Archive for March, 2007

With a packed crowd at the Tachi Palace and Casino in Leemore, CA watching the Palace Fighting Championships on Thursday, March 22nd, Arizona-based fighters Richie Hightower and Vince Lucero both lived up to the name of the event, “Fast and Furious,” by knocking out their opponents in under a minute.

Pummeling out of the clinch, Hightower (7-1) landed a standing muay thai elbow to the head of Andy Maccarone (7-3) that ended the fight at the 30-second mark. Richie “Elbows,” training out of the new LA Boxing gym in Phoenix, AZ, is now looking for a shot at the PFC 185-pound title. Read the rest of this entry »

Las Vegas, NV – Over the last four years Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell has been unstoppable. He has dominated his last seven fights and gained legendary status in the Octagon™ as the UFC® World Light Heavyweight Champion. In what will be the mega-fight of the summer, Liddell will meet Quinton “Rampage” Jackson for the second time in an attempt to avenge his loss to the last man who defeated him. Liddell will face his greatest challenge to date when The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization presents UFC 71: LIDDELL vs. JACKSON live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday, May 26.

“I’m excited to make this long awaited rematch a reality for UFC fans,” said UFC President Dana White. “Chuck has been on a mission to avenge all of his losses. He avenged Randy Couture, then Jeremy Horn and now standing in the way is Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Rampage is extremely excited to finally be in the UFC, and is very confident that his second fight in the UFC will earn him the light heavyweight championship. This is without a doubt the blockbuster fight of the summer.” Read the rest of this entry »

SANTA ANA, California (March 20, 2007) – New Era Fighting (NEF) president/CEO Ron Kort has announced that his hot, new MMA organization is offering an unprecedented even split of the gate, after expenses, to all of its participating fighters at future shows.

NEF also is offering the highest purse in the history of Mixed Martial Arts competition — $1,000,000 – to the winner of its revolutionizing “World’s Toughest Man” (WTC) contest winner if in a winner-take-all fight he defeats legendary combat fighter Kimo Leopoldo, who recently issued a challenge to UFC president Dana White because of derogatory remarks White made about Kimo and NEF. Read the rest of this entry »

LOS ANGELES, March 17, 2007 – The Los Angeles-based Anacondas and Tokyo-based Sabres claimed victories at the International Fight League card at The Forum in Los Angeles tonight. The Anacondas (2-0) took over first place in the IFL, the world’s first team-based mixed martial arts league, by virtue of their 5-0 sweep over the Razorclaws, while the Sabres, whose members train in Los Angeles, remained right on their heels with their 3-2 triumph.

Prior to the bout, the Anacondas announced that champion trainer Shawn Tompkins would take over the reigns as the team’s head coach, replacing Bas Rutten, who will take an expanded role in the IFL, including serving as co-host of the weekly “IFL Battleground” television series on MyNetworkTV. Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK, March 14, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, and television partner Fox Sports Net present one of the league’s most interesting matchups, Bas Rutten’s Anacondas against Pat Miletich’s defending IFL Champion Silverbacks in action from last month in Houston, debuting on Friday, March 16. This also marks the first airing of the much-discussed lightweight bout between teen sensation Chris Horodecki and unbeaten Bart Palaszewski. Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK, March 7, 2007- The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, will air two hours of original programming this week, as the league moves closer its full regular broadcast schedule next week. In all, 66 hours of original IFL programming are scheduled to run on FSN and MyNetworkTV, which together reach more than 95% of U.S. television households, the largest consistent audience ever for the sport. Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, Calif., March 7, 2007 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, today announced the 10-bout card at The Forum in Los Angeles, set for Saturday, March 17, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The event will feature the Condors of Southern California, led by MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Marco Ruas facing off against the fresh strategies of Ken Yasuda’s Sabres, who are based in Tokyo but train in Los Angeles. The second match-up of the night will highlight the skills of the Razorclaws under Frank Shamrock as they take on Bas Rutten and his hometown Anacondas. Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK, March 6, 2007 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, and MyNetworkTV today announced that Sebastian “Bas” Rutten and Tiffany Fallon will co-host “IFL Battleground.” The two-hour show premieres on MyNetworkTV, Monday, March 12 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).

“Tiffany and Bas are the perfect co-host team for ‘IFL Battleground,’” said Greg Meidel, President, MyNetworkTV. “His invaluable knowledge of the sport, coupled with her cunning personality makes them the ideal choice for this type of program. Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK, March 5, 2007 – The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league, today announced the hiring of three of the most well-respected and highly talented professionals in sports and entertainment to produce and oversee all of the league’s television ventures, including its Friday night shows on FSN and the upcoming “IFL Battleground” program on MyNetworkTV which will launch nationally on Monday night, March 12. Read the rest of this entry »

LAS VEGAS, NV – A star-studded lineup comes to Ohio featuring current UFC® Heavyweight Champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia along with Rich “Ace” Franklin and Matt Hughes – two former UFC champions who are hot on the championship trail and loaded with a vengeance. The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization presents UFC 68: THE UPRISING live from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio Saturday, March 3.

“We have been looking at holding a UFC in the Midwest for a long time, and the weekend of the Arnold Sports Festival presented the perfect opportunity for a UFC event,” said UFC President Dana White “We are excited to come to Nationwide Arena and give UFC fans in Ohio an amazing event featuring great fighters who helped make the UFC the hottest name in sports today.” Read the rest of this entry »

Dana White talks about Chuck Liddell taking on Rampage Jackson, Pride, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, reinstating knees to the head of a downed opponent, boxing promoters getting into MMA and much more…

SANTA ANA, California (March 1, 2007) – Very surprised about derogatory remarks made about him by UFC president Dana White, New Era Fighting superstar and MMA living legend Kimo Leopoldo has responded by issuing a challenge to White as well as any of his UFC fighters.

In a recent conference call, according to reports, White was nearly speechless when told of New Era Fighting’s $1-million-winner-take-all tournament finale (for the winner of this year’s planned “World Toughest Man Contest”) against Kimo. White was quoted saying, “I’m in New York (and) there’s about 50,000 people downstairs right now that can beat Kimo.” Read the rest of this entry »

Excitement Builds for Broadcast Premiere of Mixed Martial Arts Programming

New York, March 1, 2007 – MyNetworkTV, the broadcast home of the International Fight League, announced today that it will present “Countdown to Battleground” on Wednesday, March 7 at 8 p.m. (EST/PST). The one-hour special will give audiences a sneak preview of the new MyNetworkTV show, “IFL Battleground.”

The program is designed to introduce audiences to the IFL and mixed martial arts, as well as the athletes and teams that make up the league. “Countdown to Battleground” will include interviews with the fighters and the five legendary coaches, Ken Shamrock, Renzo Gracie, Pat Miletich, Bas Rutten and Frank Shamrock. Audiences will also get a taste of the action-packed fast-paced competition through recaps of recent IFL events. Read the rest of this entry »