M-1 Challenge XXIII: Guram vs. Grishin Airs to a Worldwide Audience
Moscow, Russia (January 5, 2011) – Riding the momentum from crowning their first-ever champions, M-1 Global is gearing up for its 2011 debut with M-1 Challenge XXIII: Guram vs. Grishin which goes down Saturday March 5th from the Crocus City Arena in Moscow, Russia. Fans worldwide will be able to catch the action LIVE online for free here and on the official M-1 website,
www.M-1Global.com, starting at 11:00 A.M ET / 8:00 A.M. PT.
“Making the stream available to fans around the world proved to be a massive success in 2010 generating positive reviews. This is something we’re committed to continuing and building upon,” says Evgeni Kogan, Director of Operations for M-1 Global. “Because of fan feedback, we’re making M-1 Challenge XXIII available via live, streaming telecast as well. M-1 Global is listening to what our fans want.”
The headlining, heavyweight title fight between Guram Gugenishvili and Maxim Grishin marks Guram’s inaugural title defense since becoming the champion this past December with a rear-naked-choke victory over American Selections tournament winner, Kenny ‘Deuce’ Garner.
Championship Bout Heavyweight Division:
Guram Gugenishvili, M-1 Challenge Champion (10-0) clashes with
Maxim Grishin, M-1 Selection Eastern Europe 2010 champion (7-4)
Additional bouts to be announced shortly
With M-1 Challenge champions established in all five weight classes, a true contenders system will fuel events throughout 2011, driving M-1 Global’s growth as a leading brand in the US and international markets.
2011’s full slate of M-1 Challenge events held in the United States and Europe are primed to be mega-event spectaculars where Champions defend their titles and contenders jockey for position for a coveted shot at the gold. Feeding the contention system will be two Selection tournaments in 2011 with details being announced shortly.
Is fair to keep the UFC ultra-competitive or does it just discard fighters because fighters are only as good as their last few fights? Your answer will reveal insights into how you view the world and competing balances of power. Marcus Davis was paid $31,000 and Brandon Vera $60,000 for competing at UFC 125 on Jan. 1, 2011.
UFC Releases Former Contender Marcus Davis Following UFC 125 loss
by Steven Marrocco (MMAJunkie) on Jan 06, 2011 at 12:50 pm ET
After 15 fights, four fight-night bonuses, a spot on the organization's reality series, former welterweight title contention, and a handful of high-profile international fights, Marcus Davis (17-8 MMA, 9-6 UFC) received his UFC walking papers following a UFC 125 loss to Jeremy Stephens....
The 37-year-old will continue fighting in MMA professionally, and he'll do so at 155 pounds with the hopes of getting back to the UFC.
Davis, fighting for the first time since a drop from welterweight to lightweight, met fellow striker Stephens on the ION Television preliminary card of the Jan. 1 UFC 125 card. Davis wobbled his opponent in the first round and was positioned for a close decision victory, but Stephens connected on a perfectly placed right hook that set up his KO win in the third round.
Davis, a former pro boxer (16-1-1) who went 13-1 from 2006 to 2009 in MMA, now has lost four of his past five fights. The other losses, though, came to notables Nate Diaz, Dan Hardy and Ben Saunders....
Davis first joined the UFC in 2005 as a cast member on "The Ultimate Fighter 2," but as a fairly one-dimension striker, he lost an opening-round matchup to eventual show winner Joe Stevenson. He then dropped a TKO (due to cuts) to Melvin Guillard at the show's live finale and was released for the first time.
Davis, though, dedicated himself to the sport and specifically jiu-jitsu improvement. He won 13 of his next 14 fights, including seven via submission, which included a return to the UFC in 2006. Over the past few years, he's been a fixture on the UFC's international cards. Eight of his past 11 UFC fights came in overseas markets...."
Brandon Vera Released by the UFC Following Loss to Thiago Silva
What started as an extremely promising career with the UFC has now ended as Brandon Vera has been released from the promotion as of Thursday morning.
The news of Vera’s release was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the fighter....
Vera came to the UFC with only four professional fights on his record, but a ton of talent and hype behind him from day one.
The brash young fighter proclaimed right away that he had goals of becoming a two weight class champion, and wanted to fight Chuck Liddell, who at the time was the UFC’s reigning and defending light heavyweight title holder.
It looked good in the early going for Vera, who reeled off four straight wins including a TKO over former heavyweight champion Frank Mir. A contract dispute put Vera out of the cage for several months following that win, and when he returned he was stymied by former heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia.
After that it was a mixed bag of results for Vera who went 3-5 in his last 8 bouts after the Sylvia fight. His career with the UFC closed on an 0-3 run, culminating with a loss to Thiago Silva at UFC 125.
The Nevada athletic commission disclosed the UFC 125 fighter salaries for last Saturday's event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar's disclosed purse was $51,000 to show and $51,000 to win, while challenger Gray Maynard's pay was $26,000 to show and $26,000 to win. Although the fight ended in a draw, both men were paid their win bonus.
Also, Edgar and Maynard each earned another $60,000 bonus for winning Fight of the Night.
Salaries for the rest of the UFC 125 competitors are below.
Pay-Per-View Bouts Frankie Edgar, $51,000+$51,000=$102,000 vs. Gray Maynard, $26,000+$26,000=$52,000
Brian Stann, $21,000+$21,000=$42,000 def. Chris Leben, $46,000
Brad Tavares, $8,000+$8,000=$16,000 def. Phil Baroni, $25,000
Preliminary Bouts Diego Nunes, $10,000+$10,000=$20,000 def. Mike Brown, $23,000 Daniel Roberts, $12,000+$12,000=$24,000 def. Greg Soto, $8,000 Jacob Volkmann, $12,000+$12,000=$24,000 def. Antonio McKee, $15,000
Post-Fight Bonuses ($60,000 for each fighter) Fight of the Night: Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard Submission of the Night Clay Guida Knockout of the Night: Jeremy Stephens
M-1 GLOBAL’S Fedor Emelianenko Joins Elite Heavyweights For Eight-Man Single Elimination Tournament:
STRIKEFORCE WORLD GRAND PRIX
–Heavyweight Tournament –
Quarterfinals Begin Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011;
Live on SHOWTIME® From IZOD Center, E. Rutherford, N.J.
STRIKEFORCE, M-1 GLOBAL in Association with Showtime Networks Inc. Sign New Multi-Fight Agreement To Co-Promote Events Headlined By Fedor
In the main event, Fedor(31-2, 1 NC) will take on Silva (15-2) in a STRIKEFORCE and M-1 GLOBAL co-promoted event. The co-feature will match former world champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski (15-8) against Sergei Kharitonov (16-4), the last man to defeat STRIKEFORCE Heavyweight World Champion Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem, in the first of two quarterfinal fights in the three-stage, single-elimination tournament on Feb. 12.
The famed Fedor, 34, of Stary Oskol, Russia, will be making his first start since it was announced that STRIKEFORCE and M-1 GLOBAL, in association with SHOWTIME,had signed a new, multi-year agreement to co-promote events headlined by the MMA legend.
What the fighters and the executives had to say Thursday:
SCOTT COKER
“Tickets for our event go on sale to the public tomorrow (Friday) at 10 a.m. Our pre-sale started yesterday and it was the largest pre-sale of any Fedor fight to date so we’re very excited about that.
“I’d like to thank Ken Hershman and all the guys at SHOWTIME. This is something we talked about three or four months ago and he gave us the green light to do it and it’s something we’ve wanted to do for a long time. So I thank him and SHOWITME for believing in this event.
“There was some confusion on the rules and regulations so I just wanted to clarify. All quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be scheduled for three, five-minute rounds and the tournament final will be five, five-minute rounds for the STRIKEFORCE World Grand Prix Championship. Any fight that ends in a draw, an independent fourth judge will determine the winner and who advances based on the fighters overall performance in the fight. If a fighter qualifies to advance in the tournament but for whatever reason cannot continue to fight in the tournament, we are forming a five-person tournament review committee who will select a fighter to advance in his place. This fighter will come from a pool of fighters which will include previous opponents and winners of reserve matches.
“The review committee will be headed by STRIKEFORCE rules committee director Cory Schaefer, who has been with us since the beginning. The winner of the final match will be crowned STRIKEFORCE World Grand Prix Champion and will have the opportunity to fight for the STRIKEFORCE World Championship belt at that time.
“The tournament format in martial arts fighting has been around for a long time. I’ve (seen) a lot of tournaments in my day and I always thought this would be a fun tournament to (do) with all these great fighters. We took a look at the SHOWTIME boxing format and saw what they’ve done. It’s going to be a good ride and we hope everyone enjoys it.
“It’s an exciting time and we’ve been well received. We had the fighters in (New York City) this week and you can just feel the energy. Everybody’s just real excited and pumped to put these fights on.”
KEN HERSHMAN
“Scott said it great. We’re thrilled to extend out agreement with M-1 Global and Fedor and we think it is going to be a real fruitful relationship for a long time to come. We’re even more thrilled that Fedor has agreed to jump into this tournament because having the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world as part of this collection took it to another level and we’re very proud of that.
“We’ve prided ourselves on putting on the best fights and if you look at this lineup that holds true. I thank Scott because I know through our Super Six (World Boxing Classic) how tough these things can be to put together. I can’t wait for the first set of fights.
“Scott has had to do a lot hard work on this as far as getting the fighters to come together. I think if you look at the lineup you have to extrapolate out that these are the eight top heavyweights in the world and that nothing would be easy getting them to agree on this. And Scott did this in a very quick amount of time.
“I think MMA is an important component to what we do at SHOWTIME. The sports offering has brought a new audience to SHOWTIME and it’s been successful beyond our original plans. I would label MMA as a very core part of our sports offering and I think the programming for all of SHOWTIME has been off the charts. We’re proud of the results we’ve delivered. I look back at how great the programming has been to date and then I look at the schedule for 2011 and it’s off the charts how great the schedule has been. This tournament is spectacular and a key component to what we’re doing and we could not be more excited about it. If you’re a sports fan, now is the time to subscribe to SHOWTIME.”
VADIM FINKELCHTEIN
STRIKEFORCE. We are very, very happy that Fedor has reached a new deal and will fight more often than he has in the past. In my opinion this heavyweight tournament is a wonderful idea and a first for us being in the U.S. with the best heavyweights in the world. MMA fans will get more this year than they’ve ever hoped for.”
FEDOR EMELIANENKO:
“Nothing has changed for me (since the loss). I train just as I’ve trained before. It just so happened that I had made an error in the previous fight so in training I have just worked on trying not to make that same mistake again. For me nothing has changed inside of me and I still have the same beliefs. I just want to train harder for the next fight.
“I feel very good about participating in this tournament. I feel very proud to be part of the eight who have been chosen and I feel proud to be representing my country in the tournament. I’m training to win the tournament. I’m training hard and whatever happens after that is up to God but I’m training hard and I look forward to performing.
“I’m ready and prepared to step into the cage against Fabricio (Werdum) at any time. It’s something that I’d very much like to do. In regard to Antonio, he’s a very tough opponent, a very dangerous opponent. We’ve never fought before so I’m very happy that we’re getting the opportunity to fight. We’ve seen each other in locker rooms and he’s always been very cordial and a nice person. He’s very qualified and I think it’s going to be a great fight. I really don’t think that I should be fighting anyone else and I’m just going to fight whoever they want me to fight.”
How does this compare to the Pride Tournament you participated in?
“I believe that this tournament has assembled enough quality fighters and some of the strongest and most interesting heavyweight fighters in the world so I think that in no way is this tournament any less than the ones I competed for with Pride. I believe it’s just as good, if not better.
“I don’t think that the years I spent in Pride can give me any type of advantage or dictate how I will perform in this tournament. Certainly experience in this tournament is something that is valuable. Nevertheless, I have to train very hard for this fight and we’ll see what happens.
“I’m probably going to train in Russia. I’m more comfortable there and I like to be close to my family. It’s likely I’ll probably stay in Russia. But I wouldn’t mind training somewhere else and with someone like Shane Carwin, who is a good fighter. But most likely I’ll stay in Russia.
“Many times people have sized me up and tried to say what my strengths and weaknesses are but if they say they’ve found what my biggest weakness is then let them take advantage of it.’’
Why do you train in the remote mountain areas?
“Firstly when I train in the mountains in remote areas I train in the high altitude where it’s very cold -- even near freezing. It just makes the entire training process that much more difficult, which I believe is beneficial because if I can get through it then I’ll be that much better for it. Another reason I do it is because nobody bothers me. All I do up there is train, eat and sleep. And all I need to concentrate on is the entire process of my training regimen without any distractions. I believe that’s what allows me to be in maximum shape leading up to a fight.”
ANTONIO “BIG FOOT” SILVA
“I am very happy to be fighting Fedor, who people still consider the No. 1 heavyweight in the world. Fedor is a legend and to be a legend you have to beat a legend. And I’m ready to be the best heavyweight in the world.
“Fedor is the best so this is the top of the food chain. For me, this is the final and I will give it all I have to make this happen. This is my dream and I’m going to beat the legend and I’m going to be a legend.
“I think Fedor is a complete fighter and he’s very well-rounded. It’s tough to determine how this fight will go. I think I will do more stand up in this fight. If it goes to the ground then it does. One thing I have in my mind is that Werdum showed to the world that Fedor’s main weakness is on the ground. But he’s a complete fighter and I’m going to follow where the fight goes.
“Everyone has been saying that I can be the man to beat Fedor in the future. And now I know in my mind that I can beat him. I know this is the right time and that God has given me this time and that I can beat the great Fedor.”
NEW YORK (Jan. 4, 2011) – World championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotions STRIKEFORCE and M-1 GLOBAL, in association with premium television network SHOWTIME have signed a new, multi-year agreement to co-promote events.
Headlined by the MMA legend Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko (31-2, 1 NC).
In addition, STRIKEFORCE has assembled eight of the world’s top ranked heavyweights to compete in the STRIKEFORCE World Grand Prix – Heavyweight Tournament, a three-stage, single-elimination tournament that will take place over several events in 2011. The first two quarterfinal fights begin on Saturday, Feb. 12, live on SHOWTIME from the IZOD Center in E. Rutherford, N.J. In the main event, the 34-year-old Emelianenko will face the towering Antonio “Big Foot” Silva (15-2) in a STRIKEFORCE and M-1 GLOBAL co-promoted event. Co-featured on Feb. 12, former world champion Andrei Arlovski (15-8) will face Sergei Kharitonov (16-4), the last man to defeat current STRIKEFORCE Heavyweight World Champion Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem.
The other two quarterfinal matchups are as follows: Overeem (34-11, 1 NC) will face the only man to tap out Fedor, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1), while the heavy-handed Brett “The Grim” Rogers (11-2) will meet a hungry Josh Barnett (29-5). The location and date for these quarterfinal tournament fights are to be announced.
"We are thrilled to have come to a long-term agreement with Fedor and M-1 GLOBAL,” said STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott Coker. “To have the greatest MMA fighter of all-time put his legacy on the line in a single-elimination tournament will truly captivate MMA fans worldwide. STRIKEFORCE is home to the best heavyweight division in the world; the athlete who runs the gauntlet in a tournament such as this would have to be considered the best heavyweight fighter in the world."
"I’m very pleased to be working with SHOWTIME and STRIKEFORCE and Mr. Coker and Mr. Hershman personally. Thanks to their interest and efforts, we’ve created what will go down in history as MMA’s greatest heavyweight tournament of all time,” said Vadim Finkelchtein, co-founder of M-1 Global. “M-1, STRIKEFORCE and SHOWTIME have built a partnership committed to the future growth of MMA—a sport where organizations represent a working collaborative that enable the best fighters in the world to fight each other. This agreement benefits everyone, especially the fans who’ll see Fedor in action more often.
“With SHOWTIME’s significance in the U.S. and M-1’s development of the European and Asian MMA markets, the cooperation will also deliver a global roster of talented fighters to viewers,” Finkelchtein continued. “During the coming year, we’ll be showcasing spectacular Grand Prix events using the same M-1 Selection tournament format, a series of events generating enthusiastic spectator interest keeping fans glued to their screens.”
“I can’t think of a better way to start 2011 than with this major announcement,” said Ken Hershman, Executive Vice President and General Manager of SHOWTIME Sports®. “Fedor is universally known to sports fans throughout the world and it is an honor to continue our work with M-1 GLOBAL and STRIKEFORCE in presenting this legendary fighter to SHOWTIME subscribers.
“SHOWTIME has enjoyed great success with its two most recent boxing tournaments—the Super Six World Boxing Classic and The Bantamweight Tournament,” Hershman continued. “And now, with the breadth of talent in the STRIKEFORCE heavyweight division, we have the privilege of staging one of the biggest tournaments in the history of this growing sport. With the STRIKEFORCE World Grand Prix’s single-elimination format and the biggest names in the sport today, this tournament is something that no sports fan will want to miss.”
“I have been training very hard since my last fight and can’t wait to get back in the cage,” said the 6-foot, 235-pound Emelianenko, who hails from Stary Oskol, Russia and is promoted by M-1 GLOBAL. “STRIKEFORCE has assembled a roster filled with the best heavyweights in the world and, together with M-1 GLOBAL, we have the opportunity to fight the best in a great tournament format.”
Fedor’s unprecedented, record-setting run of 28 professional MMA bouts without a defeat has prompted many MMA enthusiasts to label Fedor as the greatest of all time. Since his career began 10 years ago, Fedor has faced and defeated many rival superstars and champions of this era including Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Andrei Arlovski and Mark “The Hammer” Coleman.
In what ranks among the most watched MMA fights in the United States, Fedor made his live primetime network television debut on Nov. 7, 2009 on CBS, when he defeated unbeaten rising star Brett Rogers in a STRIKEFORCE and M-1 GLOBAL co-promoted event. Despite a difficult first round in which he sustained a deep cut above his eye, Fedor turned the tide early in the second round with one vicious right-hand punch and finished Rogers shortly after.
Then, on June 26, 2010, Fedor suffered a stunning upset at the hands of Werdum, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., in one of the most watched MMA bouts on SHOWTIME. Werdum, who has defeated a host of top rivals including Overeem, Silva and Brandon “The Truth” Vera, trapped Fedor’s arm in a triangle armbar that forced Fedor to tap out at the 1:09 mark of the opening round.
Fedor has only one other official loss on his record, the result of a doctor stoppage due to a cut he sustained seconds into a matchup with Japan’s Tsuyoshi Kosaka on Dec. 22, 2000. Fedor avenged the TKO loss with his own first-round TKO of Kosaka at a PRIDE Fighting Championships event in Japan on April 3, 2005.
About STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its "Shamrock vs. Gracie" event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose's HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts (MMA) series with "Shamrock vs. Gracie." In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose. In March 2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage live events on the premium cable television network. The promotion has since also produced two live, primetime events on the CBS Television Network.
About M-1 Global
Founded in 1998, M-1 Global (www.M-1Global.com) has established itself in the realm of mixed martial arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles and affiliates in Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged over 70 events worldwide including the M-1 Selection and M-1 Challenge events and its co-produced Strikeforce events in the United States. Captivating the live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 events boast some of the sport’s top names including Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Stephan Struve and rising stars Shamil Zavurov, Byron Byrd, Alexander Sarnavskiy and Vinny Magalhaes. 2011 marks a breakthrough year with two Selections tournaments across Eastern & Western Europe, North America and Asia and a full calendar of Challenge events fuelled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global’s Champions amongst the greatest in the sport.
M-1 Global’s greatest asset is the number one heavyweight fighter in mixed martial arts history, Fedor Emelianenko. With daily coverage on all MMA-related websites in the world, and articles in Time Magazine, LA times and New York Times, Fedor and M-1 Global make a lifetime match serving as the catalyst to grow MMA in the 21st century.
MMA: Long Beach Fight Night Intro Willie Gates & Skylar Reider
Long Beach Fight Night, Jan 2, 2010. Willie Gates (Black trunks from Aguirre Fighting Systems) uses some nice knee strikes to set up a TKO of Skylar Reider (Kings Martial Arts) in Round 1 (see videos). Contact us to show our fans MMA, combat sports, and/or martial arts in your area.
Chael Sonnen Plead Guilty To One Count Of Money Laundering In Federal Court
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE District of Oregon PRESS ROOM
January 3, 2011
PORTLAND, Ore. - Chael Sonnen, 33, of West Linn, Oregon, plead guilty today to one count of money laundering in federal court before the Honorable Michael Mosman. Sentencing is scheduled on March 28, 2011 at 11:30 a.m.
Sonnen, a licensed realtor in the State of Oregon, admitted that a financial transaction he conducted was designed to conceal or disguise the ownership and control of the proceeds of wire fraud. The scheme involved Joel Rosabal and Chadwick Amsden, employees of Crown Point Enterprises, dba Lighthouse Financial Group (Lighthouse), a mortgage brokerage service based principally in Vancouver, Washington, with operations in Oregon and elsewhere. Rosabal and Amsden submitted a materially false loan application on the buyer’s behalf to Decision One Mortgage, a subprime lending institution that is now defunct, for the purchase of residential property located at 11249 SE Rolling Hills Lane, Portland, Oregon. Sonnen acted as the realtor for the transaction. Sonnen submitted a false letter and Sales Agreement Addendum instructing the title company to pay loan proceeds to a plumbing company for repairs to the home. In fact, Sonnen knew and had negotiated with Rosabal that no repairs would be performed on the home and the funds designated to the plumbing company would instead be paid to the buyer as a cash incentive to purchase the home. This agreement was not disclosed to Decision One Mortgage. Once the loan was funded, the title company paid over $69,000 to the plumbing company and the plumbing company, in turn and at Sonnen’s direction, paid $65,000 to the buyer of the home.
"This office will continue to aggressively prosecute real estate professionals who committed the mortgage fraud that contributed to this country’s economic downturn and wreaked havoc on our community’s housing market. We entrusted these professionals to honestly broker real estate transactions and instead, they defrauded lending institutions throughout the country and left financial ruin in their wake,” said Dwight Holton, U. S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
Marcus Williams, the Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigations for the Pacific Northwest said, "West Linn residents, and other residents throughout the Portland/Vancouver area, can rest assured knowing that federal law enforcement agencies take mortgage fraud very seriously because it played a major role in almost crippling this nation's banking system just a few years ago."
Money Laundering carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
There are currently two other cases related to Lighthouse pending in the United States District Court of Oregon, United States v. Joel Rosabal et al., USDC Case No. 10-CR-00195 and United States v. Chadwick Amsden, et al., USDC Case No. 10-CR-00196. In addition, three other defendants have pled guilty and have been sentenced to charges related to Lighthouse as well: United States v. Kamau Herndon, USDC Case No. 09-CR-00068, United States v. Marty Folwick, USDC Case No. 08-CR-00280, United States v. Kristen Buse, Case No. 08-CR-00283.
This investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The case against Chael Sonnen is being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Michelle Holman Kerin. The pending cases involving Lighthouse are being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorneys Michelle Holman Kerin and Allan Garten.
See http://www.justice.gov/usao/or/PressReleases/2011/20110103_Sonnen.html
Main Card:
Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard fight to a draw (48-46, 46-48, 47-47). Edgar retains the UFC lightweight title
Brian Stann def. Chris Leben by TKO (strikes) at 3:37 of round 1
Thiago Silva def. Brandon Vera by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Dong Hyun Kim def. Nate Diaz by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Clay Guida def. Takanori Gomi by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:27 of round 2
Ion Television Card:
Jeremy Stephens def. Marcus Davis by KO (punch) at 2:33 of round 3
Dustin Poirier def. Josh Grispi by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Brad Tavares def. Phil Baroni by KO (punches) at 4:20 of round 1
Preliminary Card:
Diego Nunes def. Mike Brown by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Daniel Roberts def. Greg Soto by submission (kimura) at 3:45 of round 1
Jacob Volkmann def. Antonio McKee by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
We hope you recovery quickly Brandon! The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
