Ring of Fire Mixed Martial Arts Championship Fighting

Tournament of Champions

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FIGHT TO WIN PROMOTIONS PRESENTS

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

JIU JITSU & SUBMISSION GRAPPLING
5 ON 5 TEAM TOURNAMENT

SATURDAY, MAY 10th 9:00AM

DENVER EAST HIGH SCHOOL
1545 DETROIT STREET, DENVER CO 80206

WEIGH-INS / REGISTRATION : FRIDAY 5-7PM / SATURDAY 7-8:30AM

SPRATT WINS BIG OVER THE WEEKEND

Photo Courtesy str8upphotos

Story Courtesy: B.J. Koubaroulis

Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, April 27, 2008

Instead of gripping Pete Spratt's left leg on his single-leg takedown attempt, Jason Von Flue stumbled face-first into Spratt's step-back right-handed uppercut knockout blow, which folded Von Flue 1 minute 10 seconds into the main event of Ultimate Warrior Challenge-INVASION -- last night's nine-card Mixed Martial Arts cage-style event at George Mason University's Patriot Center.

"On a couple of his shot attempts, he was ducking under my punches," said Spratt, a 5-foot-9 169-pounder, who bounced back after a controversial loss to Ryan Ford. "I thought the next time he shoots, I'm going to throw low and that's what I did. I caught him on the throat and stopped the blood-flow to the brain."

Spratt (20-11) dominated the fight from the start, taking control on a few erratic right hooks during an early flurry. He followed a left roundhouse kick with several devastating body shots that sent Von Flue (12-9-1) back-pedaling and to the hexagon's canvas three times within the first three minutes. "I saw the fear and smelled blood and went for the finish," Spratt said.

The event, promoted as the biggest ever MMA event here, drew 4,828 fans and featured a mix of top fighters from organizations such as UFC, Pride, IFL and Bodog as well as locals from the region's top gyms.

BATTLEQUEST 8 Results

Written by Seth Davis Photo Credit: Rob Schmid

The abundance of TapouT gear sported by members of the audience April 11 at BATTLEQUEST 8 underscored the presence of the crew from the TapouT show, who were filming an episode for the Versus network. The larger-than-life personas of Punkass, Mask and Skyskrape were hard to miss during the event. And if the fighters from the event's undercard were trying to put on strong performances to catch the eyes of the TapouT crew, some of them likely accomplished just that.

In the opening bout between welterweights Travis Ramirez and Matt Simms, Ramirez wasted no time in trying a Superman punch and never recovered after missing. Matt Simms scored a quick takedown and began dropping elbows, then took Ramirez’s back and sunk in a rear-naked choke at 1:13 of the first round. In a show of exemplary sportsmanship, Simms consoled a distraught Ramirez after the bout.

John Doremus opened the first round of his lightweight fight with strong punches and knees while avoiding most of Phil Gonzalez's strikes. Gonzalez began to find the mark with his fists more frequently toward the end of the round until Doremus got the single-leg takedown and finished the round in side control. Round two was all Doremus, who used a double-leg takedown and then began dropping elbows on Gonzalez. Doremus worked his way to full mount, then transitioned to rear mount, where he locked in a rear-naked choke at 2:32.

Click HERE for more results.

Battlequest 8 Results

Photo credit: Robert Terry, www.rofmma.com

("Lil" John Dodson lands a high kick on Vern Baca during the main event
at Battlequest 8)

On Friday night, April 11th, the BATTLEQUEST promotion held it's eighth event entitled TAPOUT!. The Sports Pavilion was filled to capacity and the twelve MMA bouts did not disappoint the fans.

BATTLEQUEST is the feeder event for the popular RING OF FIRE series, and is a venue for young athletes who are trying to make name for themselves. The series is known as a way for a up and coming fighter to get noticed. The addition of the TapouT TV show in attendance only raised the stakes as every fighter on the card seemed to let it all hang out.

Some of the best fighters to rise through the ROF ranks were in attendance as well. Duane BANG Ludwig, Alvin KID Robinson, Luke LIL HULK Caudillo, Brad Gumm, Donald COWBOY Cerrone, and Michelle KARATE HOTTY Waterson were all there to support the sport's newest rising stars.

Look for a complete write up soon at both www.ROFMMA.com and www.COLORADOFIGHTEVENTS.com

BATTLEQUEST 8 QUICK RESULTS
4-12-2008
Softball Country Sports Pavilion in Denver, Colorado.

1. Matt Simms defeated Travis Ramirez by rear choke in rd 1
2. John Doremus defeated Phil Gonzalez by rear choke in rd 2
3. Kevin Lucero defeated Roberto Rodriguez by TKO in rd 1
4. Cody East defeated Zac Mathews by submission (Kimura) in rd 1
5. Rob Celani defeated Jay Wymer by rear choke in rd 1
6. Angelo Gallegos defeated Tyler Rodgers by submission (Kimura) in rd 1
7. Coy Sasse defeated Rory O'Farrell by triangle choke in rd 1
8. Ralston Baker defeated Ryan McKee by TKO in rd 1
9. Cat Albert defeated Krystal Macatol by armbar in rd 1
10.
BATTLEQUEST Middle Weight Championship: Ian Berg defeated Vadian La Luz by split decision
11.
Co-Main Event: Julie Kedzie defeated Angela Hayes by armbar in rd 1
12.
Main Event: John Dodson defeated Vern Baca by TKO in rd 2

BATTLEQUEST 8: TAPOUT! - Final Card

On Friday April 11th, Fighters from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and South Dakota converge on the Mile High City for Battlequest 8: TAPOUT!

WOMEN'S SUPERFIGHT ADDED TO AN ALREADY STELLAR CARD!!

WCL fighter Angela "THE BOMB" Hayes takes on EliteXC veteran Julie Kedzie at Battlequest 8: TAPOUT!

Angela Hayes has been a student of the martial arts since childhood. She is a world class striker , competing at the world level in Sport Karate, Kickboxing, and Muay Thai. She has recently transitioned to MMA. She was nick named the "BOMB" because she has KO power in both kicks and punches. Hayes combines that with world class athleticism to be a major force in combat sports.

Julie Kedzie has competed in martial art competitions for 18 years. She has studied a variety of martial arts including Modern Arnis, Sayoc Kali, Jeet-Kune-Do, Muay Thai and Submission Wrestling. She has won numerous titles, including first place at the Extreme Grappling Open, a World Kickboxing National Title and the Hook-N-Shoot Women's 135 pound World Championship.

BATTLEQUEST 8 FULL BOUT SHEET

Main Event 135 lbs: Vern Baca vs. John Dodson (Littleton, CO - Albuquerque, NM)

Co-Main Event 135 lbs: Angela Hayes vs. Julie Kedzie (Colo Springs, CO - Albuquerque, NM)

BATTLEQUEST Middle Weight Championship: Ian Berg vs. Vadian La Luz (Denver, CO - Albuquerque, NM)

130 lbs Feature Bout: Cat Albert vs. Krystal Macatol (Broomfield, CO - Albuquerque, NM)

170 lbs Feature Bout: Ralston Baker vs. Ryan Mckee (Ft. Collins, CO - Denver, CO)

205 lbs Prestige Bout: Rory O'Farrell vs. Coy Sasse (Ft. Collins, CO - Rapid City,SD)

145 lbs Prestige Bout: Tyler Rodgers vs. Angelo Gallegos (Glenwood Springs, CO - Albuquerque, NM)

170 lbs Prestige Bout: Jay Wymer vs. Rob Celani (Arvada, Co - Aurora, Co)

210 lbs Prelim Bout: Zac Matthews vs. Cody East (Prescott, AZ Albuquerque, NM)

145 lbs Prelim Bout: Kevin Lucero vs. Roberto Rodriguez (Arvada, - Co Ft.Carson, CO)

185 lbs Prelim Bout: Phil Gonzalez vs. John Doramus (Pueblo, CO - Aurora, CO)

170 lbs Prelim Bout: Matt Simms vs. Travis Ramirez (Broomfield, CO - Glenwood Spgs. CO)

Donald Cerrone: A Cowboy's Quest

Courtesy of www.WEC.tv

04/07/2008
By Frank Curreri

He is a city slicker turned cowboy, a bull rider turned fighter, and a knockout artist who keeps submitting pro opponents even though he's only studied grappling for about two years. Make no mistake about it, Donald "The Cowboy" Cerrone is one of the more interesting MMA figures in the world today.

He has long marched to the beat of a different drummer than his peers. Both of his grandparents were doctors, his mom was a nurse and his sister was an anesthesiologist. But Cerrone was too busy chasing the next adrenaline rush to follow in their footsteps. Instead of studying and trying to get into medical school, he rode 2,000-pound bulls, snowboarded in the Colorado Mountains and attempted monster jumps on four-wheelers.

He was raised in an affluent suburban neighborhood, in Colorado Springs, Colo., but always felt more comfortable on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, feeding cattle, riding horses and firing shotguns. In high school, there were relatively few cowboys around, and wearing his cowboy hat to school and parties often made him the butt of many jokes and insults.

"Everywhere I’d go I’d wear that hat," Cerrone said. "I was about 16 or 17 when I started wearing it. I lived in a high-class area, full of wealthy people. Back then I just had zero tolerance for anything. If they would say something about my hat, we were fighting. I was ready to go. Bigger than me or not, it didn’t matter, let's go. Even if they outnumbered me. That was my whole attitude growing up: Anyone, anywhere. I don't know where it came from or why, that's just how it was. If I got my (expletive) kicked, so what?"

At the time, the hat had an inscription on it. It read: "Cowboy up or go sit in the (expletive) truck." Why not, for the sake of keeping the peace, just discontinue wearing the hat in public?

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY CLICK HERE:

UWC ANNOUNCES FULL FIGHT CARD

Ultimate Warrior Sports Development, LLC on Saturday announced the full card for its Ultimate Warrior Challenge (UWC) debut in the Washington, DC market taking place at the GMU Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. on April 26.

Previously UWC announced Pete Spratt vs. Jason Von Flue, Carlo Prater vs. Marcelo Brito, and Thomas Schulte vs. Zach Light.

A notable addition is Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Aaron Riley taking on Brazilian fighter Thiago Minu. Formerly training at American Top Team, Riley recently moved to Virginia and now trains and is the MMA instructor at One Spirit. Minu trains out of UDL in Brazil, the new training facility started by Mauricio “Shogun” and Murilo “Ninja” Rua and Andre “Dida” Amade.

-Pete Spratt vs. Jason Von Flue
-Aaron Riley vs. Thiago Minu
-Thomas Schulte vs. Zach Light
-Carlo Prater vs. Marcelo Brito
-Rex Richards vs. Antwain Britt
-Marcus Foran vs. Tenyah Dixon
-Mike Corey vs. Josh Gaskins
-Johnny Curtis vs. Josh Feldman
-Gerald Lovato vs. Mike Easton
-Reshad Woods vs. Ron Stallings

* fighters in RED indicate ROF veterans

PREMIER FIGHTER sale

PREMIER FIGHTER is extremely excited to announce that we have recently moved locations and to show our appreciation of your continued support, we are having a huge 1/2 price sale on select men’s, women’s and youth apparel. Be sure to browse through the website and look for items currently marked (1/2 OFF!) to take advantage of this incredible sale. Act fast because we have a limited quantity of each item. PREMIER FIGHTER

www.premierfighter.com

UWC: Spratt to face Von Flue

Spratt to face Von Flue when UWC - INVASION comes to Nations Capital

UWSD-Ultimate Warrior Sports Development, LLC today announced the main event for their upcoming UWC - INVASION show which takes place Saturday, April 26, 2008 at the GMU-Patriot Center in the Washington, DC metropolitan market.

This will be the UWC's third show and official entrance into mainstream MMA. UWC is signing a mix of UFC vets, up-and-comers, from MMA stars' teams, and notable standouts from the established promotions on the verge of stardom themselves.

An indication of the profile of this company is the main event which features The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) and UFC vets Pete Spratt (Pictures) vs. Jason Von Flue (Pictures). With a combined eighteen years of MMA fighting between Von Flue and Spratt this fight has both the potential for standup fireworks and deep strategy.

As part of coach Matt Hughes (Pictures)' team on TUF 2 Von Flue defeated coach Rich Franklin (Pictures)'s student Jorge Gurgel (Pictures) before losing to Joe Stevenson (Joe Stevenson' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) in the finals. Von Flue has also fought Alex Karalexis (Pictures), Luke Cummo (Pictures), and Joe Riggs (Pictures) in the UFC as well as Ralph Gracie (Pictures)'s Luke Stewart (Pictures) and headliner Cung Le (Pictures) in Strikeforce.

Thought of as one of the most dangerous MMA strikers Pete Spratt (Pictures) is the ideal opponent for Von Flue. Spratt first entered the UFC before TUF was created, defeating TUF season 7 coach Zack Light in UFC 37.5 and current EliteXC champion Robbie Lawler (Pictures) in UFC 42. Spratt participated in TUF Season 4's "vet season" where in the finals he defeated Jeremy Jackson (Pictures). In Spratt's last UFC fight last June he met defeat as Tamdan McCrory beat him with a triangle choke. Spratt moved on to HDNet fights where he picked up two more wins until Spratt's latest fight ended in controversy due partly to undefended punches Spratt took after the bell ending round one rang.

This battle of TUF/UFC vets is only scratching the surface of the upcoming card. Other UFC vets as well as up-and-comers from vets' teams are expected to be announced in the next week. UWSD President John Lewis (Pictures) and CEO S. Marcello Foran are currently in negotiations with TV Networks in the US and Europe as well as potential sponsors. The UWC is also preparing to film their own version of an MMA TV show titled the "Making of an Ultimate Warrior". Ultimate Warrior Challenge promises to be the biggest MMA event ever held in the Nation's Capital/Washington DC area. For more information, please log on to http://www.uwcmma.com/ , www.myspace.com/uwcmma or http://www.ultimatevipclub.com/

BATTLEQUEST 8: TAPOUT!

www.COLORADOFIGHTEVENTS.com presents BATTLEQUEST 8: TAPOUT!

On Friday April 11th, BATTLEQUEST returns to the Denver area with its eighth installment entitled TAPOUT!.

In the main event Team Jackson fighter John "The Magician" Dodson will take on Vern Baca of Gumm MMA.

Dodson hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico and has a record of 7-3. The charismatic fighter has been described as having a "Sakuraba Style". Flips, spins, cartwheels and smiles are all part of Dodson's arsenal. His exciting style has earned him a trip to Japan and soon after a spot on a ROF affiliate event. Promoter Sven Bean was impressed and offered a shot at the ROF 135 Belt. Dodson wowed the crowd from bell to bell, but in the end lost a decison to Joe Doherty. Dodson can take risks that thrill the audience, but he also backs it up with determination, athleticism and skill. His camp at Jacksons is a who's who of MMA, and training there gives him the confidence to pull off his acrobatic attacks. He is looking to make a big impact at Battlequest and take the next step in his MMA career, and hopefully get noticed by a national promotion.

As a senior in high school, Vern Baca compiled a perfect 35-0 season. He captured the State Championship that year which led to a wrestling scholarship to the Colorado School Of mines. The agressive wrestler is long time veteran of RING OF FIRE. Originally fighting at 155, and facing some of the strongest lightweights on the roster, Baca always came in as the much smaller opponent. In early 2007 Baca dropped to his more natural walk around weight of 145, and immediately racked up a win against Gerald Lovato of FIT NHB. At Battlequest, Baca will drop to 135 for the first time in his fight career. The cut to 135 isn't a big deal, according to coach and UFC veteran Brad Gumm. Gumm feels this is the perfect weight class, and that the compact powerhouse will finally settle into his MMA groove.

In the feature bout of the evening Ian "ICE" Berg will face active John Bryant of Wichita, Kansas. The two will compete for the vacant BATTLEQUEST MIDDLE WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP. The under card is filled with some of the area's most talented fighters including the dynamic Brandon Thatch, and Infinite Martial Art's Ralston Baker. Also returning to the cage will be rising female star Cat Albert.

The full card will be released next week.

BATTLEQUEST is known as a breeding ground for new talent and is the feeder show to the popular RING OF FIRE Championship Fighting promotion. The night will feature at least 10 matches and will take place at the Softball Country Sports Pavilion. The Sports Pavilion is a great venue for fight events as it also the home of Poor Boys Professional Boxing series.

**TAPOUT WILL BE AT BATTLEQUEST**

You have watched their show on the Versus Network!

You have seen them cageside at the UFC and WEC events!

Now this is your chance to join MASK, PUNKASS and SKYSCRAPE live and in person as their TV show rolls through the Mile High city.

"Traveling around the country in a tricked out tour bus, the crew is on the hunt to discover a fighter who has what it takes to represent the TapouT label; and before these up and comers fight their way out of the cage, they have to fight their way in with the TapouT crew. The crew bonds with their fighter testing out his personality, and in between the usual TapouT mayhem makes sure their new prot�g� gets the proper training before the big fight. In each episode, it's all on the line in the dramatic conclusion as each fighter gets one shot to impress the crew and show off his skills in the cage."

Last year TAPOUT filmed at a RING OF FIRE event. The episode was seen by millions of MMA fans across the world, and helped to launch the career of Donald COWBOY Cerrone.

Come and be a part of the national TV show filming, live, April 11th as they hit the Battlequest 8 event in search of their next big MMA breakout star!

Tickets can be purchased at any KING SOOPERS location or online at www.ticketswest.com. You can also charge by phone at 866-464-2626. Doors will open at 6:30 and the first bout will start promptly at 7:30 p.m.

Ticket Prices: Rows 1-2 $50.00, Rows 3-6 $35.00, Rows 7-14 $25.00, Bleachers $25.00

Visit www.rofmma.com and www.coloradofightevents.com over the next few weeks for updates to the fight card, in depth interviews and fighter bios.