Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Fight Circuit MMA, hosted by vet- eran UFC referee and fighter Herb Dean, is dedicated to highlighting local talent and offering local athl- etes the chance to take their car- eers to the next level. In its debut event, Victorious, Fight Circuit MMA comes to Mavericks Stadium in Adelanto. Featuring 10 full contact cage fights, the show is headlined by a bout between two of southern California’s best lightweights.  In the main ev- ent, “The Ultimate Fighter” contestant Gabe “Godzilla” Ruediger takes on Riverside Submission’s Adam “Bomb” Lehman in a lightweight bout.

Undefeated heavyweight monster Brett “The Grim” Rogers (9-0) and welter- weight (170 pound) powerhouse Joe “Diesel” Riggs (29-10) joined local stars Jesse Finney (3-0) and Pat Benson (2-5-2) for an open workout at Finney’s MMA/St. Louis Workout where they entertained a host of local media and fans on Wednesday, June 3, three days before their respective bouts on the star-studded Strikeforce:  “Lawler vs. Shields” mixed martial arts (MMA) mega-card at Scottrade Center

Affliction Entertainment, in assoc- iation with M-1 Global, and Donald J. Trump, held a press conference today in New York City to officially announce their third fight card, “Trilogy.”  The meeting was held in the Trump Tower and several fight- ers and executives were on hand to promote the upcoming event.  The athletes present included Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, Gegard Mousasi, and Renato "Bab- alu" Sobral.  Tom Atencio, Affliction’s vice president, conducted the event while the organizations partners, Donald Trump, Vadim Finkelstein, Marc Cuban, and Donald Trump, Jr. were also in attendance.  Continue reading for a summary of the remarks.

Electronic Arts Inc. announced that an all-new fighting title is in dev- elopment at EA Tiburon in Orlando, under the EA SPORTS brand.  "EA SPORTS MMA" will be available in 2010 on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and the Playstation 3 computer entertain- ment system.  According to the pr- ess release, "EA SPORTS MMA" will feature "the most authentic, intense and broad mixed martial arts experience to date complete with a vast array of top fighters and fighting styles from around the world." 

Details are starting to come out about the contestants on the tenth season of "The Ultimate Fighter". The first cast member announced for the show was former EliteXC star, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson. Since the blockbuster announcement was made about Ferguson, other media outlets are reporting that former NFL players Marcus Jones, Matt Mitrione, Brendan Schaub, and Wes Shivers are all a part of the new season.

MMAWeekly.com has confirmed that Vitor Belfort (18-8) will take on Jorge Santiago (21-7) at "Affliction: Trilogy". Belfort was originally rumored to fight Gegard Mousasi, but after a dispute over which weight the contest would be at, Affliction pitted Mousasi against Renato "Babalu" Sobral.

According to a report in Tulsa World the UFC will be coming to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on September 16th. The event will take place from the Cox Convention Center and will be "Ultimate Fight Night 19".

Although previously expected, Strikeforce officially announced yesterday that MMA veteran Mike Kyle (11-6-1) would be replacing Jared Hamman against Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante (7-1) on this Saturday's Strikeforce card broadcast on Showtime.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Today's Strikeforce: Lawler vs Shields Conference Call was held this afternoon to help promote the organization's June 6th event to be aired on Showtime. Included on the call were Robbie Lawler, Jake Shields, and Phil Baroni. Joe 'Diesel' Riggs was originally scheduled to attend, but was unavailable. Also answering questions was Mike Afromowitz who is in charge of media relations for Strikeforce. "Lawler vs Shields" takes place from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO and looks to be the biggest MMA event ever held in the Midwest.

Ultimate Fighting Championship held a media conference call today for their upcoming pay-per-view event, “UFC 99: The Comeback”, scheduled to take place on June 13, 2009 in Cologne, Germany. Along with UFC executives, the main event’s stars, Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva participated in the call, as well as main card fighters Marcus Davis and Dan Hardy. Following a report from Yahoo Sports yesterday, UFC fans and followers have been abuzz about Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson’s participation as a contestant on the approaching season of “The Ultimate Fighter”. The fighters in the call weighed in with their per- spectives on the aging neophyte’s chances.

Xavier Foupa-Pokam made his debut with the UFC at UFC 97. A month later he had his second fight and his second loss in the UFC at UFC 98 and has now been cut. His agent, Ken Pavia confirmed the details of the release.

Jean-Claude Van Damme is back on track, making his return to the big screen. In his latest film he is (again) tackling the Mixed Martial Arts scene which is rumoured to be co-starring some of the sport's biggest names including Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski.