Filed under: News, ProEliteUPDATE: German Andreas Kraniotakes (12-4, 12 finishes) has agreed to meet Sylvia, sources close to the fight confirmed to MMAFighting.com.
Veteran heavyweight Pedro Rizzo has suffered an arm injury and will not be facing for…
UPDATE: German Andreas Kraniotakes (12-4, 12 finishes) has agreed to meet Sylvia, sources close to the fight confirmed to MMAFighting.com.
Veteran heavyweight Pedro Rizzo has suffered an arm injury and will not be facing former UFC champ Tim Sylvia at ProElite 2 on Nov. 5 in Moline, Ill.
Rizzo announced his withdrawal Monday morning on Twitter.
“Unfortunately I got injured, training here in Holland, had a partial tear in the triceps tendon of my left arm,” Rizzo tweeted. “… So I would like to apologize to the ProElite and especially to Tim Sylvia because I can’t be in the ring on November 5th to face him … I think I am in the prime of my condition and I’m really very frustrated with what happened.”
Rizzo, 37, was looking to return to the ring for the first time since his TKO win over Ken Shamrock at Impact FC 2 in July 2010. The former UFC title contender has been saying he wants to make another run in the UFC before he retires.
The 35-year-old Sylvia is 1-1 in 2011, losing via TKO to Abe Wagner in January and then stopping Patrick Barrentine in August.
The ProElite 2 card features Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton and an eight-man heavyweight tournament.
ProElite returned to the MMA world this past August with Kendall Grove, Andrei Arlovski and Reagan Penn all making their organizational debuts.The organization is set for their second outing on November 5 in Moline, Illinois at the iWireless center wit…
ProElite returned to the MMA world this past August with Kendall Grove, Andrei Arlovski and Reagan Penn all making their organizational debuts.
The organization is set for their second outing on November 5 in Moline, Illinois at the iWireless center with Arlovski and Penn making their returns.
Additionally, former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia (29-7) makes his organization debut against Pedro Rizzo (19-9).
There’s no word as to why Grove isn’t returning for the organization’s second event.
Sylvia, who’s had a rocky career since his exit from UFC, has now claimed victory in four of his past five bouts.
Rizzo is on a three-fight win streak that includes a decision victory over Jeff Monson and knockouts of Gary Goodridge and Ken Shamrock.
Arlovski, who snapped a four-fight losing skid at the inaugural ProElite event, faces 300-fight veteran Travis Fulton (247-47-10, 1NC).
The younger brother of UFC welterweight BJ Penn, Reagan (1-0), returns to action for his second professional bout against an opponent still to be determined.
For additional information, follow Joshua Carey onTwitter.
Although it was speculated earlier today that a fourth meeting between former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia would shape up to headline the next ProElite event, the promotion has opted to hold out on their …
Although it was speculated earlier today that a fourth meeting between former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia would shape up to headline the next ProElite event, the promotion has opted to hold out on their potential blockbuster matchup.
Originally, the two were rumored to square off on November 5th in Atlantic City, New Jersey; however, the event has since been relocated to Moline, Illinois.
Both Syvlia and Arlovski will remain on the card, though, they will face different competition, as told by MMAFighting.com.
For “The Maine-iac,” he will be taking on Brazilian slugger Pedro Rizzo. The former three-time UFC title challenger is currently riding on the strength of a three-fight win streak heading into the bout, which includes victories over notables Jeff Monson, Gary Goodrige and Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock.
Rizzo made public his intentions of returning to the Octagon and with an impressive performance against Sylvia, he could very well find himself in the good graces of the UFC brass.
Sylvia, 35, will not allow the well-traveled Rizzo to use him as a stepping stone. The former champ is 4-1 in his last five fights, with the lone loss coming at the hands of The Ultimate Fighter season 10 veteran Abe Wagner, who needed just 32 seconds to dispatch of Sylvia.
The bout with Rizzo will be the first return to the 265-pound division for Sylvia, who has competed as a Super Heavyweight since a first-round submission loss to former kingpin Fedor Emelianenko in July of 2008.
Arlovski, meanwhile, will be meeting with Travis Fulton, the definition of what is a “journeyman” in mixed martial arts today. “The Ironman” is an IFL, WEC, Vale Tudo and UFC veteran with over 300 professional fights under his belt. He holds notable victories over ex-UFC fighters Joe Riggs, “Cabbage” Correira and Heath Herring.
Fulton will look to earn the biggest win of his career when he takes on “The Pitbull,” who is coming off of a dominant performance against the over-matched Ray Lopez in his last outing.
Arlovski defeated Lopez with a third-round TKO, competing for the first time under the new ProElite banner, which took place on August 27 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Should Sylvia and Arlovski prove victorious, it would help catapult the star of the burgeoning promotion, while reasserting the winner back into the limelight in the MMA world.
Filed under: News, ProElite Venue issues have forced ProElite into a change for its November show.
Sources close to the promotion have confirmed to MMA Fighting that ProElite, in its second incarnation after folding up shop in late 2008, will move a …
Venue issues have forced ProElite into a change for its November show.
Sources close to the promotion have confirmed to MMA Fighting that ProElite, in its second incarnation after folding up shop in late 2008, will move a planned Nov. 5 event from Atlantic City, N.J., to the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill. An official announcement from the promotion is expected by week’s end.
The main event is expected to be a heavyweight bout between former UFC champion Tim Sylvia and three-time UFC heavyweight title challenger Pedro Rizzo. Additionally, fellow former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski will fight Travis Fulton, regarded as the busiest fighter in MMA history with more than 300 career fights.
The event was originally targeted for Nov. 12 at the Resorts Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, but was moved to Nov. 5. Logistical trouble with Resorts caused the promotion to look elsewhere, and sources said when additional venues in Atlantic City didn’t work out, the decision was made to move to the Quad Cities area in western Illinois. In addition to Moline, ProElite officials considered the Target Center in Minneapolis as a host venue for the show.
The event now will take place Nov. 5 at the iWireless Center in Moline, which has hosted MMA events in the past – including Adrenaline MMA, the promotion started by MMA promoter and manager Monte Cox several years ago. Cox has been informally consulting with Pro Elite. Both the original Nov. 12 date and the new date of Nov. 5 are up against UFC events.
In addition to the main and co-main events on Nov. 5, sources told MMA Fighting that Reagan Penn, brother of former UFC champion BJ Penn, will fight on the card, as will highly regarded women’s 125-pounder Tara LaRosa. ProElite reformed earlier this year and hosted a show in Honolulu last month that included Arlovski, Reagan Penn and Kendall Grove.
Sylvia and Arlovski on the same card sets up the possibility for a future meeting between the two, which would be their fourth fight. Arlovski won their first bout, taking the UFC interim heavyweight title at UFC 51. Sylvia then took the belt from Arlovski with a first-round TKO at UFC 59 and defended it at UFC 61 three months later.
Though a published report says Sylvia and Arlovski will meet on the Nov. 5 show, ProElite’s head of fight operations T. Jay Thompson confirmed to MMA Fighting that Slyvia-Arlovski will not take place on that day. Additional sources told MMA Fighting it will be Rizzo meeting Sylvia – and that Sylvia-Arlovski IV is not in the promotion’s current plans, but could be targeted down the road. It’s a fight Arlovski, 1-2 against Sylvia, has wanted for some time.
Sylvia (29-7) has rebounded after a rough stretch that saw him lose four of five fights. He lost his heavyweight title to Randy Couture at UFC 68. He then beat Brandon Vera, but followed that with a loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira that ended his run in the UFC. He moved on to Affliction’s short-lived MMA promotion and suffered a quick submission to Fedor Emelianenko. Then came a 9-second knockout loss to pro boxer Ray Mercer that will likely be the biggest stain on his record. Since then, though, he has won five of six over the last two years, with all his wins by stoppage – and all at super heavyweight.
Rizzo (19-9) has not fought since a July 2010 win over Ken Shamrock for Impact FC in Sydney. Rizzo has fought some of the sport’s heavyweight legends, including Mark Coleman, Dan Severn, Josh Barnett and Arlovski. In 2001, he twice lost to Couture challenging for the UFC heavyweight title. Since leaving the UFC in 2003, Rizzo’s appearances have been more sporadic – with just nine fights in nearly eight years.
Arlovski (16-9) snapped out of a four-fight skid with a win over Ray Lopez at ProElite’s show last month. Prior to that, Arlovski lost to Emelianeko, Brett Rogers, Antonio Silva and Sergei Kharitonov, the latter three for Strikeforce.
Fulton is an Iowa-based fighter with a career record of 247-48-10, according to most databases, though it is believed that 10 of those losses came in kickboxing competitions and not in MMA. Fulton fought 13 times in 2010, but has only fought twice in 2011 – going 2-0. The majority of Fulton’s losses have come against future UFC fighters like Ben Rothwell, Forrest Griffin, Travis Wiuff, Rich Franklin and Evan Tanner.
CagePotato.com has learned that ProElite’s second show under its new ownership and management will happen November 5 at the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. Although no announcements have been made regarding the event, which is tentatively dubbed “ProElite II” or the show’s fight card, there is strong indication that the promotion is working on a third meeting between former UFC heavyweight champions Tim Sylvia (29-7) and Andrei Arlovski (16-9) and that the bout could be the main event.
Adding to speculation that the bout is all but official is the following tweet that “The Maine-iac” sent out last week.
(Which one is the dead horse?)
CagePotato.com has learned that ProElite’s second show under its new ownership and management will happen November 5 at the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. Although no announcements have been made regarding the event, which is tentatively dubbed “ProElite II” or the show’s fight card, there is strong indication that the promotion is working on a fourth meeting between former UFC heavyweight champions Tim Sylvia (29-7) and Andrei Arlovski (16-9) and that the bout could be the main event.
Adding to speculation that the bout is all but official is the following tweet that “The Maine-iac” sent out last week.
ProElite had originally planned to hold its next show back in Hawaii, but evidently decided that Illinois was a better fit, considering Arlovski lives and trains two hours west of Moline in Chicago and Sylvia is a part-time police officer in Milan, less than 15 minutes away from the venue.
If the bout does happen, Sylvia will go into it with a 2-1 advantage over Arlovski, having beaten him by decision and TKO in back-to-back bouts in 2006 after being submitted by Andrei in 2005 with an Achilles lock. Since being released by the UFC in 2008, the 35-year-old Maine native has racked up a somewhat uninspiring 5-3 record including losses to Fedor Emelianenko, Ray Mercer and Abe Wagner. Sources indicate that the former Team Miletich fighter, who defeated Patrick Barrentine (9-6) in his last fight under the Fight Tour banner on August 20, has been quietly preparing for his ProElite debut, so all evidence is pointing to this fight going down.
Arlovski’s luck hasn’t been any better. Since he was let go by Zuffa, the 32-year-old former Belarusian police officer has gone 3-4, including four losses in a row to Emelianenko, Brett Rogers, Antonio Silva and Sergei Kharitonov, respectively. In his most recent bout he defeated Ray Lopez (5-3) in “ProElite II’s” first show last month in Hawaii.
Tickets for the show will go on sale this Saturday at 10:00 am CT through Ticketmaster.
(Eder Jones wins fight, loses pie-eating contest.)
This Friday marks the official start of Autumn, and like clockwork, I’m catching a goddamned cold. There’s something about the change of seasons that seems to wreck my immune system, which has grown frail due to a life of solitary blogging and poor hygeine. So as I chug my Airborne/orange juice cocktail, let’s all take inspiration in these six men, who were way worse-off than I am now, and still managed to kick ass.
Method of victory: TKO (cut), 4:45 of round 2 In his own words: “I took the fight and I was really sick. I was so sick, after the first round I thought I was going to fall unconscious. And I told my cornerman, I’m like, listen, when the second round will start I will try a high kick in the beginning and if I don’t knock out my opponent, I want you to throw the towel. My cornerman look up at me like this, he said ‘Georges, I don’t have a towel, you’re gonna die in the ring.’
And I got so angry, I was like, I can’t believe this guy, he’s supposed to be my friend, he wants me to die in the ring. So I stood up, I hear the [bell], I fought through it, and by some kind of miracle I was able to cut the guy and to TKO him and the referee stopped the fight. I was completely exhausted. That was my toughest fight.”
(Eder Jones wins fight, loses pie-eating contest.)
This Friday marks the official start of Autumn, and like clockwork, I’m catching a goddamned cold. There’s something about the change of seasons that seems to wreck my immune system, which has grown frail due to a life of solitary blogging and poor hygeine. So as I chug my Airborne/orange juice cocktail, let’s all take inspiration in these six men, who were way worse-off than I am now, and still managed to kick ass.
Method of victory: TKO (cut), 4:45 of round 2 In his own words: ”I took the fight and I was really sick. I was so sick, after the first round I thought I was going to fall unconscious. And I told my cornerman, I’m like, listen, when the second round will start I will try a high kick in the beginning and if I don’t knock out my opponent, I want you to throw the towel. My cornerman look up at me like this, he said ‘Georges, I don’t have a towel, you’re gonna die in the ring.’
And I got so angry, I was like, I can’t believe this guy, he’s supposed to be my friend, he wants me to die in the ring. So I stood up, I hear the [bell], I fought through it, and by some kind of miracle I was able to cut the guy and to TKO him and the referee stopped the fight. I was completely exhausted. That was my toughest fight.”
RICH FRANKLIN vs. Aaron Brink @ IFC: Warriors Challenge 11, 1/13/01
Method of victory: TKO (foot injury), 2:42 of round 1; later changed to a no contest In his own words: “That’s the first time that somebody had flown me out to an event. At the time, the IFC was a California-based organization, and Aaron Brink was a California guy, so I was pretty much brought in to lose. But the interesting thing about that fight is I had gotten very sick beforehand. I was sitting in my hotel room about an hour-and-a-half before the event started, and I had over a 104-degree fever. I skipped the rules meeting, skipped all this stuff and basically just showed up to fight. And you can tell by looking at me on the tape that I was definitely not feeling good.
That was a long night of my life. And that’s actually when Monte Cox started managing me, after that fight. He and I had been at several shows together — I knew who he was, he knew who I was — and he liked me, and he said, ‘I pretty much saw you make about the stupidest decision you’ve ever made in your life tonight. If you’re interested, I’d be willing to manage you and make sure that things like that don’t continue to happen.’”
JOSE ALDO vs. Mark Hominick @ UFC 129, 4/30/11
Method of victory: Unanimous decision F*ck antibiotics: Following the fight, Aldo complained to his corner that he should have taken antibiotics, to which his cornerman replied, “Antibiotics would not have helped at all, you’re the champion kid, fuck antibiotics, everything is okay. You fought well, smooth and composed.” In his coach’s words: ”(Aldo) suffered a cut in one of his toes a week before the fight and got it infected with a bacteria. He was taking a dose of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory for three days, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before the fight so he’d not need to take anything else close to Saturday. I can’t say with 100% certainty that it affected his performance because I’m not a doctor. I give Hominick a lot more credit for enduring the fight than the fact that Aldo took these medications.”
Method of victory: KO, 2:58 of round 1 In his own words: [two weeks before Kim fight] ”My stomach was all fucked up, bro. The first couple days I was throwing up, my stomach hurt bad. I couldn’t sleep at night…This is my first day back training since probably last Friday, so it’s been seven days. I went to a friend’s wedding in Vegas last weekend, and I’m not exactly sure whether I ate something or whether I picked something up or what, but I got really sick. I was throwing up for a few days and was just, I was pretty messed up. I wasn’t able to eat or train for quite a while.” Greg Jackson adds: “It was so bad we were contemplating canceling the fight, just because he was really, really sick, he lost some weight, he’s not being able to train, and we’re really close to the fight, so it’s very dangerous. So we’ll see how it goes, and if he starts improving we’ll keep him in.”
Method of victory: TKO, 0:21 of round 1 In his own words: “I actually had a really bad fever the night before the fight. I did a steam room that I’m not used to doing to cut weight because I came in at about 224.5 (pounds) at the beginning of the week on Tuesday, and I like to be about 220.
So they have the nice salon down there at Mandalay Bay, and I hit that up. I was hitting the steam room, and I got a little moisture in my lungs. I was thinking nothing of it, but a couple days went by, and it got worse…Later that night I sweat the bed so bad. I had a fever. I’m still recovering from it…I haven’t really been able to celebrate my win. I haven’t felt that victory yet just because I’ve been so under the weather.”
TIM SYLVIA vs. Assuerio Silva @ Ultimate Fight Night 3, 1/16/06
Method of victory: Unanimous decision In his own words: “Not taking anything away from Assuerio, he’s a tough dude, obviously. I hit him a couple of times and couldn’t finish him. I was really sick for the fight. I got really sick Saturday and had problems holding my innards. When I was warming up, I had a few problems, and I actually had a few problems in the ring when I was fighting.
I don’t know what it was. It got really cold when we were outside working out and stuff, going back and forth from the room. I caught something, and I just couldn’t hold in my number twos…If you look at the fight you’ll see that when my shorts came down, you’ll see the wet mark in my underwear.”
UPDATE: German Andreas Kraniotakes (12-4, 12 finishes) has agreed to meet Sylvia, sources close to the fight confirmed to MMAFighting.com.
ProElite returned to the 
Venue issues have forced ProElite into a change for its November show. 
