Las Vegas, Nevada – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) is bringing the third annual UFC International Fight Week™ to Las Vegas once again this July! The week-long fan celebration returns with UFC events and related activities including entertainment, arts, charitable events, shopping and more. Plus for the first time, the event will feature two huge fight cards in one weekend – UFC® 175: WEIDMAN vs. MACHIDA and The Ultimate Fighter® Finale: EDGAR vs. PENN.

UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, fresh off two victories over the legend Anderson Silva, has set his sights on a new challenge in former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. The two will now meet in the main event of UFC 175 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center Saturday, July 5.

Since making the decision to drop to his optimum weight of 185 pounds, (No. 3) Lyoto Machida (21-4, fighting out of Los Angeles, Calif.) has notched consecutive victories over top contenders Mark Munoz (Knockout of the Night) and Gegard Mousasi (Fight of the Night). The Brazilian now looks to avenge the loss of his teammate, Silva, by handing Weidman the first loss of his career and becoming the third man in UFC history to win titles in two weight classes. Since adding a second TKO exclamation point to his first knockout victory over Silva, Chris Weidman (11-0, fighting out of Mineola, N.Y.) looks to extend his unblemished reign with a decisive win over the dynamic striker.

In addition, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (9-0, fighting out of Venice, Calif.) returns to the Octagon® for the third time in eight months to face surging contender Alexis Davis. After earning her third title defense and first TKO victory over fellow Olympian Sara McMann, Rousey looks to remain unbeaten with a win over Davis. Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt (No. 2) Alexis Davis (16-5, fighting out of Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada) boasts an impressive five-fight win streak that includes victories over Shayna Baszler, Rosi Sexton, Liz Carmouche and Jessica Eye.

Also, fan favorite (No. 9) Chael Sonnen (29-14-1, fighting out of West Linn, Ore.) meets former PRIDE middleweight champion (No. 6) Wanderlei Silva (35-12-1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) in a grudge match years in the making.

If that wasn’t enough, the following night on Sunday, July 6, UFC fans will see the long-awaited finale of The Ultimate Fighter: Edgar vs Penn, live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center. In the main event, the season’s coaches, former lightweight champions (No. 2) Frankie Edgar (15-4-1, fighting out of Toms River, N.J.) and BJ Penn (16-9-2, fighting out of Hilo, Hawaii), will face each other in the Octagon for the third time — a meeting which marks their first in the featherweight division. The finalists from the show’s middleweight and light heavyweight divisions will also square off for a six-figure UFC contract and the chance to be crowned The Ultimate Fighter®.
Additional bouts for UFC®175: WEIDMAN vs. MACHIDA can be found at:
http://www.ufc.com/event/UFC175

Additional bouts for THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE: EDGAR vs. PENN can be found at: http://www.ufc.com/event/TUF19-Finale

Tickets for UFC®175: WEIDMAN vs. MACHIDA, presented by BUD LIGHT® go on sale Friday, May 23 at 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $1250, $850, $600, $400, $250 and $125 (prices do not include applicable service charges).

Tickets for THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE: EDGAR vs. PENN go on sale Friday, May 23 at 12 p.m. PT and are priced at $175, $125, $100, $75 and $50 (prices do not include applicable service charges).

Tickets for both events are available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com. 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 at the Mandalay Bay box office.

Great VIP packages are also available! 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 UFC 175 on Wednesday, May 21 at 10 a.m. and The Ultimate Fighter Finale at 12 p.m. PT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers for UFC 175 on Thursday, May 22 starting at 10 a.m. PT and for The Ultimate Fighter Finale at 12 p.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC®175: WEIDMAN vs. MACHIDA 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.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE: EDGAR vs. PENN will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT Sunday, July 6, with the prelims kicking off the evening on FOX Sports 2 at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.

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, shopping 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® Finale. Other fan favorite activities will return including UFC Fan Expo, Official Pool Party with Octagon Girls®, a free concert, UFC Downtown with fighter meet-and-greets, “The Art of Fighting” art exhibit, ULTI-MAN 5k run, training sessions with fighters, viewing parties, weigh-ins and more! Tickets and event details are available at www.UFCFightWeek.com. UFC Fan Expo tickets are on sale now at www.UFCFanExpo.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.

Las Vegas, Nevada –The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization can reveal the English-language version of The Ultimate Fighter® Latin America will screen exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS® for US subscribers.

Filming is already underway in Las Vegas, with UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez leading a Mexican team against No.1 contender Fabricio Werdum’s squad of fighters from across Latin American. The season is scheduled to premiere on UFC FIGHT PASS®, the UFC’s digital subscription service, in August with new episodes uploaded weekly.

“I’ve been waiting 15 years for this,” said UFC President Dana White. “Passion for fighting is unrivaled in Latin America. It’s part of their history and their culture. There’s a lot of potential in this season’s cast and I know they’re going to bring it every fight. Adding a little extra rivalry – pitting Mexico versus the rest of Latin America – doesn’t hurt either.”

Fans from the following countries will be able to catch the season on their respective free to air networks: Argentina: CN5, Bolivia: Red Uno, Mexico: Channel.5, Nicaragua: Channel 13, Panama: NexTV, Paraguay: Telefuturo and Uruguay: Channel 10. The season will premiere on these Networks the week of August 18, though dates and weekly episodes will vary per country. Viewers should check their local listings for further information.

More networks will be confirmed prior to the series premiere and, additionally, subscribers to the UFC Network in Latin America will also get the chance to catch replays and watch exclusive content.

In the first Latin American edition of the series, the 27th edition overall, the eight bantamweight (135 lbs) and eight featherweight (155 lbs) fighters have been divided into two teams – Team Mexico, coached by Velasquez – and Team Latin America, coached by Werdum. Over the course of 12 weeks, they will face off in the most challenging sports tournament on television and compete for a six-figure contract with the UFC®.

The coaches will then face off in the famed UFC Octagon® for the heavyweight championship of the world on Saturday, November 15 at UFC® 180: VELASQUEZ vs. WERDUM at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City.

The list of finalists was trimmed from more than 600 applicants, with the final fighters hailing from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama. The competitors are listed by weightclass and alphabetical order (Name, professional MMA record, age, hometown):

TEAM VELASQUEZ
TEAM WERDUM
Bantamweight
Bantamweight
Marco Beltran (5-2), 27, Morelia, Mexico
Guido Cannetti (5-1), 34, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Henry Briones (13-4), 33, Tijuana, Mexico
Fredy Serrano (1-0), 34, Bogota, Colombia
Alejandro Dominguez (22-6), Tlatenango, Mexico
Bentley Syler (5-0), 31, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
Jose Quinonez (10-1), 23, Tlatenango, Mexico
Marlon Vera (5-1), 22, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Featherweight
Featherweight
Gabriel Benitez (16-4), 25, Tijuana, Mexico
Humberto Brown (4-4), 29, Panama City, Panama
Masio Fullen (6-4), 27, Guadalajara, Mexico
Leonardo Morales (4-0), 21, Managua, Nicaragua
Yair Rodriguez (2-1), 22, Parral, Mexico
Diego Rivas (5-0), 22, Temuco, Chile
Rodolfo Rubio (12-6), 27, DF, Mexico
Alex Torres (1-1), 25, Bogota, Colombia

Front row (left to right): Quinonez, Rubio, Briones, Dominguez, Velasquez, Werdum, Serrano, Cannetti, Syler and Rivas.
Back row (left to right): Benitez, Beltran, Fullen, Rodriguez, Brown, Morales, Torres and Vera.

The Ultimate Fighter® has launched the careers of more than 100 UFC fighters and produced UFC champions such as Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans and Matt Serra and season winners including Michael Bisping, Ryan Bader and Nate Diaz. Mexico-born Efrain Escudero captured the season eight lightweight title, while Mexican-American Diego Sanchez was the first ever winner of the franchise, defeating Kenny Florian, a fighter of Peruvian descent, at The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale in 2005. Other Mexican Americans to follow in his stead include, Tony Ferguson, season 13 winner, Kelvin Gastelum, winner of season 17 and the first ever female winner of the series, Juliana Pena, winner of season 18.

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

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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.

Sunnyvale, Calif. – UFC GYM® is pleased to announce the opening of a 24-hour gym in Sunnyvale, Calif. offering the community a fresh new for way people to approach fitness and TRAIN DIFFERENT®. A preview center will begin enrolling members on Thurs., May 15th at 858 E. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94087 (corner of S. Wolfe and El Camino Real). Memberships will be offered at special pre-opening rates. The permanent gym will serve the Silicon Valley community located at 733 S. Wolfe Rd, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94086 and is scheduled to open for workouts in early Fall 2014. To find out more about UFC GYM Sunnyvale call (408) 913-9800 or visit www.ufcgymsunnyvale.com.

“This is an energizing time for us as we celebrate another UFC GYM in the Bay Area, home of our very first location in Concord, 2009. Since then, we have seen incredible facility growth throughout the States and Australia,” said Adam Sedlack, President UFC GYM. “Tens of thousands of members have gone through transformations, learned powerful techniques and re-defined how fitness and training should be experienced. We are honored to continue to provide a community like Sunnyvale with dynamic ways to see immediate results.”

UFC GYMS have grown to more than 100 locations in the U.S. and one in Sydney, Australia. Over 100,000 members worldwide take part in the ultimate fitness experience. From training inside the Octagon® to tackling UFC GYM’s Daily Ultimate Training® (DUT®) workout, individuals of all ages and fitness levels have everything needed to reach their fitness goals.

The 30,000 square-foot facility will feature a 30 foot Octagon®, Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio, bag room, top-of-the-line strength training and cardio machines, battling ropes, agility ladders and other functional training equipment for dynamic workouts. The gym’s explosive workout environment will use cutting-edge training techniques inspired by UFC athletes and provide members with everything needed for the entire family to sweat, move, live and TRAIN DIFFERENT.

Membership includes unlimited access to UFC GYM’s signature classes such as Daily Ultimate Training (DUT), muay thai, women’s self-defense and Brazilian jiu-jitsu to name a few, and Group Fitness classes including Power Yoga, Hot Hula, Cycle Circuit, UFC FIT and more. A team of elite Personal Coaches will help members achieve indisputable results through personal and group training. The new location will feature a UFC GYM retail store and UFC GYM Kids’ private training area offering specialized youth fitness classes and mixed martial arts.

UFC GYM Sunnyvale joins eight UFC GYM signature clubs located in Concord, Rosemead, Corona and Torrance, Calif., Long Island, N.Y., Honolulu and Waikele, Hawaii and Sydney, Australia. UFC GYM now offers the unique opportunity to own and operate the new UFC GYM franchise model across the U.S. and the globe. For franchise information, visit www.ufcgym.com/franchising.

About UFC GYM®:

UFC GYM® is the first major brand extension of the Ultimate Fighting Championship®, the world leader in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). In alliance with New Evolution Ventures™ (NeV), developers of many of the world’s most successful fitness brands, the UFC GYM brand gives UFC enthusiasts and fitness seekers of all ages the opportunity to practice the training techniques of famed UFC athletes. Offering a full-range of group fitness classes, private MMA training, personal and group dynamic training, plus MMA-style youth programming, UFC GYM creates something for all ages and fitness levels. As the first to combine the world of mixed martial arts and fitness, UFC GYM’s TRAIN DIFFERENT® approach has developed an atmosphere where members can see immediate results. UFC GYM is the ultimate fitness experience. The brand is not what you expect, and more than you can imagine, aiming to continue revolutionizing the fitness industry. For more information, please visit www.ufcgym.com.

About New Evolution Ventures® (NeV):

Based in Northern California, New Evolution Ventures® (NeV) has a two-decade plus record of success in delivering superior returns on investment, specializing in the acquisition, development and operations management of both domestic and international fitness endeavors. Founded in 2008 by Mark Mastrov, Jim Rowley and Mike Feeney and following a strategic partnership with Vision Capital in 2011, the current team of NeV professionals is setting industry-wide standards one brand at a time. Operations have spanned over 20 countries worldwide and included hundreds of facilities. Our team’s industry experience has positioned NeV as a global leader in its field, expanding and reinventing the vision of fitness. For more information, visit www.nev.com.

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 (May 12, 2014) – World Series of Fighting 10 boasts three championship fights on the NBCSN-televised main card of the Saturday, June 21 event.

World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo today confirmed that one new title fight and two additional matchups complete a star-studded main card that also features a main event of David Branch (13-3) vs. Jesse Taylor (27-9) for World Series of Fighting’s inaugural middleweight title, as well as a co-main event of World Series of Fighting featherweight champion Georgi Karakhanyan (23-3-1) vs. Rick Glenn (14-2).

In the night’s third title fight, the world’s no. 1 ranked women’s strawweight and current World Series of Fighting champion Jessica “Jag” Aguilar (17-4) will defend her belt against Japanese contender Emi “The Kamikaze Angel” Fujino (13-7).

Additionally, the main card will include intense matchups of lightweights Tyson Griffin (16-7) vs. Luiz “Buscape” Firmino (17-6) and featherweights Nick Lobosco (7-0) vs. Lance Palmer (7-1).

“We wanted this event to be a special night, and it doesn’t get much better than having three world titles on the line at one event,” Sefo said. “This main card just might be our best yet. Three championship fights and two additional bouts that seem destined to deliver fireworks. This is going to be one night you don’t want to miss.”

Tickets for “World Series of Fighting 10: Branch vs. Taylor” start at just $39 and are currently on sale at AXS.com.

World Series of Fighting champion Jessica Aguilar, the first and only Mexican-American woman to hold a title in a major MMA promotion, is the world’s best 115-pound female fighter. The American Top Team product made her World Series of Fighting debut in January, scoring a submission win over Alida Gray to claim the promotion’s strawweight world title. Aguilar defends her belt for the first time against 33-year-old Fujino, a dangerous and well-rounded athlete who has fought a Who’s Who of her home nation’s best fighters since turning pro in 2004.

Meanwhile, the 30-year-old Tyson Griffin made his World Series of Fighting debut in August. He’ll look to put on his best performance yet against the gritty Luiz Firmino, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who previously fought for PRIDE and DREAM during an impressive 14-year career. Firmino took part in his first professional bout shortly after his 18th birthday and remains an elite athlete at 32, as witnessed by his World Series of Fighting 6 win over Jacob Volkmann.

Nicky Lobosco is a heavy-handed featherweight fighting with St. Charles MMA in Missouri. The high school wrestling coach made a splash at WSOF 6 when he scored a vicious knockout of Fabio Mello with a head kick and punches. Lance Palmer is a highly decorated wrestler who is considered one of the sports top prospects to watch. The Team Alpha Male product contended for the WSOF featherweight championship this past December at WSOF 7, but came up short against current champion Georgi Karakhanyan. Palmer looks to reestablish himself as one of the sports best featherweights with a win over Lobosco.

In the previously announced main event, David Branch is a three-time World Series of Fighting veteran who earned his way into the championship fight with a September win over Danillo Villefort in the company’s middleweight tournament semifinal. The 32-year-old Branch, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Renzo Gracie, also boasts wins over Paulo Filho and Dustin Jacoby under the World Series of Fighting banner. The highly-regarded New Yorker collides with Jesse Taylor, a highly-decorated wrestling machine who smashed Elvis Mutapcic in his semifinal bout five months ago and owns a seven-fight winning streak.

Additionally, Russian-born Georgi Karakhanyan, coming off an impressive third-round submission over big-name talent Lance Palmer that won him the World Series of Fighting featherweight belt, is widely considered one of the top 145-pounders on the planet. The 28-year-old destroyer Karakhanyan goes for 10 straight wins against the very aggressive Rick Glenn, an Iowa native who is trained by standup wizard Duke Roufus at the Roufusport MMA Academy. Karakhanyan vs. Glenn looks to be a war.

About “World Series of Fighting” (WSOF)

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a world wide premier profesional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering the best action-packed fights for fight fans by producing the best possible match-ups between elite fighters from around the world. For more information please visit WSOF.com. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

About NBC Sports Network

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

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

TULSA, OK (May 7, 2014) – BattleGrounds MMA (www.battlegroundsone.com) announced today that it has signed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and seasoned contender Roan “Jucao” Carneiro (16-9) of Atlanta, Ga. to compete in O.N.E., the promotion’s highly-anticipated, one-night, eight-man tournament that will award it’s winner a $50,000 grand prize at the first-ever Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. on Friday, June 27.

The addition of Carneiro brings the total number of confirmed tournament fighters to seven. Carneiro joins in the tournament field, submission aces Dennis “Superman” Hallman (53-14-2, 1 NC) of Yelm, Wash. and Cody “AK Kid” McKenzie (15-4) of Spokane, Wash.; undefeated upstart and former NCAA National Wrestling Championship runner-up Chris Honeycutt (4-0) of Fresno, Calif.; Luigi “The Italian Tank” Fioravanti (24-11) of St. Louis, Mo.; Urijah Faber protégé David “Bulletproof” Mitchell (14-4) of Lower Lake, Calif. and Josh “The Beast” Bryant (14-4) of Broken Arrow, Okla.

“We are excited to welcome Roan Carneiro to our roster of highly-accomplished and well-versed mixed martial artists,” said BattleGrounds MMA President and Olympic wrestling gold medalist Kenny Monday. “Roan has been fighting all over the world, at the highest level of the sport, so we felt he was a perfect fit for BattleGrounds MMA’s high stakes tournament.”

The eighth tournament competitor as well as several Superfights and a preliminary bout card will be announced soon. All tournament fights, including the championship matchup, will be comprised of three, five-minute rounds.

A rough and tough battler, the 5-foot-9, 35-year-old Carneiro has dealt with the physically and mentally taxing format of the one-night tournament in the past. On March 18, 2006, he defeated Gregory Bouchelaghem and Matt Horwich – each by split decision – in the quarterfinal and semifinal round, respectively, of an eight-man playoff in Manchester, England.

The back-to-back victories pitted Carneiro against Leonardo Nascimento Lucio in the championship matchup. Carneiro broke his foot in the first round of action, forcing him to retire during the break before the second frame, resulting in a second place finish.

Carneiro took up Capoeira at the age of five before receiving a brutal introduction one day to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from his younger brother, who quickly took Carneiro’s back and applied a choke hold that Carneiro was unable to escape from. Carneiro immediately became fascinated with the submission art, eventually earning his black belt under legend Carlson Gracie.

Eight years ago, Carneiro left his native Brazil for Paris, France and, two years after that, re-located to Atlanta, where he started a family and opened a training center. He will prepare for the upcoming challenge with local, world-class talent, including Brian Stann, Ovince St. Preux and Raphael Assuncao, and plans to spend another portion of his training camp at American Top Team in South Florida.

Carneiro made his debut on the silver screen in 2011, playing fictional MMA fighter Marco Santos in the LionsGate theatrical release Warrior, starring Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte.

Tickets for the BattleGrounds MMA event, priced from $65, can be purchased online at www.bokcenter.com as well as at Arby’s Box Office at the BOK Center, all ticket outlets, or by calling 1-800-7-BOKCTR.

Doors at BOK Center open at 6 p.m. CST on June 27. The first preliminary bout will begin at 7:15 p.m.

About BattleGrounds MMA

BattleGrounds MMA (www.battlegroundsone.com) is a world championship professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion designed to place combative sports athletes on a major stage in the most challenging and exciting format possible: one-night, single-elimination tournaments that reveal the toughest competitors in their respective weight divisions. Launched by Olympic wrestling legend Kenny Monday and Bryan O’Rourke in 2012 as a regional organization in Tulsa, OK to unearth promising new talent in one of MMA’s biggest hotbeds, the promotion is quickly capturing the hearts of fans nationwide as it brings about an exciting new era in the world’s fastest growing sport.

About the BOK Center:

The BOK Center is Tulsa’s state-of-the-art sports and entertainment venue that opened in fall 2008. The 19,199-seat arena is home to the WNBA Tulsa Shock and the CHL Tulsa Oilers. The BOK Center was designed to host major concerts, family shows, ice shows, and other world class entertainment. Owned by the City Of Tulsa, the BOK Center is part of Vision 2025, a project to grow economic and community infrastructure for future generations. In 2011, the BOK Center won the prestigious International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) Venue Excellence Award.

About SMG

Founded in 1977, SMG provides management services to more than 230 public assembly facilities including convention and exhibition centers, arenas, stadiums, theatres, performing arts centers, equestrian facilities, science centers and a variety of other venues. With facilities across the globe, SMG manages more than 14.4 million square feet of exhibition space and over 1.75 million sports and entertainment seats. As the recognized global industry leader, SMG provides venue management, sales, marketing, event booking and programming, construction and design consulting, and pre-opening services for such landmark facilities as McCormick Place & Soldier Field in Chicago, Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Houston’s Reliant Park and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. SMG also offers food and beverage operations through its concessions, catering and special events division, SAVOR, currently servicing more than 100 accounts worldwide. For more information visit www.smgworld.com.

TULSA, OK (May 1, 2014) – BattleGrounds MMA (www.battlegroundsone.com), the upstart Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion headed by Olympic wrestling legend Kenny Monday, announced today that it has signed the first six competitors for O.N.E., its highly-anticipated, one-night, eight-man welterweight (170 pounds) tournament that will award the winner a grand prize of $50,000 on Friday, June 27 at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Tickets for the event, which will feature eight professional bouts in addition to the single-elimination tournament, are priced from $65, and can be purchased online at www.bokcenter.com as well as at Arby’s Box Office at the BOK Center, all ticket outlets, or by calling 1-800-7-BOKCTR.

All-time great Dennis “Superman” Hallman (53-14-2, 1 NC) of Yelm, Wash. will lead the charge into the star-studded playoff and be joined by fellow submission ace Cody “AK Kid” McKenzie (15-4) of Spokane, Wash.; undefeated prospect and former NCAA National Wrestling Championship runner-up Chris Honeycutt (4-0) of Fresno, Calif.; battle-tested Luigi “The Italian Tank” Fioravanti (24-11) of St. Louis, Mo.; Urijah Faber protégé David “Bulletproof” Mitchell (14-4) of Lower Lake, Calif. and Josh “The Beast” Bryant (14-4) of Broken Arrow, Okla.

“We are excited to have assembled a group of incredibly talented and accomplished athletes for this landmark tournament,” said BattleGrounds MMA President and three-time U.S. Olympic wrestler Monday, who captured the gold medal in freestyle wrestling in 1988 and, before that, earned three-time All-American honors competing for Oklahoma State University .

“The one-night tournament,” continued Monday, “is truly the toughest test physically and mentally in all of combative sports, and BattleGrounds MMA is proud to bring this format back to life and usher in a new era of elite competition in the world’s fastest growing sport.”

The final two tournament participants as well as the remainder of the fight card will be announced soon. A lottery draw to determine the tournament’s matchups will be held after weigh-ins on Thursday, June 26.

Dennis “Superman” Hallman

Riding a three-fight win streak, the 38-year-old, 5-foot-10 Hallman has provided the MMA world with some truly memorable moments over the course of his decorated 18-year professional career that includes an astounding 41 of his 53 career victories by way of submission. Amongst those on his list of conquests are Karo Parisyan, Ben Saunders, John Makdessi and UFC Hall of Fame legend Matt Hughes, whom Hallman tapped out twice, in a combined 37 seconds.

Cody “AK Kid” McKenzie

After a run at both featherweight (145 pounds) and lightweight (155 pounds), the 6-foot, 26-year-old McKenzie will campaign at welterweight in an effort to make his biggest mark in the sport to date. The inventor of a modified guillotine choke dubbed “The McKenzietine,” the Alaskan-born Gracie Jiu-Jitsu stylist has utilized the submission hold to stop opponents in 11 of his 15 career victories. Only two other fighters, both of whom have more than 50 career bouts under their belts, have recorded more wins by way of guillotine choke than McKenzie.

Chris Honeycutt

Touted as “the most decorated and high-profile collegiate wrestler” to enter the fiercely competitive world of MMA by SB Nation’s MMAFighting.com, the 5-foot-10, 25-year-old Honeycutt finished as runner-up in the 2012 NCAA national wrestling championships while representing collegiate wrestling powerhouse Edinboro University, the alma mater of his mentor, Josh Koscheck. A fiercely competitive wrestler since his early adolescent years, Honeycutt elected to not wrestle for his school squad in eighth grade because of greater opportunities he received competing for three different independent, local squads that guaranteed him 50 matches in a span of four months.

Since making his pro MMA debut in Jan. 2013, Honeycutt has finished 3 of his 4 opponents inside of the first round of action.

Luigi “The Italian Tank” Fioravanti

Fioravanti, who was nicknamed by his boxing coach for his rugged, straightforward style of fighting, has made his mark in the sport over the course of dozens of wars and will look to extend his streak of back-to-back wins that he notched by way of first round submission (rear-naked choke) and third round TKO (retirement) of Edwin Aguilar and Joshua Thorpe, respectively. The 33-year-old, 5-foot-8 Fioravanti is a former Marine who was a part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

David “Bulletproof” Mitchell

Another submission savvy scrapper, the 34-year-old, 5-foot-10 Mitchell scored a big victory for Faber’s Team Alpha Male in his last start, forcing 53-fight veteran Jaime Jara to tap out from a rear-naked choke in the first round (4:15) of their April 26th matchup in Sacramento, Calif. The win was Mitchell’s second straight.

Mitchell grew up in small-town Laytonville, Calif. where he was amongst just 25 students in his high school graduating class, but was nevertheless a victim of bullying at the hands of peers on the 500 acre ranch that he grew up on. He has since channeled the resulting anger and trauma from his childhood towards the cage as well as to an anti-bully crusade, “Knockout Bullying,” that sees him offering support and guidance to California youth who are being victimized by their classmates.

Josh “The Beast” Bryant

The 34-year-old Bryant enters the tournament as the local fan favorite and will look to turn around his recent career downslide in his BattleGrounds MMA debut. The 6-foot, 34-year-old, Bryant, trained by Chuck Liddell on The Ultimate Fighter, burst onto the Okla. fight scene in 2007, going on a perfect 10-0 run, with 6 of those victories coming by way of (T)KO or submission.

Outside of the cage, Bryant moonlights as a radio personality, co-hosting Tulsa’s top-rated Big Bad Morning Show on KMOD 97.5 FM rock music radio every Friday.

Doors at BOK Center open at 6 p.m. CST on June 27. The first preliminary bout will begin at 7:15 p.m.

About BattleGrounds MMA

BattleGrounds MMA (www.battlegroundsone.com) is a world championship professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion designed to place combative sports athletes on a major stage in the most challenging and exciting format possible: one-night, single-elimination tournaments that reveal the toughest competitors in their respective weight divisions. Launched by Olympic wrestling legend Kenny Monday and Bryan O’Rourke in 2012 as a regional organization in Tulsa, OK to unearth promising new talent in one of MMA’s biggest hotbeds, the promotion is quickly capturing the hearts of fans nationwide as it brings about an exciting new era in the world’s fastest growing sport.

About the BOK Center:

The BOK Center is Tulsa’s state-of-the-art sports and entertainment venue that opened in fall 2008. The 19,199-seat arena is home to the WNBA Tulsa Shock and the CHL Tulsa Oilers. The BOK Center was designed to host major concerts, family shows, ice shows, and other world class entertainment. Owned by the City Of Tulsa, the BOK Center is part of Vision 2025, a project to grow economic and community infrastructure for future generations. In 2011, the BOK Center won the prestigious International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) Venue Excellence Award.

About SMG

Founded in 1977, SMG provides management services to more than 230 public assembly facilities including convention and exhibition centers, arenas, stadiums, theatres, performing arts centers, equestrian facilities, science centers and a variety of other venues. With facilities across the globe, SMG manages more than 14.4 million square feet of exhibition space and over 1.75 million sports and entertainment seats. As the recognized global industry leader, SMG provides venue management, sales, marketing, event booking and programming, construction and design consulting, and pre-opening services for such landmark facilities as McCormick Place & Soldier Field in Chicago, Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Houston’s Reliant Park and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. SMG also offers food and beverage operations through its concessions, catering and special events division, SAVOR, currently servicing more than 100 accounts worldwide. For more information visit www.smgworld.com.

Toronto – Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 television channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, presents a pair of stacked live events this Saturday, May 3, beginning at 4 p.m. ET with Cage Warriors 68 from Liverpool, England, followed by GLORY 16 Denver at 9 p.m. ET.

Headlining Cage Warriors 68 from Liverpool’s Echo Arena, Danny Roberts (10-1) meets Jim Wallhead (25-8) in welterweight action, plus Ronnie Mann (23-6-1) takes on Marcelo Costa (8-2-1) in a bantamweight clash.

Other featured bouts include welterweights Mauro Chimento (15-10) vs. Matt Inman (13-5), middleweights Steve Dinsdale (6-1) vs. Matt Hallam (4-2), middleweights Leeroy Barnes (12-13) vs. Che Mills (15-7) and bantamweights John Cullen (17-8-2) vs. Dean Garrett (5-0).

Meanwhile, GLORY 16 Denver will emanate from 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado at 9 p.m. ET, headlined by a welterweight world championship title fight pitting No. 1-ranked Nieky Holzken (84-11, 44 KOs) of the Netherlands against Belgium’s Marc de Bonte (86-11-1, 28 KOs), currently ranked No. 5.

Originally scheduled for GLORY 15 Istanbul, the matchup between power puncher Errol “The Bonecrusher” Zimmerman (101-11-1, 42 KOs) and knockout artist Ben Edwards (36-9-3, 32 KOs) now serves as one half of the heavyweight contender tournament. On the other side of the tourney bracket, heavy handed Russian Sergei Kharitonov (5-3, 3 KOs) meets Brazil’s Anderson “Braddock” Silva (37-10-1, 24 KOs). The contender tournament winner earns a spot in GLORY’s heavyweight world championship tournament later this year.

Making his GLORY debut in the contender tournament reserve bout, recently signed UFC veteran Pat “HD” Barry (15-5-1, 9 KOs) take son fellow newcomer Zack Mwekassa (10-1, 9 KOs).

Immediately following Fight Network’s live presentation of GLORY 16 Denver, catch an encore of Friday’s live broadcast of ONE Fighting Championship 15: Rise of Heroes from Manila, Philippines at 11 p.m. ET, topped by a bantamweight championship showdown between Bibiano Fernandes and Masakatsu Ueda.

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 (April 30, 2014) – The Las Vegas-based World Series of Fighting promotion will stay in its hometown for a championship triple-header on June 21.

Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino hosts “World Series of Fighting 10: Branch vs. Taylor,” which pits David Branch against Jesse “JT Money” Taylor for World Series of Fighting’s inaugural middleweight title in the night’s five-round main event. World Series of Fighting featherweight kingpin Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan battles relentless finisher Rick “The Gladiator” Glenn in the co-main event.

A third championship matchup, which will also take place on the evening’s main card, will be announced shortly.

“Every time we hold an event, we always work hard to put on the most exciting fights possible,” said World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo. ” World Series of Fighting 10 will be no exception and will deliver one exciting fight after another at The Joint in The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which is such a fantastic venue we decided to return on June 21. With these two championship fights leading the way – not to mention a third one on the way – it’s going to be an incredible night.”

As with all World Series of Fighting events, the evening’s main card airs live on NBCSN. The broadcast begins on Saturday, June 21, at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT local time).

Branch (13-3) is a three-time World Series of Fighting veteran who earned his way into the championship fight with a September win over Danillo Villefort in the company’s middleweight tournament semifinal. The 32-year-old Branch, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Renzo Gracie, also boasts wins over Paulo Filho and Dustin Jacoby under the World Series of Fighting banner. The highly-regarded New Yorker collides with Taylor (27-9), a highly-decorated wrestling machine who mashed Elvis Mutapcic in his semifinal bout five months ago and owns a seven-fight winning streak.

Russian-born Karakhanyan (23-3-1), coming off an impressive third-round submission over big-name talent Lance Palmer that won him the World Series of Fighting featherweight belt, is widely considered one of the top 145-pounders on the planet. The 28-year-old destroyer Karakhanyan goes for 10 straight wins against the very aggressive Glenn (14-2), an Iowa native who is trained by standup wizard Duke Roufus at the Roufusport MMA Academy. Karakhanyan vs. Glenn looks to be a war.

Tickets for “World Series of Fighting 10: Branch vs. Taylor” start at just $39 and go on sale at 10 a.m. PT local time on Saturday, May 3, at AXS.com.

About “World Series of Fighting” (WSOF)

“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a world wide premier profesional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering the best action-packed fights for fight fans by producing the best possible match-ups between elite fighters from around the world. For more information please visit WSOF.com. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

About NBC Sports Network

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

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

as Vegas, Nev. – Two of the world’s fiercest mixed martial artists are set to let their rivalry play out in front of millions of fans as coaches on the newest season of The Ultimate Fighter®, the UFC®’s storied reality series, in the lead up to their title clash at UFC® 180 in Mexico City. The series will premiere the week of August 18.

UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez (13-1 in his professional career, fighting out of San Jose, Calif.), an agile and explosive heavyweight with a strong wrestling base, is currently the only heavyweight titleholder of Mexican descent in combat sports around the world. Often referred to as “the baddest man on the planet”, he is considered the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time thanks to career wins over former champions Minotauro Nogueira, Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos as well as Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

No.1 contender Fabricio Werdum (17-5-1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Calif. by way of of Porto Alegre, Brazil) is currently on a four-fight win streak that includes victories over fellow Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Minotauro Nogueira, Fedor Emelianenko, Roy Nelson and most Travis Browne. A two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, he is also known as a technical fighter with heavy hands. Outside of the Octagon®, Werdum is seen across Latin America every week hosting the UFC Network™’s weekly magazine show, UFC® Ahora.

In this seventh international edition of the most challenging sports tournament on television, Velasquez will lead a team of four Mexican featherweight (135lbs) and four Mexican bantamweight (145lbs) fighters against Werdum’s squad of eight similarly divided fighters from other Latin American countries. The complete list of fighters will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

“I’m very excited about this – amazing talent is going to come out of Mexico and Latin America,” said UFC President Dana White. “This is a region we are working hard to develop. There is a lot of talent and a lot of great potential in multiple weightclasses. We know that the fans in Mexico and throughout Latin America will totally get behind this thing and it’ll blow up and it’ll be huge just like Brazil.”

The show which follows fighters training and competing against each other for a prized UFC contract, all while living under one roof, will air on Televisa Channel.5 in Mexico beginning in August 2014. UFC Network subscribers will also get the chance to catch replays and watch exclusive content on the channel as well as ufcnetwork.com.

José Baston, President of Television and Content for Televisa said: “We have huge expectations from this partnership between the UFC and Televisa, to produce the new season of The Ultimate Fighter Latin America. This partnership allows us to reunite the vast experience and ability of both companies, for a project that we are sure will be a great success. I’d also like to point out the superb performance that the UFC Network has had since last year, a channel that has been transmitting at a pan-regional level by Televisa Networks. And emphasize that mixed martial arts is one of the new sports with the highest growth, for Televisa it is very important to be able to offer it to its audiences.”

The coaches, UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez will battle No. 1 contender Fabricio Werdum for the heavyweight championship title at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City on Saturday, November 15, in the main event of UFC® 180. The main card will also feature the final featherweight and bantamweight bouts of the series, crowning the first ever winners of The Ultimate Fighter Latin America. Further event and ticket details will be released later this summer ahead of the scheduled on-sale in the final week of August.

“For me, it’s an honor to be named the first coach of The Ultimate Fighter Latin America,” said Velasquez. “I’m excited to share my experience and help train a young team of up and coming Latin American men. And then, to be able to do something I’ve always dreamed of doing, defending my title in Mexico in November, will be a dream come true.”

There is nothing Werdum would rather do: “To have a shot at the belt is all I ever wanted and knowing it’s against Cain makes it even better. Fighting for the heavyweight title and coaching against Cain in The Ultimate Fighter Latin America is like having two dreams come true.”

The Ultimate Fighter® has launched the careers of more than 100 UFC fighters and produced champions such as Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans and Matt Serra and season winners including Michael Bisping, Ryan Bader and Nate Diaz. Mexico-born Efrain Escudero captured the season 8 lightweight title, while Mexican American Diego Sanchez was the first-ever winner of the franchise, defeating Kenny Florian, a fighter of Peruvian descent, at The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale in 2005. Other Mexican Americans to follow in his stead include, Tony Ferguson, season 13 winner and Kelvin Gastelum, winner of season 17.

For more information or current fight news, visit www.ufc.com.

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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.

Toronto – Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 television channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, presents a live broadcast of ONE Fighting Championship 15: Rise of Heroes mixed martial arts action from the 20,000-capacity Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines this Friday, May 2, at 7 a.m. ET.

Fight Network’s live broadcast will be re-aired on Saturday night, May 3, at 11 p.m. ET immediately following the live GLORY 16 Denver kickboxing extravaganza.

In the ONE FC 16 main event, bantamweight grand prix winner Masakatsu Ueda rises up to the challenge against reigning and defending ONE FC world champion Bibiano Fernandes for the honor of being crowned the undisputed champion.

The co-main event features Filipino fan favorite Eduard Folayang against former ONE FC lightweight champion Kotetsu Boku.

An exciting flyweight bout between another popular Filipino fighter, Rey Docyogen, and Guam’s Joshua Alvarez, has also been added to the main card, along with a battle between top middleweights Leandro Ataides and Tatsuya Mizuno.

The stacked card also includes a featherweight clash between top Australian featherweight Rob Lisita and former Legend FC bantamweight champion Yusuke Kawanago. It will also feature the young and motivated Filipino hero Eugene Toquero, who will soak up the passionate support of the screaming Filipino fight fans as he faces one of the top flyweight prospects in the world, Gianni Subba.

In other action, world-renowned heavyweights James McSweeney and Chris Lokteff will square off, Aung La Nsang will make history as the first mixed martial artist from Myanmar to compete in the ONE FC cage when he takes on Egypt’s Mahmoud Salama, plus Filipina boxing champion Jujeath Nagaowa will also make her ONE FC debut when she meets Jeet Toshi of India.

Additionally, boxing world champion Ana Julaton and Egyptian kickboxing champion Aya Saeid Saber round out the live broadcast.

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.

Tacoma, WA (April 28, 2014) – The biggest stage of Northwest mixed martial arts, CageSport MMA, is once again returning to the Emerald Queen Casino this Saturday for the 30th time; featuring two of the region’s top prospects, Drew Brokenshire (9-1) and Justin Harrington (6-0), battling it out for the highly coveted CageSport Lightweight Title. In the semi-main event, Alfonso Gonzales (4-0) and Jared Torgeson (10-9) are scheduled to fight three rounds with the winner emerging as the top contender to fight for the CageSport Middleweight Title, currently held by Brent “Mankill” Knopp (5-0).

A limited amount of tickets for CageSport 30, scheduled for Saturday, May 3rd, at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, WA are still available and can be purchased at the Emerald Queen Casino box office or online through Ticketmaster. Prices start at $35.

Brokenshire, the CageSport featherweight champion, along with the current lightweight title holder, Harrington, are both approaching the fight with the mindset that this will undoubtedly be the toughest test they have faced in their MMA career.

“I don’t really have much to say,” said Harrington when asked on his thoughts going into the fight. “I’m going to let my performance speak for itself. I know this is going to be my toughest fight yet and the challenge of Drew has pushed me to become a whole new fighter mentally and physically. So yeah, the fans are in for a really great fight!”

Brokenshire had similar compliments when asked about why he asked for a fight with the lightweight champion “He will be the most well rounded fighter I have probably ever fought. He is also very athletic and strong which will make him even more dangerous. I am on a five fight win streak and no one around is close to that, that I know of. We want to step up to face the toughest opponents we can.”

Seven fights are scheduled on the undercard, all scheduled for three rounds. The undercard is highlighted by South Kitsap fire fighter, Reagen Benedetti looking to add another victory to her young MMA career and two fighters, Tyson Cunningham and Eric Ramsey, putting their perfect records on the line in what is expected to be a thrilling welterweight matchup.

UNDERCARD:
Reagan Benedetti (1-0 | Seattle, WA) vs. Katie Howard (1-1 | Portland, OR) at 115+1
Tyson Cunningham (2-0 | Enumclaw, WA) vs. Eric Ramsey (3-0 | Vancouver, WA) at 170+1
Woo Johnson (1-0 | Tacoma, WA) vs. Ricky Satterwhite (1-1 |Seattle, WA) at 155+1
Trent Tyler (1-2 | McCleary, WA) vs. Corey Watson (debut | Lacey, WA) at 170+1
Zach Conn (1-4 | Ellensburg, WA) vs. Raven Guice (1-1 |Tacoma, WA) at 170+1
Paul Deveglio (debut |Enumclaw, WA) vs. Aaron Martin (2-1 |Tacoma, WA) at 145+1
Riley Buzzard (0-1 |Tonasket, WA) vs. Emanuel Russell (2-1 |Seattle, WA) at 135+1

Doors for CageSport 30 open at 6 PM with the first fight scheduled for 7 PM. For more information about CageSport 30 and all other Halquist Productions events, please visit www.halquistproductions.com (currently under construction) and 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 all professional MMA promotion in the Northwest. The promotion has drawn fighters from all over the region such as: Miesha Tate, Bryan Caraway, Sam Sicilia, Trevor Smith, and Michael Chiesa, 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 northwest fighters to gain experience and exposure as they continue to dedicate their lives in hoping to one day sign with the UFC.

LINCOLN, R.I. (April 25th, 2014) – It seemed as though no one would be able to top Luis Felix’s electrifying knockout of UFC vet Drew Fickett at Twin River Casino last month.

Rob Font was up to the task.

In the clear-cut Knockout of the Night, Font put veteran featherweight Tristan Johnson to sleep with an overhand right at the two-minute, 48-secod mark of the opening round Friday in the main event of “CES MMA XXIII.”

With Johnson backpedaling toward the cage, Font (10-1, 3 KOs) reached in with a left and then followed with a right that caught Johnson (8-5) flush on the temple. Johnson was out the second he hit the canvas, prompting referee Kevin MacDonald to stop the bout before Font could do any additional damage.

Font, the reigning CES MMA featherweight champion now fighting out of Boston, has won nine consecutive fights since his lone loss in 2012. His knockout win in the main event was the second for CES in the last two months; in March, Felix put an exclamation point on “CES MMA XXII” with a head kick that knocked Fickett cold.

In what was billed as a potential Fight of the Night candidate when the card was first announced, veteran bantamweight Tateki Matsuda (9-5) of Boston (Tokyo, Japan) snapped a two-fight losing streak with a 29-28, 30-27, 30-26 unanimous decision win over the previously unbeaten Matt Doherty (3-1) of Salem, Mass.

The cagey Matsuda, who had lost each of his last two fights by split decision, took control with his dominant ground game in the second and third rounds, even earning a 10-8 round on one of the judge’s scorecards. Always versatile, Matsuda let his hands go in the third to soften up Doherty, and then took him to the canvas and ran out the rest of the clock with effective ground-and-pound.

Exciting welterweight prospect Eric Spicely (4-0) of Olneyville, R.I., remained unbeaten with an impressive, textbook win over David Jordan (1-3) of Las Vegas, submitting Jordan via guillotine at the 1:35 mark of the opening round, while Wareham, Mass., veteran Matthew Thompson (19-9) used the same hold to submit Eric Bedard (6-5) of East Providence, R.I., at the 2:04 mark of the second round in a scheduled three-round cruiserweight bout. Thompson worked his way back from a poor opening round and caught Bedard with his neck exposed while Bedard tried to take him to the canvas. Thompson now has 10 wins by submission.

Middleweight Brandon Chagnon (5-4) opened the card with a second-round submission win over the always-competitive Ralph Johnson (6-11) of Worcester, Mass., who took the fight on short notice. Johnson, a hard-hitting, 6-foot-5 striker, dominated the opening round by using his reach to keep Chagnon at the end of his jab, but once Chagnon got Johnson to the canvas, he made quick work of his opponent, submitting Johnson via rear-naked choke at the 1:26 mark.

Fighting for the first time in more than a year, Norwich, Conn., featherweight Peter Rogers Jr. (1-1) earned his first career win, submitting Franklin Isabel (4-7) of Chelsea, Mass., who tapped due to strikes 2:39 into the opening round. Rogers, who lost his pro debut in 2012, caught Isabel with a left kick to the midsection, sending Isabel to the canvas. As Rogers went in for the ground-and-pound, Isabel quickly tapped, handing Rogers Jr. his first win.

Bellator vet Rico DiSciullo (2-0) bounced back from a point-deduction in the opening round of his bantamweight bout against Jordan Espinosa (3-3) to earn a 29-26, 29-27, 29-26 unanimous decision win. DiSciullo lost a point for kneeing his grounded opponent, but dominated the final two rounds, rebounding from a no contest in his previous bout (also due to kneeing a grounded opponent).

LINCOLN, R.I. (April 24th, 2014) – Listed below are the final weights for all of the participants for “CES MMA XXIII,” live mixed martial arts scheduled for Friday, April 25th, 2014 at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I. The first bout is scheduled for 7 p.m.

ROB FONT
Boston, Mass.
9-1, 2 KOs
145 ½

TRISTAN JOHNSON
Nova Scotia, Canada
8-4, 3 KOs
145

ANDRE SOUKHAMTHATH
Woonsocket, R.I.
7-2, 4 KOs
135 ½

JOSHUA KILLION
Defiance, Ohio
10-4
135

ERIC SPICELY
Olneyville, R.I.
3-0, 1 KO
179

DAVID JORDAN
Las Vegas, Nev.
1-2
172

TATEKI MATSUDA
Boston, Mass. (Tokyo, Japan)
8-5, 4 KOs
135

MATT DOHERTY
Salem, Mass.
3-0, 2 KOs
135 ½

ERIC BEDARD
East Providence, R.I.
6-4, 4 KOs
226

MATTHEW THOMPSON
Austin, Tex.
18-9, 7 KOs
223

RICO DISCULLO
Peabody, Mass.
1-0, 1 KO
135 ½

JORDAN ESPINOSA
Findlay, Ohio
3-2
135 ½

PETER ROGERS JR.
Norwich, Conn.
0-1
148

FRANKLIN ISABEL
Chelsea, Mass.
4-6
150

BRANDON CHAGNON
Methuen, Mass.
4-4
182

RALPH JOHNSON
Worcester, Mass.
6-10, 6 KOs
180

BOBBY FLYNN
Mashpee, Mass.
4-1, 1 KO
174

TUNDEE ODUMUSO
Providence, R.I.
2-2
185

Las Vegas, Nevada – Former PRIDE® and STRIKEFORCE® champion (No. 6) Dan Henderson will take on surging title contender (No. 5) Daniel Cormier in a highly-anticipated light heavyweight clash at UFC® 173 on Saturday, May 24 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Henderson-Cormier bout will serve as the night’s co-main event.

Coming off an impressive KO victory against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in March, Henderson (30-11, fighting out of Temecula, Calif.) proved he still has what it takes to compete with the UFC’s best. Currently ranked sixth in the division, Henderson owns career victories over some of the sport’s top names, including Fedor Emelianenko, Vitor Belfort, Michael Bisping, Rich Franklin and Rafael “Feijão” Cavalcante. Now, he looks to derail Cormier and move closer to a coveted UFC title shot.

Undefeated in his professional career and currently ranked fifth in the UFC’s talented 205-pound division, Cormier (14-0, fighting out of San Jose, Calif.) made his light heavyweight debut in February by knocking out Patrick Cummins. A teammate and training partner of UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, “DC” holds signature victories over former UFC champions Josh Barnett and Frank Mir. A victory over MMA legend Henderson on May 24 could secure him a date with the UFC light heavyweight champion.

The bout is subject to all licensing rules and regulations set forth by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Tickets for UFC®173: BARAO vs. DILLASHAW, presented by BUD LIGHT®, are on sale now and are priced at $750, $500, $325, $200, $125, and $75. Tickets are available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com. 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 are also available at the MGM Grand box office. 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®173: BARAO vs. DILLASHAW 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 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.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (April 23rd, 2014) — Not every workout for a professional fighter is ripped from the pages of a Hollywood movie script with sparring partners crashing to the canvas one-by-one like trees in a forest.

Training can be rather humbling, even for CES MMA featherweight champion Rob Font, but it’s far better to be humbled in the gym than in the cage when it really counts.

“I’ve sparred with guys who make me say to myself, ‘Holy shit, what am I doing?’ Some of these guys make you feel like you know nothing about the sport,” Font said.

“I put myself in that position all the time. I don’t want to get in that cage and feel like I can’t handle a certain situation. You’ve got to be truthful to yourself.”

In mixed martial arts, it pays to be humble, and, in Font’s case, it pays to be humbled, too. The hard work in the gym, which fuels his success in the cage, has put Font at the head of the class in the Northeast. As he prepares for Friday’s fight at Twin River Casino against the dangerous Tristan Johnson in the main event of “CES MMA XXIII,” Font (9-1, 2 KOs) knows every fights brings him closer to the proverbial call every fighter dreams of, but it’s a call Font won’t answer unless he’s 100 percent ready.

“I don’t want to just squeak by,” he said. “I want to be a household name.”

Font’s big-picture approach is what separates him from others; having won eight consecutive fights since his lone loss in 2012, he’s out for long-term success on a global scale, not instant gratification, or a quick “cup of coffee,” as similar promotions are often referred to in other professional sports.

“It’s a difficult decision,” Font said. “If you get that call, it’s tough to say no because you never know if you’ll get that opportunity again, but if it’s not the right time, you have to be honest with yourself.

“You don’t want to be there just so [the promoter] can fill up the undercard. I’ve seen guys win 10 fights in a row with 10 finishes and they go in there and they can barely get a punch off. It breaks a lot of guys. You start to think you’re not really that good.”

That’s why Font prefers his beatings and black eyes — as rare as they might be — at Sityodtong in Boston, where he trains under the guidance of Mark DellaGrotte alongside teammates John Johnston, Tyson Chartier and others.

Another teammate, undefeated, 24-year-old welterweight Bekzod Abdurakhmonov, is a former collegiate wrestler. He and Font tangle often at Sityodtong, with Font typically winding up on the wrong end of the exchange.

“He literally toys with me,” Font said. “He makes me realize how far out of my realm I am.

“But I put myself in these battles. If a great boxer comes into the gym to get some work, I’m going to work with him. If I can take it to these guys, I’ll be okay once I step inside the cage. That’s the only way you get better.”

Font may or may not be the hardest-working fighter in mixed martial arts, nor would he ever claim to be, but his work ethic in the gym has drawn praise from teammates and coaches who aren’t at all surprised by his meteoric rise. The Tampa native who moved to Boston four years ago didn’t even begin his amateur career until 2011, yet he’s now 9-1 as a pro sitting atop the featherweight division as one of the most feared fighters in the Northeast.

“Rob is just a very dedicated, hard worker,” said Johnston, the head Muay Thai trainer at Sityodtong who is also the reigning undefeated CES MMA heavyweight champ.

“And he listens. He listens 100 percent. I always see him taking bits and pieces of what he’s taught and continuously working on it. He never questions what we ask of him or tell him to do.”

Listening might be Font’s greatest strength. For every physical marvel that steps foot inside a gym, there’s a fighter off the side quietly absorbing every last bit of information to use it to his advantage once the stakes are raised. That’s Font — always listening, always learning, and always focusing on what he can do better next time around.

“MMA is his life,” Johnston said. “This is what he does every single day. Someone who is that passionate and that dedicated to the sport, who’s constantly training and getting better, taking the tough fights he does, is going to make a splash.”

As the fights get tougher and tougher, so does Font. The last time out, he made quick work of Bombsquad veteran Ahsan Abdullah, choking him out within four minutes of the opening round. Friday’s opponent, Johnson, might be the toughest fighter he’s faced outside of Northeast. The Nova Scotia native has won three of his last five, including a split decision win over Bellator vet Will Romero in 2012.

“Tough guy — definitely another tough fight,” Font said. “He’s a striker, and I feel better with a classic striker. I’m not trying to get into a brawl — that’s not my style — but I’d prefer to go tit-for-tat with a striker and see what he’s got. If the opportunity to take him down presents itself, I’ll go for it.

“A lot of people say to me, ‘Rob, you really don’t need all of these tough fights anymore. You’ve proven yourself. Take a couple of fights to work your way up.’ I see guys fighting guys who are 10-20. That just doesn’t seem right. I feel like a tough fight keeps my confidence up. These guys step up when they haven’t even fought anyone and when they get beat it’s a big shock to them. Then they start pointing fingers, blaming their camp or blaming their coaches.

“You have to trust yourself. You can’t keep fighting tomato cans. When it’s my time, I’ll be ready, and my team will let me know when I’m ready to take that step.”

Tickets for “CES MMA XXIII” 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 card also features a potential Fight of the Night showdown between Boston’s Tateki Matsuda and unbeaten bantamweight Matt Doherty (3-0, 2 KOs) of Salem, Mass. Matsuda has lost his last two while Doherty is coming off a submission win over Shaun Marmas in January.

Also on the undercard, fan-favorite Andre Soukhamthath (7-2, 4 KOs) of Woonsocket, R.I., will face Joshua Killion (10-4) of Defiance, Ohio, in a bantamweight bout. Lightweight Bobby Flynn (4-1, 1 KO) of Mashpee, Mass., will battle Providence’s Tundee Odumuso (2-2); and featherweight Pete Rogers Jr. (0-1) of Baltic, Conn., will face Franklin Isabel (3-7) of Chelsea, Mass. Two-time Bellator vet Rico DiSciullo (1-0) of Peabody, Mass., will face Jordan Espinosa (3-3) of Findlay, Ohio in a three-round bantamweight bout, while East Providence, R.I., heavyweight Eric Bedard (6-4, 4 KOs) battles Matthew Thompson (18-9, 7 KOs) of Austin, Tex. Providence, R.I., welterweight Eric Spicely (3-0, 1 KO) will be featured in a separate three-round bout.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (April 22nd, 2014) — As far as big fights go, this is a “must-win” for Tateki Matsuda.

Matt Doherty isn’t quite as desperate, but he will be once the bell rings Friday.

“It’s do or die for him,” Doherty said, “but that’s the mentality I’m going with, too.

“I know he’s hungry. I’ll be hungrier.”

Two fighters laying it all on the line inside the cage generally makes for an exciting fight, and the Doherty-Matsuda showdown will be no exception in what could be the Fight of the Night Friday, April 25th, 2014 at “CES MMA XXIII” at Twin River Casino.

Doherty (3-0, 2 KOs), a 25-year-old Salem, Mass., native, is one of the Northeast’s rising stars in the bantamweight division looking for the signature victory that could take his career to the next level. Boston’s Matsuda (8-5, 4 KOs), for years considered one of the toughest, most technically-sound bantamweights in the region, is coming off back-to-back, split decision losses in 2013 and needs a win Friday to get back on track.

Two fighters with different backgrounds and different mindsets reaching for the same goal could make this the most hotly-contested bout Friday on a stacked card that also features CES MMA featherweight champ Rob Font and hard-hitting heavyweight Josh Diekmann.

“Every single match is important to me,” Matsuda said. “All I want is that ‘W.'”

The 28-year-old Matsuda has been a fixture in the Northeast for nearly half a decade and was once considered the No. 1 bantamweight in the region until losing to Saul Almeida at Bellator 48 in 2011. Shortly thereafter, he qualified for Season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter, but failed to make it into the house when he lost to Dustin Pague in the season debut.

It appeared Matsuda had righted the ship with wins over Johnny Campbell and Myung Hwan Lee until the split-decision losses to Matthew Tran and Paul Gorman dropped him back into the middle of the pack in his weight class, a bitter pill to swallow considering he lost each fight by only one round.

Asked if he thought he won those fights, Matsuda politely deferred and instead focused on the bigger picture.

“You should ask people who watched my fights, or watch those fights, and see what you think,” he said. “In my mind, I wasn’t defeated, but I learned a lot about my fighting style and my mental preparation. Although I was frustrated at the fact they hurt my record, those experiences will make me better for sure.”

Even with the back-to-back losses on his resume, Matsuda is still Doherty’s toughest opponent to date, a challenge Doherty willingly accepted when presented with the opportunity.

“To be honest, I’ve wanted to fight a top guy since I got into the game,” said Doherty, who last fought at Twin River in January when he beat Shaun Marmas.

“Even as an amateur, I wanted the best. When I first turned pro, I listened to the smarter guys, like my manager and my trainer, but I’ve always wanted to fight the best.

“Tateki’s got a lot of experience. He’s been on The Ultimate Fighter. He’s fought in Japan. I want to take his spot. When I heard his name, it made me work that much harder.”

Why step up so soon after only three fights? The way Doherty sees it a win over Matsuda could raise a few eyebrows on the national circuit and make him a household name beyond the Northeast, plus the two shared a common opponent in Campbell. Matsuda needed five full rounds to beat him while Doherty knocked him out at the end of the second round of their scheduled three-round bout. That gave Doherty the confidence to step up and face Matsuda, and while it’ll take more than one big win to make a dent among the elite 135-pounders, putting his undefeated record on the line against a seasoned veteran is a chance Doherty is willing to take.

“I figure if I can go in there against the top guys around the Northeast and compete with them despite being so inexperienced I can start competing with more and more of the top guys,” he said. “That’s how you get to the big show, and he’s definitely one of the best around.

“If you make a mistake against him, he’ll take advantage. I’ve been training a lot differently and preparing smarter for this fight. Sometimes I’d go in there just doing what I wanted to do, but I know I have to listen to my coaches word-for-word this time. You can’t make mistakes against a guy like this.”

Doherty’s expecting the technical, fundamentally-sound Matsuda we’ve grown accustomed to seeing through the years, but knows there’ll also be a hint of desperation in Matsuda’s approach given the fact he’s lost his last two fights. Having come up short on the judges’ scorecards, Matsuda might be more inclined to try to finish this fight and control his own destiny rather than leave it someone else’s hands.

“I always look for the moment for any chance to finish a fight or an opening for a knockout or submission,” said Matsuda, who hasn’t earned a win by stoppage since 2010. “All I can say is I’m always ready for anything.”

Though his career isn’t at quite the same crossroads, Doherty promises to fight with the same desperation, if not for the chance to earn the biggest win of his career, then at least to keep his unbeaten record intact. There’s a lot at stake for both sides, and somebody will be one step closer to the top come Friday.

“Each fight is more critical than the last one,” Doherty said. “One loss can set me back and put me right back at the beginning again. Keeping that record intact and staying on the right path is what helps keep me motivated.”

Tickets for “CES MMA XXIII” 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.

Coming off an impressive win in January, Font (9-1, 2 KOs) will return to face Tristan Johnson (8-4, 3 KOs) of Nova Scotia, Canada, in the main event. The 30-year-old Johnson has won three of his last five fights, including a split-decision victory over Bellator vet Will Romero in 2012, while Font has won his last eight.

Diekmann (14-5, 10 KOs), a Groton, Conn., native, will face Keith “Bad News” Bell (5-3-1, 3 KOs) of Newport News, Va. Bell has won three out of four since 2013 and appeared on the undercard of Bellator 109 in Pennsylvania.

“CES MMA XXIII” also features the return of fan-favorite Andre Soukhamthath (7-2, 4 KOs) of Woonsocket, R.I., who will face Joshua Killion (10-4) of Defiance, Ohio, in a bantamweight bout. Also on the undercard, Pawtucket, R.I., welterweight Abe Pitrowski (5-2, 1 KO) will face Samuel Almeida (2-0) of Framingham, Mass.; lightweight Bobby Flynn (4-1, 1 KO) of Mashpee, Mass., will battle Providence’s Tundee Odumuso (2-2); and featherweight Pete Rogers Jr. (0-1) of Baltic, Conn., will face Franklin Isabel (3-7) of Chelsea, Mass. Two-time Bellator vet Rico DiSciullo (1-0) of Peabody, Mass., will face Jordan Espinosa (3-3) of Findlay, Ohio in a three-round bantamweight bout, and East Providence, R.I., heavyweight Eric Bedard (6-4, 4 KOs) will battle Matthew Thompson (18-9, 7 KOs) of Austin, Tex.

LAS VEGAS (April 21, 2014) – World Series of Fighting continues to build an extremely stacked welterweight division with the addition of former Strikeforce champion and UFC title contender Jake Shields.

With the addition of Shields, the World Series of Fighting welterweight division is now one of the best on the planet with such top talent as current champion Rousimar Palhares and top contenders Jon Fitch, Josh Burkman, Steve Carl, and Gerald Harris.

The California-based fighter recently announced that he signed a multi-fight deal with the promotion and is expected to debut in the World Series of Fighting decagon in July. He brings a 29-7-1 record into the cage and will make his first appearance against an opponent to be named shortly.

Shields has beaten a very impressive who’s who list of fighters that includes Dan Henderson, Carlos Condit, Paul Daley, Robbie Lawler, Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia, Martin Kampmann, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Jason Miller and Yushin Okami.

Shields is ranked as a top-10 welterweight and has built himself a hall-of-fame worthy resume in 15 years of professional fighting. The 35-year-old is a proud member of the “Skrap Pack,” where he trains alongside some of MMA’s best, including Gilbert Milendez as well as Nick and Nate Diaz. He also works closely with coach Tareq Azim at his Empower gym in San Francisco.

Shields, an American Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, previously held the EliteXC welterweight title, as well as the Strikeforce middleweight championship. “I have so much to prove, and I will become the World Series of Fighting welterweight champion,” Shields said. “I’m really looking forward to fighting at my new home with World Series of Fighting. I think that when you look at the World Series of Fighting welterweight roster, there is no denying that they’re housing many of the world’s best, and I’m proud to be a part of that group.”

“Jake has been a top fighter in professional mixed martial arts for years now, ” World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. “You know you’ve got one of the best in the world when you sign someone who has won multiple championship belts and has had 15-fight win streaks over some of the world class fighters he’s beaten. This kid is an extremely tough, proven warrior capable of beating anyone who stands in his way. I’m extremely proud we were able to sign him and I will continue bringing fighters of this caliber to World Series of Fighting.”

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.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (April 17th, 2014) — There’s no real science to Josh Diekmann’s game plan.

“I go out there and try to hit the other guy hard and not let him hit me that hard,” Diekmann said. “It’s a lot simpler than people make it out to be.”

And what if the other guy does hit as hard?

“Who gives a fuck?” Diekmann said. “Sometimes you’ve got to walk into one in order to get one.”

What you see is what you get with Diekmann — unafraid, unfiltered, and always ready to let his hands go. When “The Freight Train” steps inside the cage, there’s a strong chance (a 94 percent chance, to be exact) the fight won’t go the distance, and that’s precisely what Diekmann is hoping for again Friday, April 25th, 2014 when he faces veteran heavyweight Keith Bell (4-4-1, 3 KOs) of Newport News, Va., on the undercard of “CES MMA XXIII” at Twin River Casino.

“To me, if you win a decision, you really don’t win the fight,” Diekmann said. “You’re just ahead when time runs out. To me, you finish the fight. That’s how you win a fight.”

“I’m not that guy,” said Bell, a former standout wrestler at Niagara County Community College. “I’m real calm, collected. I’ve been put out before and have come back and won.

“Why train so hard just to blow it in 30 seconds? You can’t make it to the next level playing that game, and I’ll be the one to make you look like a dumbass when we touch gloves.”

Tickets for “CES MMA XXIII” 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 6-foot-2, 37-year-old Diekmann (14-5, 10 KOs), a Groton, Conn., native, has won 10 fights by knockout and four by submission. The only time he went the distance in 19 professional fights was a year and a half ago in a loss to Tyler King. He’s also been knocked out once and submitted three times.

Diekmann either finishes or gets finished, and it’s the reason he’s become one of New England’s most popular fighters, a welcome reprieve from the common stall tactic in mixed martial arts derisively referred to as “lay and pray.”

“Who wants to see that? I wouldn’t want to see that if I was buying a ticket,” Diekmann said. “I’m an entertainer, first and foremost. People pay to watch me fight. They’re not just there to see me win. Without fans, we don’t have a sport. It’d just be two guys punching each other. There has to be something there.

“That’s why I sell a lot of tickets. Either I get knocked out, or the other guy gets knocked out.”

Except in February, when Diekmann’s scheduled three-round bout against Manny Lara on the undercard of Bellator 110 ended in 18 seconds after Lara absorbed an inadvertent thumb to the eye, resulting in a no contest, hence why he’s back at Twin River next Friday. Needing a fight to stay sharp, Diekmann immediately turned to CES, with whom he had fought three of his previous four bouts.

“They always take care of me,” Diekmann said. “Even when I’m not fighting, they make sure I have a good seat and take good care of my buddies.

“A lot of other promoters preach that family shit, but in my experiences with CES it’s been true. I lost my first two fights with them and they still treat me well. They’re top shelf. I’ve fought for a lot of guys. I’ve been doing this for 11 years and have fought for nearly every local promotion, and hands down CES is the best. They’re the most professional, and they put on the best fights by far. If I’m going to fight for anyone else, it’s going to be them.”

After beating Chris Guillen in a rematch on CES’ November Pro-Am event at Foxwoods Resort Casino, Diekmann has a chance to even his record with CES against Bell, a 6-3, 256-pound Bellator vet with a similar penchant for finishing fights. He’s won two of his last three since 2013, while each of his last five fights dating back to October of 2012 have ended within the first round.

“I always pick up something along the way,” Bell said. “I’m a bigger heavyweight, not a 5-foot-10 heavyweight who swings for the fences. I don’t need to do that. I have reach. I do other things heavyweights don’t do, and that’s why it works.

“I wouldn’t say [Diekmann] is one-dimensional. I just haven’t seen him in a lot of tough situations. I watched his fight in 2012 [against King] and he got taken down over and over again. Anytime he fights a bigger heavyweight he has problems because he tries to slug it out with the guy. That’s what people want to see, but that’s not the best option.

“If he wants to do that against me, that’s fine. We have a game plan for that.”

Diekmann’s not concerned about Bell’s size or reach, nor is making his own game plan more difficult than it needs to be.

“He’s a big boy,” Diekmann said, “but I’ve fought big guys before. Sometimes, guys get crazy with their game plans. Just go fight. Work on your stuff and use it. It’s you and another guy fighting. That’s it. What’s the best way to win? Go out and hurt the other guy. When you see a fight in the street, one guy hurts the other guy and it’s over.

“I’m not really great at anything, but I can do a little bit of everything. Sometimes that gives me an advantage.”

Having already fought for more than a decade, Diekmann treats every fight as if it’s his last, so when asked what’s next on the schedule, he says, “When you get to my age, you just take it one fight at a time. That’s one thing I’ve learned. Take it how it comes. I only have so many of these left, so I’m trying to enjoy them.”

Only if they last long enough to savor. These days, Diekmann is making quick work of everyone put in front of him.

“I used to get scared, thinking I’m not good enough to do this or that,” Diekmann said. “Now I just take each challenge as it comes.”

Coming off an impressive win in January, Boston featherweight Rob Font (9-1, 2 KOs) will return to face Tristan Johnson (8-4, 3 KOs) of Nova Scotia, Canada, in the main event. The 30-year-old Johnson has won three of his last five fights, including a split-decision victory over Bellator vet Will Romero in 2012, while Font has won his last eight.

“CES MMA XXIII” also features the return of fan-favorites Tateki Matsuda and Eric Spicely. Matsuda (8-5, 4 KOs), the Boston bantamweight who’s fought everywhere from Maine to Tokyo since his last appearance with CES in 2010, will battle the unbeaten Matt Doherty (3-0, 2 KOs) of Salem, Mass., in what figures to be one of the most intriguing intrastate matchups on the card. Matsuda has lost his last two while Doherty is coming off a submission win over Shaun Marmas in January.

Spicely (3-0) will put his unbeaten record on the line against 37-fight veteran Nuri Shakir (17-20, 8 KOs) of Nashua, N.H., in a three-round welterweight bout. Providence’s Spicely last fought in December with a first-round knockout win over Tyler Rose. The 35-year-old Shakir owns wins over UFC vets Tom Egan and Nick Serra.

Also on the undercard, Pawtucket, R.I., welterweight Abe Pitrowski (5-2, 1 KO) will face Samuel Almeida (2-0) of Framingham, Mass.; lightweight Bobby Flynn (4-1, 1 KO) of Mashpee, Mass., will battle Providence’s Tundee Odumuso (2-2); and featherweight Pete Rogers Jr. (0-1) of Baltic, Conn., will face Manny Torres (2-2) of Hartford, Conn. Two-time Bellator vet Rico DiSciullo (1-0) of Peabody, Mass., will face Jordan Espinosa (3-3) of Findlay, Ohio in a three-round bantamweight bout, and East Providence, R.I., heavyweight Eric Bedard (6-4, 4 KOs) will battle Matthew Thompson (18-9, 7 KOs) of Austin, Tex.

owered by MetroPCS®. Available for free worldwide, UFC’s Fan App is designed to enhance the way fans around the world watch fights and interact with the UFC. As the ultimate all-in-one fight night companion, the app helps fans to enhance the fight night experience no matter if they are watching at the arena, at home, at a bar or somewhere else around the world. Fans can download the UFC Fan App for free on Android devices in Google Play and on iPhone or iPad devices in the App Store.

Here are five must-see updates and features to the app:

1) Enhance Your Live Event Experience with Red & Blue Corner In-Arena Audio: Fight fans attending a live event will have access to red and blue corner in-arena audio feeds as they watch the fight.

2) Throw Away Your Sharpie for a Digital Autograph: Fans can throw their sharpie away and receive an e-signature in-person on their phone or tablet from fighters. The digital autograph makes it easier to share with friends or family online. Fans can take photos to be signed and then store or share them socially.

3) Follow a Fighter’s Movements Inside the Octagon® with a Live Fight Rhythm Tracker: Exclusively for the app, fans can receive live, real-time statistics during UFC events with a Fight Rhythm Tracker. The tracker will show which fighters are in control inside the Octagon to bring fans closer to the action.

4) Watch Fight Highlights During & After Events: Fans can watch fight highlights during and after events, keep-up-to-date with breaking UFC news, view content including matchup features and on-going segments such as the MetroPCS® Move of the Week, receive fight updates and schedule announcements, watch live streams of official weigh-ins and press conferences, view fighter profiles and access personal social media accounts for content sharing and interaction.

5) Participate in UFC Fantasy Pick’Em Games to Win Prizes: Play UFC fantasy games from your mobile device to make your picks, compete with friends and fans worldwide to win great prizes. Fans can also opt for customized push notifications so that they can quickly respond to engaging comments.

FOX UFC SATURDAY®: WERDUM vs. BROWNE will be available live on FOX at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 19. FOX Sports 1 airs the Preliminary Card action live beginning at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC®) is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Beijing, Singapore and Sao Paulo, UFC produces more than 40 live events annually that consistently sell out some of the most prestigious arenas around the globe. UFC programming is broadcast in over 145 countries to 800+ million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT™ (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, Octagon™ branded apparel, best-selling DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit www.UFC.com and follow UFC at www.Facebook.com/UFC and on Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.

About MetroPCS
MetroPCS provides the freedom and convenience of unlimited, no-annual-contract wireless services on a nationwide 4G LTE network for a flat rate. With MetroPCS, customers get great value and a wide variety of device choices from leading brands. A flagship brand operated by T-Mobile US, Inc. (NYSE: “TMUS”), MetroPCS products and services are available online and across the United States through a network of company-owned stores, authorized dealer locations, and leading national retailers. For more information, please visit www.metropcs.com.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (April 16th, 2014) — Good or bad, Andre Soukhamthath doesn’t care what you think.

You won’t find him online much these days reading what other people have to say about who he fights, how he fights, or what they think about his latest opponent.

“It’s not important,” he said. “I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. I just want to win.”

The well-mannered bantamweight from Woonsocket, R.I., with the million-dollar smile hasn’t suddenly turned heel following his loss to Kin Moy in January, but with the pressure to respond to critics no longer clouding his judgment, Soukhamthath (7-2, 4 KOs) will be all business when he returns to the cage Friday, April 25th, 2014 against Josh Killion (10-4) of Ohio on the undercard of “CES MMA XXIII” at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I.

“There’s no pressure anymore,” said Soukhamthath, whose loss to Moy snapped a seven-fight win streak.

“I finally lost. People wanted to see me get tested. Well, I got tested. I know where I stand now. I know where I need to be and what I need to do to make it to that next level, and that’s focus on one fight at a time and fight smarter.”

The first step toward fighting smarter is to learn to block out all of the outside influences, whether it’s criticism from the press, social media chatter or unexpected adversity.

Soukhamthath dealt with it all leading up to the fight against Moy.

It was his first scheduled fight since moving south to begin training with the Blackzillians. In addition to the commute from Florida to Rhode Island during fight week, Soukhamthath also dealt with the death of his uncle, who passed away that weekend, a hardship any fighter would have difficulty trying to block out, let alone one with so much already on his plate.

No excuses, Soukhamthath said.

“I had a lot going on, but I usually separate things pretty well,” he said. “Mentally, I was drained, but I still went out there and fought, so I don’t have anyone to blame but myself.”

Soukhamthath’s biggest problem was paying attention to the criticism online, the questions about his record, who he had faced in the past, and whether or not he could compete with Moy, an undefeated prospect from nearby Cambridge, Mass.

“It really aggravated me,” Soukhamthath said. “I really wanted to go out there and put an exclamation point on my performance, and that’s what I tried to do. I wore myself out. That’s the only reason I lost the fight. I really beat myself. I don’t think Kin beat me at all. I thought I won the first and second round. His back was on the mat the entire time, but it is what it is. Life goes on.

“I’m sure everyone will agree I always come to fight,” he continued. “I don’t go there to dance around, or lay and pray, or win on points. It might not always be the smartest thing, but at the end of the day it’s what I do, and I’m not going to stop doing that.

“I won’t fight emotionally anymore. I’ll just fight smarter.”

Soukhamthath has grown tired of critics saying he picks his fights — “when my promoter calls me for a fight, I always say yes if I’m ready,” he said — which might explain why he’s facing another tough test next Friday against Killion, a 5-foot-3, 23-year-old vet with eight wins by submission and victories in seven of his last eight fights.

Killion’s cut from the same cloth, a throwback fighter who worries less about what his opponent brings to the table and focuses more on fighting his kind of fight once the bell rings.

“I don’t do a lot of homework on my opponent,” Killion said. “I just do my thing, and what happens, happens. It’s going down once we’re in that cage.”

Soukhmathath recently beat one of Killion’s training partners, Corey Simmons, in December, but Killion preferred to keep his training to himself rather than seek advice from Simmons.

“I never ask those guys, ‘How did he fight?’ or anything like that. I really don’t even like watching videos,” Killion said. “I’m not going in there with a game plan thinking he’s going to fight this way or that way. I’m not going to fight like that. I’m a go-getter, so let’s get it.”

Despite having won eight of his 10 fights by submission with no knockouts on his record, Killion surprisingly prefers to stand and trade blows with his opponent.

“I like to hit. They always tell me they’re going to hit with me, but then it goes the other way,” he said. “That’s how it’s gone my whole career. Once they trade with me, they want to take me to the ground, but I’m an animal down there, too, so it doesn’t matter to me. That’s why they call it mixed martial arts.

“I’m the little guy, but I’m here to hit. I don’t think [Soukhamthath] has ever come across anyone like me. I have a big heart. I hope he has heart, too.”

Added Soukhamthath: “I’m taking this fight on somewhat short notice, but I never really stopped training after the last fight. I took a week off and got right back in the gym. The training has been great. I finally feel like part of the team. We’re settled in. That’s why we moved here. I want to do things the way they do things here. That’s the best way to do it.”

“CES MMA XXIII” will also feature the return of reigning featherweight champion Rob Font and hard-hitting heavyweight Josh Diekmann.

Tickets 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.

Coming off an impressive win in January, Font (9-1, 2 KOs) will return to face Tristan Johnson (8-4, 3 KOs) of Nova Scotia, Canada, in the main event. The 30-year-old Johnson has won three of his last five fights, including a split-decision victory over Bellator vet Will Romero in 2012, while Font has won his last eight.

Diekmann (14-5, 10 KOs), a Groton, Conn., native, returns to Twin River with wins in two of his last three fights. Following back-to-back first-round knockout wins in September and November, Diekmann’s scheduled three-round bout at Bellator 110 against Manny Lara ended in a no contest due to an accidental eye poke. On April 25th, Diekmann will face Keith “Bad News” Bell (5-3-1, 3 KOs) of Newport News, Va. Bell has won three out of four since 2013 and appeared on the undercard of Bellator 109 in Pennsylvania.

“CES MMA XXIII” also features the return of fan-favorites Tateki Matsuda and Eric Spicely. Matsuda (8-5, 4 KOs), the Boston bantamweight who’s fought everywhere from Maine to Tokyo since his last appearance with CES in 2010, will battle the unbeaten Matt Doherty (3-0, 2 KOs) of Salem, Mass., in what figures to be one of the most intriguing intrastate matchups on the card. Matsuda has lost his last two while Doherty is coming off a submission win over Shaun Marmas in January.

Spicely (3-0) will put his unbeaten record on the line against 37-fight veteran Nuri Shakir (17-20, 8 KOs) of Nashua, N.H., in a three-round welterweight bout. Providence’s Spicely last fought in December with a first-round knockout win over Tyler Rose. The 35-year-old Shakir owns wins over UFC vets Tom Egan and Nick Serra.

Also on the undercard, Pawtucket, R.I., welterweight Abe Pitrowski (5-2, 1 KO) will face Samuel Almeida (2-0) of Framingham, Mass.; lightweight Bobby Flynn (4-1, 1 KO) of Mashpee, Mass., will battle Providence’s Tundee Odumuso (2-2); and featherweight Pete Rogers Jr. (0-1) of Baltic, Conn., will face Manny Torres (2-2) of Hartford, Conn. Two-time Bellator vet Rico DiSciullo (1-0) of Peabody, Mass., will face Jordan Espinosa (3-3) of Findlay, Ohio in a three-round bantamweight bout, and East Providence, R.I., heavyweight Eric Bedard (6-4, 4 KOs) will battle Matthew Thompson (18-9, 7 KOs) of Austin, Tex.

Las Vegas –The Ultimate Fighting Championship® will make its highly anticipated debut in Albuquerque on Saturday, June 7 at Tingley Coliseum. In the five-round main event, former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will take on the surging Rustam Khabilov, a winner of six straight.

Owning wins over some of the sport’s top names such as Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez and Frankie Edgar (twice), Henderson (20-3, fighting out of Glendale, Ariz.) is eager to reclaim the lightweight crown. To do so, he must diffuse the relentless Khabilov (17-1, fighting out of Albuquerque, N.M.). Nicknamed “Tiger”, the 27-year-old Khabilov trains at the famed Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA gym in Albuquerque and has reeled off three straight wins to start his UFC career. Now he’ll meet the toughest test of his young career against the former UFC lightweight champion.

In the night’s co-main event, Albuquerque’s own Diego Sanchez (26-7) will compete in front of his hometown fans in a potential Fight of the Year candidate against Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson (17-6-1NC, fighting out of San Diego). Plus, flyweight sensation and hometown superstar John Dodson (16-6, fighting out of Albuquerque, N.M.) looks to secure a title shot when he collides with No.4 flyweight contender John Moraga (14-2, fighting out of Phoenix, Ariz.).

If that wasn’t enough, Mexican bantamweight star and Jackson-Winkeljohn product Erik “Goyito” Perez takes on Bryan Caraway in a pivotal fight between rising title contenders.

Also scheduled for the card:

Bobby Voelker (24-11, fighting out of Kansas City, Mo.) takes on Lance Benoist (6-2, fighting out of St. Louis, Mo.) in a welterweight collision.
A bantamweight bout between Sergio Pettis (10-1, fighting out of Milwaukee, Wis.) and up-and-comer Yaotzin Meza (19-9, fighting out of Glendale, Ariz.)
In a lightweight matchup, versatile Yves Edwards (42-20, 1NC, fighting out of Austin, TX) vs. submission specialist Piotr Hallman (14-2, fighting out of Gdynia, Poland)
A light heavyweight matchup featuring All-American wrestler Patrick Cummins (4-1, fighting out of Dana Point, Calif.) taking on Francimar Barroso (16-4, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

Additional bouts will be announced in the weeks to come at UFC.com.

Tickets for UFC FIGHT NIGHT: HENDERSON vs. KHABILOV, go on sale Friday, April 18 at 10 a.m. MT and are priced at $175, $125, $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.

UFC Fight Club® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, April 9 at 10 a.m. MT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, April 10 starting at 10 a.m. MT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: HENDERSON vs. KHABILOV will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Saturday, June 7, with the prelims kicking off the evening on FOX Sports 1 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® bantamweight champion Renan Barao looks to stake his claim as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world when he meets the explosive and dangerous TJ Dillashaw Saturday, May 24 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Barao (34-1, 1 NC, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has amassed an unprecedented 35-fight unbeaten streak, including victories over championship contenders Urijah Faber (twice), Michael McDonald and Eddie Wineland. Now, the Brazilian sensation will collide with Dillashaw (10-2, fighting out of Sacramento Calif.), a dynamic finisher who poses a serious threat to the champion’s reign. What’s more, Dillashaw comes into the title fight motivated and inspired to avenge the losses of his teammate and mentor, Faber.

“Renan Barao is on a 35-fight unbeaten streak and he’s the No. 3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the sport,” UFC President Dana White said. “He is incredibly talented and has the killer instinct that fight fans love! He is on his way to becoming the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. This is an amazing fight! Dillashaw has never looked better and is an aggressive beast who will try to finish Barao and end his unbeaten streak.”

Also, fresh off a razor thin defeat to current welterweight champion Johny Hendricks, hard hitting fan-favorite (No. 1) Robbie Lawler (22-10, 1 NC, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) returns to the Octagon® to meet fellow heavy-handed contender (No. 5) Jake Ellenberger (29-7, fighting out of Lake Forest, Calif.).

Other bouts for UFC 173 include:
No. 7 bantamweight Takeya Mizugaki (19-7-2) vs. No. 10 Francisco Rivera (10-2, 1 NC).
Former WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner (21-9-1, 2 NC) vs. well-rounded contender James Krause (20-5).
The Ultimate Fighter 15 winner Michael Chiesa (10-1) vs. Brazilian submission specialist Francisco Trinaldo (16-7).
The Ultimate Fighter 13 winner Tony Ferguson (15-3) vs. Tokyo’s Katsunori Kikuno (22-5-2).
The Ultimate Fighter 18 winner Chris Holdsworth (6-0) vs. Milwaukee’s Chico Camus (14-4).
New York’s Al Iaquinta (8-2-1) vs. Canadian lightweight Mitch Clarke (10-2).
Las Vegas resident Anthony Njokuani (17-7) vs. hard-hitting lightweight Vinc Pichel (8-1).
Heavy-handed striker Sam Sicilia (12-4) vs. South Korean featherweight Doo Ho Choi (11-1).
English welterweight Danny Mitchell (14-5-1) vs. newcomer Li Jingliang (8-2).

Tickets for UFC®173: BARAO vs. DILLASHAW, presented by BUD LIGHT®, go on sale April 11 at 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $750, $500, $325, $200, $125, and $75. Tickets are available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com. 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 are also available at the MGM Grand box office. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges.

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

UFC®173: BARAO vs. DILLASHAW 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 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, Nev. – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) is pleased to announce that Lou Lauria has joined the company as Vice President, Governing Body Relationships and International Fight Week. In this role, Lauria will oversee the company’s relationships with national, continental, and international sports federations. He will also spearhead the UFC’s global expansion and influence during International Fight Week™ in Las Vegas.

“I have watched with great interest over the years the emergence of the UFC as an innovative property that has become a true industry leader,” said Lauria. “The opportunity to become engaged in the global development of this sport and bring the combat sports community together around what will become an iconic annual event in International Fight Week was what attracted me to the UFC.”

Lauria’s extensive knowledge and background will shape the UFC’s continued support for various governing bodies and provide leadership on issues relating to the development of mixed martial arts (MMA) around the world. As the UFC continues to expand internationally, Lauria’s expertise in global development will help further the company’s growth as a leader in MMA.

“Developing existing relationships and identifying potential partners is vital to the UFC as it continues to promote MMA and combat sports around the world,” added Lauria. “We have already seen the explosive growth of the UFC and with International Fight Week serving as the premier MMA event of the year we will continue to work with governing bodies around the world to help better serve MMA and expand the sport globally.”

Lauria brings over 20 years of experience of fostering international partnerships and developing projects for various sports federations around the world. He joins the UFC from Helios Partners, an international sports consulting agency, where he was most recently responsible for the Bid City and Organizing Committee Consulting business unit. Previously, Lauria worked with the International Olympic Committee as a Partnership Services Manager for their Television and Marketing Services division. He also worked in sport and venue roles for the Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Salt Lake 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committees.

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 (April 8, 2014) – World Series of Fighting is happy to announce the addition of exciting striker Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard to the company’s lightweight roster.

The UFC veteran signed a multi-fight deal with the promotion and is expected to debut in the World Series of Fighting decagon in July.

“I’m excited to start a new chapter in my career,” said Guillard. “I feel like a brand new fighter with a great opportunity here with World Series of Fighting. I’m looking to prove I’m one of, if not the best lightweight in the world.”

“Melvin is an amazing fighter with an energetic style that has earned him a massive, loyal fan base, ” World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. “He’s a guy that comes to fight every time he enters the cage, and I’m excited to see how he fares in our lightweight division.”

A 31-year-old New Orleans native, Guillard has competed for the UFC for the past six years, picking up 13 wins during that time, including eight victories by knockout. One of the most physically gifted and feared knockout artists in all of the sport, Guillard has been competing professionally since 2002 and boasts nearly 50 professional bouts to his name.

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.

Las Vegas, Nev. – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC®) announced today that Bruce Lee, “The Father of Mixed Martial Arts”, will make his historic first step into the Octagon® in EA SPORTS™ UFC, launching June 17, 2014. Fans can pre-order today to get instant day-one access to Bruce, or they can complete the game’s career mode at Pro difficulty to unlock him. Players can fight with the legend across four different weight classes and test his legacy against the best of the best in the UFC. To see Bruce Lee realized in game, watch the EA SPORTS UFC Gameplay Series: Bruce Lee Reveal, the first cinematic trailer from EA SPORTS UFC that was released today. For more information on the Bruce Lee pre-order offer, please visit http://o.ea.com/20562.

“I am so excited about this opportunity to bring my father back to videogames!” said Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee’s daughter, CEO of Bruce Lee, LLC and Chairperson of the Bruce Lee Foundation. “I’m thrilled that fans can now interact with him in a new way. The EA SPORTS UFC development team has been incredible to work with, and they’ve done a great job capturing the look and feel of my father. I think people will love getting a chance to fulfill a fight fantasy by playing Bruce Lee in the new UFC game.”

“There’s no debate, Bruce Lee is the father of mixed martial arts,” said Dana White, UFC President. “He believed not one style of fighting was the best and that you had to have a little piece of everything to be a complete fighter. He was proven right when the first UFC event took place in 1993.”

“It has always been part of our vision to have Bruce Lee, the most iconic martial artist of all time, in the first ever EA SPORTS UFC,” said Brian Hayes, Creative Director, EA. “The team is very excited and tremendously honored to have the privilege of bringing Bruce Lee to life in our game. We’ve been working closely with the Bruce Lee team to ensure we represent the legend with as much visual and gameplay fidelity as possible.”

Powered by EA SPORTS IGNITE technology, EA SPORTS UFC is built from the ground up exclusively for Gen 4 platforms, EA SPORTS UFC captures the human athleticism, physiology and emotion of the athlete like nothing before it. Step into the Octagon® and Feel the Fight with every strike, takedown and submission.

Assets: To download assets, please visit the EA press site at http://info.ea.com. Visit the EA SPORTS UFC website for more details.

EA SPORTS UFC is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver and will be available for Xbox One and PlayStation®4 consoles. The game has not yet been rated the ESRB and PEGI; visit www.esrb.org and www.pegi.info for more information. Become a fan of EA SPORTS UFC on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/easportsufc and follow us on Twitter via http://www.twitter.com/easportsufc.

EA SPORTS is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive technology, fan programs and cross-platform digital experiences. EA SPORTS creates connected experiences that ignite the emotion of sports through industry-leading sports videogames, including Madden NFL football, EA SPORTS FIFA, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA® Football, PGA TOUR® golf, SSX™ and EA SPORTS UFC. For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs, forums and game apps, please visit www.easports.com.

*Conditions apply. Visit http://o.ea.com/20562 for details

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 Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. EA has more than 300 million registered players in over 200 countries. In fiscal year 2013, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.8 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for a portfolio of critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster brands such as The Sims™, Madden NFL, EA SPORTS™ FIFA, Need for Speed™, Battlefield™ and Mass Effect™. More information about EA is available at www.ea.com/news. EA SPORTS, The Sims, SSX, Need for Speed, Mass Effect and Battlefield are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. and its subsidiaries. Ultimate Fighting Championship®, UFC®, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC and affiliated entities in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners. John Madden, NFL, NCAA, NHL, NBA, PGA TOUR and FIFA are the property of their respective owners and used with permission. “PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Las Vegas, Nevada – For the first time in company history, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® will come to San Antonio on Saturday, June 28 at AT&T Center. The main event will feature a five-round featherweight bout between two of the division’s top contenders and most exciting strikers in Cub Swanson and Jeremy Stephens .

Winner of five straight bouts, the fourth-ranked Swanson (20-5, fighting out of Albuquerque, N.M.) headlines his first UFC® event and eyes a potential shot at the title later this year. The Palm Springs, Calif. native has long been one to watch at 145 pounds with his blend of precision striking and seemingly endless cardio. With recent wins over Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira, Ross Pearson and Dennis Siver, Swanson looks to cement his status as the next title contender with a win in San Antonio.

Longtime veteran Stephens (23-9, fighting out of San Diego, Calif.) will step into the Octagon® for the 19th time on June 28, looking to get one step closer to his ultimate goal of claiming the UFC title. The tenth-ranked Stephens was entrenched in the sport from a very early age, competing in amateur bouts at 16 and turning pro at 18. Having first competed at UFC 71 in May 2007, “Lil’ Heathen” has since gone on to collect wins over Cole Miller, Rafael dos Anjos, Sam Stout and Marcus Davis. Undefeated since dropping to featherweight, Stephens looks to continue his career resurgence and win his fourth straight bout.

Also scheduled for the card:
The return of The Ultimate Fighter® season 16 winner and active member of the U.S. Army Colton Smith (6-3, fighting out of Ft. Hood, Texas), as he takes on undefeated Carlos Diego Ferreira (9-0, fighting out of Edcouch, Texas) at lightweight.
A welterweight bout between Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Marcelo Guimaraes (8-1-1, fighting out of Vila Velha, Espirito Santo, Brazil) and submission specialist Andy Enz (8-1, fighting out of Anchorage, Alaska).
A heavyweight matchup featuring promotional newcomers Anthony Hamilton (12-2, fighting out of Seattle, Wash.) and Oleksiy Oliynyk (48-13-1, fighting out of Vologda Oblast, Russia).

Additional bouts will be announced in the weeks to come at UFC.com.

Tickets for UFC FIGHT NIGHT: SWANSON vs. STEPHENS, go on sale Friday, April 11 at 10 a.m. CT and are priced at $175, $125, $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 www.attcenter.com and the AT&T Center box office.

UFC Fight Club® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, April 9 at 10 a.m. CT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, April 10 starting at 10 a.m. CT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: SWANSON vs. STEPHENS will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Saturday, June 28, with the prelims kicking off the evening on FOX Sports 1 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.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (April 7th, 2014) — Trying to top the streak of knockouts that made March such a memorable month, CES MMA returns April 25th with an even bigger, bolder fight card.

“CES MMA XXIII” will feature the return of reigning featherweight champion Rob Font, hard-hitting heavyweight Josh Diekmann, and the CES debut of four-time Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) veteran Ricardo Funch.

Tickets 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.

Coming off an impressive win in January, Font (9-1, 2 KOs) will return to face Tristan Johnson (8-4, 3 KOs) of Nova Scotia, Canada, in the main event. The 30-year-old Johnson has won three of his last five fights, including a split-decision victory over Bellator vet Will Romero in 2012, while Font has won his last eight. The Boston featherweight, originally from Tampa and now training out of Sityodong, submitted Bombsquad vet Ahsan Abdullah in January in the opening round of their scheduled three-round bout.

Diekmann (14-5, 10 KOs), a Groton, Conn., native, returns to Twin River with wins in two of his last three fights. Following back-to-back first-round knockout wins in September and November, Diekmann’s scheduled three-round bout at Bellator 110 against Manny Lara ended in a no contest due to an accidental eye poke. On April 25th, Diekmann will face Keith “Bad News” Bell (5-3-1, 3 KOs) of Newport News, Va. Bell has won three out of four since 2013 and appeared on the undercard of Bellator 109 in Pennsylvania.

The 33-year-old Funch (8-4, 4 KOs), a native of Ludlow, Mass., will make his CES and Twin River debut against a familiar face in Dedham, Mass., veteran Brett Oteri (12-5, 1 KO), who has won seven fights by submission and enters this fight fresh off a big win over Dennis Olson in December.

Funch is hoping to regain his form following back-to-back losses to Dan Miller and Mike Pyle with the UFC in 2012 that led to his release from the promotion. He hasn’t fought in more than a year, but owns wins over regional standouts Ryan Quinn, Woody Weatherby and Chandler Holderness.

That’s just the beginning. “CES MMA XXIII” also features the return of fan-favorites Andre Soukhamthath, Tateki Matsuda and Eric Spicely, three rising stars with a combined record of 18-7.

Soukhamthath (7-2, 4 KOs), a Woonsocket, R.I., native now living and training in Florida, will return to Twin River hoping to rebound from a tough loss to Kin Moy in December, his first loss since his pro debut in 2011. This time he’ll face Joshua Killion (9-4) of Defiance, Ohio, a tough veteran with seven submission wins on his resume, in a three-round bantamweight bout.

Matsuda (8-5, 4 KOs), the Boston bantamweight who’s fought everywhere from Maine to Tokyo since his last appearance with CES in 2010, will battle the unbeaten Matt Doherty (3-0, 2 KOs) of Salem, Mass., in what figures to be one of the most intriguing intrastate matchups on the card. Matsuda has lost his last two while Doherty is coming off a submission win over Shaun Marmas in January.

Spicely (3-0) will put his unbeaten record on the line against 37-fight veteran Nuri Shakir (17-20, 8 KOs) of Nashua, N.H., in a three-round welterweight bout. Providence’s Spicely last fought in December with a first-round knockout win over Tyler Rose. The 35-year-old Shakir owns wins over UFC vets Tom Egan and Nick Serra.

Also on the undercard, Pawtucket, R.I., welterweight Abe Pitrowski (5-2, 1 KO) will face Samuel Almeida (2-0) of Framingham, Mass.; lightweight Bobby Flynn (4-1, 1 KO) of Mashpee, Mass., will battle Providence’s Tundee Odumuso (2-2); and featherweight Pete Rogers Jr. (0-1) of Baltic, Conn., will face Manny Torres (2-2) of Hartford, Conn. Two-time Bellator vet Rico DiSciullo (1-0) of Peabody, Mass., will face Jordan Espinosa (3-3) of Findlay, Ohio in a three-round bantamweight bout.

ORENBURG, Russia (April 4, 2014) — M-1 Challenge Featherweight Champion Marat Gafurov (9-0-0) retained his title and remained undefeated, winning a five-round decision over invading American challenger Lee “American Bulldog” Morrison (13-4-0) in tonight’s M-1 Challenge 47 main event at Orenburgzhye Sport Hall in Orenburg, Russia.

Living boxing legend and future of Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr. was a special guest.

This marked the second successful title defense for Gafurov, a jiu-jitsu specialist from Russia, who originally captured the crown in 2013.

In a much anticipated heavyweight rematch, Frenchman Shaban Ka (7-3-1) stopped Americanfighting icon Jeff “The Snowman” Monson (49-17-1) in the opening round. The two had previously fought to a draw in 2011.

Undefeated Polish heavyweight Marcin “Tybur” Tybura (10-0-0) recorded a win by third round technical knockout, maintaining his No. 1 contender position, over Croatian Maro “Gladiator” Perak (23-4-1).

Slovanian lightweight Ivan “Buki” Buchinger (26-4-0) gained revenge against Russian veteran Sergey Golyaev (23-11-0), choking his tough opponent into a first-round submission Buchinger has won 14 of his last 17 fights but Golyaev needed only 21 seconds in their first match to become the first to knockout Buchinger.

Welterweight Julien “J-Smoove” Williams (5-1-0) was the only American fighter to register a victory at M-1 Challenge 47 with the first knockout of his professional career in his M-1 Global debut coming in the first round against previously unbeaten Russian Rasul Abdulaev (3-1-0).

Polish lightweight prospect Kamil Maron (5-1-0) took a three-round unanimous decision from Russian Georgy Fursov (2-2-0, 1 KO/TKO), Brazilian light heavyweight Luis Fernando “Hulk” Miranda (12-1-0) ruined Ukrainian National MMA champion Vasily Babich’s (7-1-0) perfect pro record by way of an opening round guillotine choke, and Said Maadziev (1-1-0) won his first pro fight against Murad Mirzabekov (1-1-0) in a battle of Russian featherweights.

Full results:

(Winners listed first each fight)

M-1 CHALLENGE FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
MARAT GAFUROV (9-0-0, 1 KO/TKO, 5 SUB), Champion, Dagestan, Russia
WDEC5
LEE MORRISON (13-4-0, 4 KO/TKO, 4 SUB), Challenger, Okanogan, Washington, USA
(Gufaurov retains M-1 Challenge featherweight title)

HEAVYWEIGHTS
CHABAN KA (7-3-1, 1 KO/TKO, 5 SUB), Villeneuve-d’ Ascq, France
WTKO1
JEFF MONSON (49-18-1, 3 KO/TKO, 29 SUB), Miami, Florida, USA

Marcin TYBURA (10-0-0, 4 KO/TKO, 4 SUB), Lodz, Poland
WKO/TKO3
MARIO PEREK (23-34-1, 12 KO/TKO, 7 SUB), Dubrovnik, Croatia

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
LUIS FERNANDO MIRANDA (12-0-1, 4 KO/TKO), 7 SUB), Rio Grande, Rio Grande Do Sol, Brazil
WSUB1 (Guillotine Choke)
VASILY BABICH (9-3-0, 3 KO/TKO, 5 SUB), Yeupatoria, Ukraine

WELTERWEIGHTS
JULIEN WILLIAMS (5-1-0, 1 KO/TKO, 4 SUB), Orlando, Florida, USA
WKO2
RASUL ABDULAEV (3-1-0, 1 KO/TKO, 0 SUB), Kolpino, Russia

ALEXEI KUNCHENKO (3-0-0, 1 KO/TKO, 2 SUB), Tyumen, Russia
WSUB3 (Verbal)
ANATOLY SAFRONEV (19-21-0, 3 KO/TKO, 8 SUB), Kharkiv, Ukraine

LIGHTWEIGHTS
IVAN BUCHINGER (26-4-0, 6 KO/TKO, 16 SUB), Gabcikovo, Slovania
WSUB1 (Rear Naked Choke)
SERGEY GOLYAEV (23-11-0, 6 KO/TKO, 12 SUB), St. Petersburg, Russia

FEATHERWEIGHTS
KAMIL MARON (5-1-0, 0 KO/TKO, 3 SUB), Tarnov, Poland
WDEC3
GEORGY FUROV (2-2-0, 1 KO/TKO, 0 SUB), Orenburg, Russia

SAID MAADZIEV (1-1-0, 1 SUB)), St. Petersburg, Russia
WSUB1 (Arm Bar)
MURAD MIRZABEKOV (1-1-0, 0 KO/TKO, 0 SUB), Orenburg, Russia

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 Global and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the Showtime network in the United States. Captivating live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 Global events have featured some of the sport’s top names, including Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2014 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition with a full calendar of Challenge events fuelled 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.

MEDFORD, Mass. (April 04, 2014) – Promoter John “The Quietman” Ruiz, former two-time World Boxing Association heavyweight champion, has announced the postponement of the new American Fighting Championship’s (AFO) inaugural Pro-Am mixed-martial-arts show that was scheduled on Saturday night, April 26 at Tyngsboro Sports Center in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts.

AFO’s launching of “The Battle Series: AFO Redemption” amateur tournament, which will feature some of New England’s top fighters in various weight classes, was to highlighted the Apr. 26th show.

The postponement was due to a variety of reasons, primarily the late addition of a major sponsor willing to make a substantial financial investment in the show and tournament, as well as providing a custom made trophy to be awarded to the gym producing the most winners in the tournament.

“We didn’t want to rush and promote our first show just for the sake of doing it,” Ruiz explained. “We just ran out of time. We had a lot of fighters contact us to fight in our tournament, but the new sponsor wants more gyms competing against each other to establish bragging rights to go along with a sizable cash award and trophy. It’s very important for all us associated with AFO to make sure our first show is of high quality, featuring entertaining, competitive fights. We couldn’t insure that for April 26th and had to make a difficult decision to postpone that event.”

Another reason for the delay in the new AFO’s inaugural event is a USO trip to Afghanistan that Ruiz is involved in that which was originally supposed to happen in February but was recently rescheduled to happen later this month. Ruiz committed himself to the trip and he would have been away for the final few weeks of preparation for the Apr. 26 show.

“It’s a good news, bad news situation,” Ruiz continued. “We are disappointed having to postpone our first show, but we have a title sponsor behind us and that’s going to help a lot. We apologize for any inconveniences this postponement is for fighters, trainers and fans alike. Our staff will have sufficient time to recruit fighters for the tournament, as well as further develop relationships with MMA gyms and fighters throughout New England. We are looking at several venues and television options for this summer and will make a formal announcement about the exact date when everything has been finalized.”

For more information about the AFO and Quietman Sports Gym, please visit www.afomma.com, www.quietmansports.com, www.facebook.com/QuietmanSports or www.facebook.com/afomma.com.

Toronto – Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 television channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, presents a pair of live events this Saturday, April 5, beginning with BAMMA 15 at 4 p.m. ET, immediately followed by Enfusion Edition 16.

Headlining BAMMA 15 from Copper Box Arena at London’s Olympic Park is a heavyweight clash featuring the highly anticipated BAMMA debut of former Britain’s Strongest Man Oli “The Spartan” Thompson against “Albanian Psycho” Gzim Selmani.

The event also features former “TUF” competitor Colin “Freakshow” Fletcher against U.S. veteran Tony “Lionheart” Hervey, plus a BAMMA Lonsdale British welterweight title bout between Wayne Murray and Leon “Rocky” Edwards. Additionally, Harry McLeman will face Andy De-Vent in a BAMMA Lonsdale British middleweight title fight.

Meanwhile, premier kickboxing organization Enfusion will invade The Hague, Netherlands for its 16th edition, featuring a welterweight world title fight pitting Mohammed Jaraya against Mohamed Galaoui.

In other action-packed Enfusion matchups, Kevin Miruka battles Ismael Benali, Marieke Post meets Kristy Ooms, Paolo Renna takes on Reda Narain, Sam Tevette throws down with Mohamed Boubkari and Hicham El Gaoui clashes with Andri Panov.

All the festivities will kick off on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET live only on Fight Network.

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.

For More Information Contact:

Fight Network
Chad Midgley
VP Programming & Production
chad@fightnetwork.com
www.fightnetwork.com

Fight Network
Ariel Shnerer
Programming & Communications Manager
ariel@fightnetwork.com
www.fightnetwork.com

About Fight Network:

Fight Network (www.fightnetwork.com) is the world’s premier combat sports network dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, including fights, fighters, fight news and fight lifestyle. The channel is available on all major carriers in Canada, select countries in Europe, across the Middle East and North Africa on OSN, on select U.S. carriers including a programming block on Pursuit Channel (www.pursuitchannel.com), and on TSN Radio in Canada via its program “Live Audio Wrestling,” and its programming on Sirius XM Channel 167, as well as its recent acquisition of My Combat Channel. Fight Network’s parent company Anthem Media Group Inc. also owns a significant interest in the Pursuit Channel and launched Fantasy Sports Network (FNTSY) across North America in March 2014.