Friday, March 05, 2010

As with past WEC events, MMA Spot will be bringing our readers coverage of weigh-in events, post-fight press conferences, exclusive video and behind-the-scenes moments leading right up to "WEC: Bowles vs. Cruz." The event takes place on Saturday, March 6, 2010 from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and will be broadcast live on Versus at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.  The main event of the evening features a bantamweight title bout between Brian Bowles and Dominick Cruz. As well as former 135-pound champ Miguel Torres taking on Joseph Benavidez.

When bantamweight Dominick Cruz speaks of the sacrifices he’s made to get to Saturday’s world title fight against champion Brian Bowles at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, you can tell that there’s more at stake for him than a shiny gold belt. You quickly see that this isn’t your typical “winning the belt is my dream” underdog story.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Tickets for "Strikeforce Nashville: Henderson vs. Shields," the first ever Strikeforce mixed martial arts event held in the state of Tennessee, go on sale tomorrow/Friday, March 5 at 10 a.m. CT at the Bridgestone Arena ticket office, all Ticketmaster locations, Ticketmaster online, and Strikeforce's official website. Headlining the Saturday, April 17 Strikeforce card will be the world middleweight title bout between MMA legend and two-time United States Olympic wrestling competitor Dan Henderson (25-7) and reigning Strikeforce champion Jake Shields (24-4-1). As well as two other Strikeforce world title bouts.

An undefeated fighter from Cincinnati and a police officer from Scandinavia are the latest additions to Bellator Fighting Championships’ upcoming season two lightweight tournament.  The two fighters, Janne Tulirinta and Chad Hinton, join Ferrid Kheder, Mike Ricci and Carey Vanier in the nationally televised tournament, which begins April 8. The last three 155 pound fighters will be announced later this month. Bellator will also conduct tournaments at 145, 170 and 185 pounds during its second season.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

James Toney is one of the premier boxers of the last 25 years, a future Hall of Famer who has won world titles in three weight classes while taking on a Who’s Who of the sport, including fellow champions Evander Holyfield, John Ruiz, Hasim Rahman, Vassiliy Jirov, Roy Jones Jr., Mike McCallum, Iran Barkley, and Michael Nunn. But there is one more mountain left to climb for James “Lights Out” Toney, and that’s to show if he can defeat the mixed martial arts warriors of the UFC.

Bellator, Everlast and The Kansas City Power & Light District announced today that they are sponsoring an open tryout that will provide a once-in-a-lifetime chance for undiscovered fighters to earn a spot in one of the promotion’s upcoming nationally televised season two events.  The winner will participate in a featured fight during Bellator’s April 29 event at the Power & Light District, a state-of-the-art, open-air, mixed-use entertainment venue at the center of downtown Kansas City owned and operated by The Cordish Company. The event, will be broadcast live on FOX Sports Net and during special highlight shows on NBC and Telemundo.

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Mixed martial arts legend and two-time United States Olympic wrestling competitor Dan Henderson will challenge Strikeforce World Middleweight Champion Jake Shields in the main event of a highly anticipated fight card at Bridgestone Arena (formerly known as Sommet Center) in Nashville on Saturday, April 17. In other featured bouts, Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi will defend his crown against undefeated MMA star and two-time NCAA All-American wrestling star "King Mo" Lawal, while Lightweight Champion Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez will put his title on the line against Dream champion and top-ranked Japanese superstar, Shinya Aoki.

Rumors have surfaced that Michael "The Count" Bisping and Dan Miller will be facing each other at UFC 114 on May 29 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. While no bout agreements have been confirmed, reports indicate that the match has been verbally agreed to.

Monday, March 01, 2010

A matchup between Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez and Dream Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki has been announced for April 17 in Nashville, Tennessee. The battle of champions is slated to air live on CBS. Two additional title bouts, Gegard Mousasi vs. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal andJake Shields vs. Dan Henderson, are included on the card.

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski announced via his blog today that he has signed a multi-fight, 16-month contract with Strikeforce. Arlovski joins the ranks of Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Brett Rogers, Bobby Lashley, and Antonio Silva in the promotion’s growing heavyweight division.

The UFC’s debut in Abu Dhabi is set to take place on April 10 when “UFC 112: Invincible” comes to the Ferrari World Concert Arena. While it has long been known that the card will feature title defenses from both Anderson Silva and BJ Penn, the rest of the event has begun to take shape with nine recently signed bouts. In the main event, Silva, originally slated to defend the UFC middleweight title against Vitor Belfort, will now take on Brazilian jiu-jitsu sensation Demian Maia.

The eleventh season of Spike TV’s most popular original series ever, “The Ultimate Fighter,” for the first time will feature 28 of the best up and coming mixed martial artists in the world competing for 14 spots in “The Ultimate Fighter” house.  The series boasts a new format, which will be introduced to viewers in the show’s premiere episode.  The smash hit will also feature two coaches who need no introduction to mixed martial arts fans, UFC legends Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and Tito “The Huntington Beach Badboy.”  The new season premieres Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 10:00 PM ET/PT.