.”

The fight is headlined by the lightweight championship bout with the exciting Gaethje (11-0) putting his belt on the line against the extremely tough and talented Newell (11-0). Also on the card, a highly anticipated welterweight matchup pitting Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jon Fitch (25-6-1, 1 NC) against MMA veteran Dennis Hallman (53-14-2. Additionally, newly signed lightweight Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard (31-13-2) debuts against Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante (18-7-1) and Cody “Bam Bam” Bollinger (15-2, 1 NC) faces a dangerous 14-year veteran in Pablo Alfonso (9-5) in an intriguing bantamweight contest.

Tickets for the event start at just $29 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or WSOF.com. Doors at the Ocean Center will open to fans at 1 p.m. ET local time, with an WSOF.com-streamed undercard beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT. The live, NBC-broadcast four-fight main card begins at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

The following are the weights from Friday’s weigh-in.

JUSTIN GAETHJE 154.8 lbs. VS. NICK NEWELL 155 lbs.

JON FITCH 183 lbs . VS. DENNIS HALLMAN 181.2 lbs.

JZ CAVALCANTE 155.6 lbs. VS. MELVIN GUILLARD 157.2 lbs.

CODY BOLLINGER 138.4 lbs. VS. PABLO ALFONSO 136 lbs.

KENDRICK MIREE 204.8 lbs. VS. JAKE HEUN 205 lbs.

NEIMAN GRACIE 176 lbs. VS. DUSTIN HOLYKO 175.8 lbs.

JOSE CACERES 173.6 lbs. VS. WALBER BRITO DE BARROS 174.8 lbs.

MUHAMMED DEREESE 206.2 lbs. VS. RASHAUN SPENCER 200.8 lbs.

WSOF ring girls Kat Kelley and Michelle Ulibarri

About “WorldSeries 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 i nformation please visit WSOF.com. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

About NBC SPORTS GROUP
When the Comcast-NBCUniversal transaction was completed in January 2011, the sports assets of the two companies combined to form NBC Sports Group, which serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of a unique array of broadcast television, cable television, radio and digital sports assets, including NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN (NBC Sports Network), Golf Channel, 12 NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Radio and all of their respective digital properties. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of television rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, PGA of America, USGA, Churchill Downs, Premier League, MLS, World Series of Fighting, Tour de France, French Open, Formula One, IndyCar and many more.

About Ocean Center

The Ocean Center aims to be recognized as the premier convention facility in the Southeast. The Ocean Center offers competitive rates and excellent customer service and is conveniently located in east Central Florida. A service of Volusia County Government, the Ocean Center can accommodate meetings of 10 to 10,000 and offers more than 205,000 square feet of interior exhibit, meeting and convention space. Learn more at www.oceancenter.com.

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA., (July 3, 2014) – World Series of Fighting’s President Ray Sefo (above, at right) and WSOF welterweight star Jon Fitch (at left) brightened the day of children, patients and staff members during a visit to the Halifax Health Medical Center Pediatrics and Orthopedic wards on Thursday.

“It’s the least we could do to take a few minutes out of our schedule and spend some time with others who are going through a rough time,” Sefo said. “We met some amazing kids today and wish them the best in their recovery.”

The World Series of Fighting promotion’s inaugural NBC-broadcast event, “World Series of Fighting 11: Gaethje vs. Newell,” will take place on Saturday at Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., The undercard will start at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT. The live, NBC-broadcast four-fight main card begins at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

On Friday at 11 a.m. the public is invited to attend the official weigh-in at the Daytona Beach Hilton.

One-year-old Eli Velazquez (above) took a liking to Sefo, who held the baby while his parents Ty and Lacey looked on. Ty is part of the Armed Forces and recently served a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. Fitch thanked him for his service and handed the family tickets to Saturday’s fights.

Eight-year-old Daytona Beach resident Kamar Vernon (above) said he was a huge Washington Redskins fan, but also enjoys watching MMA. Vernon is in the hospital because he suffers from sickle cell anemia.

“You guys made this the best hospital visit a guy could possibly have,” said Jesse Manis, 24 (above), who suffered an injury after falling off a ladder. Manis said he’s hoping to get out of the hospital Friday and planned to make it to the fights.

World Series of Fighting 11 is headlined by a lightweight championship bout with the exciting Justin Gaethje (11-0) putting his belt on the line against the extremely tough and talented “Notorious” Nick Newell (11-0). Also on the card, a highly anticipated welterweight matchup pitting Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jon Fitch (25-6-1, 1 NC) against MMA veteran Dennis Hallman (53-14-2. Additionally, newly signed lightweight Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard (31-13-2) debuts against Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante (18-7-1) and Cody “Bam Bam” Bollinger (15-2, 1 NC) faces a dangerous 14-year veteran in Pablo Alfonso (9-5) in an intriguing bantamweight contest.

Tickets for the event start at just $29 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or WSOF.com. Doors at the Ocean Center will open to fans at 1 p.m. ET local time, with an NBCSports.com-streamed undercard beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT. The live, NBC-broadcast four-fight main card begins at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

About WSOF
World Series of Fighting is a professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering an incredible, action-packed entertainment experience for fight fans by producing the best possible matchups between elite fighters from around the globe. 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 GROUP
When the Comcast-NBCUniversal transaction was completed in January 2011, the sports assets of the two companies combined to form NBC Sports Group, which serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of a unique array of broadcast television, cable television, radio and digital sports assets, including NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN (NBC Sports Network), Golf Channel, 12 NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Radio and all of their respective digital properties. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of television rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, PGA of America, USGA, Churchill Downs, Premier League, MLS, World Series of Fighting, Tour de France, French Open, Formula One, IndyCar and many more.

About Ocean Center
The Ocean Center aims to be recognized as the premier convention
facility in the Southeast. The Ocean Center offers competitive rates and
excellent customer service and is conveniently located in east Central
Florida. A service of Volusia County Government, the Ocean Center can
accommodate meetings of 10 to 10,000 and offers more than 205,000 square
feet of interior exhibit, meeting and convention space. Learn more at
www.oceancenter.com.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (July 3rd, 2014) – When Rob Font received a phone call one morning from his head trainer, Mark DellaGrotte, asking if he happened to be sitting down at the moment, Font wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I figured it was either going to be really good or really bad,” Font recalled.

It was the best news of the his life, the call all aspiring mixed martial arts fighters wait for, an invitation to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC).

“Why be in this sport if you’re not trying to get to the UFC? It’s not something you play with,” said Font, the Tampa, Fla., native who now lives and trains out of Boston.

Now that Font (10-1, 3 KOs) has had to time to let it all sink in, make his rounds within the local media circuit and shed the extra 15 or so pounds to move from featherweight to bantamweight, the reigning CES MMA champ is finally in Las Vegas decompressing before he makes his UFC debut Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the undercard of UFC 175 against George Roop (15-10-1, 4 KOs).

Prior to getting the call from the UFC, Font dominated the northeast at 145 pounds, winning nine consecutive fights, six under the promotional guidance of CES MMA. Now he’ll fight at 130 against the 32-year-old Roop, an eight-time UFC vet with a 4-4 record on the big stage and victories in three of his last four fights.

Roop earned his stripes on the eighth season of the popular reality television series, The Ultimate Fighter, and parlayed his success into undercard bouts at UFC 137, UFC 158 and UFC 160. He also competed for the now-defunct World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), where he beat future UFC title contender Chan Sung Jung, and also defeated former WEC bantamweight champion Brian Bowles at UFC 160.

At this stage, every fight is difficult, so Font is making sure he’s equally prepared mentally, specifically trying to avoid the pre-fight jitters that tend to plague UFC rookies the first time they step inside the octagon. Regional standout Tom Egan, a native of Ireland, admitted the butterflies affected him when he made his UFC debut at UFC 93 in Ireland as the only Irish fighter on the card.

“Honestly, I’m trying not to expect anything,” Font said. “People always talk about the UFC jitters, but I hope it’s not true. I’m expecting it to be another day in the gym, but you never know. The lights are brighter, there are tons of cameras, you see [UFC color commentator] Joe Rogan. It can be overwhelming, but it’s just another fight.”

Having DellaGrotte in his corner is a huge advantage. A former professional Muay Thai kickboxer, DellaGrotte owns the Boston branch of Sityodtong, where Font honed his skills, and has trained several UFC standouts, including Frank Mir, Jorge Rivera, Kenny Florian, Stephan Bonnar and Marcus Davis.

“This is nothing new to him,” Font said. “He’s always kept me level-headed. He knew I put the work in and that it was just a matter of time. He would always pull me to the side and tell me I have what it takes and that I just had do it, so I’ve always trusted him.

“We did everything we had to do. Hard work pays off, and now we’re here.”

Roop’s experience won’t be the only intangible Font has to be wary of. Speed will be a factor, too. Fighting at a lighter weight than usual, Font fully expects Roop to be faster than some of the opponents he’s faced in recent years. The weight-cut itself was a breeze thanks in large part to DellaGrotte’s guidance.

“Right after my last fight, my managers told me to enjoy it, but not party too hard because you never know when you’ll get that call,” Font said. “We did it right. We got a nutritionist on board. I’m finally eating like an adult. Lots of spinach, kale. I’m as light as I’ve ever been. I can handle everything as far as the wrestling and scrambling is concerned, but the big thing is dealing with the speed.”

There’s also the pressure of making sure he not only wins, but also looks sharp in the process. UFC fighters tend to be expendable. Even those who win might end up one-and-done if they don’t do enough inside the cage to pique the viewers’ interest. Font’s made it clear his goal isn’t just to get to the big stage, but to be a fixture for years to come.

“Your job is pretty much on the line every time you fight,” Font said. “You not only have to win, but you have to perform. You’ve got to be exciting. You have to be someone everyone else is talking about the next day. If you’re not that guy, what do they need you for?

“It definitely plays into your nerves, but I’ve always done well with that. I just need to go in there and do what I need to do. It’s great getting a lot of attention now, but I know I have to stay in there and get the job done. It’s one thing to get there, but it’s a whole different animal to stay there and be a household name. That’s my next goal.”

Font is now the second fighter from the northeast to jump directly from CES MMA to the UFC. Boston’s John “Doomsday” Howard, who spent two years with the UFC before the company released him in 2011, bounced back with five consecutive wins under CES MMA’s guidance to earn a return trip to the octagon. CES MMA will continue to break new ground in August when it’s “CES MMA XXV” event airs live on AXS TV, the home of Inside MMA.

“Going back to 2010, before I was even fighting as an amateur, I went to a CES show with [teammate] Tyson [Chartier] and said to him, ‘Hey, man, I would love to fight for this promotion,’” Font recalled. “It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to fight for CES, especially with how they helped ‘Doomsday.’

“When they finally got me on a card, I knew I didn’t want to fight for anyone else. They have all the top fighters, and it’s an all-pro card, 10 to 11 solid fights, not two pro fights and then a thousand amateur fights. Now with AXS TV, it’s a huge platform. If you’re an up-and-coming amateur, you should definitely consider fighting for CES.”

UFC 175 features the middleweight main event between reigning champion Chris Weidman and former light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida. The preliminary card, featuring Font’s bout against Roop, will air live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Early prelims are available beginning at 7 through UFC Fight Pass on www.ufc.com while the main card begins live at 10 on Pay Per View.

For more information on Font and all of CES MMA’s upcoming events, visit www.cesmma.com, follow CES MMA on Twitter at @CESMMA and Instagram at CESMMA, or “like” CES MMA on Facebook by clicking the corresponding link.

Las Vegas, Nev. – For the first time in history, the new season of The Ultimate Fighter® will feature an all-female cast and will have a UFC® championship title on the line. The storied reality series will feature a women’s 115-pound tournament to determine the first ever UFC® women’s strawweight champion. UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and No. 2-ranked lightweight contender, Gilbert Melendez, will serve as coaches and meet in a championship showdown of their own at the conclusion of the season.

The Ultimate Fighter®: A Champion Will Be Crowned kicks off with a two-hour premiere Wednesday, September 10, at 10 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

The top 115-pound females on the planet will compete over the course of the season for the honor of being the UFC’s second female champion, alongside bantamweight (135 pound) champion Ronda Rousey. Amongst the cast are two former Invicta FC champions, a former International Kickboxing Federation women’s bantamweight, a United States kickboxing champion, an astrophysicist and a former professional ice hockey player.

In line with previous seasons, the women will be divided into two teams, coached by Pettis and Melendez. The series will follow the teams as they live and train together in preparation for their fights. The culmination of the season will see the two semifinalists meet at The Ultimate Fighter Finale in late 2014, where the inaugural champion will be crowned.

The list of competitors includes fighters hailing from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, United States and Tasmania. The competitors are listed in alphabetical order (Name, Professional MMA record, Age, Hometown):

Joanne Calderwood (8-0), 27, Glasgow, Scotland
Alex Chambers (4-1), 35, Sydney, Australia
Heather Jo Clark (6-4), 34, Los Angeles, Calif.
Aisling Daly (14-3), 26, Dublin, Ireland
Lisa Ellis (15-8), 31, Olympia, Wash.
Carla Esparza (9-2), 26, Redondo Beach, Calif.
Felice Herrig (9-5), 29, Crystal Lake, Ill.
Angela Hill (1-0), 29, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Emily Peters Kagan (3-1), 32, Bangor, Maine
Justine Kish (4-0), 26, Cramerton, N.C.
Angela Magana (11-6), 30, Farmington, N.M.
Randa Markos (4-1), 28, Windsor, Canada
Rose Namajunas (2-1), 22, Milwaukee, Wis.
Jessica Penne (11-2), 31, Huntington Beach, Calif.
Bec Rawlings (5-3), 25, Launceston, Tasmania
Tecia Torres (4-0), 24, Fall River, Mass.

UFC Champions Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Matt Serra and TJ Dillashaw have all emerged from The Ultimate Fighter series, which has also produced many of today’s top athletes including, season winners Michael Bisping, Ryan Bader and John Dodson.

For more show information, bios, videos and photos, visit ultimatefighter.com and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @TUFonFS1 or on Facebook.com/TUF.

###

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, the UFC produces more than 40 live events annually that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across 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 includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, 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. UFC also owns over 100 UFC GYM® locations, UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT™ (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC 360 (the internationally distributed magazine), a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, best-selling DVDs and Blu-rays, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, Octagon™ branded apparel and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit www.UFC.com and follow UFC at www.Facebook.com/UFC and Twitter: @UFC.

About FOX Sports 1
FOX Sports 1 is America’s new national multi-sport channel that launched on August 17 in approximately 90 million homes and boasts nearly 5,000 hours of live event, news and original programming annually. The channel has several pillar sports: UFC, MLB, NASCAR, college basketball and football, NFL (ancillary programs), international soccer and Golden Boy boxing, and adds USGA events, including the U.S. Open, and FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015. FOX SPORTS LIVE is FOX Sports 1’s flagship 24/7 news, opinion and highlights program, providing around the clock coverage through regularly scheduled programs, hourly updates and an information rich ticker. Original programs include: UFC TONIGHT, AMERICA’S PREGAME; NASCAR RACE HUB; MLB WHIPAROUND and the groundbreaking BEING: documentary franchise. FOX Sports GO, a new authenticated mobile sports experience for iPhone, iPad, Android devices and the web, serves as the channel’s digital extension. The app offers more than 1,100 live games and events from cross FOX Sports, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 and FOX Sports’ 22 regional sports networks, as well as scores, highlights, news, stats and analysis. For more information visit http://foxsports.com/watch/foxsports1.

Las Vegas, Nevada – For the first time ever, the UFC’s digital streaming service UFC® FIGHT PASS™ will broadcast UFC’s Ultimate Media Day live from Las Vegas ahead of the star-studded weekend of fights at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Hosted by Karyn Bryant, with UFC analysts Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz, the exclusive coverage begins tomorrow at 9 a.m. PT. Click HERE for the link to the broadcast (subscription required).

In hour one, the entire cast of The Ultimate Fighter® season 20 will be made available to the media just days after arriving into Las Vegas to begin filming. This season’s coaches, UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and No. 2 contender Gilbert Melendez, will also participate.

In hour two, the stars of UFC 175 and THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER® FINALE: TEAM EDGAR vs. TEAM PENN will be on hand to take questions from media.

The exclusive broadcast of Ultimate Media Day on UFCFIGHTPASS.com will also feature live interviews with Pettis, Melendez, UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, and UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, as well as a variety of other UFC competitors.

The event will close with UFC President Dana White’s scrum with media in attendance.

For more information on UFC 175 and THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER® FINALE: TEAM EDGAR vs. TEAM PENN, visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

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.

World Series of Fighting will make history this Saturday, and you can celebrate the occasion by bringing home a custom-made “OPERATOR” Ducati Monster 696 motorcycle.

Shout, the Utah-based leader in real-time fan engagement, will once again partner with World Series of Fighting and the promotion’s charity partner, the Green Beret Foundation, to offer up the popular “Champions Challenge” game.

During Saturday’s “World Series of Fighting 11: Gaethje vs. Newell” event, fans can download the Shout app and then play “Champions Challenge” to intellectually spar against each other during the live NBC broadcast by trying to predict, for instance, “Which fighter will land the most leg kicks? or “Which fighter will win?”

“We’re extremely excited about our first-ever NBC-broadcast event, but we’re equally happy about the opportunity we have to reward some of our fans,” World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. “Shout is a great way to follow along with our card, and whether you’re attending the event in Florida or watching on TV at home, you can win cash, prizes or even a beautiful, specially modified “OPERATOR” military version of a Ducati Monster 696.”

“World Series of Fighting 11: Gaethje vs. Newell” takes place Saturday, July 5, at Ocean Center in Daytona, Fla. The event’s four-fight main card, including undefeated lightweight champion Justin Gaethje (11-0) and inspirational contender Nick Newell (11-0), airs on NBC.

Shout is a real-time fan engagement application for smart phones and mobile devices. Players compete head-to-head for valuable prizes ranging from gift cards to iPads to motorcycles and cars.

Shout TV’s real-time challenges have engaged and entertained fans competing against each other during the Super Bowl, soccer, NFL, NBA and MLB games, as well as the Daytona 500, Oscars, Grammys and reality shows like “The Bachelor.”

Signing up and competing in the Shout fan competitions is free and fast. Shout can be downloaded by visiting the Apple, iPhone or Android stores (using search word “Shout”) or directly downloaded at http://www.shout2win.com.

About WSOF
World Series of Fighting is a professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering an incredible, action-packed entertainment experience for fight fans by producing the best possible matchups between elite fighters from around the globe. 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 GROUP
When the Comcast-NBCUniversal transaction was completed in January 2011, the sports assets of the two companies combined to form NBC Sports Group, which serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of a unique array of broadcast television, cable television, radio and digital sports assets, including NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN (NBC Sports Network), Golf Channel, 12 NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Radio and all of their respective digital properties. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of television rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, PGA of America, USGA, Churchill Downs, Premier League, MLS, World Series of Fighting, Tour de France, French Open, Formula One, IndyCar and many more.

About Ocean Center
The Ocean Center aims to be recognized as the premier convention
facility in the Southeast. The Ocean Center offers competitive rates and
excellent customer service and is conveniently located in east Central
Florida. A service of Volusia County Government, the Ocean Center can
accommodate meetings of 10 to 10,000 and offers more than 205,000 square
feet of interior exhibit, meeting and convention space. Learn more at
www.oceancenter.com.

Toronto – Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 television channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, will broadcast extensive UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida and The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale fight week coverage, including live weigh-ins, press conferences and exclusive pre and post-fight interviews on the scene from Las Vegas.

Fight Network’s live coverage will be broadcast on Cablevision’s Optimum TV in the U.S., nationwide in Canada, as well as internationally as part of Fight Network’s expansion on ZON in Portugal, Telenet in Belgium, D-Smart in Turkey, ZAP in Angola and Mozambique, and OSN across the Middle East and North Africa.

Premiering on Wednesday, July 2, at 7 p.m. ET, Fight News Now: MMA Edition will break down the UFC’s doubleheader in Las Vegas, including previews, features, predictions and much more.

Additional fight week coverage will be featured throughout the week during Fight News Now Extra, highlighting the official media day, UFC Fan Expo festivities and pre-fight interviews.

On Friday, July 4, at 7 p.m. ET, Fight Network will air a live broadcast of the official weigh-ins for UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida, as all the fighters tip the scales ahead of their fights on Saturday night. Weigh-ins will include original commentary and analysis from Fight Network’s studios.

The live weigh-ins for The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale take place on Saturday, July 5 at 4 p.m. with headliners B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar weighing in for Sunday’s trilogy bout.

Immediately following Saturday’s pay-per-view broadcast of UFC 175, Fight Network will broadcast a live post-show that includes the official post-fight press conference, interviews from the winners, fight highlights and analysis.

Finally, on Monday, July 7, at 7 p.m. ET, the premiere of 5 Rounds will showcase a full recap of both cards, including a look ahead to what the future has in store for the winners and losers.

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.

Las Vegas, Nev. ? The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) announced a new partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada and the Ultimate Alliance to develop a grassroots sports program providing local youth the access and opportunity to excel in wrestling. The program will provide children the resources to develop techniques, fundamentals, and the mindset to perform successfully in the sport of wrestling as well as teaching discipline, focus, and accountability for daily life.

“The UFC is thrilled to partner with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada and the Ultimate Alliance to help provide young athletes in the region the necessary resources to succeed in the sport of wrestling and to maximize their fullest potential,” said UFC Vice President of Community Relations Reed Harris. “Participants of this program will be given exclusive instruction from the best wrestling and mixed martial arts athletes in the world as well as equipment and funding for practice and competition.”

Bryan Lindsey, Volunteer Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Ultimate Alliance, added, “Teaming up with the UFC and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada to coach, develop and mentor the youth of Nevada and the United States has been a vision of mine for years. We are all very excited to work closely together to grow the sport of wrestling to a level we have yet to see in the history of the sport.”

UFC stars and wrestling legends Matt Hughes and Daniel Cormier will serve as UFC Ambassadors of the Boys & Girls Clubs Wrestling Program. With their extensive careers in amateur wrestling and mixed martial arts, Hughes and Cormier are the perfect representatives to teach and educate the youth about the transformative potential of wrestling. The UFC will also support the program by conducting clinics with various athletes and providing financial assistance and training equipment.

The partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada and the Ultimate Alliance represents a strong commitment from the UFC to help the local youth of Southern Nevada. Along with an extensive community outreach program, the UFC has continually built relationships with local organizations dedicated to making a positive impact in the local community. This new program will serve as a springboard for a national campaign that will ultimately provide the resources necessary to educate youth about the positive influence of wrestling.

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 the Ultimate Alliance
The Ultimate Alliance was formed to create massive change in the sport of wrestling at the grass roots in the United States. Three of the largest youth wrestling organizations in the United States have come together to create this movement of change. We are about being creative and entrepreneurial and providing a platform for the youth of the United States to participate in a progressive program that teaches the children of the U.S. dedication, focus, determination, respect, accountability and a passion for greatness.

About the National High School Coaches Association
The NHSCA is a 501c3 non-profit organization with a mission statement to provide leadership and support to the nation’s 1 million high school coaches and 10 million high school athletes. The NHSCA selects the national coach and athlete of the year in 22 boys and girls sports that will be featured in the NHSCA National High school Sports Hall of Fame Museum. The museum serves as a home for all of the 20,000 high schools in America to honor their outstanding coaches, athletes and administrators. The NHSCA Educational Resource Center provides educational programs for coaches as well as a coach certification program. The NHSCA also provides unlimited liability insurance for all of its members.

About National United Wrestling Association for Youth
NUWAY is a grassroots organization that looks at every decision as one of investment to make sure that every child has an opportunity to have a full wrestling experience from the moment they begin at their respective youth wrestling club, into elementary and high school, college, international competition and finally, to compete at the professional level. Investing back into our own state is the backbone of our organization! We believe that in order for each state to become a strong and independent state organization, we must invest in the wrestling programs in our community at the youth, high school, and college level. Our vision is become a stronger sport nationally by investing in local wrestling programs. For more info, go to www.nuwaywrestling.com.

About Rocky Mountain National Events (RMN Events)
Rocky Mountain National Events is a youth wrestling organization serving wrestlers across the nation. We are a wrestling organization that provides the opportunity for youth to participate in wrestling championships, which encourages their development not only as athletes but as students as well. Involvement with wrestling and sports in general has been shown to increase youths’ self-esteem, confidence, and social skills. Our championship wrestling meets are listed in our calendar and we welcome new athletes all the time as well as spectators. We invite you to get involved with the most unforgettable youth wrestling tournaments in the country. Help us Inspire, Encourage & Recognize the future leaders of our great nation. For more info, go to www.rmnevents.com.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada
The new Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada is a merger of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Henderson and Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas. The new nonprofit organization operates 14 facilities and three summer outreach programs in Southern Nevada, and serves more than 31,000 youth in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Southern Highlands and Summerlin. Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada provides every child with the essential tools needed for a successful and bright future through a variety of daily creative, fun, and educational programs. For information, visit www.bgchenderson.org, http://www.bgclv.org, and coming soon http://www.bgcsnv.org, or call 702.367.2582

Providence, Rhode Island – July 1, 2014 – CES MMA, the East Coast’s premier MMA organization, airs live for the first time on AXS TV FIGHTS with “CES MMA XXV” on Aug. 8 at 9pE/6pP from the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island. AXS TV FIGHTS broke the story last Friday on INSIDE MMA, the network’s long-running, weekly mixed martial arts talk show.

“CES MMA XXV” boasts a stacked fight card featuring the return of the America Top Team undefeated featherweight Charles Rosa versus Nick Gonzalez, the 2013 Fight of the Year Bazzie Award nominee. The line-up also includes lightweight fighter Josh LaBerge and bantamweight fighter Tateki Matsuda.

AXS TV FIGHTS commentators, five-time MMA world champion Pat Miletich and award-winning sports journalist and renowned commentator “The Voice” Michael Schiavello, are cage side to call the night’s action, providing live play-by-play and color commentary throughout the event.

“Through our partnership with AXS TV FIGHTS, we are able to continue our strategic expansion as we make our live television debut,” said CES MMA vice president Jimmy Burchfield Jr. “As the network’s East Coast MMA representative, our alliance provides us the opportunity to showcase and develop some of the most exciting fighters in the area.”

CES MMA has guided the careers of many fighters in their journey to achieve the next level, including John “Doomsday” Howard, who, when released from the UFC, went on a five fight KO streak under the direction of CES MMA before re-signing with the UFC in August 2013; Rob Font, the CES MMA featherweight champ, who was 6-0 in the CES cage when he was called up to debut at UFC 175 this July; and Brennan “The Irish Bad Boy” Ward, who went 3-0 in the CES cage before inking a Bellator contract and finding success in the Bellator middleweight tournament.

For ticket and bout information visit www.cesmma.com. Tickets start at $40 and can also be purchased online at www.twinriver.com or reserved by phone at 401-724-2253 ext. 2254. All fights and fighters are subject to change. For up-to-date information “like” CES MMA on Facebook here, follow on Twitter at @CESMMA and Instagram at CESMMA, and watch on YouTube here.

ABOUT AXS TV FIGHTS

AXS TV Fights presents more LIVE mixed martial arts and kickboxing events than any other television network with 36+ LIVE world-class fight cards each year. “The Voice” Michael Schiavello and five-time MMA world champion Pat Miletich call all the action as champions, challengers, and top prospects take center stage every Friday night at 10pE/7pP. AXS TV Fights can be found online, on Facebook and on Twitter. AXS TV is widely distributed in the U.S. via AT&T U-verse, Charter, Comcast/Xfinity, DIRECTV, DISH, Suddenlink, Verizon FiOS, and other cable, satellite and telco providers. The network is also carried in Canada and the Caribbean.

Las Vegas, Nev. – The UFC and FOX Sports organizations announced today the termination of their respective broadcasting services agreements with analyst Chael Sonnen. This decision comes in light of Sonnen failing a second test conducted by the Nevada Athletic Commission for banned substances in June. Sonnen was previously under temporary suspension by the Nevada Athletic Commission for failing an initial test conducted in May.

LAS VEGAS (June 30, 2014) — The Ultimate Fighting Championship® is proud to announce the Official Superfight Tournaments for Grapplers Quest®, the official grappling tournament at the UFC Fan Expo® on Saturday and Sunday, July 5-6 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Amateur Competitors can Pre-Register, Save $21+ and get a limited edition competitor shirt until Wednesday, July 2nd at 11:59 PM http://bit.ly/UFCFanExpo2014 or register at the door with cash only (MAC machines on site).

The two-day tournament will feature All Children and Teens No-Gi and BJJ Divisions and All adult No-Gi submission grappling divisions for Adults 18+ and the first rounds of the 16-Man and 16-Woman LIVE “Ultimate Grappler” Submission Only Tournaments hosted over two days, with qualifying rounds of the tournaments on Saturday, July 5. Then, on Sunday, July 6, the tournament will feature all-adult Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Divisions as well as the LIVE “Ultimate Grappler” Finales of the Men’s and Women’s Submission Only Professional Divisions.

Special Glass Plaques for All No-Gi Absolute Division Winners, All Men’s and Women’s No-Gi Advanced Divisions, All Men’s and Women’s BJJ Black Belt Absolute divisions and No-Gi Advanced Children’s and Teen’s Divisions will be competing for the prestigious Glass Octagon Awards sponsored by “Meditate With Me” Book & Video Series at: http://KidsCanMeditate.com and Grapplers Quest Founder, Brian Cimins’ Life Coaching Blog at: http://YourStrategyCoach.com

Huge custom Octagon medals and Full Color Certificates will be awarded for All divisions are sponsored by EZ Flex Sports Mats (http://EZFlexMats.com), The Official Mat Sponsor of Grapplers Quest plus OTM Fightshops and Built To Fight Industries at http://OnTheMat.com – the official pro tournament sponsor and official Grapplers Quest rashguard manufacturing company.

$40,000 in Competitor Registration Fees will also be up for Grabs for ALL UFC Fan Expo Champions

All division champions, amateur and professional, All Champions in All Skill Levels Grapplers Quest at UFC Fan Expo on July 5-6 in Las Vegas will win a FREE COMPETITOR Sponsorship ($150 value) for the Official 16th Annual U.S. Nationals of Grappling and Jiu Jitsu Presented on July 26, 2014 in Morristown, New Jersey. Pre-Register, Save $21, Plus Get a FREE T-Shirt, Register now at: http://bit.ly/UFCFanExpo2014

The Amateur UFC Fan Expo grappling tournament is limited to 1,500 competitor slots with nearly 1,100 slots already taken. Competitor pre-registrations end Wednesday, July 2nd at 11:59 PM PST – hurry and register today at: http://bit.ly/UFCFanExpo2014 and registrations will be available at the door.

OUR COMPETITORS RECEIVE:
* Full Access to the UFC Fan Expo both days ($50 value)
* Free Grapplers Quest at UFC Fan Expo Fighter T-Shirt ($40 value)
* Includes $21+ off at-the-door pricing
* Free Limited Edition Grapplers Quest Sticker
* Discount for Friends and Family to Join in YOUR GLORY!

Fighters can Pre-Register Online or At-The-Door, but Tournament Space is limited to 1,500 competitor slots so register today to guarantee your place in history at
http://bit.ly/UFCFanExpo2014

Grapplers Quest Superfight Tournaments start on Saturday, July 5th at 10:30 AM at UFC Fan Expo nicknamed “The Ultimate Grappler Tournaments” will feature Special Rules developed by Brian Cimins featuring two 10 Minute Submission Only Rounds followed by a Six-minute Overtime, if necessary, using Grapplers Quest points. The Finals will be Submission Only with No Time Limit and the UFC Fan Expo will host the LIVE Finals for The Ultimate Grappler Tournaments on Sunday, July 6 starting at 10:30 AM in the Center Rings.

Men’s “Ultimate Grappler” 175 lb. Tournament featuring:
1. Garry Tonon (America’s #1 Grappler)
2. Vitor Henrique Silva Oliveira (#1 IBJJF Black Belt No-Gi Middleweight Champion)
3. Bill Cooper (Defending UFC Fan Expo Superfight Champion)
4. Ronaldo Candido (ATOS, IBJJF World Champion)
5. Arnaldo de Oliveira (ChekMat – IBJJF Champion)
6. Sean Roberts (Black Belt under Ralph Gracie)
7. Kyle Griffin (Robert Drysdale Jiu Jitsu)
8. Enrico Cocco (#1 Southeast RATED Grapplers Quest Champion)
9. Jake Sweeney (Xtreme Couture)
10. Nathan Orchard (Eddie Bravo Black belt)
11. Nathan Mendelsohn (OnTheMat.com)
12. Ross Daniel Keeping (Gracie Humaita Vegas)
13. Lance Glynn (Paragon Black Belt)
14. Joey Hauss (Jean Jacques Machado)
15. Damien Nitken (NAGA advanced division Champion)
16. Benji Silva (Dream Submission only Champion)

Alternates:
Erik Cruz (10th Planet Brown Belt)

16-Woman “Ultimate Grappler” Submission Only Under 145 lbs. Tournament featuring:
1. Nyjah Easton (IBJJF World Champion, Abu Dhabi Pro Champion, European Champion – Team Lloyd Irvin)
2. Amanda Leve (2-Time Grapplers Quest Beast of the East Champion)
3. Rachael Cummins (Pro MMA Fighter and Submission Specialist – Jason Manly)
4. Pati Fontes (Checkmat brown belt)
5. Illa Erickson (Punch Kick Grapple)
6. Chelsea Donnar Branbridge (Atos new* black Belt) (won Worlds 2014 brown belt)
7. Vivian Velez (Pan Am No-Gi champ)
8. Jennifer Perez (Easton Bjj)
9. Colleen Schneider (Ultimate Fighter competitor)
10. Gillian Silver (PGL 135 women’s champion – Catch Wrestler)
11. Jessy Miele (International Martial Arts and Boxing Academy of Connecticut)
12.-16. PROS and ALTERNATES NEEDED: Send Resumes to: Director@Grapplers.com

“The new Grapplers Quest Submission Only Rules for the Superfights and the line-up will have every grappling fan on the edge of their seats. The two-day format will feature the largest crowd in grappling history!” an excited Brian Cimins, President of Grapplers Quest commented. The Superfight Tournaments are sponsored by Built To Fight Industries and http://OnTheMat.com

Tickets for the UFC Fan Expo® are on sale NOW at http://bit.ly/UFCFanExpoTix

The UFC Fan Expo® in July will feature more than 300,000 gross square feet of activities for UFC fans, including meet and greets and autograph sessions with top UFC and STRIKEFORCE® fighters, Q&A sessions with top UFC personalities, as well as grappling tournaments and other special events. More than 100 exhibitors will also be on hand, giving fans the opportunity to purchase and experience some of the best sports and lifestyle products on the market today. This marks the third UFC Fan Expo® held in Las Vegas since its inception in 2009, with additional UFC Fan Expos being held in Boston, London, Toronto and Houston.

For more information on grappling and jiu jitsu tournaments and events worldwide hosted by Grapplers Quest® and to register online, visit: http://GrapplersQuest.com

For more information on UFC Fan Expo® and to purchase tickets, visit www.ufcfanexpo.com. To subscribe to the official UFC Fan Expo® newsletter visit www.ufcfanexpo.com/newsletter. For companies interested in reserving space at this premier event, contact Brian Bernstein, Sales Executive at 203-840-5474 or email bbernstein@ufcfanexpo.com. Don’t wait, space is limited and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
ABOUT GRAPPLERS QUEST: Grapplers Quest is the World’s Largest Submission Grappling & Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tournament Circuit. Grapplers Quest is a world class, family-oriented Martial Arts competition and entertainment experience, challenging our fighters to become the next generation of Mixed Martial Arts champions. The Company produces The World’s Grappling Competition Supershows for the Ground Fighting Sport of Mixed Martial Arts, DVD and VOD PPV Video Production and Distribution, Apparel Development, Design and Production, Tradeshow Sponsorships, Exhibitor Sales, and much more. Home of the World’s Best Submission Fighters Since 1998, original Grapplers Quest athletes have gone on to become 147 UFC or Ultimate Fighter Contestants, 30 ADCC World Champions and 200+ World and Pan American IBJJF Titles. Upcoming events include July 5-6 at UFC Fan Expo, July 26 in New Jersey, October 10-12 in Liverpool, New York and Las Vegas on November 15th. For upcoming events worldwide, visit: http://GrapplersQuest.com

LINCOLN, R.I. (June 27th, 2014) – Fighting a new opponent on just 48 hours’ notice, Julian Lane looked as dominant as ever Friday in the main event of “CES MMA XXIV.”

Lane won a 30-27 unanimous decision on all three scorecards at Twin River Casino against Philadelphia’s Gemiyale Adkins, a last-minute replacement for Providence’s Luis Felix, who was forced to withdraw from the fight Wednesday due to injury.

The three-round welterweight bout featured plenty of exchanged with Lane (7-3-1) as the aggressor, landing two- and three-punch combinations while the shorter, thicker Adkins (8-8) seemed content with letting off just one punch at a time.

The judges rewarded Lane for his aggressiveness, and the former Ultimate Fighter reality television star won for the third time in his last fight bouts while the game Adkins dropped his fifth in a row and sixth in his last seven.

The knockout of the night belonged to East Providence, R.I., featherweight Dinis Paiva (5-5, 2 KOs), who dropped Joe Cushman (11-6) of Bridgewater, Mass., with a right hand just 49 seconds into the opening round of their scheduled three-round bout. It was Paiva’s 10th professional bout, all under the guidance of CES MMA.

In the undisputed Fight of the Night, female flyweight sensation Kaline Medeiros (3-3) of Fall River, Mass., won a hard-fought, 29-28, unanimous decision on all three scorecards against 43-year-old newcomer Brigitte Narcise (0-1) of Fairfield, N.J.

The two exchanged shots throughout the fight and even exchanged the upper hand on the canvas with both fighters gaining control at various points. Medeiros’ dominance in the final round turned out to be the determining factor as she took Narcise to the canvas within the opening minute and softened her up with effective ground-and-pound for the remainder of the fight.

Kennesaw, Ga., veteran Aaron Johnson (13-8) earned his 12th career submission, forcing Providence’s Greg Rebello (16-7) to tap out courtesy of the guillotine at the 1-minute, 7-second mark of the second round in a scheduled three-round bout fought at a catch weight of 225 pounds. Rebello let his guard down momentarily in the second round as both fighters scrambled to their feet and Johnson took advantage, charging at Rebello and trapping him in the guillotine on his way back down to the canvas.

Previously-unbeaten light heavyweight prospect Willie Brown (2-1) of Meriden, Conn., suffered his first career defeat against Keasbey, N.J., veteran J.A. Dudley (7-12), who submitted Brown with a heel hook at the 1:28 mark of the opening round, and Medford, Mass., vet Lewis Corapi (6-1, 3 KOs) made quick work of fellow lightweight Michael Sanchez (6-12) of Kenosha, Wisc., stopping Sanchez with a series of unanswered strikes at 4:15 of the opening round.

Providence bantamweight Joe Reverdes (2-3, 1 KO) earned his second career win and first knockout victory one minute into the opening round of a scheduled three-round bout, pummeling Randy Campbell (0-3) of Elizabeth City, N.J., with unanswered hammer fists until referee Kevin MacDonald stopped the fight. Providence featherweight Keenan Raymond (2-0) beat James Murrin (1-1) of Dorchester, Mass., by split decision, 28-29, 29-28, 29-28, and Framingham, Mass., lightweight Saul Almeida (16-5) defeated Dorchester’s Andres Jeudi (5-3) by unanimous decision, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27.

LINCOLN, R.I. (June 26th, 2014) – Listed below are the final weights for all of the participants for “CES MMA XXIV,” live mixed martial arts scheduled for Friday, June 27th, 2014 at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I. The first bout is scheduled for 7 p.m.

GEMIYALE ADKINS
Philadelphia, Pa.
8-7, 3 KOs
169 ½

JULIAN LANE
Mansfield, Ohio
6-3-1, 1 KO
169

GREG REBELLO
Providence, R.I.
16-5, 9 KOs
224

AARON JOHNSON
Kennesaw, Ga.
12-11, 1 KO
222

DINIS PAIVA
East Providence, R.I.
4-5, 1 KO
135

JOE CUSHMAN
Bridgewater, Mass.
11-5, 3 KOs
135

KALINE MEDEIROS
Fall River, Mass.
2-3, 1 KO
120

BRIGITTE NARCISE
Fairfield, N.J.
Pro debut
124

ANDRES JEUDI
Dorchester, Mass.
6-2, 2 KOs
155

SAUL ALMEIDA
Framingham, mass.
14-5
156

WILLIE BROWN
Meriden, Conn.
2-0
201

J.A. DUDLEY
Keasbey, N.J.
6-12
207

LEWIS CORAPI
Medford, Mass.
5-1, 2 KOs
154

MICHAEL SANCHEZ
Kenosha, Wisc.
3-5
155

ALFRED “KEENAN” RAYMOND
Providence, R.I.
1-0
146

JAMES MURRIN
Dorchester, Mass.
1-0, 1 KO
145

JOE REVERDES
Providence, R.I.
1-3
135

RANDY CAMPBELL
Elizabeth City, N.C.
Pro debut
143

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (June 25th, 2014) – An injury forced Providence’s Luis Felix to withdraw Wednesday from his scheduled title bout against Julian Lane in the main event of CES MMA’s upcoming fight card at Twin River Casino.

Lane (6-3-1, 1 KO), a former contestant on The Ultimate Fighter reality television series, will now face Philadelphia’s Gemiyale Adkins (8-7, 3 KOs) in the main event of “CES MMA XXIV” on Friday, June 27th, 2014. Adkins, a two-time Bellator vet, is known regionally for facing Providence’s Mike Campbell in October of 2012.

The Felix-Lane bout was originally scheduled for five rounds for the vacant CES MMA Lightweight Title. Lane and Adkins will fight a three-round bout at a catch weight of 170 pounds.

Tickets for “CES MMA XXIV” are on sale at $40.00, $55.00, $100.00 and $125.00 (VIP) and can be purchased online at www.cesmma.com or www.twinriver.com or by phone at 401-724-2253/2254. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Also on the card, Providence heavyweight Greg Rebello (17-5, 9 KOs) will take on Kennesaw, Ga., native Aaron Johnson (12-8, 1 KO); East Providence, R.I., vet Dinis Paiva (4-5, 1 KO) faces Joe Cushman (11-5, 3 KOs) of Bridgewater, Mass., in a featherweight bout; lightweight Andres Jeudi (6-2, 2 KOs) of Dorchester, Mass., battles Framingham, Mass., vet Saul Almeida (15-5); and female flyweight sensation Kaline Medeiros (2-3, 1 KO) of Fall River, Mass., faces Brigitte Narcise of Fairfield, N.J., in Narcise’s pro debut.

Fan-favorite Willie Brown (2-0) of Meriden, Conn., returns to battle J.A. Dudley (6-11) of Plainfield, N.J., in a light heavyweight bout; Providence’s Keenan Raymond (1-0) puts his record on the line against Dorchester featherweight James Murrin (1-0); and Providence vet Joe Reverdes (1-3) returns to battle newcomer Randy Campbell of Elizabeth, N.J., in a bantamweight bout. Medford, Mass., lightweight Lewis Corapi (5-1, 2 KOs) will face Michael Sanchez (6-11, 2 KOs) of Kenosha, Wisc., in a three-round bout.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (June 25th, 2014) — If you were taken aback when you first heard Dinis Paiva was fighting for the 10th time under the guidance of CES MMA Friday night at Twin River Casino, you weren’t alone. Even Paiva himself can’t believe it.

“It’s been a phenomenal three years since I made my pro debut and it’s gone by just as fast as I can remember my first fight ending – a minute and 16 seconds with a TKO,” said Paiva, who’ll face Joe Cushman Friday night on the undercard of “CES MMA XXIV” at Twin River. “That’s how it’s felt these past three years.”

Tickets for “CES MMA XXIV” are on sale now at $40.00, $55.00, $100.00 and $125.00 (VIP) and can be purchased online at www.cesmma.com or www.twinriver.com or by phone at 401-724-2253/2254. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Time certainly flies, as the old adage says, but time’s also stood still now and then for Paiva (4-5, 2 KOs), who’s admittedly had his share of ups and downs in mixed martial arts.

After winning his aforementioned pro debut in June of 2011, Paiva went on to lose his next three fights, including a discouraging disqualification loss to Clifford Moulton, a fight Paiva dominated until he inadvertently kneed his opponent to the head while Moulton still had a hand on the canvas.

Paiva then closed out 2012 with back-to-back wins against Josh Lange and Gilvan Santos to even his record before losing the next two to Kin Moy and Robert Sullivan. With only three wins and five losses, the East Providence, R.I., native made the toughest choice of his career, leaving lifelong trainer Mat Santos to work with Mike Gresh and his team at the Cape Cod Fighting Alliance.

“Behind closed doors, the people who had seen me fight knew it was in my best interest,” Paiva said. “My manager Keith [Allen], who has been with me my entire career since I was an amateur, was the first guy to propel me to go work with these other guys.

“No matter who you are, even if you’re the greatest champion in the world, you can always continue to learn and always continue to progress without forgetting your roots. I never will.”

With a new approach physically and mentally, “Sweetbread” opened 2014 with an impressive knockout win over Franklin Isabel and is now stepping in the cage against the savvy Bridgewater, Mass., veteran Cushman (11-5, 3 KOs), a fight that could help Paiva achieve his goal of becoming a Top 5 fighter in the featherweight division.

“[Cushman] is ranked No. 5 in the northeast, so this would be an upset in some peoples’ eyes,” Paiva said. “There are even some people who think I’m the big dog coming in. I consider myself the underdog. I like that. It takes the pressure off me. I’ve got everything to gain and nothing to lose.”

The mental approach is half the battle for Paiva, who never takes a shortcut with his conditioning or physical preparation. He was so dedicated during this camp that he even declined to have a piece of cake on his birthday on May 26th despite the fact it was a month before Thursday’s weigh-in.

“A lot of people would’ve looked past it and said, ‘What’s the big deal?’ but a lot gets put into this,” Paiva said. “I’ve been going balls to the wall for weeks.”

Not only is Paiva certain he’s a better fighter now than he was three years ago – or, for that matter, in January – he’s convinced he’s a much better fighter than his record indicates, a byproduct of the elite competition in the northeast.

“To be honest, I kind of like having the record I have considering where I’m trying to get,” he said. “People who know the sport and have been around it for a while and have watched my career know I’m not a 4-5 fighter. The guys with the losing records are the hungriest. They’re the ones you should fear the most.

“I’ve progressed a lot,” Paiva continued. “I’ve evolved and changed a lot as a fighter, especially during this last camp, and it’ll show in this next fight. I think Joe is expecting to see the old ‘Sweetbread.’ With what shows in videos and what he’s expecting, he’s going to be caught off guard. I’m nowhere near where I used to be.”

Three years and nine fights later, the secret to Paiva’s unabashed confidence is perspective.

“The thing is I never really lost big, or at least I feel that way. I feel like I haven’t had anyone really come in and knock my head off my shoulders, so to speak,” he said.

With a major milestone on deck, and perhaps more in the future, Paiva controls his own destiny, and the road to featherweight supremacy begins Friday at Twin River.

“I’ve overcome a lot of adversity,” he said. “Every fight is different. It’s always a 50-50 chance no matter who you are. Guys get caught. Things happen.

“This division is one of the deepest in the northeast. I feel I’m neck and neck with the best competition. It’s all about evolving and maturing in the cage, and I’m doing that as my career progresses. I’m more professional about it. I’m a lot more headstrong and profound. It’s the way things need to be now.”

The main event of “CES MMA XXIV” features Providence lightweight Luis Felix (11-7, 4 KOs) facing Julian Lane (6-3-1, 1 KO) for the vacant CES MMA title in a five-round bout.

UFC vet Ricardo Funch (8-4, 4 KOs) of Ludlow, Mass., will make his CES MMA debut on the undercard when he faces welterweight Brett Oteri (12-5, 1 KO) of Dedham, Mass.

Also on the card, Providence heavyweight Greg Rebello (17-5, 9 KOs) will take on Kennesaw, Ga., native Aaron Johnson (12-8, 1 KO); lightweight Andres Jeudi (6-2, 2 KOs) of Dorchester, Mass., battles Framingham, Mass., vet Saul Almeida (15-5); and female flyweight sensation Kaline Medeiros (2-3, 1 KO) of Fall River, Mass., faces Brigitte Narcise of Fairfield, N.J., in Narcise’s pro debut.

Fan-favorite Willie Brown (2-0) of Meriden, Conn., returns to battle J.A. Dudley (6-11) of Plainfield, N.J., in a light heavyweight bout; Providence’s Keenan Raymond (1-0) puts his record on the line against Dorchester featherweight James Murrin (1-0); featherweight Pete Rogers Jr. (1-1, 1 KO) of Norwich, Conn., faces Mike Lamm (0-1) of Newton, Mass.; and Providence vet Joe Reverdes (1-3) returns to battle newcomer Randy Campbell of Elizabeth, N.J., in a bantamweight bout.

HONG KONG – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® returns to the Cotai Arena in Macao on August 23 with a middleweight showdown pitting two of the division’s elite against one another as No. 8-ranked Michael “The Count” Bisping takes on former Strikeforce champion, Cung Le. With contrasting styles and 26 finishes between them, this bout has the potential to be a classic.

Mark Fischer, executive vice president & managing director, UFC Asia, said: “Asia has always been a focal point in the UFC’s continued global expansion. Over the past few years, the UFC has grown tremendously in Asia, with Asia now representing nearly half of the UFC’s global TV footprint, reaching 448 million households and more than 1.5 billion individuals. Through our strategic partnership with Sands China, we have been able to produce The Ultimate Fighter locally, which had over 115 million viewers in its debut season and has been responsible for cultivating local talent and future UFC stars.”

Fischer added: “We are thrilled to be back at the Venetian Macao with a great fight card featuring world famous MMA fighters from South Korea, USA and the UK, as well as The Ultimate Fighter China featherweight finalists, who will battle to become the next Chinese UFC star.”

Edward Tracy, president and chief executive officer of Sands China Ltd said: “Sands China Ltd is very pleased to continue our successful collaboration in our partnership with our third exciting UFC event.”

Speaking at a press conference in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Tracy added: “We’ll continue to bring the world’s best entertainment – including the world’s top athletes – to Macao for the enjoyment of both visitors and locals. We’ve brought a range of martial arts events to Macao, including boxing, Muay Thai, and of course MMA with UFC. Action-packed events like UFC Fight Night Macao are an important part of our multi-tiered entertainment strategy, which seeks to raise Macao’s global profile as a world centre of tourism and leisure and as a regional hub for entertainment.”

Vietnamese born Le (9-2 in his professional mixed martial arts career, fighting out of San Jose, California), makes his return to the Octagon® after a two-year hiatus that saw him serve as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter China, the organization’s long running reality series, as well as further his action movie career. In his return to the Cotai arena, the scene of his highlight reel knockout of Rich Franklin, Le will look to build on his reputation as one of the most exciting fighters in combat sports history when he meets Manchester, England’s Bisping (24-6, fighting out of Orange County, California) in the Octagon.

The Briton is consistently on the verge of title contention and a win over Le would mark his first victory over a former champion, ensuring his name stays in contention with the division’s best.

In the co-main event, the hard-hitting No. 4-ranked welterweight, Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley (13-3-0) – who boasts wins over top names such as former UFC champion Carlos Condit, Josh Koscheck, Paul Daley and Tarec Saffiedine -faces off with the surging No.9 ranked Dong Hyun Kim (19-2-1, 1 no contest, fighting out of Busan, South Korea).

The 170lbs clash has major UFC world title implications. “Stun Gun” has a ton of momentum after crushing victories over John Hathaway and a knockout of the night performance against Erick Silva, while Woodley is potentially one huge win away from a shot at UFC gold. Both fighters will be looking to cement their place amongst the division’s elite in this three-round bout.

Also on the stacked card, Yang Jianping (7-3-1) and Ning Guangyou (4-2-1) will also take to the Octagon® to decide who will be become the featherweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter® China and win the coveted UFC contract.

Tickets for UFC® FIGHT NIGHT MACAO: BISPING vs. LE go on sale June 24 at 10 a.m. HKT and are priced at HK$4,680, HK$2,580, HK$1,680, HK$880, HK$580, HK$380 and HK$280, with a 20% off Early Bird promotion through July 8th. HK$88 adds a round trip Cotai Water Jet ferry ticket between Hong Kong and Macao (HK$280 tickets excluded).

Tickets are available for purchase at www.cotaticketing.com. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Cotai Ticketing at +852 6333 6660. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.

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 The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel
Opened in 2007, The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel is Macao’s first integrated resort featuring stunning replicas of the famous canals and architectural icons of Venice, Italy. The Venetian Macao features 3,000 suites, 1.2 million square feet (111,000 square metres) of convention and meeting facilities as well as a 15,000-seat Cotai Arena designed for world-class sports events and electrifying entertainment. The Venetian Macao is also home to the unique, 1,800-seat luxury Venetian Theatre, hosting the best in international and Chinese entertainment; more than 30 renowned restaurants; TAIVEXMALO Day Hospital & Spa; the incredibly fun QUBE indoor playground and more than 300 retailers at Shoppes at Venetian. Outdoor recreation areas include swimming pools and cabanas and a mini-golf course.

For more information, please visit www.venetianmacao.com.

Las Vegas, Nev. – UFC® president Dana White, Hall of Famers Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin and Matt Hughes, UFC FIT Coach Mike Dolce, flyweights Joseph Benavidez and John Dodson, women’s bantamweight Miesha Tate, welterweight Tyron Woodley and Octagon Girls® will be in attendance at the Ulti-man™ 5k charity run presented by UFC FIT™ and UFC GYM® on Friday, July 4 in Downtown Las Vegas.

The Ulti-man 5k charity run will donate net proceeds to Three Square Food Bank, ONE DROP, The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada and Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada through the UFC Community Works® program.

Ulti-man 5k Schedule of Events
Downtown Las Vegas

Starts and finishes at Hogs & Heifers Saloon, 201 N. 3rd Street

7:00 a.m. Ulti-man 5k check in starts
· All participants receive an official Ulti-man race t-shirt and a medal

7:30 a.m. UFC FIT inspired warm-up
· Led by UFC FIT Coach Mike Dolce and women’s bantamweight Miesha Tate

8:00 a.m. Ulti-man 5k run commences
· Non-competitive event for participants of all ages and fitness levels

· The flat, easy 3.1-mile course runs through the heart of Downtown Las Vegas

· Runners and walkers will encounter three UFC FIT stations along the way

· UFC stars and UFC GYM coaches will be at the UFC FIT stations to encourage participants through the course

*All times PT

Participants are encouraged to register in advance at UFCFightWeek.com. Registration fee is $45 per participant (increases June 30 to $50). Registration will close at 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 3.

Assets: Ulti-man 5k sizzle video from UFC president Dana White available at http://www.ufc.com/media/ultiman-5k-promo.

For more information about the Ulti-man 5k run or to register, please visit www.UFC.com/fightweek-ultiman-5k-run.

About UFC International Fight Week™

UFC International Fight Week™ returns to the Fight Capital of the World July 1-6, 2014. The weeklong celebration includes something for everyone from entertainment and arts to charitable events, and, of course, all things UFC. The event will also feature for the first-time ever, two huge fight cards in one weekend in the UFC’s hometown – UFC® 175 and The Ultimate Fighter® 19 Finale. Other fan favorite activities will return including UFC Fan Expo, a pool party with Octagon Girls®, training sessions with fighters, a free concert, weigh-ins and more! Tickets and event details are available at www.UFCFightWeek.com. Stay connected with UFC International Fight Week news on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/UFCFightWeek), Twitter and Instagram (@UFCFightWeek).

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.

Tacoma, WA (June 24, 2014) – The Northwest’s most intimidating MMA fighter, Brent “Mankill” Knopp (5-0) is stepping back into the cage on July 19th for CageSport 31, looking to defend his highly coveted middleweight title for the second time, taking on Idaho’s Will Noland (8-4). Knopp and Noland have emerged as the two top middleweights in the Northwest and Noland will get his first crack at the West Coast’s premier MMA middleweight title.

Tickets for CageSport 31, scheduled for Saturday, July 19th, at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, WA are on sale and can be purchased at the EQC box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Prices start at $35 and fans are encouraged to get their tickets early as CageSport has exploded in popularity selling over capacity of the 1500 seat EQC showroom.

At CageSport 30, a title eliminator match between Alfonso Gonzales and Jared Torgeson took place with the winner, Alfonso Gonzales, getting the opportunity to fight Brent Knopp for the middleweight title in July. After defeating Torgeson, Gonzales took a fight with Legacy promotions thus taking him out of consideration for the July middleweight title fight.

Replacing Torgeson is Idaho’s Will Noland who will be making his CageSport debut. Noland has won six of his last seven fights and has all the momentum he can ask for riding into his matchup against the CageSport middleweight champion.

“It’s a pleasure promoting Brent’s fights,” said CageSport promoter, Brian Halquist. “He’s a good guy in and out of the cage. Still undefeated with great power, Brent always puts on an exciting display for the fans. Will Noland is a worthy opponent for Brent, and July 19th will certainly be a memorable night.”

Brent Knopps’s fight moniker, Mankill, has been backed up and proven throughout his five CageSport appearances. All five of Knopp’s wins have come via TKO/knockout usually being ended by devastating hammer fists that his opponents are still figuring how to defend. Knopp’s most recent fight may have been his most memorable yet, taking on StrikeForce veteran, Cory Devela, in a fight that featured two sluggers using every ounce of energy to get that Knockout. Midway through the fourth round, Knopp prevailed, getting the TKO victory and the first sense that he has the potential to become a national MMA star.

Nine undercard fights are also scheduled throughout the night, featuring the West Coast’s best up and coming professional MMA fighters. Doors for CageSport 31 open at 6 PM with the first fight scheduled for 7 PM. For more information about CageSport 31 and all other Halquist Production events, please visit the official Facebook and Twitter Pages of CageSport MMA and Battle at the Boat.
About CageSport MMA

Halquist Productions’ CageSport MMA continues to be the longest running and leading professional MMA promotion on the West Coast. The promotion has drawn fighters from all over the region such as: Miesha Tate, Bryan Caraway, Sam Sicilia, Michael Chiesa, and Anthony Hamilton, who have all fought on former CageSport cards and going on to become UFC superstars. CageSport has become a top MMA promotion in the country for prospective West Coast fighters to gain experience and exposure as they continue to dedicate their lives in hoping to one day become a UFC champion.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (June 23rd, 2014) — Knock out your opponents in a timely fashion, and you increase your chances of making it to the next level in mixed martial arts. Knock out Aaron Johnson, and you’re practically a shoo-in.

In what can be best described as a statistical anomaly, Johnson (12-8, 1 KO) has only been stopped by three fighters in his five-year career, and all three have gone on to fight for either Bellator or the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), a trend Providence’s Greg Rebello hopes to continue Friday night when he takes his shot at Johnson on the undercard of “CES MMA XXIV” at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I.

Rebello, 32, is in the midst of his second, and perhaps final, run following a brief retirement last summer, while Johnson is looking to claw his way back into the spotlight after a smashing debut with Bellator in which he submitted middleweight tournament champion Brennan Ward in 15 seconds.

“My record shows I’m no slouch,” Johnson said.

Once considered the top light heavyweight prospect in New England, Rebello (16-5, 9 KOs) has had his taste of the limelight, too, fighting for Bellator twice in an 11-month span, but hasn’t gotten the call back since losing the second time to Dan Cramer in 2011.

Now he and Johnson will lock horns Friday, June 27th, 2014 at a 225-pound catch weight in what could be a career-defining bout for both sides. Rebello’s on the brink of another big payday while Johnson could use another quality win to inch his way back into the picture.

Tickets for “CES MMA XXIV” are on sale now at $40.00, $55.00, $100.00 and $125.00 (VIP) and can be purchased online at www.cesmma.com or www.twinriver.com or by phone at 401-724-2253/2254. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

“The kid is dangerous,” Rebello said, “and he’s one of the best grapplers in MMA, but every fight starts standing.

“At this point in my career, it’s not like I can pick and choose who I fight. I’m pretty close to fighting for a bigger company, so I’ve got to fight the best fighters available.”

Between 2006 and 2010, Rebello won 11 consecutive fights on the northeast circuit, among them a win over John Doyle at Bellator 17 in Boston, and was considered one of the region’s top prospects before the loss to Cramer. He bounced back with a bloody win over Cody Lightfoot at Twin River before suffering another setback five months later in a submission loss to Mike Stewart.

Within months, Rebello’s priorities shifted from fighting to family; his girlfriend, Nicole, gave birth to the couple’s first child just six days before his scheduled bout against Chris Guillen. Rebello won the fight, but fatherhood inevitably affected his training over the next two years.

“I wanted to be with her all the time,” Rebello says of his daughter, who’ll turn two in September. “I skipped out on training sessions I shouldn’t have missed. It showed when I fought.”

Rebello hit rock bottom last summer in a lifeless, split-decision loss to journeyman Lewis Rumsey, in which the former top-ranked contender looked sluggish for the majority of the fight. Afterward, he announced his retirement to a capacity crowd at Twin River, suggesting MMA was a “young man’s sport” and his time had passed, but the layoff ended just six months later when Rebello returned to the cage to stop John Doyle at “CES MMA XX.”

“For about a year and a half my fights were kind of lackluster. It wasn’t me,” Rebello said. “I’m the type of person where if I can’t be at the top, I don’t want to do it anymore.

“Now that my daughter is getting older, it’s a little easier for me. This camp has been one of the best I’ve ever had. I’ve gone everywhere to train — Lauzon’s, Tri-Force, Sityodtong. I’m definitely a better fighter than I was even four or five years ago. You’ll see it.”

Age was never really the issue for Rebello — “I have young legs for a guy who’s 32,” he said — and he’s surprisingly durable for someone with more than 20 fights under his belt.

“I grew up wrestling. I didn’t have that jiu-jitsu background, so I don’t have a ton of miles on me like the guys who’ve taken so much punishment through the years,” he said.

With a little luck, Rebello might wind up the fighter who peaks at the latter stage of his career. Even during his impressive 11-fight win streak, he only finished five of his opponents, which Rebello says is the reason he never got the call from the UFC. Since the loss to Cramer, his last four wins have come by stoppage (three knockouts and one submission), and another quick win Friday might be enough to push him over the top before his time truly does pass.

“I used to fight safe. I was fighting to not lose instead of fighting to win,” Rebello said. “The biggest thing I wanted to change was wanting to finish these fights.

“As a fighter, yes, you want to win, but you’ve got to know how to lose,” he continued. “When you go in there, you can’t worry about what the other guy is going to do. Whether it’s CES, UFC or Bellator, people want to see you finish fights.”

Johnson has never had that problem. He’s won 11 fights by submission — all in the first round — and one by knockout, which came in the second round against John Richard in 2011. He even made quick work of Ward, who went on to win the Bellator middleweight tournament when he replaced Andreas Spang. For whatever reason, Ward, not Johnson, got the call.

“I don’t know why,” Johnson said. “I’ve finished 11 fighters by submission in the first round. How many guys do you know who have done that? Bellator didn’t re-sign me. If they had, I probably would’ve had a chance to win the tournament.”

Instead, Johnson hopes to earn his trip back to Bellator the hard way by beating a reenergized, determined Rebello in his own backyard, while Rebello is aiming to join the likes of Matt Van Buren, Rodney Wallace and Clint Hester, all of whom knocked out Johnson and went on to bigger and better fights.

“He’s a very flat-footed, standup guy who likes to get his opponents to come in so he can counter with a kick to the head with his southpaw style,” Johnson said of Rebello.

“I noticed in his last two fights he finished with head kicks, but I’ve also seen him get finished by submission. He really didn’t have any ground game. He didn’t have an answer for the takedowns. I’m training for whatever comes.”

Like Rebello, Johnson is putting a bigger emphasis on finishing fights with his standup, insisting promotions such as Bellator and UFC “don’t like the ground game,” so he’s been training with six-time Muay Thai world champion Manu Ntoh.

“CES has been moving fighters up in the rankings, so this is why we’re coming to CES,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, I can get my record up and fight for an even larger organization soon.”

“You never know when you’re going to get that call,” Rebello added. “You just have to be ready.”

The main event of “CES MMA XXIV” features Providence lightweight Luis Felix (11-7, 4 KOs) facing Julian Lane (6-3-1, 1 KO) for the vacant CES MMA title in a five-round bout.

UFC vet Ricardo Funch (8-4, 4 KOs) of Ludlow, Mass., will make his CES MMA debut on the undercard when he faces welterweight Brett Oteri (12-5, 1 KO) of Dedham, Mass. Also on the card, East Providence, R.I., vet Dinis Paiva (4-5, 1 KO) faces Joe Cushman (11-5, 3 KOs) of Bridgewater, Mass., in a featherweight bout; lightweight Andres Jeudi (6-2, 2 KOs) of Dorchester, Mass., battles Framingham, Mass., vet Saul Almeida (15-5); and female flyweight sensation Kaline Medeiros (2-3, 1 KO) of Fall River, Mass., faces Brigitte Narcise of Fairfield, N.J., in Narcise’s pro debut.

Fan-favorite Willie Brown (2-0) of Meriden, Conn., returns to battle J.A. Dudley (6-11) of Plainfield, N.J., in a light heavyweight bout; Providence’s Keenan Raymond (1-0) puts his record on the line against Dorchester featherweight James Murrin (1-0); featherweight Pete Rogers Jr. (1-1, 1 KO) of Norwich, Conn., faces Mike Lamm (0-1) of Newton, Mass.; and Providence vet Joe Reverdes (1-3) returns to battle newcomer Randy Campbell of Elizabeth, N.J., in a bantamweight bout.