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Concord bans extreme fighting
Winston-Salem Journal, NC - Jan 9, 2009 The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the type of event that would be banned, Padgett said. The event began as a single-event tournament to find the world’s … |
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What to watch for as the Ultimate Fighting Championship begins
Anderson Independent Mail, SC - Dec 23, 2008 On Saturday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will hold its Ultimate Finale. The Ultimate Finale ends 2008 with a bang and viewers at home will see, … Respectful heavyweights ready for title fight Las Vegas Sun Evans claims UFC light heavyweight title Las Vegas Review – Journal UFC offers a rare triple main event Los Angeles Times MMAFighting.com - USA Today all 423 news articles |
After twelve episodes of elimination bouts, grueling training, and creative hijinks and pranks, “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Mir™” live finale is set with Phillipe Nover taking on Efrain Escudero in the lightweight (155lb) class and Ryan Bader battling Vinny Magalhaes in the light heavyweight division (205 lbs). Emanating from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV on Saturday, December 13 at 9:00 PM ET, the finalists will be competing for a six-figure contract with the preeminent mixed martial arts organization in the world, The Ultimate Fighting Championship®.
The televised fight card will open with the season’s most controversial contestant, Junie Browning, against fellow castmate and nemesis Dave Kaplan. Also fighting on the Spike TV card will be the previously announced rematch of UFC welterweights Kevin Burns and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and a middleweight clash between Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald and Wilson Gouveia
The undercard also includes “The Ultimate Fighter” cast members John Polakowski vs. Rolando Delgado, George Roop vs. Shane Nelson, Tom Lawlor vs. Kyle Kingsbury, Jules Bruchez vs. Eliot Marshall, and Shane Primm vs. Krzysztof Soszynski.
About The Finalists:
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Efrain Escudero – TEAM NOGUEIRA
Professional Record: 10-0
The 22-year-old mixed martial arts fighter sports a perfect 10-0 professional record as a member of Southwest MMA in Tucson, AZ. Escudero, who is close friends with training partner and former UFC fighter Drew Fickett, grew up in Yuma, AZ and was a state champion wrestler at Cibola High School in the 140lb. weight class. Currently studying Criminal Justice and Sociology at Grand Canyon University, Escudero is on pace to graduate in 2009 with aspirations for a career in law enforcement following his time in Octagon®. A submission specialist, Escudero lists Georges St-Pierre as among the fighters he admires most.
Road To The Finals:
Episode 4: submitted Shane Nelson via triangle in the second round.
Episode 12: submitted Junie Browning in the second round
Phillipe Nover – TEAM NOGUEIRA
Professional Record: 5-0-1
The first ever New York City resident to appear on “The Ultimate Fighter,” Nover was born and raised in Brooklyn. Training at Universal Defense Systems with Ralph Mitchell, Nover is as diverse as the city he lives in, as he is of Polish and Filipino descent. The 24-year-old attended Kingsborough Community College and currently worked at Coney Island Hospital as a registered nurse in the ER. Nover acknowledges his professional life is quite the dichotomy – healing by day but fighting by night. He began training in martial arts at age nine and attended Leon Goldstein High School in Brooklyn. Nover currently holds a rank of brown belt under his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Teacher Alexandre “Soca” Freitas and fights out of Team Insight.
Road To The Finals:
Episode 8: defeated Dave Kaplan via rear naked choke in Round 1
Episode 11: defeated George Roop via kimura submission in Round 1
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
Vinny Magalhaes – TEAM MIR
Professional Record: 2-2, 1 No Contest
A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Magalhaes is the second competitor on the eight seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter” from Brazil (Jorge Gurgel – Season 3). The 24-year-old is currently training with Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. A three-time World Jiu-Jitsu champion (’02, ’05, ’07), Magalhaes has spent the last ten years perfecting his jiu-jitsu skills, while also taking time to master the English, Spanish and Portuguese languages. Prior to coming to the states in 2005, Magalhaes was studying for a physical education degree in Brazil, but has since changed his career path and now trains full-time in order to become a UFC champion.
Road To The Finals:
Episode 7: defeated Jules Bruchez by submission via armbar in Round 1
Episode 12: defeated Krzysztof Soszynski by submission via armbar in Round 1
Ryan Bader – TEAM NOGUEIRA
Professional Record: 7-0
The budding 24-year-old mixed martial arts star was a two-time state wrestling champion at McQueen High School in Reno, NV and was ranked third in the nation during his senior year. Bader continued his education at Arizona State University where he was a 2-time All-American and 3-time All-Pac-10 wrestler. A justice studies major with a minor in business at ASU, Bader was a roommate of “The Ultimate Fighter 7″ finalist, CB Dolloway. Bader, who has previously worked as a sales and marketing representative for a telecommunications company in Phoenix, trains with Arizona Combat Sports. Currently living in Chandler, AZ, Bader enjoys lake-related sports in his spare time.
Road To The Finals:
Episode 3: knocked out Tom Lawlor in the first round
Episode 11: won a unanimous decision over Eliot Marshall http://www.canoe.ca
(CNN) — Rich Franklin used to spend his days teaching math to high school students. Today, he spends his evenings in an octagon-shaped cage grounding and pounding fighters into submission in front of thousands of screaming fans.
Rich Franklin prepares right before his fight against Matt Hamill in UFC 88. 
“I do love teaching and working with the students, but I can’t imagine sitting at home on a Friday night grading math tests or sitting in a faculty meeting,” he said at a news conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
Franklin is one of the new stars of a rapidly growing sport called Mixed Martial Arts.
Their fights are filling arenas and attracting large numbers of male television viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, according to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a pioneering brand in the sport.
Unlike boxing, MMA fighters use a hybrid of techniques from wrestling, kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and more.
Franklin began fighting professionally while still working as a teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio. He started playing football at a young age but didn’t think he had the talent to play professionally, so he got into martial arts as a hobby after high school.
He trained through college, and on a dare, he entered an amateur fight and won. After his fourth year of teaching, he decided to gamble his job security to fight professionally full time.
“I’d rather be one of those guys who did and failed than wonder what could’ve, should’ve, would’ve been when I was 50,” he said.
Having left the classroom behind, Franklin has achieved success as a fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He has held the Middleweight title, had commercial endorsements, and recently earned $100,000 with a victory at UFC 88.
Rashad Evans, an undefeated UFC fighter, says that although the fights are full contact, it is not no-holds-barred brawling. “I wish people were more educated about the sport to know that it is not a Tough Man competition,” he says.
Franklin views his fights as a physical chess match where fighters must know how to defend themselves against various fighting styles.
Fellow fighter Karo Parisyan, a judo specialist, agrees. He explains, “There are so many ways to win that you have to be constantly thinking. You make one mistake, and it’s checkmate.”
In a recent bout, although Franklin’s face is bruised and bleeding, he waits patiently and releases a lightning-fast kick to his opponent’s rib cage. The contact of his shin snaps like a bullwhip. His challenger falls to the floor of the cage, visibly in agony, and Franklin adds another win to his record.
Immediately after inflicting a TKO, Franklin rushes over to his opponent. He congratulates him and says, “Hats off to Matt, he fought a great fight.”
Nate Marquardt fell in love with the sport at a young age. Today, at age 29, he already has had 40 professional fights. His fights, especially the losses, have taught him valuable lessons. “After you lose, a champion gets better, and losing was a blessing in disguise for me, because it helped me recognize my mistakes,” he said.
Before his last fight, he had to drop 15 pounds, mostly water weight, from his already lean frame only days before the weigh-in. He said it wasn’t easy, but he cut his intake of carbs and sodium, and he sat in a sauna, which did the trick.
Marquardt trains year round in pursuit of his dream to become the UFC’s next Middleweight Champion. His success has afforded him the luxury to do so. He earned $56,000 from his last victory. When he doesn’t have a fight coming up, he teaches at his gym in Aurora, Colorado, a couple of times a week.
He agrees that the lifestyle of a fighter gives him more flexibility to spend time with his immediate family than if he had a regular 9-to-5 job. He works his training schedule around spending time with his wife and caring for his 8-year-old daughter.
Marquardt may not have had his fighting opportunities if there hadn’t been a vast overhaul in the sport. MMA was on the verge of extinction because of a political backlash in the late 1990s. One notable critic, Republican presidential nominee John McCain, once called it the equivalent to “human cockfighting.”
Dana White purchased the fledgling Ultimate Fighting Championship for $2 million in 2001. His goal was to establish the UFC as the Super Bowl of the sport. He helped legitimize it by establishing rules and promoting the fighters’ skills instead of showcasing the brutality. Forbes estimates the company will make $250 million this year.
A UFC contract provides the potential for fighters to make a good living. Forrest Griffin, the UFC’s current Light Heavyweight champ, earned $250,000 for a recent win in a main event. Sponsorships from sports drinks and apparel also help to supplement their income.
UFC fights have earned more money than concerts by such marquee artists as Elton John and Billy Joel, according to a UFC press kit. At times, the organization says, they have had more viewers than Monday Night Football and NASCAR. In Montreal, they brought in more than 21,000 people to an event, the largest live audience to witness MMA in North America to date.
Televising fights has increased the number of fans embracing the sport. And at live events and autograph sessions, fans can mingle freely with their favorite fighters and take pictures with them.
“So many people are behind the sport now, and people are falling in love with it, so it’s a matter of time before it’s everywhere,” says fighter Uriah Faber.
Before gaining prominence in WWE, Lesnar was an accomplished amateur wrestler, and won the 2000 NCAA wrestling championship. In WWE, Lesnar was the 2002 King of the Ring, and won the 2003 Royal Rumble. He is also a three-time WWE Champion, and is the second youngest WWE Champion in history.
After leaving WWE in 2004, Lesnar pursued a career in the NFL. He played for the Minnesota Vikings, before being cut from the team for no-showing at practices due to injuries.
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