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Last news: November 23, 2010 16:53:57

Until Couture’s legal troubles with the UFC come to an end, Couture’s lawyers have ask the Internaional Fight League (IFL) to not include Couture’s name as an IFL team name. The IFL has agreed to change Team Extreme Couture to Team Tompkins starting tonight at the Feb. 29th’s IFL “New Blood New Battles” 2008 opener.

The team structure will be the same, as Tompkins is the head trainer at Extreme Couture Gym in Las Vegas.

“Given the ongoing litigation between Extreme Couture and the UFC, we were asked by Xtreme Couture [lawyers] Wednesday to not use the Xtreme Couture camp name in our event this Friday,” said Joe Favorito, IFL Senior Vice President of Communications. “Out of respect for Randy and his team in this difficult situation, the camp will take the name Team Tompkins. Shawn Tompkins (Pictures) is coaching this Friday as already announced for this Friday’s event. The IFL is not in any way involved in this litigation, we are doing this out of professional courtesy for Randy and his group.”

Watch ignorant analysts who know nothing about the sport talk shit about MMA. This is what you get with mainstream media, stick to the blogs and fan sites.

According to the Junkie, the reported fight between Gilbert Melendez and Jorge Masvidal has been put on ice said Strikeforce Vice President Mike Afromowitz. Jorge Masvidal suffered an injury to his shin at last weekends Strikeforce “At The Dome” event and will not be able to get in enough training time for the fight.

Current Fights Cancelled:

• Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson - shoulder injury
• Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal - shin injury
• Joe Riggs vs. Joey Villasenor - back injury

A replacement to fight Melendez has not been announced.

The co-promoted EliteXC-Strikeforce card is to be held March 29 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. and will feature the fight between Cung Le vs. Frank Shamrock.

Raw Las Vegas “Inside Extreme Couture”

The UFC Has officially announced today in a pre UFC 82 press conference, that Anheuser-Busch will now start sponsoring UFC and WEC events starting on May 24 at UFC 84.

Anheuser-Busch the company that makes Budweiser and Bud Light beer, has been a major sponsor in boxing bouts for years.

The Budweiser deal is the larges sponsor to sign with the UFC to date, even over shadowing the UFC’s latest mainstream sponsor Harley Davidson.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Feb. 28, 2008) – This spring, millions of Ultimate Fighting Championship® fans will see a new heavyweight take the center of the Octagon™. Today Anheuser-Busch and UFC® announced that Bud Light, the world’s best-selling beer, will become the new exclusive beer sponsor for the UFC.

Bud Light’s three-year deal with Zuffa, LLC, owner of the UFC brand, makes the American-style light lager with superior drinkability the exclusive beer sponsor of the UFC – the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization.

ProElite’s Official Press Release:

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28 — The CBS Television Network and ProElite, Inc., a Los Angeles-based leading entertainment and media company that produces world class mixed martial arts (MMA) events, today jointly announced a multi-year agreement that will bring one of the fastest growing spectator sports to a major broadcast television network for the first time.

CBS will broadcast four MMA events per year, produced by ProElite’s EliteXC fight division, as two-hour live primetime specials targeted for Saturday nights.

The agreement augments an existing relationship between CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS and CBS.A) and ProElite (PELE.PK), which began broadcasting its EliteXC live MMA events on CBS’s SHOWTIME premium cable network in 2007. EliteXC events will continue to air on SHOWTIME.

Additionally, CBS Interactive and ProElite’s new media division, ProElite.com, will collaborate on generating interactive content for both companies’ platforms, including CBSSports.com. The online offerings could include streaming of events, clips syndicated across the CBS Audience Network, and other enhanced content to build an online community around each CBS broadcast and ProElite event.

“Mixed martial arts is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and a wildly popular entertainment vehicle for upscale, young adult audiences,” said Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime. “It’s original programming for Saturday night; it’s live, creating an event-atmosphere; and it’s something that hasn’t been seen on network television, until now.”

“This is a pivotal moment for the sport of mixed martial arts now that a major television network plans to broadcast live MMA events during primetime hours,” said Douglas DeLuca, Chief Executive Officer of ProElite. “We are delighted to enhance our partnership with CBS to bring American audiences the very best in MMA competition through our EliteXC brand.

“The network television agreement with CBS is an important milestone for ProElite as we continue to implement our growth strategy and develop existing relationships with our international partners.”

“Our world-class fighters and the high production value of our events continue to drive ProElite as a global MMA organization that is fortified by the bedrock foundation of a partnership with CBS,” said Gary Shaw, President of EliteXC. “Broadcasting our events on CBS will instantly engage a new fan base, as well as provide an opportunity for EliteXC to further establish itself as the world’s premier MMA organization.”

The intense nature of the contests and the theatrical elements of its live events have made mixed martial arts one of the fastest growing spectator sports in the United States. Over the last several years, the genre has seen tremendous growth in popularity, especially among the coveted 18-34 demographic.

Mixed martial arts is a sport evolved from a number of ancient combat disciplines including judo, jiu-jitsu, karate, wrestling and kickboxing. World-class athletes engage in hand-to-hand combat in a ring—both caged and traditional—and must adapt their fighting style to fit their opponent. The wide variety of styles and techniques make every event an unpredictable spectacle.

The UFC has officially announced the fights between Tito Ortiz and Lyoto Machida, and Keith Jardine and Wanderlei Silva at UFC 84 “Ill Will” on May 24 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

These fights will be a great addition to the lightweight championship fight between BJ Penn and Sean Sherk.

For more UFC 84 rumors, check out our fight card page.

According to Yahoo Sports, Pro Elite has came to agreement to air four shows on CBS. The official announcement is expected to come tomorrow February 28. Here are some key points expected to be announced:

• The deal is four 4 fights to start some time in April.
• Kimbo Slice is expected to headline the first show.
• Possible venues include Atlantic City, N.J. or the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
• Two hour shows starting at 9pm EST, on Saturday nights.
• Viacom the parent company of Showtime also owns CBS.
• Showtime subscriptions are up 11% in the last quarter of 2007, while CBS profits fell by 19%.

Cage Today will have the latest EliteXC News as it becomes available.

Anderson Silva takes on Dan Henderson at UFC 82 on March Second from Columbus, Ohio.

Paul Daley, welterweight Cage Rage Champion and standout Pro Elite fighter has announced on the Cage Worriers message-boards, that he will be retiring following his fight at March 29 EliteXC-Strikeforce co-promoted event featuring Cung Le vs. Frank Shamrock.

Daley who impressed at the latest ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series” event in Atlantic City, N.J., knocking out Sammy Morgan with a fierce elbow in the first round.

Here is the message:

This is for the fighters, fans, promoters and trolls alike.

As of now i will be stepping down as Cage Rage Champion (British and world), FX-3 Champion and KOTR champion. I vacate all these titles. Futher more i consider my self retired (from all MMA/Thai boxing) as of March 29th. March 29th i will fullfill my contracted commitment for Pro Elite, against a yet un named opponent.

No speculation, No futher annonucments, once i’ve found the path i originally set out on in the Martial Arts, i may return to this SPORT, Maybe 6months-Maybe 6 years, who knows.

Who will be the next welterweight CRC champ. FX-3 champ????…

Thanks

Countdown to UFC 82 Part 1

Countdown to UFC 82 Part 2

According to the UFC, UFC Fight Night 13 slated for April 2 from the Broomfield Events Center in Broomfield, Colorado has been officially sold out.

Also announced, the 12 fight event has been extended to three hours to accommodate more of the stacked fight card on the broadcast.

UFC’s long-awaited return to Colorado, the state where UFC debuted more than 15 years ago – is officially sold out. The UFC and Spike TV also announced the April 2 card will expand to three hours, the first time in three years for a UFC Fight Night

MAIN CARD

Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon
Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan
Tim Boetsch vs. Matt Hamill
Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin
Nate Diaz vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard*

UNDER CARD

Marcus Aurelio vs. Spencer Fisher
Josh Neer vs. Din Thomas
Jeff Cox vs. Manny Gamburyan
Samy Schiavo vs. Clay Guida
Roman Mitichyan vs. George Sotiropoulos
Anthony Johnson vs. Tommy Speer

*Swing bout, may not be televised

Cheick Kongo takes on Heath Herring at UFC 82 on April 2 from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Joe “Diesel” Riggs is to undergo back surgery to relieve pressure on his sciatic nerve, following his first round injury loss to Cory Devela at Saturday nights Strikeforce “At The Dome” show, according to statements made to MMAweekly.

Riggs has been plagued with back injuries throughout his career.

Joe Riggs on his injury:

“I felt fire shoot down my right leg….I was like, I’m done. I’m done; I can’t do anything…I thought I was paralyzed.”

“I’m pulling my hair out over this thing, it’s embarrassing….I’m not trying to disrespect the guy, but he had no business beating a guy like me.”

Joe Riggs had a clause in his contract that will grant him an immediate rematch with Cory Devela, here is what Riggs had to say about their rematch:

“I vow my career on it; it will be a total, complete ass whooping”

The new promotion DREAM, formed by former PRIDE FC employs and K-1, has announced additional fights for its lightweight grand prix tournament, on its new official website, dreamofficial.com.

The 16 man lightweight tournament will be held March 15 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Fight Card

Kultar Gill vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Luiz Firmino vs. Kazuyuki Miyata
Koutetsu Boku vs. Joachim Hansen
Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias “JZ” Calvancante
Andre Amade vs. TBA
Jung Bu-Kyung vs. TBA
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. TBA
Gilbert Melendez vs. TBA
Artur Oumakhanov vs. TBA
Caol Uno vs. TBA

According to MMAMania, Mike “Quick” Swick will take on the “Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis at UFC 85 on June 7 from the O2 Arena in London, England.

Davis has been one of the most entertaining fighters on the UFC venture into the European market. On a eleven fight win streak, Davis’s last win came when he knocked out Jess Liaudin at UFC 80.

Mike Swick dropped down to welterweight after being overpowered by Yushin Okami at UFC 69.

At UFN 12, Swick was unable to put on a show as Josh Burkman kept Swick on the defensive defending takedowns just to take the unanimous decision win over the fellow TUF veteran.

For the latest Rumors on UFC 85, Check out our UFC Rumor section.

Hollywood Dan Henderson sits down with ESPN’s Jim Rome discussing his up coming fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 82.

Countdown to UFC 82: Pride of a Champion airs tonight at 11pm EST on SpikeTV. The show goes behind the scenes in Brazil with Anderson Silva.

For the latest UFC 82 rumors check out our fight card page.

Bob Sapp vs. Jan Nortje

Rick Roufus vs Maurice Smith

Cory Devela vs Joe Riggs