...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief The UFC and Spike TV announced yesterday an online auction for tickets to the UFC's Fight Night 16: Fight for the Troops event. This event of course is going towards raising proceeds to build a hospital to assist soldiers suffering traumatic brain injuries. This is the opportunity for 30 members of the public to join the men and women of our armed forces in attendance at the event. The auction is ongoing through December 1st at Ticketmaster.com, and the opening bid for each ticket is $200. The full press release can be found below.
Penick's Analysis: This is a great way for those who can afford it to both donate and get a chance to see the show live. This is going to be a very cool event, and to witness it in person with all of those men and women in our armed forces there would be very cool. I'd be shelling out the money if I had it.
UFC® AND SPIKE TV LAUNCH EXCLUSIVE AUCTION FOR TICKETS TO “UFC FIGHT FOR THE TROOPS” EVENT
30 Tickets Now Available to Public Through Ticketmaster.com
JOSH KOSCHECK vs YOSHIYUKI YOSHIDA
MIKE SWICK vs JONATHAN GOULET
FRANKIE EDGAR vs MATT WIMAN
Live From Fayetteville, NC, Wednesday, December 10
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® and Spike TV have launched an exclusive auction to make tickets available to the public for UFC® Fight For The Troops™. This special live UFC event will raise funds to build a hospital for traumatic brain injuries for the brave men and women in the United States Armed Forces. Thousands of soldiers from nearby Fort Bragg, the proud home of the U.S. Airborne and Special Operations Forces, will be in attendance, but now 30 members of the public also have an opportunity to watch the fight live.
This exclusive auction is being held through Ticketmaster.com and is ongoing now through Dec. 1st. Only 30 tickets will be available to the public, with bidding starting at $200 per ticket.
UFC Fight For The Troops will air live on Spike TV Wednesday, December 10 starting at 9:00 PM, ET. More information about the facility, including ways to donate, can be found online at http://www.fallenheroesfund.org or by calling 1-800-340 HERO
Josh Koscheck vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida headlines the event, with Mike Swick taking on Jonathan Goulet in the co-main event matchup. The event also showcases five current UFC fighters who are all U.S. military veterans including Luigi Fioravanti, Tim Credeur, Dale Hartt, Brandon Wolff, and Steve Bruno.
“The Ultimate Fighter 1” standout Koscheck (13-3) has won seven of his last nine decisions, and is one of the premier 170-pound fighters in the world. His opponent, Tokyo native Yoshiyuki “Zenko” Yoshida (10-2), has won nine straight pro mixed martial arts fights including his UFC debut last May at UFC 84 with a victory via submission over Jon Koppenhaver.
Swick (12-2), fighting out of San Jose, CA, has won seven of his last eight bouts in the Octagon, including a three round decision over Marcus Davis this past June at UFC 85. To continue his quest for a title shot, he must defeat fellow welterweight contender, Jonathon Goulet (22-9). The hard-hitting 29-year old Canadian recently scored a TKO victory at UFC 83 over Kuniyoshi Hironaka that was awarded Fight of The Night honors.
“The Ultimate Fighter 5” standout Matt Wiman (10-3), a resident of Dallas, Texas, has won four straight contests in the Octagon, including an impressive 2nd round knockout of Thiago Tavares at UFC 85 in June. “Handsome” Matt will face his toughest test yet against the pride of Toms River, NJ, Frankie Edgar. A rising star in the lightweight division, Edgar (9-1) is coming off the biggest win of his professional career, a three-round decision over the dangerous Hermes Franca this past July at “UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin” on Spike TV.
On the undercard, two promising fighters make their UFC Octagon® debut as Steve Cantwell battles Razak Al- Hassan. The 22 year-old Cantwell, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada, held the WEC light heavyweight belt and has won six of his seven pro mixed martial arts fights. His most recent victory, a 2nd round TKO victory over Brian Stann in August, was the biggest of his career and netted him the WEC belt. In the opposite corner will be the unbeaten Al-Hassan of Des Moines, IA, who possesses a 6-0 professional MMA record, and a reputation as one of the Midwest’s top 205-pound prospects.
The undercard also includes former U.S. Marine Luigi Fioravanti vs. Brodie Farber; U.S. Navy veteran Dale Hartt vs. Corey Hill from “The Ultimate Fighter 5;” Ben Saunders from “The Ultimate Fighter 5” vs. former Navy SEAL Brandon Wolff; “The Ultimate Fighter 7” semi-finalist and U.S. Navy veteran Tim Credeur vs. Nate Loughran; Johnny Rees vs. U.S. Navy veteran Steve Bruno; and Justin McCully vs Eddie Sanchez.
About The Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC produces over twelve live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed residentially through North American cable and satellite providers including iNDEMAND Networks, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN Entertainment, Bell ExpressVU, SaskTel Max™, Shaw Pay-Per-View, Viewers Choice, and WOWOW in Japan, and via the Internet worldwide on Yahoo! Sports, and commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada. In addition to its North American distribution, UFC programming is distributed in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit ufc.com or uk.ufc.com or ufcespanol.com.
Ultimate Fighting Championship, Ultimate Fighting, UFC, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa™, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.
About Spike TV
Spike TV is available in 97.3 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV's press site at http://www.spike.com/press.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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