Published by Stephen Rhodes

RITC 135 – Dell vs Robinson RITC FW Title
Celebrity Theatre
Saturday October 3, 2009

Club Doors Open: 6:00 PM, Theater Doors Open: 7:00 PM, Fight Time: 8:00 PM
Tickets: Cage Side (Rows 1-3) $50, Reserved (Rows 4-13) $40, General Admission ( B-Ring$25, $5 higher on fight day
for this customer appreciation show, RITC has rolled back ticket pricing. Parking for this show is free.
 
With an impressive fight card, this will be a great night of MMA action at a very reasonable price. Tickets available at the Celebrity Theatre Box Office. To charge by phone call 602-267-1600 ext.1.

Celebrity Theatre is conveniently located on 32nd St, just 4 blocks south of the Loop 202 freeway, in Phoenix.

Fight Card:
 
Matt Dell ( 145 ) vs Ray Robinson ( 145 ) RITC Featherweight Championship
Omur Cor ( 175 ) vs Sammy Rodriguez ( 175 )
JoJo Thompson ( 275 ) vs Sal Farnetti ( 275 )
Sarah Roberts ( 145 ) vs Tsui-Jen Cunanan ( 140 )
Matt Betzold ( 140 ) vs Ken Davis ( 145 )
Josh Stockman ( 190 ) vs Mike Moritz ( 205 )
Joshua James ( 195 ) vs Javier Reyes ( 205 )
Nick Marus ( 165 ) vs Job Mills ( 165 )
Freddie Lux ( 135 ) vs John Paul Valdez ( 145 )
Justin Fletcher ( 205 ) vs Rudy Rios ( 195 )
Adrian Guerrero ( 185 ) vs Reyes Ortiz ( 185 )
Tim O’Malley ( 185 ) vs Mike Romero ( 185 )
Jason Richey ( 180 ) vs Kevin Moore ( 180 )
David Shaw ( 175 ) vs Michael Bailey ( 170 )
Donte Green ( 180 ) vs Dave Greenwalt ( 180 )
Donnie Ganell ( 160 ) vs Jaymes Schulte ( 155 )
John Bartlett ( 180 ) vs Peter Hurst ( 185 )
Roman Baca ( 155 ) vs Sammy Ciurdar ( 155 )
Alonzo Fears ( 160 ) vs Orion Cowell ( 160 )
Ray Herrera ( 135 ) vs James Dean ( 145 )
Mario Celaya ( 120 ) vs Fabian Parra ( 115 )

Fight card subject to change

1 Comment . Sep 28, 2009
Filed under: MMA Calendar, Octagon Buzz Exclusive, Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix, RITC 135

Published by Stephen Rhodes

Below are the official results from WCF 8, which took place on Saturday in Wilmington, MA:

Mike Campbell def.Mike Medrano  ground-and-pound 3:12 into the opening period
Hitalo Machado def. John Benoit rear-naked choke 2:04  of round one
Josh LeBerge def.  Dan Bonnell 1:20 into round one
Josh Key  def. Luis Felix TKO 0:51 into the third round (Felix required precautionary hospitalization after the fight but has been reported as fine)
Dennis Olsen def. Ryan Schielding — Submission (Armbar) 1:04 R1
Joe McGann def. Jason Dublin — Unanimous Decision
John Ortolani def. Travis Lerchen — TKO (Punches) 2:16 R1
Noah Wiseman def. Eddie Felix — Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 3:38 R1
Saul Almeida def. Kevin Corrigan — Unanimous Decision
Aniss Alhajjajy def. Brent Reed — Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 3:47 R2
Lev Kamenetski def. Joel Ty — TKO (Punches) 2:22 R1
Jim Pitner def. James Boran — Unanimous Decision

Post a comment . Sep 27, 2009
Filed under: Fight Results, WCF 8, Wilmington

Published by Stephen Rhodes

The California State Athletic Commission can’t seem to catch a break, as of late. And the irony isn’t lost on me as to the reasons the Commission is in a heap of trouble – so to speak.

I guess the most recent action against the CSAC doesn’t help their cause as the California Fair Political Practices Commission is probing the CSAC over allegations that board members accepted free tickets to sporting events that they regulate. This particular investigation stems from a report by the Los Angeles Times in which CSAC officials requested complimentary tickets for themselves, family and friends. As is required by state law, tickets and other comps have to be reported to the CFPPC.

Then there are the resignations. First one to take place was by CSAC Chariman Timothy Noonan; actually, Democratic Senate leader Darrell Steinberg stated that he would not hold any hearings for either Noonan or CSAC commissioner Peter Lopez. As it turned out, Noonan resigned and Lopez was basically shown the door.

But this is small potatoes in comparison to the track record ofr the CSAC, which has been in some type of controversy on-and-off since 2003. Things such as management, personnel and ethics issues haunt the commission; an audit performed found irregularities in bookkeeping, accounting practices and staffing shortages.

To Noonan’s credit, he did say that the main reason for his resignation was the fact that a choice he recommended for the vacant CSAC, boxing referee Pat Russell, was rejected by the state Depasrtment of Consumer Affairs. As of this posting, there still is no executive director – even on an interim basis.

To suggest that an overhaul of the CSAC is an understatement as they have many issues to address and correct before they can do their jobs properly. And the sooner they can get this debacle rectified, the better as it could potentially affect sporting events within the state of California.

Post a comment . Sep 27, 2009
Filed under: Octagon Buzz, California Fair Political Practices Commission, CSAC, Los Angeles Times, State of California

Published by Stephen Rhodes

Below is the official card for UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun, which takes place on October 24 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA:

• Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Rua
• Cain Velasquez vs. Ben Rothwell
• Gleison Tibau vs. Josh Neer
• Joe Stevenson vs. Spencer Fisher
• Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
• Yushin Okami Vs. Chael Sonnen
• Antoni Hardonk Vs. Pat Barry
• Jorge Rivera Vs. Rob Kimmons
• Ryan Bader Vs. Eric Schafer
• Kyle Kingsbury Vs. Razak Al-Hassan
• Stefan Struve Vs. Chase Gormley

1 Comment . Sep 26, 2009
Filed under: MMA Calendar, Octagon Buzz, UFC 104

Published by Stephen Rhodes

Here it is, folks: the promo video for UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun. The event will be on pay-per-view on October 24.

Post a comment . Sep 26, 2009
Filed under: MMA Calendar, Octagon Buzz Exclusive, Videos, Lyoto Machida, Mauricio Rua, UFC 104

Published by Stephen Rhodes

Al sent this in:

Mixed Martial Arts history is about to explode in South Florida and FightZone TV’s Jay Adams will be their to call all of the action for a future broadcast as some of the nations top teams send their best champions to Rumble at the Rock on Friday, September 25 at 8 PM at Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL.

Fights will feature Miami native Keith Johnson vs. Michael Bernhard, Ariel Gandulla of Bradenten, Fl. takes on Danny Babcock from Palm Bay, Fl. and Bounmy Somchay of West Palm Beach will square off against Rene Martinez of Miami.

Several other mixed martial arts fighters from South Florida will appear on the card including Steve Bruno (Coconut Creek, Fl.), Nico Perella (Sunrise, Fl.), John Kelly (Miami, Fl.), Christian Rios (Sunrise, Fl.), Donovan Ciolfi (Plantation, Fl.), Brann Redi (Boca Raton, Fl.) and Rodrigo Ramos (Coconut Creek, Fl.). Tickets are on sale now at the Hard Rock Live box office or Ticketmaster.com.

3 Comments . Sep 24, 2009
Filed under: MMA Calendar, Octagon Buzz Exclusive, Action Fight League, FightZone TV, Rumble at the Rock

Published by Stephen Rhodes

Al sent this in:

Play the FightZone TV Game “Where In The World Is Jay Adams?”

With the explosion in MMA Events and the rapid expansion of FightZone TV’s roster of Promoter Partners, FightZone TV’s co-owner and head commentator, Jay Adams is rapidly becoming the Matt Lauer of MMA.

Having just finished events for Pro Battle in Arkansas, Art of Fighting in Tampa, Intimidation in Cincinnati, Vendetta in Aruba and X1 in Hawaii. Jay is preparing to leave to call the Action Fight League event at the Seminole Hard Rock in Ft. Lauderdale (9/25) then headed to Washington, DC for Ultimate Warrior Challenge (UWC (10/03) , California for Pure Combat (10/17), back to AOF in Ft. Myers, FL (10/23) and Belfast Ireland for Cage Wars Championship UK (CWC) (11/29).

Jay is on TV more than the Geico Caveman. Maybe they could do The Amazing Race together.

FightZone TV, now airing every day somewhere in the US, is available to over 25 million homes on Fox Sport Networks’ Sun Sports (FL), Sport South (GA, AL, MS, TN, NC, SC) and nationally on DIRECTV, The Dish Network and ATT U-verse.

AT&T U-verse is being expanded in California thanks to legislation supported by California Legislators. The “Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006″ signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger provides an environment that encourages new video providers, such as AT&T California, to invest in the state to compete against incumbent cable providers.

Currently airing on FightZone TV is UWC “Capital Punishment” which features UWC Bantamweight Championship: Mike “The Hulk” Easton against Josh “Taz” Ferguson. Also on the card were: War Machine vs Reshad Woods; Joey Kirwan vs Marcus Foran; Damian “The Reach” Dantibo vs Ron “Choir Boy” Stallings among others. Tito Ortiz was in the house and can be seen cageside.

Next up is Pure Combat “Home Turf” followed by Art of War featuring Kimbo Slayer Seth Petruzelli recently held in Tampa, FL and then Action Fight League and Cage War Championships UK to round out the year.

Also airing this month are classic events from Real Fighting Championships (RFC-Tampa, FL); Cage Wars Championships (CWC UK) Ultimate Warrior Championships (UWC – Washington, DC); Xtreme Fighting Association (XFA Las Vegas), Mainstream (Iowa); Reality Combat Championships (RCC – Jacksonville); Gladiator Challenge (CA); Bonecrunch Fighting League (FL); World Fighting Championships (WFC, Tampa, FL) and Combat Fighting Championships (CFC – Orlando, FL)

Post a comment . Sep 21, 2009
Filed under: Octagon Buzz Exclusive, Fight Zone TV, Jay Adams

Published by Stephen Rhodes

While it is customary for the UFC to hand out post-fight bonuses, it is rare when one fighter gets paid twice for his time in the Octagon. The fighter in question is little-known Rick Story. Story, in addition to winning his fight aganst Brian Foster, picked up two post-fight bonuses: Submission of the Night and Fight of the Night. For his efforts, Story earned $130,000.

Below are the post-fight bonuses for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort:

Submission of the Night: Rick Story ($65,000)

Knockout of the Night: Vitor Belfort ($65,000)

Fight of the Night: Rick Story, Brian Foster ($65,000 each)

Post a comment . Sep 20, 2009
Filed under: Octagon Buzz, Brian Foster, post-fight bonuses, Rick Story, UFC 103, Vitor Belfort

Published by Stephen Rhodes

Below are the card results for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort, which took place Saturday night:

NON-TELEVISED PRELIMINARY CARD

• Rafael Dos Anjos defeated Rob Emerson, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Vladimir Matyushenko defeated Igor Pokrajac, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Eliot Marshall defeated Jason Brilz, split decision (30-28, 27-30, 30-27)
• Rick Story defeated Brian Foster (arm-triangle), 1:09 of Round 1.
• Nick Lentz defeated Rafaello Oliveira, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Jim Miller defeated Steve Lopez (TKO – shoulder injury), 0:48 of Round 2.

TELEVISED MAIN CARD

• Tomasz Drwal defeated Drew McFedries (rear-naked choke), 1:03 of Round 2.
• Efrain Escudero defeated Cole Miller (KO), 3:36 of Round 1.
• Tyson Griffin defeated Hermes Franca (TKO – strikes), 3:26 of Round 2.
• Josh Koscheck defeated Frank Trigg (TKO – strikes), 1:25 of Round 1.
• Paul Daley defeated Martin Kampmann (TKO – strikes), 2:31 of Round 1.
• Junior dos Santos defeated Mirko Filipovic (verbal submission), 2:00 of Round 3.
• Vitor Belfort defeated Rich Franklin (TKO – strikes), 3:02 of Round 1.

Post a comment . Sep 20, 2009
Filed under: Fight Results, Rich Franklin, UFC 103, Vitor Belfort

Published by Stephen Rhodes

Apparently, once you get a taste of the Hollywood lifestyle, it is hard to give it up. It seems that this has happened to Strikeforce middleweight Cung Le as he will give up his title belt, according to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker.

Says Coker:

“I had a conversation with Cung and he has a lot of respect for Jake and Jason, and he’s got another movie coming up, so he’s asked me if he could step down, which we’re going to honor his request. By no means does that mean he’s going to be retired, but he’s going to be unavailable for the next two months.”

Because Le relinquished his middleweight, it looks like Jake Shields and Jason Miller will lock up for the now-vacant title when Strikeforce broadcast on CBS on November 7.

According to Coker, he will check in with Le about every six weeks or so and see where he is, in reference to his movie commitments. So while there will be a title bout, I sense that the winner – in a roundabout way of speaking – is basically keeping the belt warm for Le’s eventual return to Strikeforce.

Post a comment . Sep 20, 2009
Filed under: Octagon Buzz, Cung Le, jake shields, Jason Miller, Scott Coker, strikeforce