By Pres Release

Kinektic has announced a world-class SuperFight between Raufeon “Supa” Stots and Anthony “El Toro” Birchak will provide chief support for the inaugural Kinektic submission grappling tournament on Friday, August 16, in Anaheim, California.

All the action will be streamed exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS®, the world’s leading digital subscription service for combat sports, live from Anaheim Business Expo Center.

All Kinektic team formatted events will feature four competing squads, each comprised of five world-class grapplers, in a tournament consisting of semifinals and a championship final. A grappling Super Fight, featuring additional participants not already competing in the tournament, will be held between the final semifinals match and championship final

On Aug. 16th in Anaheim, the Stots vs. Birchak SuperFight will be contested at 155-pounds, showcasing a pair of grapplers currently competing in Legacy Fighting Alliance.

Houston-based Stots was a two-time NCAA, Division II All-American wrestler at the University of Nebraska in Kearney. The 30-year-old Stots has a 12-1 professional mixed-martial-arts record.

Birchak, fighting out of Tucson, Arizona, also was a Div. 2 collegiate wrestler at Pima Community College and Grand Canyon University. He has competed in the UFC, Bellator and Rizen FF, compiling a 15-6 MMA record.

Co-founded by UFC® Hall of Famer Urijah Faber, Las Vegas entrepreneur Keith Veltre, and award-winning combat sports announcer Sean Wheelock, Kinektic is a unique, tournament-style promotion that will feature athletes from various combat sports disciplines, including mixed martial arts, grappling, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and more.

“August 16th promises to deliver an exciting, action-packed night,” Veltre said. “Delivering some of the biggest names in the sport will no doubt make an impression with fans.”

The captains of the four star-powered teams are UFC veteran and MMA media personality Chael Sonnen (Team SUG); world-class grappler Craig Jones (Team BJJ Fanatics); UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith (Team Lionheart); and former UFC welterweight Chris Lytle (Team Lights Out Urban Activities). Team Captains had the option to compete for their team, Jones and Lytle are competing for their respective teams.
Joining Jones on Team BJJ Fantatics are UFC athlete and former Strikeforce Welterweight World Champion Jake Shields, ADCC Trials bronze medalist Nicky Rodriguez, IBJJF World Champion Edwin Najmi, and ADCC Asia and Oceania gold medalist Lachlan Giles.

Veteran UFC athlete and former WEC Middleweight Champion Joe Riggs, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Rico Rodriguez, Polaris Welterweight Champion Mansher Khera, and Grapplers Quest Champion and BJJ black belt Will Weed join Lytle on Team Lights Out Urban Achievers.

Team SUG has veteran UFC athlete and ADCC gold medalist Vinny Magalhaes, former WSOF Featherweight Champion Alexandre Almeida, former UFC veteran athlete and PFL light heavyweight Ronny Markes, IBJJF World Championships bronze medalist Rafael Domingos, and LFA veteran and BJJ black belt Gabriel Checco.

Former Bellator Featherweight and Bantamweight Champion, and Greco-Roman Wrestling World Champion, Joe Warren, Pan-American gold medalist Scott Morton, ADCC US Trials gold medalist Enrico Cocco, IBJJF No-gi World Champion James Brasco, and Fight 2 Win Champion Brian Sparrow comprise Team Lionheart.

Faber, who also serves as Kinektic’s Vice President of Business Development, will be the mat-side and backstage interviewer. Joining Faber will be UFC women’s flyweight Paige
VanZant, who is the lead color commentator, and play-by-play announcer Wheelock.

BJJ Fanatics vs. Lights Out Urban Achievers and Team SUG vs. Team Lionheart are the semifinals matchups with the winners meeting on the same night in the championship final.

The one-night tournament consists of bouts with eight-minute time limits. Losers of the semifinal matches are eliminated; draws result in the elimination of both athletes; and the first team with five members eliminated will be out of the competition. The surviving team will be declared the winner. A feature unique to Kinektic Grappling is that the order in which athletes compete is not predetermined. There are thirty seconds between each bout and each team captain will be responsible for strategically deciding which team member will participate next. All members of each team must compete at least once.

Tickets are priced at $65.00 (VIP), $50.00 Reserved) and $30.00 (General Admission), and available to purchase by going online to: http://tickets.ticketforce.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=1656.