This Week on GFL COMBAT SPORTS NETWORK

This week on GFL COMBAT SPORTS NETWORK – Friday, June 17, 2011 8:30pm ET featuring Ring of Combat XXXVI at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, NJ. Will feature the return of Peter ‘Drago’ Sell and two Bantamweight Title Fights. Drago fought for ROC in the debut show at the Tropicana defeating Landon Showalter. He has since made a name for himself in the UFC and The Ultimate Fighter. He has been involved in some of the most memorable fights in that organization and now he is making his comeback in the promotion where it all began. One thing is for sure this will be a fight that ROC fans will be talking about for your years as he squares off against former Ultimate Fighter Kris McCray. Kris has also made a name for himself as a Season 11 TUF Finalist. This card also includes 2 ROC Bantamweight title fights. After Nick Pace became the 1st ROC Bantamweight Champion and moved on to the UFC, this weight class has become very competitive in ROC. Dustin Pague earned this title in February defeating Steve Deangelis. Now Dustin takes on a rising ROC star in Claudio Ledesma. Claudio has back to back wins for ROC since joining the promotion and now is taking a step up in competition against the reigning champ. Whoever wins the title will not have a long rest because Sean Santella, the current ROC Featherweight Champion goes for his 2nd ROC title stepping up to Bantamweight. Sean brings a 7-2-1 record into the match where he faces Florida native Tito Jones. This contest will be for the Northeastern ROC Bantamweight Championship and will put the winner in contention for the ROC Bantweight Title. Other featured fighters on the card are wrestling standout, Jared Platt making his debut, Ed Gordon making his pro debut and WCL fan favorite Munah Holland. Al Iaquinta from Team Serra Longo who is undefeated in his pro and amateur career will be making his long awaited return to the cage after suffering some injuries. Now healthy and strong he comes back against world renowned fighter Mikhail Malyutin from Russia. Mikhail comes off a recent upset win against UFC veteran Chris Liguori. – Friday, June 17, 2011 9:30pm ET featuring Quest for Glory FC at the Croatian Cultural Center in Vancouver, Canada. The card will feature 15 action packed bouts with 3 MMA titles and 1 Muay Thai title on the line, as featured below. The amateur MMA show will be head-lined by one of the city’s most anticipated re-matches; Oliver Vajda (4-0 Carlson Gracie Jiu Jitsu) will defend his title against former opponent Ronald Diaz. Diaz has accepted the match after the wrist injury to Walter Barrios. The previous match between Vajda and Diaz in 2010 was a grueling affair that left many fans on the edge of their seats with a close split decision. The rematch promises to a thrilling and heavy hitting contest. Another excellent match is scheduled between Shawn Pallan (Dragon’s Den Elite 2-0 in MMA and 3-1 Muay Thai) versus Chris Anderson (Vancouver Island 3-0 ) for the welterweight title. The third MMA title contest of the evening will be in the 155 lbs. lightweight division. It will feature Coast BJJ’s undefeated Ryan Christopher (BC’s P4P #10) vs Brandon Shorter. It promises to be a very exciting contest. Joe Halfar (Posner’s Pankration 5-1) and Josh Wright 3-1 (Dragon’s Den Elite) will square off for the 160lbs. Muay Thai title bout. This is the fourth title bout planned for the evening and is expected to be an exciting and thrilling match. An interesting non-title match has former Western Canadian Muay Thai champion and two time former BC Muay Thai Victor “The Dragon” Wang (8-1 Muay Thai, 2-1 MMA) squaring off against undefeated Jake Lindell (4-0 Spokane CanUSA Fight Team) in a Canada versus USA MMA bout. – Friday, June 17, 2011 10:00pm ET featuring Hard Knocks Fighting Championship at the Century Casino in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The action packed 15-bout card is a combo event with both professional and amateur MMA fighters stepping in to the cage to do battle. In the main event, Josh Griffin makes his professional debut against undefeated Sam Osman (1-0-1) in a tough middleweight battle. Both fighters have extensive experience at the amateur level and are using it as a springboard to elevate their careers by turning professional. Griffin might have to calm his butterflies in the early going as not only is this his professional debut, but he is also in the main event. Osman’s last fight was an overwhelming success as he won via TKO in Round 1 at School of Hard Knocks 9 back in November. Griffin fights out of PMA Karate while Osman trains out of Scott Schilling MMA. Their different approaches to the fight game will make for an interesting matchup and have the sparks flying from the opening bell. In the co-main event Charmaine “Not So Sweet” Tweet (0-0) battles Rhonda Rousey (1-0) in a bout at the 150 lb weight limit. Although sporting tons of amateur experience, the kickboxing Tweet will be fighting in the co-main event spot on her MMA debut as a professional. That is a lot to ask of anybody, but Tweet will be up to the challenge. For the Californian, Rousey, she is coming off of a spectacular submission victory (armbar) in her debut that took only 25 seconds. Rousey will look to take the kickboxing Tweet down to the ground quickly and look to catch a submission. This could be the classic matchup of a striker versus grappler with both women looking to get the fight in their comfort zone and then executing a series of strikes or submission attempts in hopes of making it a quick night at the expense of their opponent. Along with 6 pro bouts, HKFC is also a proving ground for amateur fighters ready to earn their stripes. The 9-bout amateur series will separate the contenders from the pretenders and build to the future for HKFC and Canadian MMA. – Friday, June 17, 2011 8:00pm ET featuring Howard Davis Jr.’s Fight Time Promotions presents Fight Time 5 – Total Destruction at the War Memorial Auditorium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This Event will be a Delayed Video on Demand viewing at GFL available on June 22. The event features 12 fights with a main event rematch that the fans demanded. Headlining the card are bantamweights Caleb Archer (5-1) and Aaron Cerda (2-2) who will fight each other for the second time this year. Archer won a unanimous decision in February at Fight Time 3 – It’s War! and will be looking to do the same on June 17. Cerda comes into the rematch trying to prove he should have gotten the nod in the first go around. Both Archer and Cerda will leave everything in the cage as they try to make a decisive statement and end this fight before it goes to the judges’ scorecards. This evenly matched main event is sure to be a barnburner! In other action, Bruce Bellochi (2-0) fights Matthew Sposato (3-0) in a heavyweight contest. The steel hinges and pipes will need to be reinforced for this matchup as there will be close to 600 lb of energy and aggression coexisting in the cage from the start of the bell to the end of the match. Don’t blink for this fight as neither undefeated fighter has ever gone to the second round. Also competing on the card will be rising prospects Mike Bruno (8-4) from American Top Team, Vagner Rocha (5-1) from Team Popovitch, Sam “The Rebel” Jones (3-0) representing the Tallahassee Combat Center, and Marcio Armeli (3-0) from Punch Fitness MMA. – Saturday, June 18, 2011 6:00pm ET featuring Ultimate Cage Fighting presents Caged Hope IV at the Wayside West in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This is a special night of action as UCF has teamed up with Relay for Life to raise awareness and fight against cancer. Featured fights of the night include Brett Smith (1-1) versus Pat Reck (4-5). Smith won his last fight and his only loss was because of an injury suffered in the fight resulting in a stoppage by the referee. Smith is very new to MMA as both of his previous fights have been in 2011 and this will be his third in a little over six months. It shows that Smith is a quick learner and a resilient athlete to be this active in such a demanding sport. Smith will look to make it 2 in a row against his opponent Reck. For Reck, all 4 or his wins have come via KO or submission. Reck’s wild style always creates for interesting and exciting matches as only 2 of his 9 total fights have ever made it out of the first round. Expect fireworks from these two gladiators. Another bout that is sure to gain attention is a matchup of debuting fighters Shane Henney and Alex Bonwick. Both men come into the cage with an air of mystery surrounding them and the fight will probably come down to whoever can improvise on the spot the best. – Saturday, June 18, 2011 7:00pm ET featuring Absolute Action MMA 15 at the Midwest Sports Complex in Florence, Kentucky. This is a super-card with 19 bouts scheduled for the night.

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