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Wednesday, Nov 06, 2002

Wfa: Level 3 Featherweight Action Heating Up


From the event’s promoter:



WFA Logo
WFA: LEVEL 3 FEATHERWEIGHT ACTION HEATING UP

RISING STAR JEFF CURRAN TO REPLACE INJURED NIGEL HUDSON


      (Las Vegas, Nevada, November 7th) Jeff Curran, one of the rising hottest featherweight stars in mixed martial arts today, will now face local Las Vegas fighter Todd Lally at the World Fighting Alliance’s highly-anticipated Novermber 23rd show. Stepping in to replace Nigel Hudson, Curran brings a solid game and a mean left hook to the WFA cage – as exhibited by his brutal KO of Hawaiian stud Barett Yoshida at a recent Superbrawl/ UCC event. A brown belt under Pedro Sauer, Curran’s winning streak will surely be tested by talented Lewis/Pederneiras Vale Tudo fighter Lally.
      The rest of the card remains stacked with top talent. Add to this mix: the ladies, the lights and sounds you’d find in any hot nightclub, and you’ve got the makings of a night to remember! See these two promising competitors battle it out! Get your tickets NOW by purchasing them directly through the Aladdin Resort & Casino’s box office (877-333-9474) and through all Ticketmaster locations (702-474-4000 or www.ticketmaster.com). Ticket prices range from $30, $50, $60, $100, $150, and $200. Check out www.wfa.tv for a detailed seating chart and for the latest news and updates.

For additional event information, please contact:
Paula Romero, WFA Marketing & Promotions at paularromero@yahoo.com


From Josh Hedges/Zuffa:



JOE ROGAN, HOST OF NBC’S FEAR FACTOR, TO JOIN ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP 40: VENDETTA AS COLOR COMMENTATOR

Friday, November 22, Live Pay-Per-View Fight Features Defending Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz Vs. Legend Ken Shamrock at the MGM Grand


      New York, November 7, 2002 -Joe Rogan, the well-known host of NBC’s Fear Factor, is joining Ultimate Fighting Championship 40: Vendetta at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Friday, November 22 as color commentator. The live pay-per-view event is attracting significant media attention due to the main event: a super-fight between the brash defending light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and the returning hard-core legend, Ken Shamrock. UFC40: Vendetta starts live at 10:00 P.M. (EST)
      Rogan is most closely associated with his hosting duties for the immensely popular prime time reality series, Fear Factor and his starring role on NBC’s hit comedy series, NewsRadio where he played Joe Garelli, the resident electrician at WNYX Radio. He also recently released a groundbreaking debut comedy album on Warner Bros. Records titled "I’m Gonna Be Dead Someday."
      What fans may not know is Rogan’s life-long passion for martial arts and specifically Ultimate Fighting Championship’s mixed martial arts’ blend of boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu and karate. Rogan earned a black belt at 15 with just two years of training. Soon he became the Massachusetts full contact tae kwon do champion four consecutive times. By the age of 19, he won the U.S. Open Tae Kwon Do Championship, and as the lightweight champion, he went on to beat both the middle and heavyweight title-holder to take home the Grand Championship.
      "Fans of the UFC know Joe is a regular at our events. So when I asked him to be the color commentator for UFC40 with Ken and Tito in the main event, I didn’t know if he could do it with his busy schedule. But I knew with all of his experience, he was the right man, "said Dana White, president of the UFC. "Joe and I have become friends over the years and his intimacy with the sport and his knowledge of the fighters is going to be a huge benefit for the viewers at home."
      "I’m excited to give the fans the information that I think will provide some perspective on this big event," said Rogan. "I’m fortunate to know more than the average guy about the athletes’ backgrounds, the training required leading up to the event and the rules of mixed martial arts. It will be very cool to have that direct connection with the fans."

From John Murphy:



Ultimate Fighting Documentary:
The Smashing Machine — on HBO


THE SMASHING MACHINE will premiere on HBO on January 12 as part of their America Undercover series. The film chronicles the life and struggles of Ultimate Fighting champion Mark Kerr who was dubbed The Smashing Machine. The film examines the man and the controversial banned-in-the-USA sport.

No holds barred fighting (NHB) has existed throughout history as one of the purest forms of human competition. NHB fighting emerged in the U.S. in 1993 in the form of The Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). Although met with huge pay-per-view success, the UFC was eventually dropped from all cable networks and banned in forty-six states because of the graphic nature of the fights, as well as political opposition.

Mark "The Smashing Machine" Kerr made his way through the ranks of amateur wrestling. He was the 1992 NCAA wrestling champion, a national freestyle wrestling champion, and a 1996 Olympic team member. In 1996, due to the financial limitations of his sport, Kerr moved into the far more lucrative world of professional fighting. When the film begins, Kerr is the number one ranked fighter in the world. His success has brought him money, international fame, and a full-blown addiction to painkillers. The film chronicles Kerr’s struggles as he battles demons both inside and outside the ring, including a confrontation with his former friend and mentor, Mark "The Hammer" Coleman.

The Smashing Machine brings the viewer face to face with one of the most dangerous men in the world in one of the most brutal sports in the world. Are these men violent monsters with a penchant for hurting other people? Or are they skilled athletes functioning at the highest level of their chosen sport?



MECA 7 Preview:
New Faces Looking to Take Old Places

By Eduardo Alonso

      Probably the most important role MECA World Vale Tudo has been playing since its first edition back in May of 2000 is to develop and expose new fighters to the NHB world. Current stars of the sport like Chute Boxe fighters Murilo Ninja Rua and Anderson Silva all made their debuts and made the first, and so important, steps of their careers at the Brazilian event. Other international level fighters like Chute Boxe heavyweight Assuerio Silva, Ruas Vale Tudo fighter Gustavo Ximu, Brazilian Top Team future star Fabio Mello, Macaco’s training partner Luis Azeredo, among others, had in MECA a crucial step in their careers. This is, without a doubt, the biggest service this more than two years old event did to the sport of NHB and its fans. However, this is not all and MECA also brought some famous names to square off in the ring every now and then, like PRIDE superstar Vanderlei Silva, NHB legend Pele Landi, UFC veteran Jorge Macaco Patino, Seasoned veteran Carlos Barreto and K-1 winner Nilson de Castro to name a few. With this mix of newcomers and experienced veterans, MECA World Vale Tudo found the right recipe to attract an ever growing attention from the Brazilian fans, and easily established itself as the countries most important event, in days where fighting events have become so rare.
In its seventh edition promoters Rudimar Fedrigo and Jorge Guimaraes had to struggle with all sorts of backstage problems, from Sportv’s constant change of available dates and plans, to a limited budget to work with passing through the back down of major sponsors. However, none of those facts prevented them to bring a night of pure NHB action to the always hunger Brazilian fans in a nine fights fighting card. The result of the event promoter’s work is obvious: Success. If you have ever been to more than a MECA event you’ll visibly notice the improvement they manage to make from one event to the next one, and this is the showing of the continuous work put through this 2 and half years and the credibility they acquired by always treating fighters, press and fans well. MECA 7 will play a crucial factor in the event’s history, since due to the mentioned problems above, the card doesn’t bring the same number of stars as in the last edition, however it has the potential to be even more exciting as the bet was made on the young guns. With that said, write down some of the names on this fighting card, because just like the likes of Ninja and Anderson Silva in the past, you may see some of those new faces taking old places sooner than you expect…

Click here to continue the MECA preview

posted by Full Contact Fighter @ 8:00 pm
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