What: Battle Cage Xtreme IV
When: April 19, ‘08
Where: Atlantic City, NJ @ Tropicana Casino

Upstart promotion Battle Cage Xtreme is holding only their 4th event on Apr. 19th at the Trop Casino and yet have already drawn the attention of MMA lovin’ HDNet.

HDNet’s Inside MMA will be filming BCX IV and 19 (yes, nineteen) bouts, giving exposure to PA/NJ/NY fighters from strong East Coast teams such as Bombsquad, Renzo Gracie, Rhino, Almeida, Fight Factory, and Anthracite.

Here’s the latest on the BCX IV event:

• USKBA/BCX Heavyweight Title

  SHANE OTT (ANTHRACITE) vs. CARLTON HASELRIG

• USKBA Lightweight Title

  TIM TROXELL (AMA/RENZO GRACIE) Vs. KEVIN RODDY (RHINO)

• BCX Featherweight Title

  BLAIR TUGMAN (CALANDRELLI BOMBSQUAD) Vs. STEVE D’ANGELIS (TEAM LIGOURI/ELITE)

• USKBA Welterweight Title

  NICK CALANDRINO (BOMBSQUAD) Vs. TOM GALLICCHIO (TEAM LIGOURI/RHINO)

• BCX Welterweight Title

  PAT AUDINWOOD (BOMBSQUAD) Vs. LESTER KASLOW (TEAM LIGUORI/MAXIUM MARTIAL ARTS)

• Middleweight

  JUSTIN HASKINS (THE ARMORY) Vs. MIKE MEDRANO (RHINO)

• Light Heavyweight

  BRYCE HARRELL (KOA/MILETICH) Vs. AARON SALISBURY (TEAM BALANCE)

• Middleweight

  JUDAH CIERVO (FIGHT FACTORY) Vs. LEANDRO HERNANDEZ (RICARDO ALMEIDA)

• Lightweight

  CORY LAPLANT (BOMBSQUAD) Vs. JOE CAMACHO (AMA/RENZO GRACIE)

• Welterweight

  ROBERTO CONCEPCION (DRAGON WARRIORS) Vs. BRIAN DEMURO (TEAM BALANCE)

• Flyweight

  JOSH SPEARMAN (DRAGON WARRIORS) Vs. ANDRE SOARES (AMERICAN TOP TEAM)

• Middleweight

  DANIEL TAVARES (TEAM OLIVERA) Vs. DREW PUZON (RICARDO ALMEIDA)

• Heavyweight

  RYAN CONTALDI (IRON HORSE MMA) Vs. SEAN RIEHL (RICARDO ALMEIDA)

• Heavyweight

  RANDY SMITH (CALANDRELLI BOMBSQUAD) Vs. HERCULES BENJAMIN (TEAM MORELLI)

• Light Heavyweight

  DON WAGNER (TEAM VISCIOUS) Vs. ANDREW RIDDLES (RICARDO ALMEIDA)

• Heavyweight

  CARLOS EDUARDO (TEAM OLIVERA) Vs. BRET KOHAN (TEAM LIGUORI/MAXIUM MARTIAL ARTS)

• Welterweight

  ROBERT GOODRIDGE (THE ARMORY) Vs. RYAN MCCARTHY (MODERN MARTIAL ARTS)

• Welterweight

  DAMIEN VITALE (CALANDRELLI BOMBSQUAD) Vs. GEORGE SULLIVAN (RHINO)

• Welterweight

  JIM BOVA (ANTHRACITE) Vs. JOSH KEY (TEAM LIGUORI/MAXIUM MARTIAL ARTS)

Check out more Battle Cage Xtreme content on Five Ounces of Pain.

Editor’s Note: The following article is a special contribution to FiveOuncesOfPain.com by Matt Peterson of the New England Fights! podcast, which can heard free of charge at NewEnglandFights.com.

By Matt Peterson

What brings fans out to MMA events is that anything can happen—it has in the past and it will in the future. When Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki (11-1 MMA) dropped the first loss of his career to Ryan “The Lion” Schultz (19-9-1) at the International Fight League’s “World Grand Prix Finals” at the end of last year, you could almost feel the reverberations of the shudders of the IFL brass. For over a year the IFL had been building Horodecki as their posterboy and the fighter poised to be the next big thing in the 155-pound weight class. Having already previously beaten Schultz, many were predicting Horodecki to be a shoe-in for the title. But it was clear that “The Lion” had other plans when he brought an abrupt ending to “The Polish Hammer’s” winning ways with a TKO victory at 2:51 of the first round.

Horodecki returns to the ring next Friday for the first time since the loss to take on Nate “The Future” Lamotte (8-2 MMA), a fighter relatively unknown outside of New England. Undoubtedly the IFL wants to see Horodecki return to his winning ways—after all, they have invested a lot into building him as one of their feature faces. But if the powers-that-be at the IFL brought in Lamotte to lose, he’s saying they picked the wrong guy.

“I think it’s a bad match-up for him,” Lamotte stated to host Matt Peterson on a recent episode of the New England Fights! Podcast, which can be downloaded and listened to free-of-charge at www.newenglandfights.com. “If they wanted to solidify him as their posterboy, I think they made a mistake.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Influence of MMA has reached the world of professional wrestling at it’s biggest stage.

This past Sunday night at Wrestlemania XXIV, the Undertaker beat Edge with a gogoplata submission.

Formerly known as the “Dead Man” and “American Badass”, the Undertaker has evolved his character into a mixed martial arts fighter of sorts. This includes wearing MMA style gloves and using submissions a lot more often in his matches.

To put this in perspective: Vince MacMahon scripted a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu submission as the finisher for the biggest WWE event of the year.

Somewhere Lou Thesz is rolling over in his grave.

The above video is a segment from Saturday’s edition of CBS’ Early Show that discussed the involvement of children in mixed martial arts. UFC president Dana White was a guest during the segment.I was watching the show in my hotel room on Saturday and when they teased it, they made no mention of White. Then the segment came on and they introduced White. My assumption was that White would come out and blast parents who allow their children to be involved with MMA fights.

Wow, was I wrong. White pretty much endorsed the idea.

How can anyone with a child endorse kids fighting? I’m not talking about having your kids training in MMA and learning technique. I’m talking about allowing them to fight.

The video below contains footage of kids fighting in a cage in Missouri and I think it’s pretty disgusting. I have an eight-year old son who trains Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on a daily basis. I’ve also let him do some boxing training as well as Karate. The idea is that he learns self-defense technique, discipline, and self-confidence. The idea is not for him to become a professional fighter. If that’s the route he wants to take in life, that’ll be his choice.

My preference is that he gets an education and studies martial arts as a hobby. It’s not that I don’t respect people who fight professionally — quite the contrary. But I know making a full-time career as a fighter isn’t easy. There’s a lot of talented fighters out there who are making no money at this. I also know the toll that the training can take on one’s body. Having a long-term career is a fighter is hardly a given. And there’s no pension plan in MMA. If you can no longer compete as a fighter, you better either have a big savings account or another career that you can pursue.

My preference also is that is that if my son does decide to become a fighter, he doesn’t start taking fights until he’s 18. I’ve allowed him to do point sparring and a grappling tournament but the idea of allowing him to take punches to the head seems like a highly irresponsible thing to do. White points out that the kids in the video are wearing safety equipment. So what!? As a former boxer, he should know that headgear only helps so much. If someone hits you with a good shot, you still feel it. And taking repeated shots? Don’t even get me started.

The last thing I’d ever want for my son or any other child is for them to be punch drunk by the time they are 16. Dana says people just don’t understand the sport and that it’s no different than Kung Fu or Karate. Well, I’ve taken both and I can tell you there’s a big difference between point sparring with no contact to the head and a fight where contact to the head is illegal as well as submissions. And amateur boxing? Again, so what. I’d never let my son compete as a boxer before he’s legally an adult. To put your child in a position where they are taking repeated blows to the head while their brain chemistry is still developing should be grounds for child abuse.

It should be illegal for anyone under the 18 to compete in a mixed martial arts fight. If someone is 16 and they are emancipated, there should be an exception made because they are legally an adult and should be allowed to decide what’s best for themselves. But under no other circumstance should a minor fight MMA. If they want to train and learn technique — I’m all for it. But what is the point in having kids fight? It seems like the Little League syndrome where a bunch of failed athletes force their kids to play a sport in hopes of living vicariously through them. And before you point the finger at me, my son asked to take BJJ because he saw my wife and I do it. I’ve never pushed him towards it and the day he wants to stop, he can stop. But with parents who allow kids to compete in MMA matches, it just reeks of some guy who loves to watch the UFC and wants to be a fighter but is too old so he’s pushing his kid to do it. And if you happen to be a parent with a child that you allow to fight, shame on you.

Kids training in martial arts? Great idea! But kids fighting in MMA is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard and for White to actually get on national television and support it is a complete joke.

For me, Saturday’s main event between Frank Shamrock and Cung Le was somewhere between good and great. I will call it a very good fight.

Round three was tremendous and while Shamrock vs. Le might be the fight of the year thus far, I think it will be a disappointing year for MMA if it is in the top five of top matches come year’s end.

I enjoyed the fight and the San Jose crowd really added to the atmosphere. But my biggest issue with Shamrock vs. Le was that while it was contested under MMA rules, it really wasn’t an MMA fight. It was almost entirely a standup encounter, which I don’t have a problem with if that’s the an organic path for the fight to go down. But there were times when that fight could have and possibly should have gone to the ground and didn’t. If someone gets swept off their feet and is lying on their back, a fighter should go in for the kill.

A lesser issue I had with the fight was Shamrock’s incessant hand gestures throughout the fight. The “nighty-night” gesture during the Phil Baroni fight last June was awesome. But he went to the well once too often during the fight with Le. I’m all for a little showmanship and gamesmanship but when there is too much banter between combatants during a fight, the level of intensity decreases and it begins to feel like a glorified sparring match.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

San Jose, Calif. — ProElite.com (SamCaplan.ProElite.com) was able to confirm with sources after the Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le fight Saturday night that Shamrock indeed has a broken arm. X-rays were conducted at the HP Pavilion and showed the fracture.

During the post-fight press conference, Le indicated that he not only saw Shamrock’s X-rays, but heard the arm break while in the cage.

The injury took place towards the end of the third and final round. Le threw a high kick that grazed Shamrock’s head that ultimately landed on Shamrock’s upper arm.

In an excellent display of photography, EliteXC photographer Tom Casino was able to capture a clear shot of the kick that broken Shamrock’s arm.

According to Le, the X-rays he saw showed a bone in Shamrock’s arm broken in half.

Even if Shamrock had not gotten injured, he was in danger of losing the fight. ProElite.com was able to acquire a copy of the judge’s scoring and it shows that Shamrock was behind on all the judges’ scorecards.

According to the scoring obtained, Shamrock lost all three rounds. Round one was 30-27 Le; round two was 29-28 Le; and round three was 29-28 Le.

Judge Richard Bertrend scored the fight 10-9, 10-9, 9-10. Judge Cecil Peoples scored the fight 10-9, 10-9, 10-9. And judge Nelson “Doc” Hamilton scored the fight 10-9, 9-10, and 10-9.

Le stated that he was open to a rematch with Shamrock.

Here are other notes from the post-fight press conference:

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

(EliteXC/Strikeforce photos provided by TOM CASINO/EliteXC)

Shamrock vs. Cung Le: Fight of the Year?

Maybe. I won’t get too far ahead of myself because it’s only March 30th, but this fight has set a precedent for entertaining fights in the coming months. It may not have been the all out technical mixed martial arts fight that touched everywhere like the Frankie Edgar vs. Tyson Griffin fight from last year, but it was as entertaining a fight as there’s been all year. It had everything that a fan of combat sports could want. Hard combinations and punches from both fighters. Back and forth exchanges. Friendly taunting. An incredibly memorable third round. And to top it all off, a decisive finish.

Come December when we’re talking about the Fight of the Year, I have a strong feeling that this fight will be among three or four other fights (Baroni vs. Hose?) in the discussion at the very least. Props to both guys for putting on a great show and fighting their freaking hearts out.

What happened to Shamrock’s wrestling game?

I refuse to believe that it’s just disappeared into thin air. I also refuse to believe that he “can’t shoot” because of his knees. What got Shamrock in trouble tonight was his own ego, plain and simple. He thought he could stand with Cung Le and learned his lesson the hard way. When things weren’t going his way on the feet, he did little to adjust to make the fight work in his favor. You could see on his face in round three after he got swept off his feet by a low kick that he knew Cung was too much for him on the feet. What does he have to show for it? A battered face, a broken arm, an empty spot on his shelf for his former title, and some humble f’n pie. Eat up, Frank.

Read the rest of this entry »

Shamrock vs. Cung Le
March 29, 2008
HP Pavilion; San Jose, CA

• Cung Le def. Frank Shamrock via TKO (Shamrock was unable to answer the bell for round four, stating that Cung Le had broken his arm with a kick) at 5:00 of round three*
• Drew Fickett def. Jae Suk Lim via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:14 of round one
• Gilbert Melendez def. Gabe Lemley via TKO (strikes) at 2:18 of round two*
• Wayne Cole def. Mike Kyle via submission (armbar) at :45 of round one
• Joey Villasenor def. Ryan Jensen via TKO (punch) at 4:45 of round one
• Tiki Ghosn def. Luke Stewart via unanimous decision
• Darren Uyenoyama def. Anthony Figueroa via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:27 of round one
• Jesse Jones def. Jesse Gillespie via TKO (strikes) at :35 of round one
• Billy Evangelista def. Marlon Sims via TKO (punch) at :39 of roud three

*Cung Le wins the Strikeforce 185 lbs. championship
*Gilbert Melendez retains Strikeforce 155 lbs. championship

Check out more Shamrock vs. Cung Le coverage on FiveOuncesOfPain.com!

Five Ounces of Pain is running our popular during the live event chat Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Le card tonight  starting at 9pm ET.

While you watch the fights on the Showtime channel, you can talk smack with other hardcore MMA fans HERE as the fights happen. If you don’t have Showtime, we’ll provide blow-by-blow coverage of each bout.

Sponsoring our Strikeforce live event chat is StrikeFirstGear.com. The dudes at Strike First Gear are giving away prizes to the chat participants that can pick the winner of the final two bouts on the card:

Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le
Gilbert Melendez vs. Gabe Lemley

Pick the winner, method of win, round and time for your chance to win hoodies, t-shirts and hats from StrikeFirstGear.com! Check out their site for all the goods.

JOIN the chat and be sure to join other Five Ounces readers, staff, and other MMA fans on Saturday night!

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Here’s my rundown of the five scheduled matches to be televised on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET) during tonight’s EliteXC and Strikeforce co-promotion featuring Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le.

Before I get to the fights, I wanted to let everyone know that Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that an opponent for Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson during EliteXC’s debut on CBS on May 31 has been finalized. The word making the rounds right now is that Slice could be in San Jose and appear on tonight’s telecast and reveal his opponent.

I’ve heard two names rumored. I don’t want to comment on the names because the information is highly speculative and I wasn’t able to get anything confirmed. It’s very possible neither of the names I’ve heard mentioned will be signed for the fight. I will say this: it won’t be Ken Shamrock or Don Frye.

Now, here’s my thoughts on tonight’s fights, with predictions.

Joey Villasenor vs. Ryan Jensen - Even though Joe Riggs and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos were forced to pull out of this scheduled bout, Jensen is here representing Strikeforce so this bout is still technically an “EliteXC vs. Strikeforce” bout.

Jensen is grateful for this opportunity to be fighting on a big show once again but there will be a lot of pressure on him. As of now, the word is that he’s on a one-fight deal with Strikeforce. The deal could be extended, but he needs to win here.

Doing so against a fighter the caliber of Villasenor will not be easy. While Jensen has better technique on the ground, and possibly on the feet, I expect Villasenor to have a significant strength and speed factor.

In my eyes, Villasenor is the better athlete while Jensen is the better technician. That being said, Villasenor is not exactly sloppy. He’s a well-rounded fighter who is continually improving in all facets of the game. Jensen is the kind of guy that is easy to root for, but I’m afraid this could be a one-sided bout in Villasenor’s favor.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

My latest article for CBSSports.com is now available.

This week I decided to profess my undying love for the WEC. Anyone who reads this blog knows how high I am on the WEC as a promotion.

The article is titled “Why You Should Be Watching the WEC” and is geared towards casual fans who might only be limiting their MMA viewing habits to the UFC.

So while you know I enjoy the WEC a great deal, click here to find out exactly why.

Just announced on tonight’s Inside MMA, mixed martial arts super agent Monte Cox is starting a new fight promotion called Adrenaline MMA (formerly known as M-1 Global) and has signed top 10 heavyweights Tim Sylvia and Ben Rothwell. “The Maine-iac” said his split from the UFC was amicable and said his deal with the new Adrenaline MMA promotion is non-exclusive. He will not fulfill the last fight on his contract with the UFC and has been released from his contract altogether.

At age 32, he hopes to fight several times a year, in Adrenaline MMA and in other promotions. He stated he’d like to fight in Japan and (of course) said Fedor is #1 one on his list.

Monte Cox stated Adrenaline MMA’s first show will be June 14th in Chicago.

UPDATE: MMA Weekly is reporting that not only have Ben Rothwell and Tim Sylvia signed on for the new Adrenaline MMA promotion, but that they’ve also signed current EliteXC and DREAM fighter Eddie Alvarez. Also according to the report, a fight between American Top Team’s Jeff Monson and PRIDE veteran Mike Russow has already been signed for the inaugural show.

Team Bomb Squad, a team comprised of some of the top MMA fighters in the Northeastern corridor of the United States, will make its formal IFL debut on May 16 at the Mogehan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, team manager Gary Marino revealed exclusively to FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com).

The team, which will be coached by Ryan Ciotoli, will face Mario Sperry’s World Class Fight Center during the IFL’s May event. Mike Massenzio will represent Team Bomb Squad in a middleweight bout while John Howard will compete in a welterweight fight. The third spot on the team, which will be a lightweight slot, has not yet been determined.

Two Team Bomb Squad affiliate fighters will also be appearing on next Friday’s IFL show at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ. Brendan Barrett will be fighting Alex Schoenauer while Nate Lamotte will take on Chris Horodecki.

Check out more IFL content of FiveOuncesofPain.com.

Frank Shamrock breaks down Cung Le’s strengths and weaknesses in this video. It’s always fun to hear Frank talk about the art of fighting and how he perceives things. Even though he has the biggest ego of anyone in the sport, the way he talks so passionately about it makes him one hell of an ambassador for the sport. Thanks to Bloody Elbow for digging up this video.

Check out more Frank Shamrock on FiveOuncesOfPain.com!

We’ve got ourselves a big MMA event coming up this weekend with the EliteXC/Strikeforce co-promoted Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le card. Some of the staff of 5 Oz. is here to give you their picks and why they think they’re winners. Let’s do the damn thing.

Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le (Strikeforce 185 lbs. Title)

Adam Morgan: If Frank Shamrock does what he says he’s going to do, which is stand with Cung Le, he may be in trouble. Frank thinks his hands and feet are better than Cung’s but he’s dead wrong. Cung is fast, unorthodox, and powerful. If Frank stands with Cung Le for too long, it could be lights out for Frank. That being said, I think Frank will test the waters on the feet and ultimately realize that Cung is too much for him there and resort to his wrestling, his ground and pound, and ultimately his submission game. Frank Shamrock via submission, round three.

Michael Huckaby: I see this fight being close but not because it’s actually close. Frank Shamrock wants to put on a show and if that means not finishing Cung Le as fast as he could or standing and taking a few shots that’s exactly what he’ll do. I think Shamrock, after some unnecessary standup, will take him down and then finish when he sees fit. I don’t give Cung much of a chance at all on the ground, we’ll call it Malaipet Syndrome. I’ll believe Cung Le’s ground game when I see it. I think Shamrock’s decision will be to end this in the third round, give or take depending on his mood. Frank Shamrock, sub, Rd3.

Sam Cupitt: Frank Shamrock is a very smart fighter but he is also a showman. In all the pre-fight talk, Shamrock has spoken openly about how he wants to stand with Le as he feels his striking is superior. Like Mike said, I believe Shamrock will stand with Le if only to provide a show for the fans but the question is if Shamrock starts to get outclassed in the stand-up will he be able to take the fight to the ground? I’m very much aware we’ve seen Shamrock take fighters down before but in recent times he has been more willing to let his opponent dictate where the fight takes place. The reason for this is partly because of Shamrock’s confidence in his striking but I think it more has to do with the fact his knees are now basically made up of balsa wood and masking tape. If you remember back to the Baroni fight, Shamrock stated he couldn’t go for a takedown due to the state of his knees.

We all probably know that if this fight hits the ground it will only be a matter of time before Shamrock finds something which he’ll be able to finish the fight with but I feel as long as Cung Le doesn’t take the fight to the ground then we won’t see any ground work. So that means as long as Le doesn’t get out struck or he doesn’t slip going for a kick then the fight is there for the taking. Shamrock may have the better hands but it’d take a long time to prepare for the kind of crazy kicks Le is bringing. Even with the Caplan curse I think Le can take this. I’ve actually seen in my mind Le landing a devastating spinning back kick. Cung Le via TKO in round 3.

Read the rest of this entry »

I am in San Jose, Calif. right now on assignment and a lot of influential people in this business are just burying California State Athletic Commission executive director Armando Garcia. He wasn’t popular to begin with but now even some of his supporters have turned on him in regards to his decision to pull Nick Diaz from Saturday’s EliteXC/Strikeforce show.

Right now, I am going to hold off on making a comment. The reason is because I think it’s too early to jump to conclusions. We’ve heard EliteXC and Gary Shaw’s side, but I’d really like to hear Garcia’s side. The problem is, Garcia is being silent at a time he needs to be speaking up. CSAC is publicly funded by taxpayers in California and as such, there should be complete and total transparency in CSAC’s dealings.

During Thursday’s EliteXC/Strikeforce press conference, Diaz mentioned that when he went for his pre-fight medical exam that a female attendant looked at his record and brought up his past suspension for marijuana and that she warned him. According to Diaz, at that point he felt like the right thing to do was to be completely honest when filling out his forms and so he apprised the commission of his use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. He expressed that several other fighters getting their exams done did the same.

Shaw said that Diaz was punished even though he had not had a pre-fight test nor had tested positive for the fight. But when Diaz had his pre-fight medical approximately 2-3 weeks ago, did he submit any kind of blood sample? Is there any chance that Diaz somehow might have tested positive? I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but I just have a feeling we aren’t getting the full story.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

Rampage: “Get yo fat ass up!” (kicks dude a few times)
Fat Blogger dude: “Ow! I’m a blogger, I’m on the internet!”

Props to bloodyelbow.

Check out tons of Quinton Rampage Jackson content on FiveOuncesofPain.com

Here is video of EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw and Nick Diaz addressing the recent controversy of the California State Athletic Commissions’ decision to prevent Diaz from fighting on Saturday’s EliteXC/Strikeforce show.

This video is courtesy of ProElite.com.

Fedor Emelianenko is not the only top heavyweight in the world of mixed martial arts to have been involved in a high-profile divorce from a major organization. If a report by Tom Hamlin of MMAWeekly.com is correct, former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia is the latest fighter to part ways from his employer.

Terms of the agreement were not listed in the report. It should be noted that Sylvia either has or had one fight remaining on his contract with the UFC.

According to the report, Sylvia’s divorce from the UFC was finalized earlier this week. He has hinted on his website that he will be making a major announcement in regards to his career on Friday.

It is not yet certain what Sylvia’s next move will be. However, neither the UFC or Sylvia’s agent, Monte Cox, have issued an official comment. However, MMA Weekly is speculating that Sylvia will likely join Cox and become a part of M-1 Global.

It is also interesting to note that M-1 Global issued a press release to announce their separation with Fedor Emelianenko but also revealed that they will be issuing a second press release in 24 hours. It is unknown if the promised release is simply a repeat of the Fedor announcement, an announcement pertaining to Sylvia, or something completely separate.

This turn of events is very interesting. When I spoke with Cox several weeks back he indicated that it was his preference to work out a new pact with the UFC.

More details as they become available.  UPDATE: Sylvia signs with new promotion Adrenaline MMA.

Hey everyone, I am on assignment in San Jose, Calif. right now but I received the following press release from M-1 Global earlier. They have officially announced a parting of the ways with Fedor Emelianenko and indicate that they will soon be announcing a name change.

Here is the release:

NEW YORK – M-1 Global announced today a mutual agreement with Vadim Finkelchtein, manager of former PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko, to release the heavyweight from his contractual obligations.

 

“There is so much going on in the world of mixed martial arts right now that we have decided it is in our best interest if our company and Fedor go our separate ways,” said M-1 Global President and CEO Monte Cox.

 

“During the past six months the landscape of MMA, especially in the U.S., has dramatically changed. The sport continues to gain mainstream acceptance and we believe we will be in a better position to capitalize on these new opportunities with this agreement.”

 

“Because Finkelchtein already uses the ‘M-1’ name in Russia and Europe, we have mutually decided to avoid any confusion between our two organizations. Shortly, M-1 Global will announce a new name for its operations and its first event.”

 

“Fedor is a tremendous fighter and a great person… we wish him only the best in his future endeavors,” Cox said.

 

“We appreciate the support that Monte and the M-1 Global team have given Fedor,” Finkelchtein said. “We wish M-1 Global great success and hope to work with them sometime in the future.”