Hard Knocks logo
Press Release – – Friday, May 25, 2012 9:00pm ET featuring School of Hard Knocks 23 Calgary at the Subway Soccer Center, Calgary, Canada. In the main event, Paapa Inkumsah (4-4) of Gracie Barra in Calgary, Alberta fights Jarod Milko (4-1) from Progressive Fighting Academy out of Lethbridge, Alberta in a welterweight pro fight. Inkumsah has 3 victories by submission and has only gone to a decision twice, so his fights are usually action filled bouts where someone is getting submitted or knocked out as Inkumsah uses a high risk-high reward fighting style. Milko has never gone to a decision and holds a title with another organization so his big fight experience will come in handy as he main events “HKFC 23″ against Inkumsah. Milko also has 3 wins via submission so this could turn into a grappling chess match, or they fighters could decide to handle their business on their feet, not wanting to risk being submitted by another proficient grappler. In the co-main event, Dia Grant (3-6) from Dynamic MMA in Calgary, Alberta faces Julius Huhs (2-0) from AJJA Canada in Kamloops, BC in a lightweight pro fight. Grant is coming off a first round submission win and looks to add to his momentum against the upstart Huhs. Grant will bring a vast experience edge into the cage as well as a “fight anyone” mentality. Grant will be ready for whatever the newcomer Huhs throws at him. For the undefeated Huhs, this is a great test for him in his early pro career as he has never even fought in the second round with both of his victories coming in the first. Grant will be Huhs’ toughest test to date and a good measuring stick for the 155 lb fighter. If Huhs walks through Grant then he might be in line for a title shot with HKFC.
– Saturday, May 26, 2012 7:00pm ET featuring Dead Serious Four at the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, New Jersey. In the main event, it is a rematch from a fight at “Dead Serious Three” as undefeated Shane Burgos (4-0-0-1) battles RJ Starace (3-4-0-1) in a featherweight showdown. Their first meeting ended in a no contest after Starace was unable to continue after an accidental foul in round one. It was a disappointing ending to what otherwise started out as a barnburner. The foul occurred when Burgos and Starace where doing some clinch work and working for position and Burgos landed a knee that was low on Starace. Starace was in immediate pain and unable to re-start the fight. In the past, Burgos has shown that he has the cardio conditioning to win a fight on decision, and he also has a deadly submission game to go along with strong stamina. Starace has fought for the Dead Serious Featherweight Title previously, suffering a tough loss in round three. He will look back to get on his winning ways and set the story straight in this rematch with Burgos. The winner of this bout will be at the front of the line for a future 145 lb title shot with Dead Serious, so there is a lot riding on this defacto #1 Contender match. In other action, Jimmy Starr (0-2) fights Guido Valdner (0-0) in a featherweight tussle. Both fighters are looking for their first wins in the sport and this bout will be a great litmus test for both athletes. Starr has already fought twice so he will have the experience advantage, but Valdner is an unknown so it will be hard to game plan for his strengths so he has an advantage in the styles matchup as he will know a little bit more about what Starr’s strengths are while Starr will have to plan for everything against Valdner. This bout should be a barnburner as one of these 145 lb fighters will get their first victory of their career.
– Saturday, May 26, 2012 8:00pm ET featuring Ultimate Warrior Fighting (UWF) “Tournament of Champions” at the Laredo Energy Arena. The event will feature the final four of both the 155 lb and 170 lb tournaments where the eventual winners will win $25,000. Tune into this 9-bout card and watch Texas’ best MMA fighters as they go for gold and honor. In the 170 lb tournament, Lucas Pimenta (6-0) battles Chuck Parmelee (38-11-1) and John Malbrough (3-3) fights Justin Guthrie (15-4). Parmelee looks to be the favorite to win the whole thing as he is very experienced and battle tested. He squares off against Pimenta who is undefeated and coming off a quick victory earlier this month in the first round of the tournament. That could be a huge factor as there is a quick turnaround for this event, with the fighters in the tournaments fighting twice in one month. For Pimenta, he will have to attack Parmelee right from the get-go and test his endurance as Parmelee won his fight via decision after a grueling three round contest. In the other side of the bracket, Malbrough got a well-earned submission victory in his first bout while the more experienced Guthrie went the distance and won via decision. Guthrie holds titles with other federations already so he is used to being in a championship atmosphere. It will be interesting to see if either fighter has any nagging injuries from their first round battles. Look for Guthrie to try and grind Malbrough down, while Malbrough goes for the homerun KO or a devastating submission. In the 155 lb tournament, Rey Trujillo (11-7) fights Gilbert Jimenez (6-5-1) and Christ Quitquit (4-0) takes on Flavio Alvaro (23-7). Trujillo got his first win earlier in the month via decision while Jimenez won via choke in round three. Trujillo is a heavy puncher while Jimenez attacks from all angles. If Trujillo can land early it could be a quick night, but if Jimenez can get the bout to the ground, it could be to his advantage. In the other half of the bracket, the undefeated Quitquit is coming off a spectacular first round submission and came out of his first tourney fight relatively unscathed. He will need to be 100% as Alvaro is a replacement and did not fight in round one and also holds a distinct experience advantage over Quitquit. Alvaro is also on a 4-fight win streak and looks to continue his dominance inside of the cage and with UWF.
– Saturday, May 26, 2012 8:00pm ET featuring Absolute Action MMA XXVI from Florence, Kentucky. In the main event, Phillip Perkins (2-1) fights Donnie Ballou (5-3) for the AAMMA Flyweight Title. Both of these 125 lb fighters have a lot at stake as the winner will be the first ever AAMMA Flyweight Champion. Perkins fights a high risk-high reward style as he has never been out of the first round, winning two of his fights via stoppage (TKO and triangle submission). Perkins is like a Tasmanian Devil in the cage and always looks to apply pressure to his opponent from the opening bell. Ballou is the more experienced fighter, and is also a verteran of Absolute Action MMA. He won his last fight via submission in round one and carries heavy hands into the cage as 3 of his wins have come via KO or TKO. Ballou can make quick work out of opponents when he lands his punches flush. This bout has all the makings of fight of the night as Perkins and Ballou will stop at nothing to win the first ever Flyweight Championship in AAMMA. In the co-main event, Robert Cooper (3-0) battles James Benton (4-3) for the vacant AAMMA Light Heavyweight Championship. The undefeated Cooper has been on a tear getting finishes in all of his fights. Benton will prove to be Cooper’s toughest test to date as he is battle-tested and has never backed down especially during his 4-fight winning streak midway through his career. The leather will be flying as these two gladiators do for gold in this 205 lb championship match.
Other events this week:
Pro-Wrestling: Impact Zone Wrestling (Weekly Free show): May 26, 8:00pm ET.
GFL now offers full access to over 6,000 fights for the low monthly price of $9.99 subscribe now at www.GFL.tv
***GFL is a pioneer in Internet Sports Broadcasting. Over the years GFL has broadcast more than 1300 live events with over 6000 combat sports videos in 196 countries. GFL is especially proud to have served greater than 5 million public viewers over the years with more than 250 combat sports related website affiliates in its network. GFL is also available on Roku, Android, IPhone, IPad, as well as other internet ready devices. Check the event page for details.
If Combat Sports is your game…Go Fight-Every Night with GFL Combat Sports Network
Join us at: www.GFL.tv or twitter.com/GFL or youtube.com/Gofightlive or inquiries contact [email protected]