Get ready for an exciting night of MMA action as Shamrock Promotions brings the Xtreme Fight Party to the Stratford Inn in St Louis, Missouri on Saturday March 6th. The fourteen bout card features some of the best amateur fighters in the Midwest and a main event featuring two fast rising female mixed martial artists in Amanda Burch and St Louis’ own, (and undefeated) Brittany Anic.

Shamrock Promotions – the Midwest’s premier MMA fight promotion – is co-owned by Finney MMA co-owner Jesse Finney and Rob Donaker. Rob instructs fighters at his gym in St Louis, Missouri and has been in the promotion business for the better part of twelve years. Shamrock holds events approximately every six weeks. Venues range in size from four hundred to over one thousand spectators with each one consistently selling out weeks in advance. Shamrock was also responsible for bringing Strikeforce to St Louis, co-promoting their Lawler vs. Shields event last June at the Scottrade Center. When asked about their relationship with Strikeforce, Rob says “…Strikeforce does it right. In other large MMA organizations the fighters are not allowed to fight outside the company. If you are a new or mid card fighter it can prove hard to make a living with only a couple of fights a year. Strikeforce allows it’s fighters to step out of the organization, fight for different promotions, and make enough money to support their families. Strikeforce puts on great shows and keeps the fighters’ best interest in mind”. While recently visiting Finney MMA, I asked some of the fighters where they see themselves five years from now. The answer was universal – “competing in Strikeforce”. Considering the talent pool of young fighters at Finney’s, the probability of seeing these fighters’ dreams come to fruition is very possible.

If you can still get a hold of a ticket for this event, get one!  It promises to be an unforgettable night of hard hitting action. Shamrock Promotions wants to remind you “It’s not just a fight, it’s also a party”.

For more information about Finney’s MMA in St Louis, Missouri you can go to http://finneyskickboxing.com/

For more information about upcoming Xtreme Fight Party you can go to http://extremefightparty.com/

Scottie Farrow is a writer/contributor for Fightpros.com, you can follow him on Twitter @yodade37

So all the inhabitants of the MMA community were greeted with a disturbing sight the other day as a video of MMA and UFC superstar, Chuck Liddell, working out NAKED was leaked on to the Internet!  But it turns out that this video was completely planned and is indeed a viral video ad by the sports clothing company Reebok.  A sigh of relief goes out knowing Liddell wasn’t filmed naked without his own consent.  It’s worth mentioning that even though I do know the video is fake, I still shudder with displeasureevery time I see the part when Liddell faces the camera with his “boys” blurred out.

The video features Liddell wearing nothing but Reebok shoes as he does a few workouts.  We all have the pleasure of seeing Liddell’s girlfriend, Heidi Northcott, working out naked on the Eliptical machine.  It’s worth noting that this is the big part of the video that gave away it was fake.  Like c’mon, no woman would do that without at least a sports bra or else she’d have two black eyes.  You can watch the video below if you want to…or if you are just that weird.  Just don’t watch it multiple times you sicko….

The Triumph United sponsorship camp has turned out yet another fighter worth watching.  What is the hall mark of a great fighter though?  Is it the ferociousness of their fights?  Perhaps the tenacity exhibited in their training regimens?  What of the fighters heart, their “kanjo”, their desire to fight and to never surrender?  Yet, even more, what of the fighter who has combined all these traits?  Can his destiny be anything other than greatness?  If not, than pay attention to a hungry and driven young man named Jerron Peoples.

On February 21st, at the Gladiator Challenge, Jerron garnered another win in the cage by way of a 52 second TKO.  Utilizing a perfectly timed flying knee Peoples introduced his opponent to the mat, only moments later to have the referee stop the bout to discover he had broken his opponents collar bone.

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Let the rumor mill continue to spin!  Over the recent weeks whispers have been generated that Randy “The Natural” Couture will look to make his return to the octagon against none other than the former UFC Middleweight Champion, Rich “Ace” Franklin.  Rumors for the bout originally began following Couture’s recent submission win over Mark Coleman at UFC 109.  The rumor states that the two men would likely meet at UFC 115 which is the UFC’s first ever event in Vancouver, Canada.  But leave it to a rumor to get twisted like a pretzel as now it’s being said that the two legends of the sport will instead meet at an undetermined UFC event in August.

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Like the undead scourge in various movies, Pro Elite is coming back from the dead.  Now for those who do not know Pro Elite is the company that ran EliteXC. They are most well known for having MMA on CBS and signing Kimbo Slice to their promotion.  They have run 21 shows so far, with their last show on CBS being the infamous EliteXC: Heat show.  You know…the one where Ken Shamrock was injured in the back, Seth Petruzelli agreed to fight Kimbo hours before the show started then won and accusations of attempts to fix the fight where levied. Well that spelled the end of the company on mainstream TV. It eventually would cease operations on October 20^th 2008 due to mismanagement and financial constraints.

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Well, the wait is over!  The guilty pleasure of martial artists and non martial artists alike is set to return!  With host Jason “Mayhem” Miller in tow, MTV’s Bully Beatdown is set to return to the world of mixed martial arts entertainment for a third season!

Many people thought the show had lived it’s life and had now been retired to reruns and ultimately fading away into complete obscurity.  Mostly these thoughts were due to revelations of the show’s lack of credibility: mainly, the bullies and victims were not “real” people but rather actors and professional stuntmen.  Yet, it can be said safely that the fights were real, and after all thats what MMA fans are interested in.

During its first two seasons Beatdown highlighted fighter such as Arlovski, Shields, and Alvarez.  However, MTV executives thought the show still needed to be cancelled.  In a post from 10/23/2009 according to the show’s host Jason “Mayhem” Miller’s Twitter update, “Apparently MTV pulled the plug on Bully Beatdown tonight- I just found out too. Complain to MTV.com”  What changed the minds of the networks powers that be?  perhaps the revelation that the show ranked #1 amongst the 12-34 year old demographic according to Stephen Morrocco from mmanewsjunkie.com

Let’s face it!  In this game numbers matter, and apparently Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Bully Beatdown have garnered themselves quite a following!  Good luck Jason and keep the mayhem rolling!

As always, what say you?

~Pastor Bob

Pastor Bob can be followed on twitter @pastorbobmma

Fans of fightpros.com are well aware of the journey that writer/contributor Pastor Bob has undergone chronicling the two week journey of Travis Browne.  ”Hapa” Browne competed for two division titles in a period of two weeks.  First fighting Abe Wagner and winning by 8 second knockout, for the Victory Challenge Championship.  Travis ended his two week two title quest, Sunday night February 21st against Aaron Brink, at The Gladiator Challenge in Southern California.  Now, in a one-on-one with Pastor Bob, Travis “Hapa” Browne puts the one-two punch on this series of interviews.

Fightpros:  Ok Travis.  Last time aound you shared that your family and friends were giving you the, “man I’m bored,” routine.  That they were spending too much time packing, driving, finding their seats, only to be treated to all of an 8 second fight.  Well, what did you give them this time?  34 seconds?  38 Seconds?  Are they happy now?  What do you have to say about all this?

Browne: Yeah, well I’m glad they all got a little bit more of a fight.  However, like I said, 2010 is gonna be a great year!  There are gonna be lots of big announcements.  I am here to stay.  This is not a hobby for me, this is my life.  This is who I am.  I’m not one of these, “hey, if I win or lose great,” kinda people.  No!  Every fight I am coming out with bad intentions.  Every fight I am coming out setting the tone for the rest of my career.  I wanna be that fighter that makes people say, “If Travis Browne is gonna be on that card, then I want to watch that fight!”  Sorry to everyone if that means spending more time finding a seat than watching the fight (chuckling).

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced today that it will begin showing live events in theaters nationwide, beginning with UFC 111 on March 27th.

The UFC completed a deal with NCM Fathom Entertainment Company that will air these live pay-per-view events in high-definition in a multitude of theater groups, including such notable theaters as AMC Entertainment, INC, Regal Entertainment Group, Palace, Cinemark, and Hollywood.

Tickets to the event are available via www.fathomevents.com. I personally checked if UFC 111 would be showing in my area and it will be at the ticket price of $25, half of what it costs to purchase the pay-per-view event. This seems a bit much; however, I will pay it at least once for the experience.

What do you think of the UFC’s latest move into cinema? And what do you think of the ticket price?

Brandon Wofford, FightPros Contributor

So who is next for the winners of UFC 110?

Who won:

• Cain Velazquez
• Wanderlei Silva
• George Sotiropoulos
• Cro Cop

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Last night Sydney, Australia was the host to UFC 110.  Held within the confines of the Acer Arena, the crowd set a record for attendance to a UFC event outside of North America with a stagger 17,831 people in attendance.  The card was jam packed with several TUF alumnus, three of which were former winners of their seasons, three legends of the PRIDE FC and possibly the biggest Heavyweight prospect in the MMA world today.  Through out the night the Aussies weren’t shy to display their pride and education of the sport, especially considering it was the first ever UFC event in Australia.  With an annual show now promised to the Aussies, one thing is for certain, another new MMA hotspot has been discovered as the sport expands it’s mainstream clutches at an increasing pace.  The following are the results from UFC 110:

MAIN CARD

Cain Velasquez def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via KO (punches) at 2:20 of the first round.

Wanderlei Silva def. Michael Bisping via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

George Sotiropolous def. Joe Stevenson via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Ryan Bader def. Keith Jardine via KO (punch) at 2:10 of the third round.

Mirko Filipovic def. Anthony Perosh via TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of the second round.

PRELIMINARY CARD

Kryzstof Soszynski def. Stephan Bonnar via TKO (cut) at 1:04 of the third round.

Chris Lytle def. Brian Foster via Submission (Kneebar) at 1:41 of the first round.

C.B. Dollaway def. Goran Reljic via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

James Te-Huna def. Igor Pokrajac via TKO (strikes) at 3:26 of the third round.

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 in bonuses:
KO of the Night: Cain Velasquez
Submission of the Night: Chris Lytle
Fight of the Night: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropolous