FightZone TV is proud to announce that they will once again be providing national television coverage for World Fighting Championships “Battle of the Bay 8,” an action-packed Mixed Martial Arts extravaganza at Tampa’s USF Sundome to be held on Friday, July 10, 2009.

The taped event, featuring cageside commentary by Fight Zone’s Jay Adams, will be aired nationally at a later date by FightZone TV to over 21 million homes on Fox Sport Net’s (FSN) affiliates SunSports, SportSouth, and nationally on DIRECTV, The Dish Network and AT&T U-verse, reaching over 20% of US homes with cable TV.

Famed music promoter Ted Lucas of Slip-N-Slide Records and fight promoter and WFC President, Tom Crowther have joined forces to present “Battle of the Bay 8 which will will feature a main event showdown with former UFC Champion and “Celebrity Rehab” star Ricco Rodriguez and Mario “Big Hurt” Rinaldi along with thrilling bouts from some of the top mixed martial artists in the country. To make the evening even more exciting, it will be hosted by special guest cage girl Amber Smith, star of VH-1 TV’S two hit reality series, “Celebrity Rehab” and “Sober House.” With Ricco and Amber Smith, both stars on “Celebrity Rehab,” the July 10th event will aim on creating anti-drug awareness and promote a world free of both recreational and sports-related drugs.

Tickets priced from $25 -$75 are on sale now and available at www.ticketmaster.com or www.mmawfc.com. VIP tables are also available starting at $1,000. Showroom doors open at 7pm, preliminaries start at 8pm, and main event commences at 11:30pm. The USF Sundome is located at 4202 East Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33620. Phone is (813) 974-3002. A portion of the proceeds from the event will go to Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, or CADCA whose mission is to create and maintain safe, healthy and drug-free communities.

The main bout of the evening features former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight and “Celebrity Rehab” star Ricco Rodriguez (29-10-0) against Mario “Big Hurt” Rinaldi (8-02-01). This is Rodriguez’s first fight since becoming clean and sober and losing his UFC belt. “After recovery comes redemption,” says Ricco. “I’m in great shape and ready for the ultimate comeback.”

Ricco Rodriquez is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion. He has also competed in PRIDE Fighting Championship, EliteXC, International Fight League, World Extreme Cagefighting and King of the Cage and holds notable wins over Andrei Arlovski, Jeff Monson and Randy Couture.

Rodriguez wrestled in high school while living in New York. He later moved to California and began training in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with Rigan and Jean Jacques Machado. He competed and won many Jiu Jitsu tournaments before moving on to MMA. In 1997, Ricco Rodriguez became the first American to win a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship. He won the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in the Absolute (open weight) division in 1998. In the following year Rodriguez began his MMA career with a win against Rocky Batastini. He won several of his first matches before losing to Bobby Hoffman at the Superbrawl 13 event in Hawaii. He later fought in the PRIDE Fighting Championship before moving on to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Rodriguez’s first UFC match was at UFC 32 against Andrei Arlovski which he won by TKO. Rodriguez went on to beat Williams, Jeff Monson (UFC 35) and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (UFC 37) to earn a title shot against heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 39. Rodriguez was losing on the scorecard in the initial rounds. In the fifth round Rodriguez was able to achieve a ground-and-pound victory with a stoppage by verbal tapout.

Voted “One of the Sexiest Women in the World” by Maxim Magazine, Tampa- native Amber Smith will be the special guest cage girl. Amber has graced the covers of over 300 magazines worldwide, including Playboy, Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire and Maxim, with her initial fame concurrent with her appearances in two Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues. An internationally recognized supermodel and actress for almost 20 years, today Amber Smith is perhaps even more recognizable as one of the top reality TV stars in America for her participation in the VH-1 TV series “Celebrity Rehab” and its sequel “Sober House.” For more information on Amber, go to www.ambersmith.com.

“Battle of the Bay 8” will feature some of the most talented MMA fighters to step into the ring including Regino Pena vs. Dustin Winterhalt, Frankhad Sharapov vs. Chris Manuel, Brian Eckstein vs. Ralph Acosta, Zack Light vs. Patrick Mikesz, Alex Caceres vs. Matt McCook, Erik “War Face” Covik vs. Caleb Archer, James Wynn vs. Giovani Moljo, Joe Ricart vs. Malachy Freidman, Gino Tutera vs. Andrew Parker and James Powell vs. TBA.

The official “Battle of the Bay 8” WEIGH-INS will be held on Thursday, July 9 at 6pm at the Embassy Suites on USF campus, next to the Sundome and are OPEN to the public. The weigh-ins will include a meet and greet with the fighters as well as on-on-one interviews with the press, available upon request.

A portion of the proceeds Go To Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America.

ABOUT CADCA
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, or CADCA, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to strengthen the capacity of community coalitions in their effort to create and maintain safe, healthy and drug-free communities. CADCA supports its members with training and technical assistance, public policy advocacy, media strategies and marketing programs, conferences and special events. For more information, go to www.cadca.org.

Well, I just started this event with Gilbert Yvel vs. Pedro Rizzo, which I’m watching right now. I really hope Pedro kicks the crap out of Gilbert Yvel. Damn, that sucks, I might have just jinxed Pedro Rizzo. He had Yvel on the ground, but let him get back up, and Yvel started landing strikes, Pedro fell to the mat and took several unanswered punches, he’s out cold. Pedro has been on the mat now for a few minutes, I hope he’s OK. Pedro Rizzo has been victim to some gnarly KO’s in his career, damn. I’m glad to see Gilbert Yvel trying to act like a nicer guy these days, also (even though this picture seems to indicate otherwise). He’s over by Rizzo showing some concern. Thankfully, Pedro is back to his feet now, but his brain has sure taken some damage over the years.

Yes, I’m rooting for Bob Sapp. I don’t really know why, except that Sapp has provided me entertainment for several years now, and I don’t know Bobby Lashley, because I haven’t followed pro-wrestling in years.

Well that turned out to be a shitty fight. Bobby Lashley had been saying he was going to stand up and trade punches with Bob Sapp, but he lied, he immediately shot for a takedown and didn’t let Bob Sapp back to his feet. Bobby Lashley wins via GNP TKO in round 1, Bob Sapp tapped out due to strikes.

Discovery Channel’s show Time Warp just did a couple of really cool segments on MMA. The premise of the show is to slow things down using a high speed camera, so we can see the slow motion effects. In tonights episode, they had Kenny Florian, Erin Toughill, Dave and Dan Camarillo. I don’t know when they’ll show a re-run, so check your TV listings, but it was really cool to see everything done in super slow motion.

Overall, a great show. Chris Lytle is a bad man. He’s never been knocked out in 49 fights, but came damn close to being KTFO in round 1 after an uppercut from Kevin Burns made his legs like jello for a second, but was relieved when the bell sounded to end the round. Lytle looked around to gather his senses for a couple of seconds, went to his corner and came back out in the 2nd round ready for more war. Dude was slinging haymakers from both sides, landing gnarly body shots with his right. Both dudes continued to slug it out, with Lytle being the aggressor for the rest of the fight, constantly moving forward and cutting Kevin Burns open for a bloody mess.

Clay Guida seriously needs to cut his hair, as much as it is awesome. I know it gives him character and makes him look like a Geico Caveman, but still, it has to mess up his peripheral vision. I would even say there is a chance he could’ve seen that kick coming at his head in round 1 that knocked him on his ass, but maybe not. Anyway, great fight, and Diego is gonna be a top contender for a long time.

Congratulations to the Ultimate Fighter season 9 lightweight and welterweight winners, Ross Pearson and James Wilks, both from Team UK on the show. Pearson won a decision against his teammate Andre Winner, and James Wilks looked very impressive in his 1st round submission victory against Team USA favorite DeMarques Johnson.

Frank Lester fought on the undercard, and I had $10 on him to win. He got submitted by Nick Osipczak, and they didn’t show it on air.

Now I’m looking forward to TUF Season 10 with Kimbo. And who the hell is the 7′ footer in the commercials standing behind Rampage and Rashad?

FightZone Media, consisting of FightZone TV, Magazine, Radio and Internet, has joined UFC Fan Expo as an Official Sponsor.

In support of the event. FightZone TV will air over 100 TV commercials nationwide on over 30 of their airings from now until the day of the event.

The first-ever UFC Fan Expo being held in Las Vegas in celebration of UFC 100 is a two-day fan exposition of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) activities starting Friday, July 10th and leading right up to the start of the historic fights on Saturday, July 11th.

UFC Fan Expo will take place inside the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, and will be the first event of its kind for UFC fans.

Among the UFC Fan Expo two-day roster of activities will be meet and greets with legendary UFC and WEC fighters, MMA demonstrations, fan-inspired special events, training and development sessions, a grappling tournament and other exciting opportunities and entertainment such as Limp Bizkit. All the UFC Fan Expo activities will be planned in conjunction with UFC 100, including the free-to-the-public weigh-in event on Friday, July 10th.

Expected to attract over 130 companies and brands, UFC Fan Expo will span more than 200,000 gross square feet of space exhibiting apparel, electronic gaming, food & beverages, fight gear and fitness equipment, MMA training and development, nutritional supplements, lifestyle products, and much more.

Currently seen on television in over 120 countries and territories in 17 different languages, UFC is the world’s largest pay-per-view content provider, and is the fastest-growing sports franchise in history. UFC programs are often the highest-rated television sports shows among the coveted male 18-34 and 18-42 demographic. UFC Fan Expo and UFC 100 are expected to attract tens of thousands of sports fans from throughout North America and abroad.

The event is produced for UFC through Reed Exhibitions, the largest global producer of high-profile and highly targeted events, Ed Gallo, event director of the UFC Fan Expo. says “Drawing on our experience in pop-culture inspired events such as New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival, the UFC Fan Expo will deliver an unprecedented all-access pass to loyal UFC fans, and new fans discovering their passion for mixed martial arts.”

“We are pleased to work with Reed Exhibitions to present UFC Fan Expo in conjunction with UFC 100,” said UFC President Dana White. “The UFC 100 event is a milestone for us, for the sport of mixed martial arts, and for fight fans around the world, this will be an amazing weekend for UFC fans.”

For more UFC Fan Expo information and to purchase tickets, visit UFCfanexpo.com.

About Fight Zone Media
FightZone TV is now available up to 6 times weekly to over 21 million homes in over 127 cities on Fox Sport Net’s (FSN) affiliates SunSports, SportSouth, and nationally on DIRECTV, The Dish Network and AT&T U-verse, reaching over 20% of US homes with cable TV.

Presentations include FightZone Presents and Jay Adams’ Brawl Call.

The actor and star of the 1970′s television show Kung Fu, was found dead in his hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand. The death is being called an apparent suicide. RIP David Carradine