Tag: MMA News

Bellator Fighting Championships Signs DJ Linderman To Heavyweight Roster.

CHICAGO, Ill. (August 23, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships today announced the signing of heavyweight prospect D.J. “Da Protege” Linderman to its rapidly expanding roster. The California native brings an impressive 8-1 record to the promotion and is currently riding a three-fight win streak.
Although Linderman was signed after the completion of the Season 3 […]

bellatorlogo

CHICAGO, Ill. (August 23, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships today announced the signing of heavyweight prospect D.J. “Da Protege” Linderman to its rapidly expanding roster. The California native brings an impressive 8-1 record to the promotion and is currently riding a three-fight win streak.

Although Linderman was signed after the completion of the Season 3 Heavyweight Tournament roster, he remains ready and available should there be complications with any of the remaining fighters.

“D.J. Linderman is a great addition to our heavyweight talent-pool,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “He is a powerful heavyweight that has a tremendous amount of potential. We’re happy to have him on board and look forward to see what he does in our steadily growing heavyweight division.”

Standing at 6′2” tall and tipping the scales near the 250 lb. mark, Linderman has made use of an impressive wrestling base to rack up eight impressive victories in the heavyweight division during his two years spent as a professional in the sport. A skilled ground fighter, Linderman works for the takedown and looks to control his fights on the canvas before utilizing brutal ground and pound or making use of his dangerous submission arsenal.

At just 26-years-old, Linderman currently trains out of Team Do Somethin’ in Yreka, CA. Da Protege holds an impressive victory over Bellator Season 3 Heavyweight Tournament participant Mike “300” Hayes as well as a KO win against American Top Team veteran Mario Rinaldi last November.

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.

Dana White Confirms Silva Vs. Sonnen II During SportsCenter Interview.

UFC President Dana White confirms that middleweight champion Anderson Silva will again face Chael Sonnen(with word being it could be either the New Year’s Eve card or the SuperBowl card depending on Silva’s current rib injury) and that the winner of Florian vs. Maynard should be next in line for the lightweight title shot. […]

UFC President Dana White confirms that middleweight champion Anderson Silva will again face Chael Sonnen(with word being it could be either the New Year’s Eve card or the SuperBowl card depending on Silva’s current rib injury) and that the winner of Florian vs. Maynard should be next in line for the lightweight title shot. He also pumps the upcoming stacked card that is UFC 118: Edgar Vs. Penn II, giving us a preview of the night.

Dana White Video Blog For UFC 118 Episode 1 With Iron Mike Tyson.

UFC president Dana White continues to provide MMA fans with “backstage” videos showing what he does during the buildup leading to UFC events and this time he’s hanging out with former boxing champion Mike Tyson. It’s no coincidence that another boxing champion, James Toney will be fighting on the upcoming UFC 118 card against […]

Click here to view the embedded video.

UFC president Dana White continues to provide MMA fans with “backstage” videos showing what he does during the buildup leading to UFC events and this time he’s hanging out with former boxing champion Mike Tyson. It’s no coincidence that another boxing champion, James Toney will be fighting on the upcoming UFC 118 card against UFC hall of famer Randy “The Natural” Couture. You can count on The MMA News to bring you all the latest news as well as all the pre and post fight interviews for UFC 118: Edgar Vs Penn II.

CFC Adds Curtis Brigham To CFC 6, Rodrigo Munduruca Out Due To Injury.

Fans may have noticed Curtis Brigham cornering fighters at previous Canadian Fighting Championship events. Brigham, the Winnipeg Academy of Mixed Martial Arts founder and head coach, has been instrumental in the success of WAMMA fighters like Eric Perez, Dominick Blais, Roland Delorme and many others. Now, after a six year layoff, fans will have a […]

cfc6

Fans may have noticed Curtis Brigham cornering fighters at previous Canadian Fighting Championship events. Brigham, the Winnipeg Academy of Mixed Martial Arts founder and head coach, has been instrumental in the success of WAMMA fighters like Eric Perez, Dominick Blais, Roland Delorme and many others. Now, after a six year layoff, fans will have a chance to see Brigham at CFC 6.

Brigham started fighting in 1999 and had a 9-5 record spanning a five year fight career that had Curtis fighting all over the globe. However, in 2004, Brigham seemingly hung up the gloves as an undersized fighter in an unpopular sport. That all changed in the past six years. Everyone is aware of the UFC skyrocketing to popularity thanks to success of The Ultimate Fighter. The WEC also came around and made celebrities out of smaller fighters like Urijah Faber.

Now fans will be able to see WAMMA’s ‘Boss’ fight on October 8th. Brigham, who has fought in Japan and all over the USA and Canada, has faced tough opposition over his career. The submission specialist has beaten future Bellator fighter Brian Green in 2003. Brigham also took a much larger, future UFC Lightweight champion Sean Sherk into the third round of a fight.

Tickets to see Curtis Brigham and his WAMMA students Eric Perez, Dominick Blais, and Roland Delorme are now available at Ticketmaster. Need a better sight line to the action? Please call 772-2599 to make your VIP table arrangements.

Munduruca Out
At the same time as the exciting Brigham announcement, the CFC must also acknowledge that Rodrigo Munduruca has pulled out of his CFC 6 fight due to injury. Although Rodrigo will be missed, Brigham is a fantastic replacement of one submission specialist with another. Brigham has won all nine of his victories by submission. Brigham is not one to leave decisions in the judges’ hands.

Gabe Ruediger Believes Joe Lauzon is “Overrated”

One of the interesting storylines heading into UFC 118 is the Octagon return of Gabe Ruediger; if that name doesn’t immediately jump out at you, think “Ultimate Fighter,” ice cream, cake, colonics and…yup, he’s the dude on TUF 5 that got booted for failing to make weight. Ruediger agreed to step in (on short notice) […]

GR

One of the interesting storylines heading into UFC 118 is the Octagon return of Gabe Ruediger; if that name doesn’t immediately jump out at you, think “Ultimate Fighter,” ice cream, cake, colonics and…yup, he’s the dude on TUF 5 that got booted for failing to make weight. Ruediger agreed to step in (on short notice) for the injured Terry Etim, who was supposed to fight Joe Lauzon.  

Now, of course, Ruediger wouldn’t be making his UFC return if he had been losing on the minor circuit, and heading into Saturday’s bout he’s won 6 straight. The fight, which will be broadcast on Spike, gives Ruediger a fantastic opportunity to at least, slightly muzzle, the thousands of critics that have been on him ever since TUF 5. What makes the bout even more interesting is that Lauzon was one of Ruediger’s cast mates during the show, and as the veteran recently discussed on BJ.Penn.com, it sounds like there’s a little bit of ‘dislike’ going on there. In terms of Lauzon as an opponent? Here is some of what Ruediger said in the interview:

“Joe’s overrated; you know, he’s had some success in the UFC, but who’s he fought? When everything is said and done; Jason Reinhardt? I don’t care. I mean look at his record. Kyle Bradley’s tough but is he that tough? When he fought tough dudes he lost. When he fought Sammy Stout he lost. I’m not impressed with him and I know I’m going to smash him.”

Not sure Jeremy Stephens would agree with the above analysis, but hey, that’s just like…our opinion. To bet on Saturday’s festivities head here.

Stinson Replaces Markham At Bellator 26 On August 26.

CHICAGO, Ill. (August 24, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that top welterweight prospect Tyler Stinson will have a second shot at Bellator tournament action this Thursday night, officially replacing a non-medically cleared Rory Markham. Stinson will take on Iraq War Veteran Steve Carl in a Season 4 Welterweight Tournament qualifier at Bellator […]

bellatorlogo

CHICAGO, Ill. (August 24, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that top welterweight prospect Tyler Stinson will have a second shot at Bellator tournament action this Thursday night, officially replacing a non-medically cleared Rory Markham. Stinson will take on Iraq War Veteran Steve Carl in a Season 4 Welterweight Tournament qualifier at Bellator 26, taking place at the Kansas City Power & Light District in downtown Kansas City, MO on Aug. 26th.

Stinson, a Kansas City native himself, has come a long way since winning a Bellator Season 2 open tryout in his hometown earlier this year. This will be the 24 year old’s third appearance under the Bellator banner. He was a late addition to the Season 2 Welterweight Tournament replacing an injured Sean Pierson. Although he lost his quarterfinal match-up with eventual tournament finalist Dan “The Handler” Hornbuckle, he showed tremendous heart and resilience throughout the fight.

“Tyler’s skills and development as a fighter have consistently impressed me. He was preparing for a qualifier scheduled a month from now, but Tyler is always in fighting shape and was totally prepared to take this fight,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Both of these guys have put on great fights for us and I expect nothing different on Thursday night.”

Stinson has gone 2-0 since the loss to Hornbuckle, including a brutal Rear-Naked-Choke victory over Leonardo Pecanha in which he also broke the Brazilian’s jaw at Bellator 22 in Kansas City last June. Stinson brings an impressive 18-6 professional record to the fight with 12 of those victories coming via KO or TKO. A veteran of the Midwestern MMA circuit, Stinson is undaunted by the short notice.

“When I got the call, I was more than ready to jump on the opportunity. I‘ve been having to do short notice my whole career. It’s a good matchup for me,” said Stinson. “My striking is going to come into play and he is going to have a tough time dealing with that.”

Consequently, Stinson’s opponent this Thursday will also be looking to avenge a Season 2 loss to Hornbuckle. Prior to the Season 2 Welterweight Tournament semi-final defeat Carl held an impressive 7 fight win-streak. Carl’s budding mixed martial arts career is just four years old, but he already has notched 10 impressive wins with six victories coming by way of submission.

Carl vs. Stinson will take place at a catch-weight bout of 175 lbs. and has been officially announced as a qualifier for the Season 4 Welterweight Tournament.

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

Tickets for the event – which will also be broadcast LIVE nationwide on FOX Sports Net along with action-packed highlight shows that will air on NBC Saturday nights – are on sale now at ticketmaster.com

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.