Making Gigantic Waves In Hawaii: EliteXC And Icon Sport/ROTR To Present Biggest MMA Event In State History Saturday, Sept. 15

Courtesy of Pro Elite, Inc.:

“Ninja” Defends Versus Lawler; Nick Diaz Returns Against Aina; EliteXC Stars Shields, Carano Also Featured On “Uprising” Fight Card In Oahu Shown On SHOWTIME At 11 P.M. ET/PT

HONOLULU (Aug. 16, 2007) – In less than seven months, ProElite's respected live fight division, EliteXC, has gained the reputation for delivering consistently competitive, thrilling and memorable live Mixed Martial Arts events that showcase the world's top fighters.

Under the watchful eye of Live Events President, Gary Shaw, EliteXC already has produced many remarkable accomplishments and has made MMA history on a couple of occasions; the most noteworthy perhaps being it was the first MMA organization to bring the sport to premium television.

EliteXC will achieve another first when it presents a fantastic cage fight card Saturday, Sept. 15, at Blaisdell Arena in Oahu, Hawaii. It will represent the initial collaboration between EliteXC and Hawaii-based promoters, ICON Sport and ROTR (Rumble On The Rock), which will co-promote the event locally.

Talk about making a huge splash! The sensational 10-fight show will be the most significant MMA event in the history of the 50th state.

“We are very excited about EliteXC working together with Icon and Rumble On The Rock to bring this type of tremendous fight card to the islands on Sept. 15,’’ Shaw said. “Working together works and we are going to prove that with a card aptly titled ‘Uprising.’

“We are thrilled to have Icon Sport and ROTR as co-promoters. There will definitely be an ‘Uprising’ on the islands on Saturday, Sept. 15. ‘Ninja’ defending his EliteXC middleweight title against Robbie Lawler is a fabulously exciting matchup. So are all the other fights on the card.

“This cage fight card from top to bottom could easily be a pay-per-view event. But EliteXC was committed to bringing its first fight card to the islands at no additional cost.’’

“ICON was the originator of this sport in Hawaii, but there is no question that ROTR were the innovators,’’ ICON president Patrick Freitas said. “ROTR came in and definitely raised the bar. Now the two us of, Hawaii’s two largest arena organizations by far, are coming together.

“The collaboration of these two juggernauts has been a long time coming. At one point, for the longest time, we were our biggest rivals. But now, we are working together with EliteXC to put on what will be Hawaii’s biggest MMA extravaganza ever. Fans are in for a great fight night on Sept. 15.’’

Offered JD Penn, who heads up ROTR: “This is a natural step up in the process of ROTR. We have always had our eyes on the biggest prize. And for now, this is it. With the expertise from both our groups, ROTR and ICON Sport, along of course with EliteXC, we have all the making of becoming an unstoppable force in MMA.

“I am really looking forward to the first of our many collaborations, and I know fans on the island and viewers on SHOWTIME are, too.’’

In an excellent five, 5-minute round, pick ‘em main event on a cage card nationally co-promoted by EliteXC and SHOWTIME, the first EliteXC champion, Murilo “Ninja” Rua (murilorua.proelite.com), will make his initial middleweight title defense against always-dangerous ICON Sport titlist, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (Robbielawler.proelite.com).

One of the top fighters pound for pound in MMA, the well-regarded Nick Diaz (nickdiaz.proelite.com) will make his anxiously awaited EliteXC debut and first start in six months when he faces Hawaiian star Mike Aina in the Sept. 15 semi-main event.

Diaz trains with Cesar Gracie’s camp in California (cesargracie.proelite.com). Aina is a member of BJ “The Prodigy’’ Penn’s camp in Hawaii (bjpenn.proelite.com). Their match will be the second of two Gracie vs. Penn matchups on a stellar five-bout card that will be televised on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, tape delayed on the West Coast).

The other Gracie vs. Penn matchup will pit streaking top-10 welterweight Gracie’s Jake Shields (jakeshields.proelite.com) against Penn’s Renato “Charuto” Verissimo (renatoverissimo.proelite.com).

The Golden Girl of MMA, sexy Gina Carano (ginacarano.proelite.com), will face Tonya Evinger (tonyaevinger.proelite.com) in a 140- pound fight and Joey Villasenor (joeyvillesenor.proelite.com) will meet fellow tough guy Riki Fukuda (rikifukuda.proelite.com) at 185 pounds in the other televised bouts.

With the exception of “Ninja”-Lawler, the televised bouts are slated for three, 5-minute rounds.

The popular Ninja (14-7-1), who’s aggressive style makes for scintillating scraps, rallied from a first-round knockdown to capture the vacant EliteXC 185-pound crown with a second-round TKO over Villasenor on June 22, 2007, at San Jose, Calif.

After getting dropped in the opening round, Ninja rallied in the second. He landed a flurry of punches before decking Villasenor with a right hand counter. Rua rushed in on his downed opponent and landed several more unanswered blows before the referee halted matters at the 1:05 mark.

“I am really looking forward to fighting again and fighting for the second time with EliteXC,’’ said the crowd-pleasing ‘Ninja,’ who’s strategy will be to try and take the fight to the ground. Ninja possesses power and a good all around game, but he is weakest as a standup, which is Lawler’s strength.

“We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,’’ said ‘Ninja.’ “This will be a great fight.’’

Ninja is a jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai black belt. He and his brother, Mauricio (“Shogun’’), are members of the Brazilian Hall of Fame.

Long regarded as one of the world’s top middleweights, Lawler (14-4, 3-1 in ICON sport) is known for utterly destroying opponents with an aggressive, unbashful, swing-for-the-fences, almost reckless style of serving up a fistful of enormous power punches and ramming them down your head.

In an excellent performance, Lawler, of Davenport, Iowa, registered a fourth-round knockout over UFC and Pride veteran Frank Trigg to earn the ICON Sport middleweight belt on March 31, 2007.

A fan favorite who puts as much heart and bad intentions behind his punches and lethal flying knee attacks as anyone could expect, Lawler was supposed to defend on June 30, 2007, but he separated a shoulder and the fight was cancelled. This is his first fight since. “I am ready now,’’ he said. “Let’s go.’’

Highly revered by MMA fans, Diaz owns a win over Lawler and has challenged Frank Shamrock (frankshamrock.proelite.com). “I watched his last fight and no disrespect intended, but I think I would whoop his butt,” Diaz said.

Diaz, of Stockton, Calif., will be making his EliteXC debut after fighting some of the sport's biggest names during a three-year stretch (2003-2006).

“We've kept our word about signing fighters and letting them fight in other organizations,’’ Shaw said. “I think this a great move for Nick. He wasn’t happy or doing well in the UFC; now he can be one of the top dogs. As everyone knows, EliteXC is getting better and better. Nick’s still young and a great fighter.’’

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Diaz will be entering the cage for the first time since an impressive gogoplata submission victory over Takanori Gomi in a Fight of the Year candidate that wound up going into the books as a no contest.

For his return, Diaz will compete as a lightweight. When he submitted Gomi in February 2007, he fought as a welterweight.

Aina (8-5-1) specializes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and kickboxing. He may not have a lot of name recognition, but he is better than his record indicates and owns victories over Rick Screeton, Rosco McClellan, Albert Rios and Kaleo Kwan.

Like Diaz, Aina has never turned down a fight and wants to brawl. “I’m tough," he said. “Standup is my strength, but over the years, I've become pretty well-rounded. I can do pretty much everything well, so I'm comfortable anywhere.’’

The Hawaiian trains at Penn's gym in the former oven room of a cracker factory, which has produced a multitude of up-and-coming fighters hoping to emulate the proprietor.

“It's opened things up for me," said Aina, a mechanical technician by trade. “My skills have improved by leaps and bounds. I came here a few years ago, and I'm continuing to learn. Over the years, I've stayed pretty consistent and I'm looking to just keep going.’’

Shields, of San Francisco, recently called out the veteran Trigg. If triumphant against “Charuto,’’ Shields, who is undefeated since December 2004, may get a shot at the first EliteXC welterweight championship in his next outing. In a division that sport-wide is top-heavy in talent, Shields is considered one of the best at 170 pounds.

“Charuto is a veteran tough guy who I've been looking forward to fighting,’’ said Shields, who has upended the likes of Yushin Okami, Hayato “Mach’’ Sakurai and current WEC welterweight champ Carlos Condit. “We were supposed to fight about a year ago so I'm happy it's finally going to happen.

“This is the kind of fight true fans of ground fighting should really appreciate. We are two good grapplers. But I have been working on my stand up and I’m sure he’s been doing the same.”

A jiu-jitsu black belt expert and still considered one of the top Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitors in the world, Verissimo, whose nickname “Charuto’’ means cigar in Portuguese, is hoping to smoke Shields.

A former world title contender, Verissimo has been in against the best, including Carlos Newton, Matt Hughes and Trigg. This will be his first start since March 2007 when he defeated Lars Haven by TKO. That fight was his first since returning from a self-imposed nine-month retirement.

“It was too important to me to stay away from fighting, especially in Hawaii,’’ said Verissimo, who is known for accepting bouts only against top-ranked opponents, but had lost two in a row in January and April 2006. “I wanted to come back in a good way and show everybody that I could still compete.’’

“Charuto’’ was raised in Rio de Janiero, but moved to Hawaii 10 years ago to become a blackbelt instructor. One of his students was BJ Penn. When Penn started competing in the Octagon, Renato also became involved in MMA. Ironically, Penn trained Verissimo during the latter stages of his retirement.

“I just kept training hard with BJ and then I felt like I wanted to compete again,’’ he said.

One would be hard pressed to find an athlete in any sport whose star has risen as far and as fast as the incredibly popular Carano (4-0), who is signed to a multi-year contact with EliteXC.

Since a breakthrough performance during EliteXC’s debut event on SHOWTIME in February – her epic victory over Julie Kedzie came in the first women’s bout shown on premium television, Carano has spent the following months pursuing various outside the ring ventures, including doing fight commentary, interviews, photo shoots and starring in Oxygen’s “Fight Girls” reality television series.

It is apparent the moment you meet the popular, personable Carano, of Las Vegas, that she is the epitome of strength; a strong, young woman by any measure you elect to use: mentally, spiritually and physically. Yes, she is more than a pretty face.
Carano was supposed to fight June 2, but she got sick during an MMA event she was attending after getting an intestinal virus while shooting the Oxygen reality show in Thailand. She was hospitalized a week for dehydration.

“I’m healthy now and feeling great,’’ said Carano, who trains at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. “I was feeling better a week before the June 2 fight, but that wasn’t enough time so I had to withdraw.’’

Carano, who got national notoriety for her quote -- “We're not hitting tennis balls. We're hitting people. Isn't that more exciting?” -- knows better than to underestimate the rugged Evinger.

“I don’t take anyone lightly,’’ Gina said. “I know I’ve got a big target on me, so I don’t care what a person’s record is, I’m going to train hard and be completely healthy for it.’’ Gina had better be fit.

Evinger (4-2, 4 KOs), of Oak Grove, Mo., is regarded as one of the meanest, roughest, toughest athletes in MMA. Her family owns a racetrack, but she doesn’t horse around in a cage.

The confident, fast-taking Evinger, a slammer and banger in the truest sense, doesn’t come to merely win, but to dominate and destroy. A nationally recognized former grappling champion, she has been wrestling 13 years, training in jiu-jitsu for four years and kick-boxing for three.

“Carano had better take a good look in the mirror before the fight,” said Evinger, a construction worker who currently works at a cement factory, “because she won’t be able to recognize her face when I am done with her.’’

A dedicated athlete, Villasenor lives, breathes and eats MMA. He is never in a dull fight, but will be looking to regain his winning ways against the oft-avoided Fukuda.

“Fukuda is a guy nobody wants to fight, but this is a fight I want and I am looking forward to,’’ said Villasenor, of Albuquerque, N.M., who impressively defeated outpointed David Loiseau on Feb. 10, 2007, on SHOWTIME, but lost to “Ninja” by TKO in his last start. “I am ready to prove that the result of my last EliteXC battle was a fluke.’’

A five-time King of the Cage champion and former IFC light heavyweight champion, Villasenor established a record for fastest knockout in an MMA fight, a four-second victory over Hank Weis in 2004. “On Sept. 15, I will prove I am back and show what I am really all about,’’ Villasenor said.

Fukuda does not speak English but his talent and skills speak volumes. Some feel, while still untested, he is legitimate championship material.

Up to now, a guy with a solid wrestling background has been his own worst enemy. Fukuda may be too good for his own good. The talented yet still unknown is too strong for the up and comers, and too risky a proposition for the established guys.

“All I can do is wait for the fights and beat the guys they put in front of me,’’ said Fukuda, who trains at the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose. “Eventually, my time will come and the top guys will have to fight me.’’

In his EliteXC and SHOWTIME debut last Feb. 10, Fukuda looked like a future star en route to dominating Chris Gates en route to a first-round submission due to strikes.

To kick start the amazing night of fights, the premier mixed martial arts social networking and entertainment site, ProElite.com, will once again be live streaming the undercard bouts, including six scheduled three, 3-minute round fights: Kala Kolohe (3-1) vs. Jeff “Pee Wee’’ Fox (1-0-1) at 195 pounds; Mark Kurano (0-0) vs. Jose “The Bomber” Diaz (1-0) at 185 pounds; Mark Oshiro (10-1) vs. Nui Wheeler (2-0) at 135 pounds; Brandon Wolffe (5-2) vs. Jae Sok Lim (4-2); Albert (“Always Bad’’ Manners (7-6) vs. Tyson Nam (3-1) at 135 and Kolo Koka (1-1) vs. Justin Buchholz (6-1) at 165 pounds.

With ProElite.com starting the event and SHOWTIME broadcasting the main bouts, you won’t miss a single round of action!

For more information on EliteXC, ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series and other MMA-related stories, including bios, videos, photos, stats and more, please visit EliteXC.com.

About Pro Elite, Inc.

ProElite Inc. [PELE.PK] delivers the most exciting entertainment experience in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA) with live arena-based entertainment events, cable television programming on Showtime Networks and community-driven interactive broadband entertainment via the Internet. ProElite embraces MMA with the highest levels of honor, integrity, discipline and self-esteem all the while remaining inclusive for fighters, fans and schools. ProElite’s live fight division, EliteXC, delivers spectacular live MMA fight events that showcase the world’s top fighters. ProElite’s interactive business, ProElite.com, capitalizes on the growing popularity of the sport of mixed martial arts by building a community of mixed martial arts enthusiasts. In addition to streaming the most exciting live fights to the web, ProElite expands the fan base of the sport by providing a comprehensive set of online social networking tools for fans, fighters and organizations. ProElite.com – Empowering the Fight Community TM

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Contacts:

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EliteXC (Brener Zwikel & Associates, Inc.)
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