M-1 Selection 2010 Americas Finals Results.

New York City, New York (September 19, 2010) – The M-1 Selection 2010 Americas Finals captivated a live audience on Saturday night at Bally’s Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Tournament returnees and newcomers to the M-1 ring fought an excellent undercard as the Selections championship bouts went down; Selection tournament winners will now […]

M-1 Global

New York City, New York (September 19, 2010) – The M-1 Selection 2010 Americas Finals captivated a live audience on Saturday night at Bally’s Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Tournament returnees and newcomers to the M-1 ring fought an excellent undercard as the Selections championship bouts went down; Selection tournament winners will now fight for the M-1 Challenge belts later this year.

“The American Selections tournament has been a remarkable undertaking,” says Evgeni Kogan, Director of Operations for M-1Global. “We now have all our Selection champions in place and the crowning of the first ever M-1 Global world champions begins starting October 28 in St. Petersburg and December 11 back in Atlantic City.”

The Final round bouts feature rising American stars pursuing their last victory in being crowned the M-1 Selection champion in their respective weight classes.

Results for the Final round bouts:

Josh Thorpe def. Brendan Weafer via unanimous decision

Bristol Marunde def. Shane Primm via unanimous decision

Byron Byrd def. Daniel Vizcaya via triangle – 2:43 of R1 (Selections LHW Final)

Luigi Fioravanti def. Woody Weatherby via TKO – 2:51 of R1

Mike Winters def. Jose Rodriguez via unanimous decision

Tyson Jeffries def. Mike Geurin via triangle – 3:43 of R3 (Selections MW Final)

Kenny Garner def. Pat Bennett via TKO – 2:31 of R1 (Selections HW Final)

Jose Figueroa def. George Sheppard via verbal submission – :34 of R2 (Selections LW Final)

Tom Gallicchio def. Len Bentley via rear-naked-choke – 4:38 of R1 (Selections WW Final)

The M-1 Selection 2010 – Americas champions will next fight for the M-1 Challenge championship belts in the coming months.

The “M-1 Selection” is the world’s premiere MMA competition where the next generation of superstars are given the opportunity to showcase their skills on the world stage with fighters being eliminated after only one loss; victory will advance the winning fighters throughout the tournament and earn them a trip to the championship event where they will compete for the coveted “M-1 Selection” title.

The “M-1 Selection” tournament is broken down into global regions: Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Americas with each region hosting three rounds and a final of the ““M-1 Selection” tournament. The winning fighter in each weight class will gain the opportunity to fight on the larger international stage.

The tournament features some of the best up-and-coming fighters from each region as they begin the journey towards a tournament victory.
2011 marks a full calendar of mixed martial arts action as M-1 Global continues to build upon a highly successful Selections tournament. Being added next year are two full Selections tournaments featuring 12 live events across Eastern and Western Europe and the Americas; future superstars will begin mapping out the steps necessary to become M-1 Champions. These Selections tournaments will drive the depth of the contenders ladder in each weight class as warriors cross oceans to battle for the right to face M-1 Global champions at the live, mega-spectacular M-1 Challenge events scheduled throughout the year.

The M-1 Challenge events are positioned to drive the M-1 brand further into the US and European markets as event mega-spectaculars. October 28 in St. Petersburg, Russia is set for M-1 Challenge XXI: Guram vs. Grishin and M-1 Challenge XXII hits Atlantic City December 11th; February 2011 marks the first of six M-1Challenge events with M-1 Challenge XXIII where the newly crowned M-1 Champions will look to defend their titles against the top fighters in the contention system.

Fuelled with stacked undercards featuring new and returning warriors, the M-1 Challenge events will rival promotions for unsurpassed excitement, delivering live audiences and viewers worldwide the ultimate fan experience.

Go to www.M-1Global.com for additional information.

About M-1 Global:

Founded in 1998, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of mixed martial arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles and affiliates in Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand stages its M-1 Selection and M-1 Challenge events worldwide and its co-produced Strikeforce events in the United States; captivating the live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups. 2011 marks a breakthrough year for this MMA powerhouse. With two Selections tournaments across Eastern & Western Europe and North America and a full calendar of Challenge events, M-1 Global’s World Champions will rank amongst the greatest in the sport and the contention system will fuel spectacular cards around the world.

M-1 Global’s greatest asset is the number one heavyweight fighter in mixed martial arts history, Fedor Emelianenko. With daily coverage on all MMA-related websites in the world, and articles in Time Magazine, LA times and New York times, Fedor and M-1 Global make a lifetime match serving as the catalyst to grow MMA in the 21st century.

Dana White Talks Steroids.

UFC president Dana White must not be enjoying the last few days, what with UFC middleweight number one contender Chael Sonnen testing positive for banned PED(s). White can’t be happy with the potential loss of what would have been one of the biggest bouts of 2011, and one which could have set the stage […]

Dana-White

UFC president Dana White must not be enjoying the last few days, what with UFC middleweight number one contender Chael Sonnen testing positive for banned PED(s). White can’t be happy with the potential loss of what would have been one of the biggest bouts of 2011, and one which could have set the stage for several other large bouts, but while he didn’t address the Sonnen situation directly he did recently discuss his thoughts on the UFC also fining the fighters who test positive. Here’s the blurb via Yahoo Sports! Kevin Iole:




“What else do I do?. We’ve spent millions of dollars – literally, millions of dollars – to try to get this thing regulated so they can be tested by the government. Do you know how much it costs us to put on that fighter seminar every year? Let me tell you, we’re bringing guys in from all over the world. We have guys from England, Germany, Croatia, Australia, Korea. We have 350 guys under contract and they’re coming from all over the world. It costs us a (expletive) ton, but we do it because it’s important. When one of them fails a test, the government is going to fine them and suspend them and tell them they can’t make a living for a year. So should I come in after they’ve already lost the ability to make a living for a year and been fined all this money and, in the worst economic disaster in the history of the world, fine them another huge amount and take away their ability to make a living even longer?”

White makes a lot of sense, as the fighter is already losing a ton of money and most have major expenses and few have second jobs. Fighters don’t make nearly as much as some professional sports and so hitting them in their pocket book again wouldn’t be exactly the most “human” thing to do. Still, we’ll wait to see what the fallout is regarding the Chael Sonnen mess.

Bellator Signs Undefeated Michael Chandler To Lightweight Roster.

CHICAGO, Ill. (September 17, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships has officially signed undefeated up-and-comer Michael Chandler to its growing list of impressive lightweight fighters. Chandler enters the promotion with a fresh 3-0 professional record including a rear-naked-choke victory over Sal Woods at last May’s Strikeforce event.
“Michael Chandler is a great signing for us […]

bellatorlogo

CHICAGO, Ill. (September 17, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships has officially signed undefeated up-and-comer Michael Chandler to its growing list of impressive lightweight fighters. Chandler enters the promotion with a fresh 3-0 professional record including a rear-naked-choke victory over Sal Woods at last May’s Strikeforce event.

“Michael Chandler is a great signing for us at 155,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “He has unlimited potential in the sport, I’m excited to see him progress as a fighter under the Bellator banner.”

The 24-year-old Missouri native possesses an impressive wrestling pedigree, leading his junior and senior varsity wrestling teams as the captain both years. After high school Chandler wrestled under Bellator Season 2 Welterweight Tournament Champion Ben Askren and Strikeforce veteran Tyron Woodley at the University of Missouri, where he was also the captain the varsity wrestling team his junior and senior year. Chandler says he has been planning for this from the beginning.

“I started training MMA right out of college. I took my first training camp with the soon-to-be Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren. My first training camp was with Ben in Canada about three or four weeks after Nationals during my senior year,” said Chandler. “I always knew I was going to fight, even two years before I started training seriously.”

After a brief stint training at the American Kickboxing Academy, Chandler moved to Las Vegas where he currently trains with Randy Couture’s highly acclaimed gym Xtreme Couture.

Chandler believes it’s his ability to take it to the next level that separates him from other lightweights in the sport.

“I can push the pace harder than anybody at 155,” said Chandler. “My strength is my ability to keep up a hard pace and my ability to break people. I think it will be hard for anyone to keep up with me. I’ve been competing my entire life and now I’m focused on becoming the next Bellator Champion at 155.”

Chandler makes his Bellator debut on September 30 at Bellator 31 at the L’Auberge du Lac Resort in Lake Charles, LA.

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator

About Bellator Fighting Championships

Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company headquartered in Chicago. Bellator’s founder/CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment professional with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of top industry professionals in the areas of live event production, television production, fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations.

UFC 121 Promo Featuring Cain Velasquez.

UFC 121: Lesnar vs Velasquez will take place on October 23rd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, and will feature UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar facing number one contender Cain Velasquez. Velasquez has looked unstoppable in the Octagon, and brings both speed and a relentless pace to the heavyweight division. Lesnar, however […]

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UFC 121: Lesnar vs Velasquez will take place on October 23rd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, and will feature UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar facing number one contender Cain Velasquez. Velasquez has looked unstoppable in the Octagon, and brings both speed and a relentless pace to the heavyweight division. Lesnar, however is by far the bigger and more powerful fighter so it should be a very interesting bout. Does Velasquez have enough tools to take out the champ?

GSP Responds To Dan Hardy’s Comments On Wrestling.

UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre responds to recent comments by fellow UFC welterweight Dan Hardy who doesn’t seem to have much respect for wrestling as it pertains to mixed martial arts. St. Pierre has some solid points, and you have to wonder if Hardy is just trying to stay relevant after a dominant […]

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UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre responds to recent comments by fellow UFC welterweight Dan Hardy who doesn’t seem to have much respect for wrestling as it pertains to mixed martial arts. St. Pierre has some solid points, and you have to wonder if Hardy is just trying to stay relevant after a dominant loss to the champ. Thoughts?