The World Extremem Cagefighting promotion confirmed the full card for it’s upcoming Sept. 30 event. “WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan” will go down at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado and feature a featherweight title bout between champion Jose Aldo vs. Manvel Gamburyan.
Main card
Featherweight Championship bout: Jose Aldo vs. Manvel Gamburyan
Lightweight bout: Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone
Bantamweight bout: Miguel Torres vs. Charlie Valencia
Featherweight bout: Chan Sung Jung vs. George Roop
Featherweight bout: Leonard Garcia vs. Mark Hominick
Preliminary Card
Featherweight bout: Mike Brown vs Cole Province
Lightweight bout: Ed Ratcliff vs. Chris Horodecki
Featherweight bout: Diego Nunes vs. Tyler Toner
Bantamweight bout: Antonio Banuelos vs. Chad George
Bantamweight bout: Demetrious Johnson vs. Nick Pace
Full Press Release
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One of the deepest cards of the year just received more firepower as World Extreme Cagefighting® confirmed six additional bouts for its debut at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colo. on Thursday, Sept. 30.
WEC General Manager Reed Harris confirmed the following bouts: Jason Reinhardt vs. Tiequan Zhang, Cole Province vs. Mike Brown, Ed Ratcliff vs. Chris Horodecki, Diego Nunes vs. Tyler Toner, Chad George vs. Antonio Banuelos, and Nick Pace vs. Demetrious Johnson.
“The UFC has put on some very successful events in Broomfield and we are hoping to duplicate their success,” Harris said. “This card is absolutely loaded with tremendous fights. In addition to the main card bouts, fans are in store for the return of former featherweight champ Mike Brown and the debut of our first Chinese fighter, Tiequan Zhang. Plus, hometown fighter Tyler Toner competes in his own backyard against a very dangerous Diego Nunes. We are extremely excited to bring this event to Colorado.”
Tickets for WEC: Aldo vs. Gamburyan are on sale now and priced at $185, $135, $75, and $40. Tickets are available online at www.TicketHorse.com or by phone at 866.461.6556. TicketHorse kiosks are also located at all Colorado Dick’s Sporting Goods Stores (credit cards only). In addition, tickets are also available at 1STBANK Center Box Office on July 30 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. MT or at Pepsi Center during normal box office hours.
WEC: Aldo vs. Gamburyan will be televised nationally live on VERSUS beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. All of the network’s live WEC events are presented in HD and Spanish language SAP where available. For more information and how to find VERSUS in your local viewing area, visit http://www.versus.com/findversus.
Sept. 30 will serve as a milestone date in WEC history as the organization welcomes its first fighter from mainland China, Tiequan Zhang (fighting out of Beijing, China). Recognized for his versatility and impressive submission game, the unbeaten 32-year-old (16-0) meets battle-tested veteran Jason Reinhardt (fighting out of Decatur, Ill.) in an exciting lightweight showdown. Reinhardt (20-1), a UFC veteran who has been competing professionally since 2000, believes his ability to finish fights will propel him to victory at the 1STBANK Center.
Former featherweight champion Mike Brown (fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) begins his trek back to the world title in Colorado when he takes on seasoned wrestler Cole Province (fighting out of Edmond, Okla.). A product of American Top Team, the 34-year-old Brown (23-6) ruled the 145-pound division for over a year thanks to his heavy hands and versatile ground game. He’ll look to return to form when he meets Province later this month. Recognized for his strong wrestling and conditioning, Province (6-1, 1 NC) believes his first win in WEC will come at Brown’s expense. The 29-year-old expects to spark a title run of his own by upending the former champion on Sept. 30.
The long-awaited clash between lightweights Ed Ratcliff (fighting out of San Diego, Calif.) and Chris Horodecki (fighting out of London, Ontario, Canada) erupts in Broomfield this Fall and is sure to be a war between two of the division’s best strikers. A speedy Taekwondo artist who trains alongside WEC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz in San Diego, the 27-year-old Ratcliff (7-2) hopes to cement his contender status with a win over his Canadian counterpart. Hungry to secure his own place among the lightweight elite, the 22-year-old Horodecki (14-2) looks to earn his second straight victory inside the WEC cage. The Canadian star defeated Danny Downes by submission in his last fight in June.
Hometown favorite Tyler Toner (fighting out of Denver, Colo.) will display his high-level striking in his own backyard when he takes on Muay Thai ace Diego Nunes (fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) in an intriguing featherweight matchup. After knocking out previously-unbeaten Brandon Visher in his WEC debut in April, the 27-year-old Toner (11-1, 1 NC) plans to defend his turf when he meets Nunes. The task will be easier said than done though. Nunes (14-1) is coming off the biggest win of his career over Raphael Assuncao in June and is motivated as ever to climb the featherweight ladder.
A dark horse for Fight of the Night pits Chad George (fighting out of Los Angeles, Calif.) against Antonio Banuelos (fighting out of Arroyo Grande, Calif.) in bantamweight action. Respected for his fluid jiu jitsu skills and supreme cardio, George (11-5) is nicknamed “The Savage” for a reason. He hopes to earn his second win in the WEC over Banuelos by utilizing his relentless pace. Banuelos (18-6), who trains alongside UFC legend Chuck Liddell, is no stranger to high-intensity bouts and plans to use his standout wrestling and precise striking to best George in Broomfield.
Bantamweight Demetrious Johnson (fighting out of Parkland, Wash.) earned the respect of many in his WEC debut in April against contender Brad Pickett. Using his speed and strength, the 24-year-old went toe-to-toe with one of the division’s best. Now, the 10-1 fighter has his sights set on another impressive performance when he meets newcomer Nick Pace (fighting out of New York City, N.Y.). Equally driven to make a solid impression in front of the WEC faithful, the 5-0 Pace is ready for everything his opponent will throw at him. The Team Tiger Schulmann product expects a fast-paced bout when he collides with “Mighty Mouse” on Sept. 30.
For more information, on WEC: Aldo vs. Gamburyan, visit www.wec.tv. Follow WEC at http://twitter.com/WEConVERSUS.
About World Extreme Cagefighting®
The WEC brand is recognized as one of the premier mixed martial arts organizations in the United States. WEC, founded in 2001, is the sister organization of the Ultimate Fighting Championship® and today features the most prominent light weight fighters in the world. Owned and operated by WEC Holdings LLC., and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., the WEC produces live and taped events annually that are distributed through the Versus network.WEC programming is also available on Fox Sports en Espanol. In addition to its U.S distribution, WEC programming is shown on The Score network in Canada, Setanta Sports in Australia, Globosat in Brazil, and Cadena Tres in Mexico. For more information and current WEC fight news, visit wec.tv. World Extreme Cagefighting® and WEC® are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by WEC Holdings, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions and are licensed to WEC Productions, LLC.
About VERSUS
VERSUS, the fastest growing sports cable network in the country, prides itself on super-serving passionate sports fans across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD). Now in more than 75 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the National Hockey League (NHL), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Bull Riders (PBR). VERSUS also airs NASCAR, NBA, UFC, college football and college basketball programming. The network is home to the best outdoor programming on television and airs original programs not available anywhere else, including The Daily Line and Sports Soup. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.
On Monday, DREAM official Keiichi Sasahara announced the addition of three featherweight bouts for the upcoming DREAM.16 event.
Michihiro Omigawa (11-8-1) takes on Cole Escovedo (16-5), while Hiroyuki Takaya (13-8-1) faces Chase Beebe (13-5-1), and Mitsuhiro Ishida (19-6-1) meets Akiyo “Wicky” Nishiura (11-5-1).
DREAM.16 will take place in just a few short weeks on Sept. 25 at the Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan. The event will be broadcast in North America on HDNet, check local listings for timings.
Omigawa had been rumored to meet Bellator featherweight champ Joe Warren, but will meet former WEC and Tachi Palace Fights featherweight champ Escovedo instead.
Omigawa has won his past four fights, appearing on the last DREAM show against Young Sam Jung. Omigawa submitted the Korean with a guillotine choke on the DREAM.15 card.
Escovedo had a five fight win streak stopped in his last fight at TPF 5 – Satrs and Strikes this past July, losing to Michael McDonald via TKO. The former WEC featherweight champ has fought the likes of Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver in the past.
The DREAM.16 event card appears as follows:
Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Gegard Mousasi vs. Tatsuya Mizuno
Featherweight bout: Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Chase Beebe
Featherweight bout: Michihiro Omigawa vs. Cole Escovedo
Featherweight bout: Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Akiyo Nishiura
Middleweight bout: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Jason Miller
Lightweight bout: Shinya Aoki vs. Marcus Aurelio
Featherweight bout: Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Takeshi Inoue
Featherweight bout: Hideo Tokoro vs. Joachim Hansen
Bellator Fighting Championships’ featherweight champ Joe Warren, rumored to be fighting Michihiro Omigawa on September 25th at DREAM 16, will no longer be competing on the card but still hopes to see action again at least one time before year’s end.
Had the bout taken place it would have been Warren’s second in September. The highly respected Greco-Roman wrestler’s exciting comeback win over Bellator’s former featherweight title-holder, Joe Soto, occurred on September 2nd and was his fourth fight of 2010.
Warren’s decision to ultimately decline the opportunity offered to fight Omigawa in Japan was related to an inability to come to terms with the company, as he explained in a conversation with Sherdog.
“It just didn’t work out very well,” said Warren. “We didn’t come to an agreement, and it didn’t look like it was the best opportunity for me at that time. I thought it was, but it just isn’t going to go down.”
However, just because the one-time Michigan Wolverine won’t be stepping into a Japanese ring on September 25th doesn’t mean he isn’t training to scrap again at some point in the immediate future. When asked about his upcoming plans, Warren replied, “I need to keep fighting and keep getting better. I probably won’t fight until November or December, so that will give me two months to get ready, and the best way to learn how to fight is by fighting. I’m still young, still healthy and injury-free.”
Warren is 6-1 with his only loss coming to Brazilian Bibiano Fernandes last October at DREAM 11 during the promotion’s featherweight grand prix. He has won all four of his fights since the defeat.
DREAM 16 will emanate from the Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan. Among the bouts currently listed on the card, Jason “Mayhem” Miller will battle legend-of-the-ring-and-entrance Kazushi Sakuraba, while submission ace Shinya Aoki is slated to face BJJ blackbelt Marcus Aurelio. Additionally, Gegard Mousasi and Joachim Hansen are scheduled to be in action.
The latest event under the Bellator Fighting Championship banner, Bellator 28, is taking place at the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts in New Orleans, Louisiana tonight.
The main card kicks off on Fox Sports Net, as well as it’s regional sports network affiliates, at 8 PM EST (5 PM PST).
Bellator 28 marks the first event to feature no tournament bouts on the card. For fans not entirely familiar with Bellator events, preliminary bouts will take place before and after the live broadcast. This ensures the promotion makes their television timings for the show.
Don’t forget to check out the Bellator 28 post-fight press conference starting at 11PM EST (8 PM PST) at Bellator.com.
Here are the full ‘Quick Results’ for Bellator 28.
Main Card
Lightweight bout: Carey Vanier def. Rich Clementi via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Featherweight bout: Georgi Karakhanyan def Anthony Leone via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Featherweight bout: Eric Larkin def. Marcus Andrusia via submission (guillotine choke) – R1 @ 2:46
Middleweight bout: Eric Schambari def. Matt Horwich via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
Local Feature Fights
Heavyweight bout: Tony Roberts def. Kelvin Doss via submission (punches) – R1
Featherweight bout: Jonathan Mackles def. Brock Kerry via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Featherweight bout: Toney Canales vs. J.C. Pennington
Welterweight bout: Charlie Rader def. Josh Rafferty via TKO – R1 @ 1:14
Welterweight bout: Scott O’Shaughnessy def. Gabe Woods via submission (armbar) – R3 @ 2:11
The weigh-ins for Bellator Fighting Championships latest event, Bellator 28, is set to begin tonight at approx. 6:30PM EST (3:30 PM PST) from the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The event, which happens Thursday, Sept. 9, goes down at the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts in New Orleans, Louis. This will be the first event to feature no tournament bouts.
The main card will consist of four fights that will be broadcast live on FOX Sports Net and its regional sports network affiliates.
You can watch the weigh-ins via a live feed over at Bellator.com.
The full weigh-in results for Bellator 28 are as follows:
Main Card
Lightweight bout: Rich Clementi (155.6) vs. Carey Vanier (156)
Featherweight bout: Georgi Karakhanyan (145.4) vs. Anthony Leone (146)
Featherweight bout: Eric Larkin (155.4) vs. Marcus Andrusia (155.4)
Middleweight bout: Matt Horwich (185.6) vs. Eric Schambari (184.2)
Local Feature Fights
Heavyweight bout: Tony Roberts (229.6) vs. Kelvin Doss (232.8)
Featherweight bout: Jonathan Mackles (135.6) vs. Brock Kerry (135.8)
Featherweight bout: Toney Canales (151.8) vs. J.C. Pennington (154.8)
Welterweight bout: Josh Rafferty (169.2) vs. Charlie Rader (170.8)
Welterweight bout: Scott O’Shaughnessy (155.8) vs. Gabe Woods (155)
With only three weeks left before Fighting and Entertainment Group’s latest event, DREAM.16, the promotion announced three more bouts to it’s thin Sept. 25 card.
Made official at the press conference was a non-title bout between DREAM lightweight champ Shinya Aoki (24-5) vs. Marcus Aurelio (20-8), former DREAM lightweight champ Joachim Hansen (19-10-1) will move to featherweight to face Kazuyuki Miyata (9-7), and a second featherweight bout between Takeshi “Lion” Inoue (18-4) vs. Kazuyuki Miyata (9-7).
DREAM officials reconfirmed the light-heavyweight bout between Gegard Mousasi and Tatsuya Mizuno for the vacant DREAM title.
A bout between Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller was also made official after the promotion posted a promo video for the fight on their YouTube page.
“When I see Marcus Aurelio, I see him through the image of Gomi. While Gomi’s doing his best fighting in the states now, my hope is to do well in Japan and not lose [to Aurelio]. I’m on the same track as Gomi, I think. I’d like to have an opportunity to fight Gomi in the future,” said Aoki, who later asserted that though he isn’t aiming for Gomi per se, he has expected to cross paths with the former Pride champ someday.
“I don’t know why, but there’s a lot of negative information these days, and I want brighten up the combat sports world,” Aoki commented. “At today’s press conference, there were some questions that were asked that should have been handled online. We as fighters grow tired of some of these questions. I just want to do my best, fight well and brighten things with my fight in Nagoya.”
Middleweight bout: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Jason Miller
Lightweight bout: Shinya Aoki vs. Marcus Aurelio
Featherweight bout: Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Takeshi Inoue
Featherweight bout: Hideo Tokoro vs. Joachim Hansen
Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Gegard Mousasi vs. Tatsuya Mizuno
One day after holding a thrilling featherweight title fight in San
Antonio, Texas, Bellator Fighting Championships officials are now
turning their attention to "The Big Easy."
Bellator today announced the four main-card fights for next week's
Bellator 28 event, which takes place Sept. 9 at the Mahalia Jackson
Theater for the Performing Arts in New Orleans.
The contests include Rich Clementi vs. Carey Vanier and Georgi
Karakhanyan vs. Anthony Leone, a pair of "tournament qualifier" bouts that
were previously reported by MMAjunkie.com, as well
as two new bouts in Matt Horwich vs. Eric Schambari and Marcus Andrusia
vs. Eric Larkin.
Former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber will make his debut at 135-pounds this November after injuring his MCL in July while training. Fortunately, surgery wasn’t required to correct the problem, and as a result “The California Kid” was scheduled to be ready for a return to the cage sooner than later.
Though Faber had expressed an interest in fighting as soon as September 30th, he and his fans will have to wait a little longer, as MMAWeekly has confirmed WEC’s foremost face will step into the ring against previously-scheduled bantamweight opponent Takeya Mizugaki on November 11th at WEC 52.
The 26-year old Mizugaki should sound familiar to MMA fans remembering his epic five-round battle against Miguel Torres in April 2009. The 13-4-2 fighter has gone 2-1 since making his mark in America at the event with decision wins over Jeff Curran and Rani Yahya (and a decision loss to Scott Jorgensen sandwiched in-between them).
Faber is currently 23-4 and has only been finished once in his WEC career. After making a name for himself in the sport as one of the top 145-pound fighters competing, the dimple-chinned superstar has gone 2-3 in his last five bouts though two were decision losses in championship match-ups where he fought injured.
Recent WEC fighter Anthony Leone (8-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) has replaced injured Alvin Robinson and now meets fellow featherweight Georgi Karakhanyan at next week's Bellator 28 event.
Karakhanyan confirmed Robinson's injury via Twitter, and a source close to the event told MMAjunkie.com Leone has been tapped as a replacement.
Bellator 28 takes place Sept. 9 at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts in New Orleans.
Former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber brings a camera along to show fans how his recovery from injury is going. “The California Kid” does some lower body training in this video.
He was to have faced Takeya Mizugaki at WEC 50 in a move to bantamweight but an injury forced him from the card. Both fighters are expected to meet at WEC 52 in November of this year.
One day after holding a thrilling featherweight title fight in San
Recent WEC fighter Anthony Leone (8-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) has replaced injured Alvin Robinson and now meets fellow featherweight Georgi Karakhanyan at next week's Bellator 28 event.