by Bill Chamberlin – Easily the biggest MMA nights of the year in Colorado are Sven Bean’s Ring of Fire promotions. Last night was no exception as we were treated to an 11 fight card that had it all.

The main event, was between UFC veteran Duane “Bang” Ludwig and rising European star, Mario Stapel. Mario is a veteran of Shooto, Cage Warriors and hails from Hessen, Germany. Mario was a fill in replacement with two weeks notice due to the previously scheduled fighter having an injury. Even though he only had two weeks, he looked in great shape and seemed ready for battle. Read the rest of this entry »

Photos: TOM CASINO/EliteXC

All 24 fighters who will compete in Saturday’s EliteXC “Uprising” cage fight card in Honolulu made weight at Friday’s weigh-in. The highly anticipated event, the biggest MMA card in Hawaii’s history, will mark the initial collaboration between EliteXC, ICON Sport, Rumble On The Rock (ROTC) and SHOWTIME. Robbie Lawler (left) and “Ninja” Rua pose after Friday’s weigh-in. EliteXC middleweight champion Rua will defend against Lawler, the ICON Sport middleweight kingpin, in Saturday’s pick ‘em main event on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast). Read the rest of this entry »

ProElite’s respected live fight division, EliteXC, led by Gary Shaw, in association with Hawaii-based promoters ICON Sport and ROTR (Rumble On The Rock), and SHOWTIME, will present “Uprising’’ – the biggest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event in the history of Hawaii —Saturday, Sept. 15, on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).

In a tremendous, five, 5-minute round pick ‘em main event at Blaisdell Arena, talented and exciting Murilo “Ninja” Rua will make his initial EliteXC title defense against power-punching, always-dangerous ICON Sport titleholder, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler.

Other televised fights at Blaisdell Arena include: Nick Diaz vs. Mike Aina, Jake Shields vs. against Renato “Charuto” Verissimo, Gina Carano vs. Tonya Evinger and Joey Villasenor vs. Riki Fukuda. Read the rest of this entry »

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® today announced the remaining lineup of fights for the upcoming UFC 76: KNOCKOUT featuring former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell vs. “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine. Also on the card are exciting match-ups between Lyoto Machida vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura; Tyson Griffin vs. Thiago Tavares; Diego Saraiva vs. Jeremy Stephens; Scott Junk vs. Christian Wellisch; Michihiro Omigawa vs. Matt Wiman; and Rich Clementi vs. Anthony Johnson. The UFC® organization presents UFC 76: KNOCKOUT live from The Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Saturday, September 22, 2007. Read the rest of this entry »

Martial Arts superstar Chuck Liddell and actor/comedian Kevin James help kick off the premiere episode of INSIDE MMA, the new weekly HDNet series covering the latest news, rankings, stats and highlights from the world of Mixed Martial Arts.

INSIDE MMA, hosted by Kenny Rice and former MMA fighter Bas Rutten, debuts on HDNet at 9:30 p.m. ET on Friday, September 14. This episode includes an appearance by former MMA fighter and HDNet FiGHTS Commissioner Guy Mezger. Each episode of INSIDE MMA will also include in-depth features by HDNet’s Ron Kruck. Read the rest of this entry »

Mayor Michael J. Freemire of Bettendorf, Iowa, and Mayor Serena DiMaso of Holmdel, N.J., today announced a “friendly wager” on the outcome of the International Fight League (IFL) World Championship, the culmination of the inaugural full season of the IFL, the world’s number one professional mixed martial arts league. The Quad Cities Silverbacks are coached by Pat Miletich, longtime resident of Bettendorf, while their opponents in the historic matchup are mentored by Renzo Gracie, who has resided in Holmdel for more than a decade. Read the rest of this entry »

ProElite, Inc. [PELE.PK], a sports entertainment and media company dedicated to producing world-class mixed martial arts (MMA) events, today announced the acquisition of King of the Cage, Inc. (KOTC), a prolific MMA promoter with an established stable of world-class fighters and global brand equity.

As part of the agreement, KOTC will promote events in conjunction with Los Angeles-based ProElite’s respected and highly acclaimed live events division, EliteXC, which broadcasts MMA events on Showtime Networks. KOTC will also provide live-streaming video content through ProElite.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Serving members of the British armed forces have been given their marching orders to muster at the country’s most exciting fight night — Cage Rage at Wembley Arena on Saturday, Sept. 22.

In an unprecedented salute to the men and women that have done their country proud — and to mark U.S.-based ProElite, Inc.’s [PELE.PK] new partnership between its mixed martial arts (MMA) live fight division, EliteXC, and Cage Rage — military personnel will receive a 50 per cent discount on tickets purchased. Read the rest of this entry »

“IFL: Greatest Knockouts and Extreme Action” highlights the first full season for the world’s number one professional MMA league.fans get an added bonus with the first set of IFL TOPPS trading cards included in every DVD

New York, September 13, 2007 – Warner Home Video (WHV) and the International Fight League (IFL), the world’s number one professional Mixed Martial Arts league, will release “IFL: Greatest Knockouts & Extreme Action,” chronicling the IFL’s groundbreaking first year and showcasing all the best bouts between IFL stars and teams, on Tuesday, September 18. The DVD will retail for $19.98. Read the rest of this entry »

Anyway you look at her — Cover Girl, Smother Girl, Golden Girl or Girl Next Door — Gina Carano is a knockout. She will stop you in your tracks with her charismatic, vibrant personality and gorgeous looks, or she will floor you with her devastating kicks and fists.

It is apparent the moment you meet the popular, personable Carano that she is special, not just because she is a woman in a predominantly male sport, but because she is the epitome of strength: a mentally, spiritually and physically strong young woman by any measure both in and out of the cage. Read the rest of this entry »

HONOLULU (Sept. 12, 2007) – In a sensational main event on a spectacular cage fight card this Saturday, Sept. 15 at Blaisdell Arena on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast), talented, exciting Murilo “Ninja” Rua will make his first EliteXC middleweight title defense against hard-hitting, crowd-pleasing ICON Sport titleholder, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler.

In other televised bouts, scheduled for three, 5-minute rounds: Nick Diaz faces Mike Aina, Jake Shields takes on Renato “Charuto” Verissimo. Gina Carano collides with Tonya Evinger and Joey Villasenor meets Riki Fukuda. Read the rest of this entry »

By Gary Jones: The card started out good with a nice beat down in a light heavyweight bout between Houston Alexander (8-1) and Italian Alessio Sakara (11-6). The fight lasted about a minute, though, with Alexander kneeing Sakara several times in the head and dropping him to the canvas. Not wasting any time, Alexander, 35, plopped down upon Sakara and started raining blows on his head, prompting the referee to step and stop the slighter.

None of it was very skilled-looking, however, and it resembled something you might see on the street with a couple of none-fighters slapping at each other. Nonetheless, it was satisfying compared to most of what would follow. Alexander, though he’s getting up there in age, he’d make a good fight for Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, especially considering that Jackson is such a sucker for knees to the head, which is Alexander’s main weapon. Read the rest of this entry »

The first ever UFC title fight on Spike TV drew a staggering 4.7 million viewers on Saturday, September 8 (9:00pm-12:11am) making it the most watched UFC event ever and the most watched mixed martial arts event ever in North America. The “UFC 75” telecast emanating from the O2 Arena in London, England peaked at 5.6 million for the bout between UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and PRIDE champ Dan Henderson. The fight card drew more Men 18-34 and Men 18-49 than anything else on television, broadcast or cable on September 8, including heavy sports competition from college football on ABC and ESPN, NASCAR on ABC, and the U.S. Open Women’s Final on CBS.

“The ratings are further proof that the tide in American sports is changing,” said Kevin Kay, General Manager, Spike TV. “Young men, who constitute the Spike TV core audience, prefer the incredible action and athleticism of the UFC to more traditional sports.” Read the rest of this entry »

The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s number one professional mixed martial arts league, moves to the 2007 World Championship semifinals, highlighting the matchup between Renzo Gracie’s New York Pitbulls and Ken Yasuda’s Tokyo Sabres in the next episode of “IFL Battleground” on Monday, Sept. 17, at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT/MT). Both teams come into the match, held at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., unbeaten at 3-0 this season after having gone winless in 2006, and feature some of the top stars in the league, including Delson Heleno and Bryan Vetell of the Pitbulls and Vladimir Matyushenko and Savant Young of the Sabres. The winner will take on the Quad Cities Silverbacks, who beat the Los Angeles Anacondas in the other semifinal. “IFL Battleground” airs every Monday night on MyNetworkTV. Read the rest of this entry »

Pat Healy (St. Louis) of the Nevada Lions will replace Antonio McKee (Long Beach, Calif.) of the Tokyo Sabres in the welterweight division of the 2007 IFL World Grand Prix, the individual all-star competition for the International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI), the world’s number one mixed martial arts league. The semifinals will be held on Saturday, Nov. 3 at the Sears Centre in Chicago and the finals will take place on Saturday, Dec. 29 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Read the rest of this entry »