Archive for August, 2006

By David Lahr: Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell (19-3), the UFC Light heavyweight champion, once again defended his title, this time stopping the hapless Brazilian Renato (Babalu) Sobral (27-6) at 1:35 of the first round at the UFC 62 competition, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada Read the rest of this entry »

-Chuck Liddell def. Renato “Babalu” Sobral via TKO (ref stoppage) at 1:35 of Round 1.
-Forrest Griffin def. Stephan Bonnar via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-Yushin Okami def. Alan Belcher via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
-David Heath def. Cory Walmsley via Submission (rear naked choke) at 2:32 of Round 1.
-Wilson Gouveia def. Wes Combs via Submission (rear naked choke) at 3:23 of Round 1.
-Eric Schafer def. Rob MacDonald via Submission (rear naked choke) at 2:26 of Round 1.
-Hermes Franca def. Jamie Varner via Submission (armbar) at 3:21 of Round 3.
-Cheick Kongo def. Christian Wellisch via TKO (ref stoppage) at 2:51 of Round 1.
-Nick Diaz def. Josh Neer via Submission (kimura) at 2:47 of Round 3.

Las Vegas (Aug 24, 2006) – Multi-award winning artist Richard T. Slone has unveiled his latest painting titled “Iceman”, a portrait of UFC light-heavyweight champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell. The unveiling comes just days before Liddell is scheduled to defend his title against Renato Sobral in UFC62 which takes place on Saturday, August 26th at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Slone is the officially licensed artist of the UFC and this latest painting follows last years successful painting “Iceman Cometh” which was made into limited edition prints and posters sold through the UFC’s website, www.ufc.tv.

“The UFC has captivated millions of fans worldwide and Chuck Liddell is as exciting to watch as any athlete I’ve ever seen, he’s earned the reputation of the undisputed best” said Slone, “This is my second painting of Chuck and over the last year I’ve learned so much more about him. He’s a great fighter and I wanted to portray him staring straight at the viewer at life size. Looking into the eyes of this painting only gives a small sense of what his actual victims must feel. Liddell is a gladiator, a throwback to times when gladiators ruled the earth. He has so much passion for fighting, victory means everything to him and that’s what I wanted to capture.” Read the rest of this entry »

PRIDE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS (FC), the worldwide leader in mixed martial arts, holds “The Real Deal,” the organization’s first United States fight at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on October 21.

A legendary event in Japan, PRIDE FC matches the world’s fiercest fighters in competitions of strength and honor, featuring an intense mix of combative sports such as wrestling, boxing, jiu-jitsu, karate, judo, kickboxing and others. Originating in 1997, PRIDE FC has quickly earned a reputation for creating a fight experience that trumps most rock concerts, with its mind-blowing action and theatrical and cultural spectacle. Boasting an enormous fan following, PRIDE events consistently sell out arenas around the world of up to 74,000 seats. Read the rest of this entry »

NEWPORT BEACH, CA – The sport of mixed martial arts has taken off in 2006, gaining valuable mainstream exposure as it sells out arenas across the United States. One man who has played an integral role in the rise of the sport, not only as the CEO of the WFA organization but as the former manager for some of MMA’s biggest stars is Jeremy Lappen, who has just been added to the star-studded list of speakers who will appear at Fight Promoter University II in Irvine, California from August 23-25. Read the rest of this entry »

By Carlo Pena: For all the MMA fans, one of the biggest UFC events of 2006 is less than a month away. Coming on August 26, 2006 10PM ET/7PM PT is UFC 62. Among the featured fights for this event are the rematch of The Ultimate Fighter alum Forrest Griffin (12-3) and Stephan Bonnar (12-2); and the UFC light heavyweight championship bout between Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell (18-3) and Renato “Babalu” Sobral (27-5), who are also facing each other for the second time.

If Griffin-Bonnar II is half as exciting as the first fight between these two, we are all in for a hell of a show. The memorable first Griffin-Bonnar match stole the show during the inaugural “The Ultimate Fighter” finale in an action-packed give and take battle. The toe-to-toe brawl ended with Forrest on top, edging a close decision over the equally impressive Bonnar, as the crowd offered a long standing ovation for both combatants.

During the course of his previous 4 matches, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell has bested Jeremy Horn and Tito Ortiz, beating both by stoppage, which tightened his hold in a strong, competitive light heavyweight division in the UFC. Riding on a high of confidence, Chuck at UFC 57 then after defeated long-time rival Randy Couture by knockout in what was their third match, proving that he is undoubtedly the best light heavyweight in the American Ultimate Fighting circuit. Read the rest of this entry »

They strive for guts, grit and glory – they are the Fight Girls, Oxygen’s new reality movie, premiering Monday, August 7th, at 9 pm*. Fight Girls chronicles seven tough female fighters who are out for the fight of their lives and attempt the impossible – to beat the best female fighters in the world in a battle for the World Muay Thai Championship. Trained by and hand-picked by Muay Thai guru Master Toddy, a Muay Thai champion and Thai native, three women are chosen to travel to Thailand to compete in the country’s historic sport also known as Thai Boxing. Read the rest of this entry »