Press Release

MMA BIG SHOW PRESENTS LOCAL FAVORITES CHRIS BENNETT, MOJO HORNE, AND TJ BALL
AS THEY PUT IT ALL ON THE LINE AT “ALL OR NOTHING”

Event to take place live at Belterra Casino Resort & Spa on July 17th

Indiana (USA): MMA Big Show, one of the top fight promotions in the Midwest, will present its next exciting event, “ALL OR NOTHING,” which will take place on July 17th at Belterra Casino Resort & Spa in Indiana. In the main event, big-time local favorite Mojo Horne (7-2) will face one of his toughest tests to date, as he tangles with extremely experienced American Top Team product Lucas Lopes (19-8, fifteen finishes). Also featured on the card will be rising young local prospect “The Samurai” Chris Bennett (0-1 pro, 18-1 amateur), as he attempts to capture his first pro win from Brad Smith (1-1). Another notable local showcased on the fight card will be T.J. Ball (1-1), who will be looking to increase his pro experience against Danny “The Hammer” Surface (3-2). And making his return to Big Show will be Scott Cornwell (1-1), who made his Big Show debut last fall against UFC veteran Junie “The Lunatic” Browning (4-3). Tickets for “ALL OR NOTHING” are priced at $25, $45, and $75, and are available through Ticketmaster, as well as http://www.mmabigshow.com/. 21 and over only, please.

A training partner of Rich Franklin and a former MMA Big Show Middleweight Champion, Mojo Horne was glad to put 2009 behind him, as he suffered the first losses of his pro career. However, he ended the campaign on a high note, as he submitted Kevin Barkdull in the first round at November’s “ONSLAUGHT” event. Now back to his winning ways, Horne is looking to target his title once again in 2010. Standing in his way will be extremely experienced veteran Lucas Lopes. A veteran of 27 MMA fights, Lopes has
fought well-known competitors Sean Salmon and StrikeForce fighter Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, and has defeated UFC welterweight contender Thiago Alves and former UFC fighter Antonio “Samuray” Mendes. Lopes is on a four-fight winning streak, including two straight wins in StrikeForce. Lucas is coming off a KO victory over Robert “Bubba” McDaniel, who previous defeated Mojo via ref stoppage after Horne’s nose was broken. This is Mojo’s opportunity to, in a way, avenge his loss to McDaniel, and come out ahead of a highly experience ATT fighter. Certainly, this will be a difficult test for Horne, but he’s ready to go out there and prove that not only can he beat a veteran like Lopes, he is deserving of a shot at “his” belt. “I’m hoping that if I win this fight, that I’ll be able to fight for my title again. From there, once I get my title back, Jason says he has some plans for me. So I’m excited about that.” What does he think about facing a competitor like his opponent? “I’ve seen some footage on him. He looks like more of a standup fighter. Don’t know much about his ground. The fight footage on him doesn’t show much about the ground. But I’m a firm believer in fighting the fight, not the fighter. So I’m just gonna go in there and do my thing.” And to the fans, Mojo had this to say: “I’m going to do my best for you guys, as I always do. Hopefully, I get the KO or submission, and everyone get’s their money’s worth.”

“The Samurai” Chris Bennett built a name for himself with MMA Big Show fans with his incredibly exciting fights. A real crowd-pleaser, he turned professional earlier this year after piling up eighteen amateur victories. Bennett, currently a 0-1 as a pro, is looking to rebound after a devastating loss to American Top Team’s Tony Simms and prove that he’s a serious contender against Brad Smith at “ALL OR NOTHING.” Additionally, T.J. Ball will be fighting the very tough Danny “The Hammer” Surface, who will be making his pro debut. Both fighters recently dropped to 185 lbs. from their former heavyweight status. As a result, this is going to be a war between two muscle-packed fighters looking to dominate.

Fearsome fighter Scott Cornwell put on a show in the main event of Big Show’s “ONSLAUGHT” in November of 2009. is a Cincinnati native who started learning Tae Kwon Do at the age of three under Master David Huffstutler. As a teenager, Cornwell quickly progressed through the ranks, and currently holds a 3rd degree black belt, winning several local and national tournaments. He also had a very impressive high school wrestling career, where he competed for multiple national teams in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. His amateur mixed martial arts career began in 2007 while training under 4th degree black belt and renowned MMA instructor Rob Gerhardt, and he won his first five amateur fights, amassing an impressive record of 7-2. In preparation for his pro debut, Scott began additional training with Rod Housley at Team Vision while continuing to train and teach at Hamilton-Fairfield Tae Kwon Do. In short, Scott is an excellent striker and wrestler, and is well-versed in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Fans can bet on these fights through the MMA Big Show iPhone Fantasy Better, and can also watch the event LIVE on R&R Channel 354 on DirecTV at 8 PM EST on the 17th.

In addition, the Big Show Gym, a 19,000 square foot MMA & Fitness Facility will be opening on June 27th in Eastgate Mall in Batavia, OH. This new facility will opening softly on the 27th and will host a grand opening event approximately 30 days later, once all of the equipment and build-out has been completed. This gym will feature a full strength and cardio center, full MMA cage (the actual MMA Big Show Cage), BJJ mats, Muay Thai center, and will host a multitude of training and group classes such as Extreme Fitness Boxing, Zumba, yoga, aerobics and much more. Please visit http://www.bigshowgym.com/ for more information.

The MMA Big Show is currently looking for both national sponsors for its live national broadcasts as well as the gym.

The full fight card for “ALL OR NOTHING” includes:

Mojo Horne vs. Lucas Lopes
T.J. Ball vs. Danny Surface
Chris Bennett vs. Brad Smith
Scott Cornwell vs. James Baumgardner
Brendon Hampton vs. Josh Curry
Tyler Riley vs. Shannon Casey
Trevor Riley vs. Chris Anness
Joe Pegg vs. Marcus Lewis
Dave Coghlan vs. Eric Grifford
Jordan Seals vs. Jimmie Allen
Nikolas Hoobler- Scherff vs. Korey Comptan
TJ Wash vs. Dallas Rice
BJ Wulff vs. Justin Bruster
Shannon Powell vs. Phil Colston
Denver Myers vs. John Risley
Kirk Miller vs. Dom Steele
William Kimrey vs. Ryan Holubek
Michael Ormes vs. David Smallwood
Vic Sims vs. Colt Helton

Fight card is subject to change.

Dave Meltzer is reporting that UFC lightweight fighter Tyson Griffin will replace injured fighter Joe Stevenson to take on Japanese sensation Takanori Gomi as part of the the August 1 card UFC on Versus 2 event. The event takes place from the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California.

Fans of Gomi are hoping to see a much better and more polished fighter than the one that made his debut in the Octagon against Kenny “KenFlo” Florian at UFC Fight Night 21. Not only did Gomi look unfocused and outclassed, his cardio seemed to be very lacking as well.

Griffin is a solid fighter but not necessarily a solid finisher. With a penchance for having fights go to decision(8 of his last nine have gone that way) its easy to see why the ATT fighter hasn’t progressed to the upper levels of the UFC lightweight division. Griffin will be coming off a decision loss to Evan Dunham at UFC 115: Liddell Vs. Franklin and should be more than hungry to take out the former Pride champion Gomi.

There’s not a lot of information on the matches scheduled for UFC on Versus 2, but Jon Jones will take on Vladimir Matyshenko and Yushin Okami will face Mark Munoz. We’ll update the card information as the bouts become official.

It’s going to be a night of interesting fights as many underdogs look to make their mark at UFC:111 . This event kicks off Saturday night March 27^th and will be broadcast LIVE on SpikeTV 9p.m. ET with two preliminary fights and with the main card on Pay-Per-View starting at 10p.m. ET.

UFC:111 will be going down from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and features a welterweight championship battle between UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and challenger Dan Hardy as the headliner, also on the card, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will fight Shane Carwin fir the interim heavyweight championship, and much more.

As always, please feel free to put up or shut up and join it by posting a quick set of your own picks in the comment section below.

MAIN CARD 10p.m. ET on Pay-Per-View

Champion Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy (for welterweight title)

Perhaps the most impressive thing about this fight has been Dan Hardy and his legitimate belief that he will win this fight.  St-Pierre has looked like an unbeatable force in the welterweight division. It’s been pretty well documented that most feel Hardy’s one and only shot is to catch St-Pierre with a shot that knocks out the champion.

The prospect of that happening is so remote that a 3 part series needed to be made to emphasize the point.  While it is true Hardy holds  11 career (T)KO’s , the fact is that he has one KO victory in the UFC over Rory Markham, and 3 decision wins.  Hardy has made a living of raising the level of his game just high enough to beat his opponents, but the hurdle that is Georges St-Pierre is just to high.

Look for a repeat of the Alves/Serra II fights with St-Pierre taking the fight to the ground and keeping it there. With the eventually stoppage coming with St-Pierre punishing Hardy from top position.

Winner: Georges St-Pierre  via TKO ( ground and pound) Round 2

Shane Carwin vs. Frank Mir (for interim heavyweight title)

I’ve found it very difficult to pick against the new breed of undefeated fighters.  With the way matchups are made it becomes difficult to tell who is for real and who is manufactured.

Mir is an extremely marked step up in competition for Carwin.  Mir holds more paths to victory in this fight with Carwin’s advantages being wrestling and possibly power. I’m going to side with Frank Mir in this fight for a few reasons, activity and improvement.

My concerns with Shane Carwin in this fight are quite simple, this is his first fight against elite level competition, and his lack of activity over the past 12 months.

Winner: Frank Mir via submission Round 2

Jon Fitch vs. Ben Saunders

With the loss of Thiago Alves from this fight fellow ATT member  Ben Saunders was quick to step up and want this fight.

I’ve felt for a little while that it’s only a matter of time before Jon Fitch takes a fight with a fighter he shouldn’t be fighting and finds himself with a loss to a mid level up and coming fighter.  Saunders could be that guy.  Saunders has looked impressive against competition he should beat, and had faltered against upper level competition.

On the flipside, Jon Fitch is 21-1  in his last 22 fights with his lone loss coming to Georges St-Pierre.  While Fitch has been anything but exciting in his recent fights, he is winning, and I can’t let my boredom be the cause  for my picking against him.

Winner:  Jon Fitch  by decision

Mark Bocek vs. Jim Miller

Jim Miller holds a large advantage on the feet, and has the takedown defense to keep this fight on the feet.

Winner:  Jim Miller via TKO  Round 2

Fabricio Camoes vs. Kurt Pellegrino

Hometown fighter Pellegrino gets promoted to the main card with an excellent chance to showcase improvement over upstart Fabricio Camoes.  Pellegrino is riding a 3 fight win streak coming into this fight while Camoes comes into the fight off a Draw against Caol Uno.

Pellegrino was scheduled to fight Frankie Edgar in December prior to a back injury that caused him to pull out of the fight.  Camoes will serve as a perfect comeback fight for “Batman”

Winner:  Kurt Pellegrino via submission Round 3

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV 9p.m. ET)

Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham

Nate Diaz makes his welterweight debut. Look for Diaz to do what has never been done and submit Markham.

Winner:  Nate Diaz  via submission Round 1

Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown

Also making the move to 170, Ricardo Almeida debuts at welterweight.  Almeida draws the always tough and gritty Matt Brown.  While I always enjoy watching Matt Brown fight, and he is riding a 3 fight win streak, Almeida’s ground game is at a different level.

Winner: Ricardo Almeida via submission Round 2

PRELIMINARY CARD

Jared Hamman vs. Rodney Wallace

I have had the pleasure to watch Rodney Wallace fight a few times.  Wallace will use his heavy hands  to score the KO victory.

Winner: Rodney Wallace via TKO  Round 2

Tomasz Drwal vs. Rousimar Palhares

Palhares is a beast, riding a 3 fight win streak Palhares looks to move back towards the top of the card with another workman like victory over Drwal.

Winner:  Rousimar Palhares  via  submission Round 1

Matthew Riddle vs. Greg Soto

Riddle will win this fight , it will be boring and the people arriving at the venue should take their time finding  the best parking spot available.

Winner: Matt Riddle  via decision