PRESS RELEASE
LOS ANGELES, Nov 19, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Bellator Fighting Championships, a new mixed martial arts (MMA) league, officially launched operations today, marking the entry of a new player in the billion-dollar MMA industry. To air on ESPN Deportes beginning April 2009, Bellator’s first-of-its-kind business model is a significant step forward for the fight industry, as the only nationally televised league to apply an objective format to crowning champions and awarding purses today.
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Cage Fest: Xtreme Evolution took place on November 15th, 2008 in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The main event featured The Ultimate Fighter season six runner-up, Tommy Speer taking on Beau Baker, a former college wrestler who was undefeated at 5-0 coming into the bout.
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Oh man, one cool thing about this sport is there is ALWAYS something going on. It’s almost like a soap opera at times.  Fedor Emelianenko’s management company, M-1 released a statement on Tuesday claiming the long-talked about fight between Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko has now “lost its luster” due to Randy losing to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91.

Most people would agree with that. In fact, PRO MMA even agrees with that since we already have an article up about that very subject.

In an effort to stifle any bright ideas the UFC might have about labeling Brock Lesnar as the best heavyweight in the world, M-1 is issuing a challenge to have Brock Lesnar fight Fedor in a “superfight.”  M-1 proposes that the UFC will try to say Lesnar is the number one heavyweight in the world much like they have tried to use a “marketing campaign” claiming Anderson Silva is the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
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Sonnen punches Filho at the belt

by:  Jack Bratcher

Chael Sonnen revealed to host Larry Pepe last night on Pro MMA Radio that he had indeed received the WEC Middleweight Belt from Paulo Filho following his defeat of the overinflated Filho at WEC 36 on November 5th.  

Originally scheduled as a WEC Middleweight Title Fight, Filho could not make the 185 lb. weight limit and therefore according to the rules the bout could not be a title fight.  

If you wondered why Paulo Filho looked flat during the fight (understatement of the year) the answer most certainly lies in his problems trying to make weight.
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Kim Couture prepares for fourth fight of the year

Female professional mixed martial arts fighter, Kim “Sugar Free Couture”, spoke with our good friend Larry Pepe over at Pro MMA Radio Monday evening. Kim had a lot to say about her husband, Randy Couture’s performance at UFC 91 against Brock Lesnar, her upcoming fight on November 21st with Lina Kvokov (0-1), and legal issues with former Affliction executive, Todd Beard.

Kim starts out by revealing how she got her nickname “Sugar Free”. She explains that the guys at Xtreme Couture started calling her “Sugar Free” because she’s blunt, always speaks her mind and doesn’t “sugar coat” anything.
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Saori Ishioka wins at Jewels

JEWELS is an all female MMA promotion that was born out of the death of the “Smackgirl” promotion.  Smackgirl began in 2001 and held over 50 MMA and grappling events before running into money problems earlier this year. 

Along with Valkyrie, there are now two organizations trying to fill the gap for female mma in Japan.  JEWELS’ first event was held on November 16 in Shinjuku Face, Tokyo. 

Fight Card results:
Yuko Oya defeated Shinsaka Ozawi via Submission (armbar) in Rd. 1
Rina Tomita defeated Miki Miki via Submission (armbar) in Rd. 1
Shiho Shiho defeated Mayu Mayu via KO (punches) in Rd. 1
Shisuka Sugiyama defeated Harumi Harumi via Submission (RNC) in Rd. 1
Kikuyo Ishikawa defeated Sumie Yamada via Submission (Triangle Choke) in Rd. 1
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There is a new untitled reality show in the works and they are casting female MMA fighters. The show has reportedly already received interest from a major cable network.

You don’t have to be a pro mixed martial arts fighter but you need to be a “reasonably” well trained female fighter who has had a few amateur fights.

They are looking for attractive female MMA fighters between the ages of 18 and 28 to interview for a TV pilot.

It could be a good opportunity for exposure and the concept was created by a successful casting director and executive producer who has worked for MTV, G4, Fox Reality, and more.
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PRO MMA reported that Armando Garcia, the California State Athletic Commission’s Executive Officer, had announced his intentions to resign from his position.

The CSAC meeting where the commission would formally accept Garcia’s resignation happened earlier today in Los Angeles, California.

Dean Lohuis and William Douglas will serve as the operations and administrative leads until a replacement is found.
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MMAWeekly.com has reported that Paulo Filho has been released from his contract and will not move into the UFC.

The news comes off the heels of him not making weight for his scheduled WEC Middleweight Title defense at WEC 36 against Chael Sonnen.

Not making weight combined with one of the worst performances in recent memory seemed to be enough to warrant a release from his Zuffa contract.
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Here is Fedor Emelianenko at the 2008 Sambo World Championship in St. Petersburg, Russia which took place November 13-17. Fedor has long been regarded as the number one heavyweight MMA fighter in the world and some even regard him as the number one pound for pound fighter in the world. However, he had to settle with a bronze medal this year at the Sambo Championship as Blagoi Ivanov walked away with the gold. It is Fedor’s first loss since 2000.

The "old" Brock Lesnar

by: Jack Bratcher

One of the down sides of giving Brock Lesnar a title shot when he didn’t earn it and then him having the nerve to beat the UFC Heavyweight Champion (Captain America of all people) is now MMA is being written about by the pro wrestling gurus.

Take for example some cat named Ronnie Bryce who says,

Mark my words, it may take years to come out, but UFC is predeterimed just like WWE.  Wrestling used to try and fool everyone years ago too in its infancy. Then when Vince took control he decided to come clean and admit matches are predeterimed and changed it to sports entertainment and now just “entertainment.” …UFC is the new “sports entertainment” even if they dont care to admit it yet. How ironic it’s home is Las Vegas. The city of UFC fans like Criss Angel and other illusionist.

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Marcelo Siquiera teaches MMA at Winchester High

by:  Jack Bratcher

What if when you were in High School they offered an MMA class as an option? There are many of us who were not too interested in team sports and preferred those sports that relied upon your own efforts to win or lose.

Enter Winchester High School in Winchester, Massachusetts where they have a mixed martial arts club. How cool is that? It could very well be the only high school program of it’s kind in the country.

The story goes that In-Goo Kwak, a senior at Winchester, began petitioning school officials for the program when he was a freshman as an outlet for those who were not drawn toward traditional sports.
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Anderson Silva could fight Chuck Liddell at UFC 95

by:  Matt De La Rosa

The Sun is reporting that UFC 95 will take place at the O2 Arena in London, England on February 21. With UFC 93 occurring just one month earlier, the UFC apparently will waste no time making two trips to Europe to kick off the new year.

According to the report, current middleweight kingpin Anderson “The Spider” Silva has been offered a spot on the card. His potential opponent would be Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, creating another blockbuster main event for the promotion.

If Anderson Silva had his way he would have been on the card this past weekend.  The champion reportedly asked Dana White to fight on the UFC 91 card following his bout with Patrick Cote. “He’s flipping out,” said White. “He wants to fight again, like on Nov. 15. He’s upset about his performance and he wants to fight again immediately.”
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by: Kinohi Abaro

It was a big weekend for the MMA world. “The Natural” Randy Couture stepped into the Octagon after a 15-month layoff and Brock Lesnar’s size and strength proved the difference.

The fantasy match-up of Randy Couture vs Fedor Emelianenko has sizzled out with the victory of Brock Lesnar. Randy had stated in an interview with www.rawvegas.tv that “I think Fedor would tear Brock up.”  Unfortunately for Randy and Fedor, both fighters are not invincible.

Fedor participated in the World Sambo Championships over the weekend and suffered his 1st Sambo match defeat since 2000. Emelianenko was defeated by a familiar opponent, Bulgaria’s Blagoi Ivanov whom Fedor had dominated in previous match-ups.  However, Ivanov was able to defeat Fedor by a score of 8 to 5, and then continued on to win the Gold medal. Fedor did not leave empty handed, and was able to win Bronze.
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