Weekly Mixed Martial Arts and Kickboxing News – 04/05/2013
By PDG Staff
GLORY 6 Istanbul: Saki vs. Ghita – Fight Card Update
For the second time in their careers, heavyweight superstar rivals Gokhan Saki (79-16, 55 KOs) of the Netherlands and Daniel Ghita (46-8, 35 KOs) of Romania will collide in the ring, in the main event of GLORY 6 Istanbul on Saturday April 6th.
Just over two years after their December 2010 fight, Saki and Ghita will reprise their roles as adversaries in a meeting that will have the attention of fight fans all over the world. Their first clash was an instant classic and this rematch has an added edge because a shot at the GLORY World Heavyweight Title is on the line for the winner.
GLORY 6 Istanbul: Saki vs. Ghita
April 6, 2013
Ulker Sports Arena
Istanbul, Turkey
HW: Gokhan Saki vs. Daniel Ghita
HW: Mourad Bouzidi vs. Fabiano Cyclone
95kg: Filip Verlinden vs. Lucian Danilencu
85kg: Marc de Bonte vs. L’houcine “Aussie” Ouzgni
77kg: Nieky Holzken vs. Karim Ghajji
70kg: Andy Ristie vs. Alessandro Campagna
77kg: Murat Direkci vs. Joseph Valtellini
70kg: Max Baumert vs. Ismail Uzunur
65kg: Dongsu Kim vs. Naoki Yasuda
UFC 161: Barao vs. Wineland – Fight Card Update
UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao will look for his second straight title defense against No.4 ranked contender Eddie Wineland on Saturday, June 15 when the Ultimate Fighting Championship brings its first-ever event to Winnipeg, Manitoba with UFC 161: Barao vs. Wineland at the MTS Centre.
Riding one of the longest unbeaten streaks in mixed martial arts history, Barao (32-1, 1NC, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) defeated Urijah Faber in Calgary in July 2012 to win the interim title. He defended the belt in February against Michael McDonald with an impressive arm triangle choke that earned him his first Submission of the Night honours. Barao has gone 31 straight fights without a loss (30victories, 1 no-contest). He is on an exciting 20-fight win streak and is 5-0 since making his UFC debut in May 2011.
Wineland (20-8-1, fighting out of Chesterton, Indiana) is a former WEC bantamweight champion who comes into this title shot with two straight wins. Wineland defeated Scott Jorgensen in June 2012 in a Fight of the Night performance that marked the first time Jorgensen had ever been stopped via knockout. Wineland followed that up with a win over Brad Pickett in December.
UFC 161: Barao vs. Wineland
June 15, 2013
MTS Centre
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Main Card:
Renan Barão (30-1) vs. Eddie Wineland (20-8-1) – UFC interim bantamweight championship
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (21-7) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-5)
Rashad Evans (17-3-1) vs. Dan Henderson (29-9)
Pat Barry (8-5) vs. Shawn Jordan (14-4)
Jake Shields (27-6-1) vs. Tyron Woodley (11-1)
Preliminary Card:
Sam Stout (19-8-1) vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg (14-3-1)
Stipe Miocic (9-1) vs. Soa Palelei (18-3)
Ryan Jimmo (17-2) vs. Igor Pokrajac (25-9)
Sean Pierson (13-6) vs. TJ Waldburger (16-7)
Mitch Clarke (9-2) vs. John Maguire (18-5)
Roland Delorme (8-1) vs. Edwin Figueroa (9-2)
Yves Jabouin (18-8) vs. Dustin Pague (11-7)
Alexis Davis (13-5) vs. Rosi Sexton (13-2)
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix on April 6 in Oradea, Romania
After three months of SUPERKOMBAT Tryouts and SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes events, SUPERKOMBAT proudly presents the first World Grand Prix of the 2013 season scheduled on April 6, in one of the most important cities of Romania, Oradea, live on Eurosport from 21:00 CET.
SUPERKOMBAT cruiserweight champion Bogdan Stoica is ready to return in the main-event of the evening after one year break, but also the online legend Alexandru Lungu and the SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix from Varna champion Benjamin Adegbuyi has been added on the card.
The event on April 6 will include 3 super fights, one reserve fight and the well know 4 man heavyweight tournament. “In the tournament we will have 2 fighters selected from SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes and 2 veterans. We will have Muamer Tufekcic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the winners from SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes Croatia, and Corrie Robbins, a fighter selected from the SUPERKOMBAT Tryouts from Great Britain, but also two veterans, Nikolaj Falin from Germany and Jairzinho Rozenstruik from Suriname. The winner of the tournament will be directly qualified for the Final Elimination event.
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix
April 6, 2013
“Antonio Alexe” Sports Hall
Oradea, Romania
Reserve Fight (+96 kg) – Chris Cooper (Great Britain) vs. Vladimir Toktasynov (Russia)
Semifinal 1 (+96 kg) – Muamer Tufekcic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) vs. Corrie Robins (Great Britain)
Semifinal 2 (+96 kg) – Nikolaj Falin (Germany) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (Suriname)
Super Fight (+96 kg) – Mohamed Bellazar (Morocco) vs. Benjamin Adegbuyi (Romania)
Super Fight (-92 kg) – Romano Romasco (Italy) vs. Bogdan Stoica (Romania)
Super Heavyweight Fight (+115 kg) – Jason Dutton (Great Britain) vs. Alexandru Lungu (Romania)
UFC on FUEL TV 9: Pearson vs. Couture – Video Preview
GLORY 8 Tokyo – Fight Card Update
GLORY, the world’s new premier kickboxing league, today announced the addition of three Superfights, including a heavyweight showdown between legendary champion Peter Aerts (102-30-1, 77 KOs) of The Netherlands and fast-rising star Jamal Ben Saddik (24-2, 20 KOs) of Belgium, to the much-anticipated GLORY 8 Tokyo event that will be headlined by a one-night, eight-man ‘Slam’ tournament in the GLORY featherweight (65 kilograms/143 pounds) division, at Ariake Coliseum on Friday, May 3.
In another heavyweight Superfight contest, Jaideep Singh (23-6, 17 KOs) of Japan will face Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva (35-9-1, 24 KOs) of Brazil. A lightweight (70 kilograms/154 pounds) Superfight will pit prolific superstars Andy Ristie (36-3-1, 18 KOs) of Suriname and Albert “The Hurricane” Kraus (75-15-3, 45 KOs) of The Netherlands against one another.
The single-elimination tournament field has been completed with the addition of five fighters. Road To GLORY Japan tournament champion Masaaki Noiri (18-3, 7 KOs) of Japan; two-time, eight-man tournament victor Yuta Kubo (37-4-1, 17 KOs) of Japan; KO artist Liam Harrison (72-15-2, 38 KOs) of England; two-time kickboxing champion Gabriel Varga (21-1, 8 KOs) of Canada; and Lim Chi Bin (69-16, 40 KOs) of South Korea join previously announced Marcus Vinicius (7-1, 1 KO) of Brazil, three-time French kickboxing champion Abdellah Ezbiri (32-6, 11 KOs) of Morocco via France and world Muay Thai champion Mosab “The Jaguar” Amrani (48-7-4, 14 KOs) of Holland in the tournament. GLORY will award a total of $180,000 in prize money to the tournament competitors, including a $100,000 grand prize to the winner.
UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Silva – Fight Card Update
UFC officials have announced that Amir Sadollah has been forced out of his welterweight fight against Stephen Thompson at UFC 160 next month, and that Strikeforce veteran Nah-Shon Burrell will replace him.
UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Silva II
May 25, 2013
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
Cain Velasquez (11-1) vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (18-4) – UFC heavyweight championship
Junior dos Santos (15-2) vs. Mark Hunt (9-7)
Glover Teixeira (20-2) vs. James Te Huna (16-5)
Gray Maynard (11-1-1) vs. T.J. Grant (20-5)
Mike Pyle (24-8-1) vs. Gunnar Nelson (11-0-1)
Donald Cerrone (19-5) vs. K.J. Noons (11-6)
Colton Smith (6-1) vs. Robert Whittaker (11-2)
Stephen Thompson (6-1) vs. Nah-Shon Burrell (9-2)
Khabib Nurmagomedov (19-0) vs. Abel Trujillo (10-4)
Jeremy Stephens (20-9) vs. Estevan Payan (14-3)
Dennis Bermudez (10-3) vs. Max Holloway (7-1)
Brian Bowles (10-2) vs. George Roop (13-9-1)
Evolve MMA Launches Evolve University, an Online University for Martial Arts
Evolve MMA Logo Evolve Mixed Martial Arts has officially launched Asia’s largest online university for martial arts, Evolve University. It will be one of the world’s largest online universities for martial arts, and enable anyone anywhere in the world to learn martial arts under the tutelage of a World Champion. All courses at Evolve University will be taught by World Champions from the world-renowned, award-winning instructor team of Evolve Mixed Martial Arts, Asia’s top martial arts organization. Evolve MMA is home to the most number of World Champions for any martial arts school in the world with World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts, Wrestling, No Gi Grappling, and more.
Additionally, the professional Evolve Fight Team includes DREAM World Champion Shinya Aoki, Muay Thai World Champion Orono Wor Petchpun, UFC fighter Rafael dos Anjos, US Olympian Heath Sims, ONE FC Superstar Zorobabel Moreira, Total Combat FC Champion Eddie Ng, WBA Boxing World Champion Yodsanan Sityodtong, BJJ World Champion Leandro Issa, Muay Thai World Champion Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, Muay Thai World Champion Attachai Fairtex, No-Gi World Champion Takeo Tani, MCFC Champion Mitch Chilson, and many other champions.
The first phase of Evolve University will include thousands of online tutorial videos across different martial arts such as Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, etc. The next additional phases of Evolve University will include interactive teaching guides, community enrichment tools, course management software, degree certifications, and much more.
Chatri Sityodtong, Founder and Chairman of both Evolve MMA and Evolve University, stresses, “Evolve Mixed Martial Arts is once again revolutionizing the martial arts industry in Asia with the introduction of Evolve University, Asia’s largest online university for martial arts. For the first time in history, anyone anywhere in the world will be able to learn martial arts and self-defense under our decorated World Champions.”
Clara Leo, CEO of Evolve University, also adds, “I am excited today to unveil Evolve University to the world. Evolve University has been in stealth mode operations for the last 24 months, developing proprietary systems, producing thousands of high quality tutorial videos, and building complex software for the future. Evolve University provides unprecedented access to self-defense knowledge to every person on the globe, irrespective of geographic location. Unfortunately, today we all live in a world of senseless violence against innocent victims. Every week, you hear terrible news stories from around the world. At Evolve MMA, we believe that authentic self-defense knowledge is a critical necessity for every day life. Evolve University aims to make this world a safer place.”
‘It’s Showtime’ Promoter Simon Rutz Retires From Kickboxing Business
Glory Sports International (GSI), the parent company of the world’s new premiere kickboxing league, GLORY World Series, has announced that Simon Rutz, the founder and former owner of ‘It’s Showtime,’ the world championship kickboxing league that GSI purchased in October, has officially stepped down from his role as a consultant to GLORY and retired from the kickboxing business.
“It’s been a phenomenal run and I have so many incredible memories from the time I’ve spent in this great sport,” said Rutz, who launched It’s Showtime in 1999 with an event at Kennemer Sportcenter in the Netherlands and promoted his ! 60th and final event in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Nov. 10, 2012. “I am looking forward to watching many of the fighters we built at It’s Showtime continue their careers in the GLORY ring where the competition is the fiercest in the entire kickboxing universe.”
During his tenure in the sport, Rutz promoted a multitude of kickboxing superstars including top-ranked heavyweights Daniel Ghita and Tyrone Spong and lightweight (154 pounds/70 kilograms) contender Robin van Roosmalen, all of whom have since become GLORY competitors.
“Simon built a very strong enterprise with It’s Showtime, and fans worldwide demonstrated a sincere enthusiasm for his product, so GLORY was fortunate to have the opportunity to acquire the company and place all of its world-class fight talent under the GLORY umbrella to form the most powerful roster in the history of kickboxing,” said GLORY CEO Andrew Whitaker. “We wish Simon all the best with his future endeavors and thank him for his contributions to the sport.”
World Series of Fighting Highlights from Atlantic City
From the PunchDrunkGamer Forums:
* UFC on FUEL TV 9: Mousasi vs. Latifi – Weigh-In Results and Video
* ONE FC 8: Kings & Champions – Event Coverage and Results
* Final Fight Championship 3: Jurkovic vs. Catinas
* UFC Fan Expo Returns to Las Vegas on July 5 and 6
* The Ultimate Fighter Brasil 2 – Discussion, Rumors & Results
Bonus Video: Stan Lee’s Superhumans – Muay Thai Extreme Melchor Menor – Shins of Steel
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