New York, NY, June 28, 2010 – Spike TV will telecast live coverage of the weigh-ins for the highly-anticipated “UFC 116 Lesnar-Carwin” fight card on Friday, July 2 at 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT. The main event features a showdown between the top two heavyweight mixed martial artists in the world, UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and interim heavyweight titlist Shane Carwin.

Spike TV also announces it will telecast the light heavyweight clash between “The Ultimate Fighter 2” alum Seth Petruzelli (14-5) and Ricardo Romero (10-1) on Saturday, July 3 at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Petruzelli fight will join the already-announced Brendan Schaub-Chris Tuchscherer fight as part of the Spike TV live Prelims.

Fighting out of Orlando, Florida, the veteran Petruzelli scored his first big victory against mixed martial great Dan Severn in January 2004, winning a three-round decision. A year later he joined the cast of “The Ultimate Fighter 2” but lost to Brad Imes in the show’s semifinals. Petruzelli gained worldwide attention in October 2008 when he defeated Kimbo Slice with a first round TKO, and riding a four fight winning streak, he returns to the Octagon to take on Ricardo Romero, making his UFC debut.

Fighting out of New Brunswick, NJ, Romero is 10-1 in his mixed martial arts career, including winning his last five straight. A highly-regarded college wrestler for Rutgers University, Romero also scored a notable victory over “The Ultimate Fighter 10” alum James McSweeney in April 2009. The Petruzelli-Romero fight will replace the Grove-Reljic fight, which will no longer air live on Spike.

Other bouts on the card might air on Spike TV, to be determined by the length of the fights.
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The MMA News was on hand for the inaugural show for Lets Get It On MMA presented by Elaine McCarthy. The Welterweight tournament was on showcase tonight and it provided some great match-ups. The Main Event was a rematch between Jason ‘The Athlete’ MacDonald and Matt Horwich. The show was very well run but it was not without a bit of controversy.

Main Event:
Jason MacDonald – 184.5 lbs vs. Matt Horwich – 184.5 lbs
Jason MacDonald wins by Unanimous decision. (30-27) (29-28) (29-28). A ground war that was eventually won by J-Mac

Welterweight Tournament:
George Belanger – 169.5 lbs vs. Colin Daynes – 169.5 lbs
Colin Daynes wins by TKO @ 5:00 of Round 1. George was rocked but didn’t look out. Early stoppage considering it was the end of the round. Daynes looked gassed at the end of the fight too.

Victor Bachmann – 169 lbs vs. Jordan Mein – 170 lbs
Jordan Mein wins by Neck Crank @ 4:21 of Round 1. Jordan looked really, really good in this fight. He twisted Bachmann’s neck to make him look like an owl. Jordan looks like the easy frontrunner in the tournament so far.

Andrew Buckland – 171 lbs vs. Ryan McGillivray – 170.5 lbs
This bout is a majority draw. Two judges had is 28-28 and one had is 29-27. Buckland lost this fight because he hit McGillivray after the bell at the end of the 2nd round. Stupid by Buckland but a rematch looks like it will happen on the next card.

Advin Omic – 170 lbs vs. Jose Rodriguez – 170 lbs
Advin Omic wins by Unanimous Decision. All three judges have it 30-26. Omic won this bout because he was on top more but he did nothing with the top position. Rodriguez was way busier from the bottom. Omic better work a lot for his next fight.

Undercard Bouts:
Dan Chambers – 185 lbs vs. Nolan Clark – 184 lbs
Nolan Clark wins by TKO @ 0:35 of Round 1. Chambers was out cold at the end of this fight. On a side note, Clark came to the ring by himself and ended up having matchmaker Matt Stansell in his corner. I’ve never seen anyone come out by himself before.

Robert Curtis – 168.5 lbs vs. Brandt Dewsberry – 168.5 lbs
Dewsberry wins by RNC @ 1:55 of Round 1

Corey Knapp – 144.5 lbs vs Rob Roy – 143 lbs
Rob Roy wins by RNC @ 1:14 of Round 1

Evansville, Indiana quietly has become an epicenter of women’s MMA for several years, and this tradition looks to continue in 2010 with the second annual GFight Summit, scheduled for March 20 through March 27.  Originally the brainchild of Jeff Osborne, the founder of long-running MMA promotion HooknShoot and a prominent early supporter of women’s MMA, GFight enters its second year with Osborne gaining the capable assistance of Patricia VanderMeer and Tammy Piper in organizing this year’s event.

Tammy Piper

HooknShoot’s all-female MMA cards have attracted some of the biggest names in the sport in the past, and many of the sport’s biggest current names will be on hand for the week-long event this year to host seminars and lend their expertise to several up-and-coming grapplers and fighters.  The event kicks off at the Evansville Coliseum on March 20 with a loaded MMA card featuring, among many others, VanderMeer, Ashley Cummins, “The Main Event” Heather Martin, and Laura Edler-Hill.

In the week that follows, there will be at least two seminars or training each day, including MMA seminars led by Sarah Kaufman, Greg Jackson, Julie Kedzie, Merritt Warren, “Lethal” Lana Stefanac, Shayna Baszler, and VanderMeer, and other seminars focusing on BJJ (gi and no-gi), judo, pankration, nutrition and mental training.  The week-long event will conclude on March 27 with a grappling tournament at Big Bully Martial Arts.

Patricia VanderMeer

In a male-dominated sport, it often proves exceptionally difficult for women to find good fights that can advance their career, and events such as the GFight Summit provide an invaluable networking opportunity above and beyond a spot on a fight card.  Event organizer VanderMeer, who made her MMA debut at last year’s inaugural GFight Summit and participated in the grappling event, cites the rare opportunity to learn from some of the best names in the sport.  “Starting off my career” on the MMA card, then “watching the 115 pound 8-women tournament the next day, was inspiring,” says VanderMeer.  “Meeting so many other female fighters and fans was eye-opening.”

Two amateur fighters who will be squaring off against one another on March 20, Emily Peters-Kagan and Jessica Martinez, could not agree more.  Peters-Kagan  is excited to make her MMA debut in a setting that provides the “opportunity to network with other female MMA fighters and join forces to promote women in the world of MMA.”   Her opponent Martinez, with two fights already under her belt, indicated that despite work commitments for the rest of the week, she is not about to miss the opportunity to participate in an all-female MMA event.

Heather Martin

Another woman on the card, Heather Martin, is both an experienced fighter and an accomplished MMA writer.  With a Golden Gloves boxing background, and training in BJJ, wrestling, Muay Thai and Jeet Kune Do, “The Main Event” can administer a beatdown – and then describe it – in any number of ways.  “I competed in the Big Bully grappling tourney last year, and I loved how the entire week was dedicated to women’s MMA,” Martin says.  “I have a few of the HooknShoot DVDs, and I was really impressed with  the way GFight TV and HooknShoot promoted the female fighters.”

Special thanks also to fighters Petra Cavanaugh (fighting in this year’s 135 pound tournament), Barb Honchak (veteran of last year’s MMA and grappling events), Lacey Schuckman (GFight, HooknShoot and Strikeforce veteran), Valerie Coolbaugh (GFight veteran), and Jessica Eve Richer (veteran grappler in this year’s tournament), who took the time to respond to CageCraze about their past and upcoming experiences with GFight.

For more information about the 2010 GFight Summit, check out the Facebook group, or contact Patricia VanderMeer on CageCraze or Facebook.

Lightweights Rob Emerson (9-8) and Nik Lentz (17-3-2) have agreed to meet each other as part of the “UFC Fight Night 21: Florian vs. Gomi” event in March.

Both men have made verbal agreements to meet and should sign bout agreements shortly. It is uncertain at this time where this fight will end up as part of the preliminary or main card for the event.

UFC Fight Night 21 event will take place on March 31 at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C. The main event features a lightweight bout between Kenny Florian and Takanori Gomi. The show will air live on Spike TV and serve as the lead-in for “The Ultimate Fighter 11.”

Emerson, a former “TUF” season 5 competitor, recently came back from losing two straight by defeating Phillipe Nover at UFC 109 earning a unanimous decision victory. Before that fight “The Saint” was defeated by Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 103 and Kurt Pellegrino at UFN 17. Before those losses, Emerson had earned two straight victories.

Lentz earned a draw against Thiago Tavares in his last fight at UFN 20, after the Brazilian had a point deducted from his score card for an inadvertent groin kick. Before that fight “The Carny” earned a victory over Rafaello Oliveira in his UFC debut at UFC 103, and has won seven straight before that match including one draw.

The “UFC Fight Night 21: Florian vs. Gomi” event now appears as follows:

MAIN CARD

- Kenny Florian vs. Takanori Gomi
- Roy Nelson vs. Stefan Struve
- Nate Quarry vs. Jorge Rivera
- Ross Pearson vs. Dennis Siver

PRELIMINARY CARD

- Ronys Torres vs. Jacob Volkmann
- Gleison Tibau vs. Caol Uno
- Lucio Linhares vs. Yushin Okami
- Rafaello Oliveira vs. Andre Winner*
- Rob Emerson vs. Nik Lentz*
- Gerald Harris vs. Mario Miranda
- Charlie Brenneman vs. Jason High

* – Not officially announed