FIGHTERS INCLUDE BJ PENN, MICHAEL BISPING, URIJAH FABER, CARLOS CONDIT

Las Vegas, NV – In late June, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) organization and World Extreme Cagefighting® (WEC™) will send UFC and WEC superstars BJ Penn, Michael Bisping, Urijah Faber, and Carlos Condit across the globe to meet and greet the troops of the United States Military stationed in Afghanistan. The fighters will have the honor of visiting with various units during this trip, and Penn, Bisping, Faber, and Condit will tour a total of six military bases.

“We are honored to send UFC and WEC fighters to visit the men and women of the United States Military,” said UFC President Dana White. “We are pleased to be giving back to such a great cause; many of our fighters have served in the military and understand what a great contribution our troops are making overseas.”

“The U.S. Military admires the sport of mixed martial arts. We will be pleased to welcome UFC and WEC legends to our bases in Afghanistan. Their presence will certainly help boost the morale of the soldiers which is so important during their duties overseas,” said Special Sergeant Bart Murphy of the 101st Airborne Division.

Both the UFC and WEC have a strong commitment to the men and women of the armed forces. On December 13, 2006 the UFC held a spectacular event at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in front of 3,000 soldiers. The organization also has a long running agreement with the Armed Forces Network and consistently visits the troops at various bases across the United States.

The UFC and WEC will provide more information following this military tour.

Hoffman Estates, Illinois – Adrenaline MMA announced Thursday it has entered into a partnership with Vividas, a leading developer and provider of video streaming technology.

Adrenaline’s debut event comes to the Sears Centre Arena on Saturday, June 14. The main event pits Chicago police officer Mike Russow – an up-and-comer in the heavyweight division – against Midwest Training Center’s Jason Guida, a veteran of nearly 40 professional bouts. A night of 14 fights begins at 6 p.m.

“Those MMA fans who can’t see the fights live or watch on HDNet will have the opportunity to see all the fights, including the preliminaries, live through Vividas. Our undercard is as loaded as our main event,” Adrenaline CEO and President Monte Cox said.

As a specialist in streaming online events, Vividas will provide audiences the chance to view the event from their computer in high-quality, full-screen action. Vividas offers audiences a simple, hassle-free viewing experience at the click of a button.

“We are very excited to be working with Adrenaline as this is their first event broadcasted online. We believe that the MMA area is ideal for online content and feel honored that Adrenaline has selected us to broadcast some of the best talent in the business,” says Iain Molland, CEO of Vividas North America.
For more information, check out www.adrenaline-mma.com and www.vividas.com .

Complete lineup:

ADRENALINE MMA
June 14, 2008 – Sears Centre Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois

Main Card
Joe Pearson (22-9) vs. John Hosman (8-3-1)
Louis Taylor (4-0) vs. Adam Maciejewski (6-4)
Joe Jordan (41-11) vs. Ryan Williams (6-1)
Dom O’Grady (5-0) vs. Mike Stumpf (9-1)
Hector Urbina (11-3) vs. Dave Kleczkowski (6-3)
Aaron Rosa (10-2) vs. Ron Fields (23-24-1)
Herc Hayes (7-5) vs. Kerry Schall (22-9)

INTERMISSION
Jameel Massouh (15-3) vs. Clay French (14-2)
Jay Ellis (11-15) vs. Rory Markham (14-4)
Jeff Cox (9-6) vs. Bart Palaszewski (28-11)
Marcus Levesseur (12-1) vs. Mark Miller (9-3)
Forrest Petz (11-5) vs. Brian Gassaway (25-17-1)
Daiju Takase (7-11) vs. Terry Martin (16-4)

Main Event
Jason Guida (23-17) vs. Mike Russow (9-1)

After seeing the previews for next weeks episode of The Ultimate Fighter 7, there has been much speculation about what happens and who gets kicked off the show and no longer allowed to be a part of the UFC. I have no idea who it is, but I think it is going to be more than just a window breaking accident. I think there was a fight or an assault inside the limo, or something along those lines. Why would Dana White be pissed about a window breaking, when on last weeks show the fighters trashed the entire house? That wouldn’t make sense. Unless of course, the limo incident caused a public disturbance and Dana White is wanting to make an example out of one of the fighters. Who knows.

Guida steps up as injury sidelines Monson

Jason Guida has managed to cram an entire mixed martial arts career into less than five years.

Known as a hard-nosed competitor who never turned down a fight, Guida was a natural replacement when a broken hand forced Jeff Monson to withdraw from the main event of this Saturday’s Adrenaline MMA show near Chicago.

“Say what you will about Guida, but when you need somebody to jump in on short notice and fight anybody… he’s the guy,” said Adrenaline CEO Monte Cox. “I mean, we all know he’s crazy… but he also comes to fight and you never have to worry about him laying down for anybody. I know this will be a very good main event.”

A native of the Chicago area, Guida’s fighting resume includes almost 40 professional fights all over the world… Russia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Poland. The guy simply loves the competition. And, the tougher the better.

On Saturday at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill., Guida (23-16) will face Chicago police officer Mike Russow (9-1) in the main event of the 14-fight show. The main fights will be televised live on HDNet, beginning at 9:30 p.m. (EST).

“I feel bad for Monson because he really wanted this fight,” Cox said. “But his broken hand wasn’t healing quick enough and you can’t fight at this level with that kind of injury. I’m just fortunate that we had such a quality replacement right in Chicago.”

Guida is the older brother of UFC lightweight standout Clay Guida, who will be in the corner.

For more information, check out www.adrenaline-mma.com and www.searscentre.com.

IFL Decides Against August 15 Event in New Jersey

Organization Working On Financial Situation

NEW YORK, June 10, 2008: The International Fight League (OTC.BB: IFLI ) today announced that it has canceled its scheduled August 15 event at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in light of the company’s current financial condition. IFL continues to explore options for maximizing shareholder value. However, if the IFL is unable to successfully leverage any of those options, the company may seek protection from its creditors through a court proceeding.

The IFL is working with other top MMA organizations to keep its top fighters active in the sport and showcase their talent, while it pursues options that may enable it to continue its MMA operations. Several IFL athletes will compete on the Adrenaline MMA card in Chicago on June 14, and announcements with other promoters working with IFL athletes are expected in the near future. The IFL will also continue to downsize its staff to reduce costs.

JAKKS Strengthens Action Figure Portfolio of Major ‘Fight’ Brands with UFC(R) License

MALIBU, Calif., Jun 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The world leader in fighting action figure toys, JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (Nasdaq:JAKK), announced today that it has signed an exclusive, four year worldwide Master Toy license agreement with the Ultimate Fighting Championship(R) (UFC(R)) organization, with a planned product launch expected to commence in 2009.

The new UFC product line from JAKKS(TM) will be collector-focused, and the license covers UFC legend Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, Brock Lesnar, Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira, Michael “The Count” Bisping and UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva, among others. The license also includes the famed UFC Octagon(TM), and role-play items based on the UFC brand and its classic and current roster of star fighters.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship organization is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts group, regulated by the most prestigious sports regulatory bodies in the United States. UFC live pay-per-view events take place at preeminent destinations including MGM Grand(R), MEN Arena, Mandalay Bay(R) and O2 Arena, and they consistently draw sell-out crowds with record-breaking gates. Presenting more than twelve pay-per-view events per year, the UFC stands as the largest pay-per-view content provider in the country.

The UFC also dominates television with its reality series, The Ultimate Fighter(R), now heading into its eighth season. The Ultimate Fighter has reigned supreme for years in the coveted 18-34 male ratings demographic, and it regularly enjoys higher ratings than traditional franchise sports such as the NBA(R), NHL(R) and NASCAR(R), as well as NCAA(R) football and basketball. In partnership with Spike TV(R) cable network, the UFC also presents ten live UFC(R) Fight Night(TM) events and 26 taped programs of the popular program UFC(R) Unleashed(TM).

“The UFC is a perfect match for JAKKS, given our extensive expertise in developing and marketing collector driven sports action figures,” said Stephen Berman, President and COO, JAKKS Pacific. “UFC’s enormous and growing popularity amongst adults, coupled with the extensive roster of physically powerful star fighters, gives JAKKS a substantial base to work with, and should be a powerhouse combination for the line. Our objective is to give collectors an authentic UFC experience.”

“We are thrilled to have JAKKS on board as our first official UFC action figure partner,” said Dana White, UFC President. “The demand for UFC is tremendous, and through this relationship with JAKKS, we can present authentic UFC products and have them available to our loyal UFC fans all around the world.”

Dana White and Brock Lesnar just appeared on CNBC’s Power Lunch a few minutes ago to announce that the UFC has partnered with Jakks Pacific to create MMA Action Figures. Dana White was asked about the internet rumors of a big announcement, and evidently there is still an announcement to be made on Thursday. However, Dana White clearly said “NO” to the rumors of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. being affiliated with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and he also shot down rumors of the UFC selling out to the WWE.

Ok I didn’t watch UFC 85 live, because I actually forgot it came on at like 2:00pm where I’m at. Oh well, I did watch it after the fact, and witnessed Matt Hughes catch another beatdown. Anyway, it’s 4:00am now, and I plan to watch Sengoku Live.

Fabio Silva vs. Yoshiki Takahashi
I hope Takahashi pwns. Good staredown where to bump foreheads, but I didn’t sense much animosity. Takahashi connected with a decent right hook, but Silva kicked him in the balls. Everybody is OK and they’re fighting again. Takahashi seems bigger, I think he just fell down for some reason. Oh he got another decent punch in but Silva hit back and put Takahashi on his ass, Takahashi recovered quickly, both fighters are on the ground and Takahashi is in Silva’s guard. A pause in the action so the ref can put the fighters back in the middle of the ring, also Silva has a string hanging from his glove, so the ref cuts it off. Fight restarts, Takahashi still in Silva’s guard, passes to side control, but both fighters get up and start slugging the hell out of each other, now clinched. Back on the ground with Silva in Takahashi’s half guard, the round is almost over.

Round 2 starts and both dudes come out firing again, Silva getting the best of it, landing good knees too, ouch, there is a KO, Takahashi is down, Silva stomps him for good measure. Fight is over.

Jorge Masvidal vs. Rodrigo Damm
This should be a good fight, I saw Jorge Masvidal fight in BoDog, then I saw him beat up one of Kimbo‘s homies in the back of some fried chicken restaurant or something in a Miami streetfight. Sweet. Florida, represent. Also, Jorge just said in his pre-fight interview that he will turn Takanori Gomi into sushi.

Round one starts, fighters touch gloves, Rodrigo throws a low leg kick that misses. Fighters are still feeling each other out, Rodrigo continues with a couple more low kicks, nothing too major so far. Rodrigo fakes a few kicks and doesn’t follow through, still circling, bam Masvidal connects with a punch and knocks Rodrigo down. Rodrigo Damm recovers quick, gets a double leg, they end up in the ropes and for some reason I didn’t see the ref stands them back up on their feet. More circling, good high kick from Jorge Masvidal, but it didn’t hurt Rodgrigo Damm. One minute left in round one. Rodrigo Damm throws a decent looking high kick towards the end of the round, followed by a few strikes, but the round ends and Masvidal seems fine.

Round two starts, will probably be more of the same. I’ll predict now that this fight goes the distance. Ok, I was wrong. Jorge Masvidal just got knocked on his ass and the referee stopped the fight. An early stoppage if you ask me. This seems to be happening a lot lately, but regardless, Rodrigo Damm put a right hand upside Masvidal’s chin and knocked him down. Probably a flash KO, Masvidal is upset the fight was stopped (of course), and he did look like he was going to pull guard or something, anyway, I don’t think he’ll be turning Gomi into sushi anytime soon.

Marcio “Pe De Pano” Cruz vs. Mu Bae Choi
Choi’s nickname is “Iron Fist Fever”, which may possibly be the greatest nickname of ever. However, I think he’s going to get seriously subbed by Pe De Pano.

Round one starts, fighters clinch, and Marcio Cruz punches Choi’s ribcage over and over again. That won’t feel good. Fighters fall to the ground still clinched, Cruz continues to land body shots. Fighters are back up, clinched again, Cruz throws a knee that doesn’t do much, pushed Choi against the ropes, back to the ground and both guys are trying to get control, Choi gives up his back, Cruz is twisting Chois head around in a rear naked choke attempt. He has his hooks in but gave up on the choke and instead decides to punch Choi in the head repeatedly to soften him up. Choi is doing nothing but covering up, he’s still getting drilled with punches to the side of his head though. This sucks for him. Marci Cruz slides up for an armbar now, to triangle, or armbar again? I think Choi tapped but I didn’t see it. The fight is over, Marcio “Pe De Pano” Cruz is the winner.

Damn I’m getting sleepy. 5:19am.

Chris Rice vs. Sanae Kikuta
Chris Rice has an awesome entrance. I left to go get a snack (Frito’s) I came back and the fighters are on the ground, Kikuta is in Rice’s half guard, now full mount. Rice is doing a good job of defending, gets out of full mount but leaves his arm in there for Kikuta to work with., Kikuta trying for an armbar, but I don’t know if he’ll be able to straighten the arm out. Rice is still defending well, holding his arm bent. Uh oh, Kikuta gets it out, the arm is straightened and Rice is forced to submit. Sanae Kukuta winner, round one.

Michael Costa vs. Nick Thompson
Ok, Michael Costa also has a great entrance, coming oubut Nick Thompson’s Fu Manchu-esque mustache/sideburn thing will prevail.

Round one starts and Michael Costa shoots for a takedown and gets it, Nick Thompson holds onto an arm though, looking for a kimura, could possibly take Costa’s back now, no,going for an armbar, Costa defending well but it should only be a matter of time if Nick Thompson handles this right. Costa is in trouble. Nick Thompson gave up on the armbar attempt, now has full guard. Two minutes left in the round. Ref stands the fighters up, no same position, just moving them away from the ropes. Thompson still has full guard, using his hips well, doing a good job of nutralizing any offense from Costa. That’s the end of the round.

Round two starts, good stand up action so far, but dude this has to be my last fight, I’m getting sleepy as hell and not being able to keep up. Costa just connected and rocked Nick Thompson, sent him to the mat and follows up with some ground and pound. Thompson has guard again and is still working well off his back, but is also still getting GNP’d. Nick Thompson is able to get an ankle and reverse position, he’s on top now, in side control, oh shit he might have just broke michale Costa’s arm with a keylock, that looked rough, and Costa tapped quick, but I think he is ok now. Nick Thompson wastes no time going to his corner and putting on some awesome early 1990′s style zebra-striped Zubaz pants. These are especially awesome with his mustache. Also, I have no idea whats goins on now. There is some small Japanese guy in the ring laughing about something. But I might be hallucinating. I’m going to bed. I’ll watch the rest later.

Kazuo Misaki vs. Logan Clark
Kaz Misaki wins via Unanimous Decision

Travis Wiuff vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
Travis Wiuff wins via KO, round 1

Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Maurice Smith
Yoshida wins via submission (neck crank) in round 1

Bas Rutten Discusses The Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson Fight

Current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is scheduled to be a guest on the Jimmy Kimmel Live late-night talk show tonight on the ABC network. Check it out. Oh yeah and sign up on our MMA Forums.

Just a random video I found on youtube. Sakuraba is teh great.

WORLD EXTREME CAGEFIGHTING® ANNOUNCES CHAMPIONSHIP TRIPLEHEADER IN AUGUST
CARLOS CONDIT, BRIAN STANN, AND JAMIE VARNER ALL DEFEND THEIR CROWNS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2008
LIVE FROM THE HARD ROCK HOTEL & CASINO IN LAS VEGAS
Tickets On Sale Now

Las Vegas – The World Extreme Cagefighting® (WEC™) organization announced today that three world titles will be on the line when WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos “The Natural Born Killer” Condit, WEC Light Heavyweight Champion “All American” Brian Stann, and WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner all return to action at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday, August 3.

Tickets for World Extreme Cagefighting are on sale now and are priced at $200, $150, and $75 (not including applicable services or taxes). Tickets are available at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino box office and all Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available online through www.wec.tv or www.ticketmaster.com.

World Extreme Cagefighting will be televised live nationally on VERSUS beginning at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT. All live WEC events will be presented in Hi-Definition (HD) where available. For more information and how to find VERSUS in your local viewing area, visit http://www.versus.com/findversus.

One of the best 170-pound fighters on the planet, Carlos Condit (22-4) will defend his title after dominating his last three opponents in the WEC cage. Following his dominating first round submission win over Carlos Prater in February, Condit is eager to get back to work before the best fans in mixed martial arts. The Albuquerque native’s take no prisoners style has propelled him to the top of the rankings in the MMA world, and he looks to continue on his march to greatness this summer. In order to do that he will have to get past Tokyo, Japan’s Hiromitsu Miura (9-4). Miura’s last outing in the WEC Cage was a rousing KO victory over Blas Avena in March, and he will be bringing his power and world-class skills with him to Las Vegas as he looks to take Condit’s crown.

A Captain of the United States Marine Corps who was awarded the Silver Star for his bravery in battle during the Iraq War, Brian “All-American” Stann (6-0) has made a significant impact in and out of the WEC cage. Inside of it, the 27-year old Pennsylvanian captured the WEC Light Heavyweight Title in March with an impressive first round TKO victory over Doug “The Rhino” Marshall. Stann will look to hold onto his newly crowned title when he returns to the cage against Steve Cantwell. Las Vegas’ Cantwell (5-1) isn’t just in search of a title on August 3rd, but he is after redemption after a 2007 defeat to Stann. Winner of bouts over Justin McElfresh and Tim McKenzie that lasted just a combined three minutes, Cantwell has worked his way back to the top of the 205-pound weight class and he is coming to take the belt on August 3.

Jamie Varner (14-2, 1 NC) announced his arrival on the world stage in February when he captured the lightweight title with a hard fought KO victory over veteran “Razor” Rob McCullough in February. Now Varner looks to show the MMA world that he is a legitimate champion in the 155 lb. division and he is eager to prove that he has what it takes to be on top of the MMA food chain, he will have his hands full when he takes on Marcus Hicks. Hicks (8-0) has tore through his last three opponents in the WEC, defeating all three by submission. Will he keep his spotless record intact on August 3rd? He will have to walk through fire against Varner to do so.

The remaining bouts for World Extreme Cagefighting will be announced in the near future. All bouts subject to change. For more information about World Extreme Cagefighting and current WEC fight news, visit www.wec.tv.

Thanks to The Smoking Gun:

Street-brawling YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice (real name: Kevin Ferguson) was arrested by Miami Beach cops in May 2002 on gun and open container charges. The felony weapons rap against Slice, 28 at the time, was eventually dismissed. He entered a no contest plea to the booze charge and was ordered to attend an alcohol education course. After gaining notoriety via online videos showing him pummeling opponents in brutal backyard fights, Slice made his debut in a sanctioned mixed martial arts (MMA) contest in June 2007, when he defeated former heavyweight boxer Ray Mercer. In May 2008, Slice headlined the first MMA card to be shown in prime time on network television (he defeated James “The Colossus” Thompson in the CBS broadcast).

In this video, Brett Rogers tells what he thinks of Kimbo Slice and the controversy over EliteXC: Primetime and the bad fight endings. Brett claims Kimbo tapped, I never saw it though.

Gary Shaw tells everyone that James Thompson was having trouble breathing and is being taken by ambulance to the hospital, Gary Shaw then asks for prayers for James Thompson’s family, like James Thompson was almost dead or something. LOL. Meanwhile, James Thompson is standing just a few feet away and seems completely fine with the exception of some bruises on his face.

This was really a good show, and Urijah Faber had a dominant 5-round performance against a very worthy Jens Pulver. Both fighters kicked much ass and showed a lot of heart, but Urijah Faber definitely did the most damage, and surprised Jens Pulver with some great striking skills. Not many people were expecting to see Faber come out and throw strikes like he did. Jens Pulver looked like he might have had a broken orbital bone on his left eye, homeboy was looking rough after the fight.

Miguel Torres and Yoshiro Maeda had a great fight also. Maeda put up a good fight and was able to survive through 3 rounds before the fight was stopped by the doctor. Maeda’s right eye had completely closed and he was getting picked off by the left hand of Miguel Torres, because he was unable to see punches coming.

Official WEC Results
-Urijah Faber def. Jens Pulver by Unanimous Decision, R5
-Miguel Torres def. Yoshiro Maeda by TKO (Injury Stoppage) at 5:00, R3
-Mark Munoz def. Chuck Grigsby by TKO (Strikes) at 4:15, R1
-Rob McCullough def. Kenneth Alexander by Split Decision, R3
-Donald Cerrone def. Danny Castillo by Submission (Armbar) at 0:30, R1
-Mike Brown def. Jeff Curran by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Will Ribeiro def. Chase Beebe by Split Decision, R3
-Tim McKenzie def. Jeremy Lang by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:40, R3
-Alex Serdyukov def. Luis Sapo by TKO at 5:00, R1
-Jose Aldo def. Alexandre Franca Nogueira by TKO at 3:22, R2
-Dominick Cruz def. Charlie Valencia by Unanimous Decision, R3

Here is a photo of James Thompson‘s ear before the fight started and he got it popped open. Also, below that is a picture from his PrideFC days, and his ear looked normal then.

The Kimbo/Thompson fight was stopped early, in my opinion, but it’s debatable. However, I think the Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith stop was definitely too early, a very bad call on the part of the doctor. First off, the fighter (Scott Smith) was supposed to get 5 minutes to recover, as is usually the case with fouls such as groin strikes or eye pokes, but the doctor came into the cage immediatley after the bout was paused and started asking Scott Smith if he could see. Well, of course he couldn’t see yet, he just got poked in the eye. Give him a couple minutes to recover and he’ll be fine, but no, this doctor decides she needs to make a championship fight a no contest. Scott Smith and Robbie Lawler beat the hell out of each other for no decision. At least Gary Shaw said he would pay them both their win bonuses.

The Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson result is going to be bad controversy for EliteXC. Many people suspect a “fix” in that it’s possible Gary Shaw approached the referee before the fight and told him to stop it at the first signs of trouble for James Thompson. Obviously Gary Shaw has invested a lot of money in Kimbo, and didn’t expect the fight to go past the first round. I doubt Gary Shaw would want Kimbo to lose yet, that’s why Thompson was hand-picked for him. Do I think it was a fix? I don’t know, I guess I don’t really care. Regardless, Kimbo Slice was exposed. He is not a top heavyweight fighter yet in terms of skill.