SB Nation User Blog: pennyjomma

Liddell, St. Pierre, Evans Among Six in Initial Round 5 UFC Series

pennyjomma — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:29:18 -0000

   Liddell, St. Pierre, Evans Among Six in Initial Round 5 UFC SeriesFlorian, Guida and Machida also Featured in First Six Produced Under UFC AgreementMARKHAM, Ontario, Canada, September 29, 2009 – Its landmark marketing partnership freshly in place, Round 5 is pleased to announce the members of the first series of collectible figurines under the UFC brand, a group of six accomplished fighters, as announced today by Barron Lau, Round 5 CEO and co-founder and Damon Lau, president and co-founder. Figurines for stars Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, George “Rush” St. Pierre, “Suga” Rashad Evans, Kenny “KenFlo” Florian, Clay “The Carpenter” Guida and Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida are scheduled to be available at retail and at www.Round5MMA.com early next year.

The six collectibles will be presented in a new UFC-themed packaging that includes action photos of each respective fighter's memorable moments as well as a short biography.

“These six athletes provide a strong, varied base for our first UFC series,” said Damon Lau. “There are established champions like Chuck Liddell and George St. Pierre, popular up-and-comers like Rashad Evans and Kenny Florian and guys like Clay Guida and Lyoto Machida who have loyal, growing followings.”

“We think fans will really connect to these collectibles through their detail and the enhanced packaging,” said Barron Lau. “We want them to feel that by owning a Round 5 figurine, they, in a sense, own a piece of that fighter.”

The issuance of UFC Series 1 signals the discontinuation of the previous Round 5 Series. The remaining inventory from the 17 figurines issued in the previous four Series under that brand will continue to be available while supplies last. Limited editions and other special versions of the UFC Series 1 athletes are also in the planning stages.

“The Limited Editions we have issued have been wildly popular, so we are definitely looking at expanding those offerings,” added Barron Lau.

Liddell, one of the most popular MMA fighters ever, held the UFC light heavyweight belt for two years, using his devastating striking skills to rack up a 21-7 record, including 13 knockouts, against a top-shelf list of opponents since his 1998 debut at UFC 17.   He also showed his power by ending all five of his successful title defenses with a KO or TKO.

St. Pierre is often mentioned on the short list of top “pound-for-pound” fighters in MMA, and he's backed up that distinction with wins in his last six bouts, all headliners, to raise his overall mark to 19-2. The UFC welterweight champion proudly represents his native Montreal, Canada.

Evans has shed his underdog status with a series of standout victories, moving to light heavyweight after winning The Ultimate Fighter 2 television series as a heavyweight. Now 13-1-1, successive wins over Michael Bisping, Liddell and Forrest Griffin were surprises to many and earned “Suga” his first title shot earlier this year, a loss to Machida.

Florian is another graduate of The Ultimate Fighter who has fulfilled his promise, springboarding from his strong performance in TUF 1 to post an 11-4 record and headline cards. He has also branched out to the media side of the sport as a weekly host of MMA Live on ESPN and several UFC color commentary stints.

Guida has ridden strong conditioning, action-packed fights and a flashy style to a prolific MMA career, with 35 bouts (25 wins) to his credit. Known as “The Carpenter” for his previous career while he trained and fought for his chance, Guida is a frequent “Fight of the Night” honoree, including his last bout, a split decision defeat in a free-for-all with Diego Sanchez in June.

Machida is also prominent in the “pound-for-pound” discussion, made even more evident by his win over previously-unbeaten Evans at UFC 98 in May, in which “The Dragon's” lightning-quick form and powerful striking was on full display. The undefeated (15-0) UFC light heavyweight champion is scheduled to make his first defense against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on October 24.

Round 5 collectible figures may be purchased at leading North American retailers such as Toys ‘R’ Us, Kmart and Walmart. Other retailers can be found at www.round5mma.com/wheretobuy.php.

About Round 5
Round 5 (www.Round5MMA.com), headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada, is the MMA industry’s fastest growing worldwide collectible figure company. Committed to developing intricately detailed figures, Round 5 strives to remain true to the sport of MMA and its personalities.

Liddell, St. Pierre, Evans Among Six in Initial Round 5 UFC Series

pennyjomma — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:10:56 -0000

This is the first preview trailer for a feature documentary film about the first ever MMA...

pennyjomma — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:40:21 -0000

This is the first preview trailer for a feature documentary film about the first ever MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) event held in Iraq.

The project was Produced by Owned Entertainment Inc. president James Hergott, Prime 1 Productions Filmographer Rick Lee, Reporter Aaron Tru and Bobby Razak.

Sponsors for the movie include American Forces Entertainment, DD Productions, TapouT, Rage Marketing, UPI Manufacturing, Fight! Magazine, and MMA Expo.

This is the first preview trailer for a feature documentary film about the first ever MMA (Mixed...

pennyjomma — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:37:01 -0000

This is the first preview trailer for a feature documentary film about the first ever MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) event held in Iraq.

'A Fight for the Troops' was Produced by Owned Entertainment Inc. president James Hergott, Prime 1 Productions Filmographer Rick Lee, Reporter Aaron Tru and Bobby Razak.

Sponsors for the movie include American Forces Entertainment, DD Productions, TapouT, Rage Marketing, UPI Manufacturing, Fight! Magazine, and MMA Expo.

Interview with Cung Le

pennyjomma — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:44:53 -0000

Cung Le is a Man of Many Talents

Interview with Cung Le by Penny Buffington

The multi-talented Cung Le discusses his decision to give up his belt in order to concentrate on his acting career. “I decided to vacate my belt. I have been out of action in the cage for the last 17 months. I felt like the right thing to do- the honorable thing to do- is to vacate the belt so the top competitors in the Strikeforce middleweight division could compete for the actual belt, not the interim belt. Because I don’t feel that it is right for me to keep doing movies while everyone is waiting around or fighting for an interim belt. I sat down with my promoter Scott Coker and we worked it out.”

Coming to the decision was not easy especially considering his long standing relationship with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker. “It was a very difficult decision. I have been fighting and competing in martial arts since 1994. I turned pro in 1998. I have been with Scott Coker since 1998 when I signed with him. He put me on ESPN 2 on Strikeforce Kickboxing and made me fight for titles in super fights. Also we went over to K1 USA to do super fights and then when he opened up the mixed martial arts Strikeforce division I was part of his first show and my last show with him was against Frank Shamrock.”

“Just because I vacated the belt does not mean I am retiring I plan to come back early next year. With everything that has been going on with me the last year and a half I have been able to do movies at the same time fight but as the parts get bigger and the rolls get more demanding I came to that fork in the road where I basically had to make a decision and my decision right now is to strike while the iron is hot and do the best I can do in the world of entertainment, movies and stuff.”

In fact one such movie Cung is in, Pandorum will be released this Fri. September 25, 2009. Le explains, “Basically the movie starts in this massive space ship. The 2 min. trailer talks about there are 60 thousand people and 500 years. It’s like a Noah’s Ark going to a livable planet. They have every nationality on this ship in sleep chambers that will keep them young and healthy so when they do get there they will wake everyone up and re-building begins. But, somewhere along the lines during that time frame people start waking up and the 2 crew members Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster when they wake up they think they are alone. They don’t remember anything of what they were supposed to have done because they have been asleep so long. So Dennis Quaid is guiding Ben Foster through the vents. Along the way Foster notices there are other people and craziness going on and I save them in my opening scene and we team up and we explore the ship.”

Obviously Cung Le did not just walk on to a set and snatch up a movie roll without putting in a whole lot of effort. “I have been taking acting lessons since 1998 off and on. I have gotten more serious in the last 2 years. I have been working with private acting coaches. I knew when I got the part in Pandorum that it was going to be no easy task. Most of my scenes were shared with Ben Foster. My manager told me he has known Ben since he was 17 and they call him the scene stealer as you can see in Alpha Dog and 3:10 to Yuma he stole the show from whoever he shared the screen with and I did not want that to happen to me. I made sure that even for the audition I had time to prepare for it. I trained just like I would be training for a fight. Morning and night putting myself on tape, getting with my private acting coach and doing scene study. When I got to the audition I knocked my audition out of the park and they cast me for a roll that was supposed to be Japanese. They couldn’t find the right Japanese so they opened it to all Asians and I beat out all the top Asian actors that went out for the part. The director Christian Alvart told me a lot of people auditioned. I was excited and I knew that was just the beginning of a lot of really hard work because now it’s “go time”. I get to go toe to toe with Ben Foster so it was pretty awesome.” You can view a complete list of movies Cung Le has been in and will be in the coming year at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1087183/

As with many professionals Le has a family he has to distribute his time to as well. “I have 2 boys, Cung Michael is 8 and Anthony Ryan is now 4. I got married in August to Susan. She was my rehab therapist before we started dating. I had a major hamstring injury. She was the therapist at Score Clinic. We became friends and one thing lead to another and now we are married.”

Cung Le may have given up his Strikeforce middleweight title spot but they will never actually take his belt. He told me, “They make new belt every time lucky for me I have a nice Strikeforce Middleweight belt really no one can ever take.”

“When I come back I plan to be in the best shape and hopefully not to have too much rust. I will take it one day at a time one fight at a time and one movie at a time right now it is all about promoting Pandorum. I’ve got a few days before it gets released and Overture Films was kind enough to do a little premiere in San Jose for me at the AMC Mercado. They added a Q&A after for the media. It starts at 11:30.” Media please contact AMC Mercado for the date.

Here are 5 things you may not know about Mr. Le “I think I’m a funny guy. I let my sons win every day when we play either baseball or football. I have sweet tooth for chocolate. I am grateful everyday I wake up. I’m a Round 5 -series 4 -action figure. It’s pretty cool”

Wrapping up the interview Cung thanks his supporters. “Thank you for all your support and for sticking by me. When I come back I will make sure that I am in shape. I always come in ready to fight; and win, lose or draw I will be ready to put them spinning back kicks with full affect when I get back into the cage.”

Interview with Cung Le

pennyjomma — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:42:26 -0000

Cung Le is a Man of Many Talents

Interview with Cung Le by Penny Buffington

The multi-talented Cung Le discusses his decision to give up his belt in order to concentrate on his acting career. "I decided to vacate my belt. I have been out of action in the cage for the last 17 months. I felt like the right thing to do- the honorable thing to do- is to vacate the belt so the top competitors in the Strikeforce middleweight division could compete for the actual belt, not the interim belt. Because I don’t feel that it is right for me to keep doing movies while everyone is waiting around or fighting for an interim belt. I sat down with my promoter Scott Coker and we worked it out."

Coming to the decision was not easy especially considering his long standing relationship with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker. "It was a very difficult decision. I have been fighting and competing in martial arts since 1994. I turned pro in 1998. I have been with Scott Coker since 1998 when I signed with him. He put me on ESPN 2 on Strikeforce Kickboxing and made me fight for titles in super fights. Also we went over to K1 USA to do super fights and then when he opened up the mixed martial arts Strikeforce division I was part of his first show and my last show with him was against Frank Shamrock."

"Just because I vacated the belt does not mean I am retiring I plan to come back early next year. With everything that has been going on with me the last year and a half I have been able to do movies at the same time fight but as the parts get bigger and the rolls get more demanding I came to that fork in the road where I basically had to make a decision and my decision right now is to strike while the iron is hot and do the best I can do in the world of entertainment, movies and stuff."

In fact one such movie Cung is in, Pandorum will be released this Fri. September 25, 2009. Le explains, "Basically the movie starts in this massive space ship. The 2 min. trailer talks about there are 60 thousand people and 500 years. It’s like a Noah’s Ark going to a livable planet. They have every nationality on this ship in sleep chambers that will keep them young and healthy so when they do get there they will wake everyone up and re-building begins. But, somewhere along the lines during that time frame people start waking up and the 2 crew members Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster when they wake up they think they are alone. They don’t remember anything of what they were supposed to have done because they have been asleep so long. So Dennis Quaid is guiding Ben Foster through the vents. Along the way Foster notices there are other people and craziness going on and I save them in my opening scene and we team up and we explore the ship."

Obviously Cung Le did not just walk on to a set and snatch up a movie roll without putting in a whole lot of effort. "I have been taking acting lessons since 1998 off and on. I have gotten more serious in the last 2 years. I have been working with private acting coaches. I knew when I got the part in Pandorum that it was going to be no easy task. Most of my scenes were shared with Ben Foster. My manager told me he has known Ben since he was 17 and they call him the scene stealer as you can see in Alpha Dog and 3:10 to Yuma he stole the show from whoever he shared the screen with and I did not want that to happen to me. I made sure that even for the audition I had time to prepare for it. I trained just like I would be training for a fight. Morning and night putting myself on tape, getting with my private acting coach and doing scene study. When I got to the audition I knocked my audition out of the park and they cast me for a roll that was supposed to be Japanese. They couldn’t find the right Japanese so they opened it to all Asians and I beat out all the top Asian actors that went out for the part. The director Christian Alvart told me a lot of people auditioned. I was excited and I knew that was just the beginning of a lot of really hard work because now it’s "go time". I get to go toe to toe with Ben Foster so it was pretty awesome." You can view a complete list of movies Cung Le has been in and will be in the coming year at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1087183/

As with many professionals Le has a family he has to distribute his time to as well. "I have 2 boys, Cung Michael is 8 and Anthony Ryan is now 4. I got married in August to Susan. She was my rehab therapist before we started dating. I had a major hamstring injury. She was the therapist at Score Clinic. We became friends and one thing lead to another and now we are married."

Cung Le may have given up his Strikeforce middleweight title spot but they will never actually take his belt. He told me, "They make new belt every time lucky for me I have a nice Strikeforce Middleweight belt really no one can ever take."

"When I come back I plan to be in the best shape and hopefully not to have too much rust. I will take it one day at a time one fight at a time and one movie at a time right now it is all about promoting Pandorum. I’ve got a few days before it gets released and Overture Films was kind enough to do a little premiere in San Jose for me at the AMC Mercado. They added a Q&A after for the media. It starts at 11:30." Media please contact AMC Mercado for the date.

Here are 5 things you may not know about Mr. Le "I think I’m a funny guy. I let my sons win every day when we play either baseball or football. I have sweet tooth for chocolate. I am grateful everyday I wake up. I’m a Round 5 -series 4 -action figure. It’s pretty cool"

Wrapping up the interview Cung thanks his supporters. "Thank you for all your support and for sticking by me. When I come back I will make sure that I am in shape. I always come in ready to fight; and win, lose or draw I will be ready to put them spinning back kicks with full affect when I get back into the cage."

Ultimate Women Challenge Trailershort version

pennyjomma — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:29:38 -0000

Ultimate Women Challenge Trailershort version

Ultimate Women Challenge Trailer short version

pennyjomma — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:29:17 -0000

Ultimate Women Challenge Trailer

short version

U.S OLMPIAN & NATIONAL CHAMPION WRESTLER TO BEGIN HIS PRO MMA CAREER

pennyjomma — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:25:04 -0000

Daniel Cormier, 2x US Olympic Wrestler and 6x U.S Senior National Champion, has just signed on with Zinkin Entertainment & Sports Management, officially beginning his professional career in MMA. Cormier adds his name to other MMA stars under Zinkin Entertainment such as Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Jon Fitch, Mike Swick, Josh Koscheck, Cain Velasquez, Josh Thomson, Bobby Southworth and Paul Buentelllo.

Cormier, resident of Oklahoma since his collegiate wrestling career at Oklahoma State University, is known for his extraordinary talent and physically aggressive, explosive style of wrestling. Zinkin Entertainment is excited to have Cormier as part of their team and have high expectations for their latest MMA fighter. Daniel will soon begin training at the world-renowned American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose , California under "Crazy" Bob Cook, Javier Mendez and Dave Camarillo.

With a collegiate record of 117-10, Cormier is considered one of the most decorated U.S wrestlers. Notable achievements include:

2x United States Olympian: Freestyle ('08 Beijing, '04 Athens)
6x U.S National Champion

8x U.S National Team Member

2002-2009 Ranked #1 in the U.S

2008 U.S National Champion

2008 U.S Olympic Trials, Champion

2008 U.S Olympic Team Captain

2008 NJCAA Hall of Fame Inductee

2007 World Championships, Bronze Medalist

2007 USA Wrestling Freestyle Wrestler of the Year

2007 Pan Am Games, Bronze Medalist

2006 World Cup, Champion

2005 World Cup, Silver Medalist

2005 Yarygin International Tournament, Champion

*toughest tournament in the world, only 6th American to win

2005 Super Cup, Silver Medalist ( Russia )

2004 Olympic Games, 4th place ( Athens )

2004 Titan games, Champion

2004 Boutiatyr Grand Prix, Champion ( Russia )

2003 Pan Am Games, Champion
2003 World Championships, 5th place

2003 Yarygin International Tournament, Bronze Medalist

2003 Absolute World Championships, Bronze Medalist

2002 Pan Am Games, Champion

2001 NCAA Championships, Silver Medalist
3x NCAA College All-American

2x NJCAA National Champion (‘97,’98)
3x Louisiana State Champion

1995 Cadet World Championships, Bronze Medalist

GARCIA FIGHTS TONIGHT AT WEC 42- after party info

pennyjomma — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:10:30 -0000

FORMER ROF CHAMP GARCIA FIGHTS TONIGHT AT WEC 42 (Photos courtesy of Sherdog.com, story courtesy Steven Siler Las Vegas Sun)

Las Vegas, NV. - Aside from the customary stare-down photo pose, the World Extreme Cagefighting 42 weigh-ins went off without incident and very little trash-talking inside a packed Body English nightclub at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Saturday afternoon.
WEC 42, which kicks off at 3 p.m. at the Joint Sunday and will be televised on VERSUS, features the marquee bantamweight world championship bout between Brian Bowles and current champion Miguel Torres.Both Bowles and Torres weighed in at 134 pounds.
After taking his turn on the scale, Torres offered a bit of a verbal challenge to Bowles.
"Brian's a strong wrestler and he hits really hard," Torres said. "We'll see how bad he wants to be a champion." Sacramento resident and top bantamweight contender Joseph Benavidez attracted the largest and loudest crowd as he weighed in at 135 pounds. Benavidez will try to maintain his undefeated record against Dominick Cruz in the co-headline match.
The winner will most like earn a shot at the bantamweight title.
"I'm always confident, I expect to win every fight" Benavidez said. "... I know Dominick is here to put on a great fight and I'm going to do everything in my power to go out there and finish him."
Preliminary card lightweight Marcus Hicks was the only fighter to miss his target weight as he registered at 159 pounds in the 156-pound limit class. Despite his weight failure, opponent Shane Roller accepted a catchweight bout and a share of Hicks' prize money.
The complete weigh-in results are as follows:
Main Card:
Bantamweight champion Miguel Torres (134) vs. Brian Bowles (134)
Joseph Benavidez (135) vs. Dominick Cruz (135)
Danny Castillo (156) vs. Ricardo Lamas (155)
Jeff Curran (136) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (135)
Preliminary Card:
Leonard Garcia (145) vs. Jameel Massouh (146)
Fredson Paixao (145) vs. Cole Province (146)
Marcus Hicks (159) vs. Shane Roller (156)
Phil Cardella (155) vs. Ed Ratcliff (155)
John Hosman (135) vs. Rani Yayha (136)
Rafael Dias (145) vs. Diego Nunes (145)
L.C. Davis (145) vs. Javier Vazquez (146)

GARCIA AFTER PARTY INFO
Leonard Garcia's Official Afterparty will be at HART'S WATED SPACE inside the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The party will start immediately after the fights. Garcia's birthday was just a couple weeks ago, so come help him and his buddy Cowboy celebrate in style. www.hartswastedspace.com