WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING 5 KICKS OFF FIRST-EVER TOURNAMENT ON SEPT. 14 WITH TWO BOUTS: DAVID BRANCH VS. DANILLO VILLEFORT AND ELVIS MUTAPCIC VS. JESSE TAYLOR LAS VEGAS, NEVADA (July 18, 2013) – World Series of Fighting’s first-ever four-man tournament kicks off Sept. 14 with a pair of middleweight matchups, as David Branch (12-3) meets Danillo “Indio” Villefort (14-4) and Elvis “The King” Mutapcic (13-2) faces Jesse “JT Money” Taylor (26-9) at “World Series of Fighting 5: Johnson vs. Kyle.” Both bouts are scheduled for the NBC Sports Network-televised main card of World Series of Fighting 5, which takes place at Revel Casino Hotel’s Ovation Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The winners will meet on a future World Series of Fighting card to claim the tournament crown and establish themselves as the company’s No. 1 contender at 185 pounds. Tickets for the fight card, which start at just $29, go on sale this Friday, July 19, at 10 a.m. ET at all Ticketmaster locations, Ticketmaster.com and charge-by-phone at (800) 745-3000. A light heavyweight slugfest between knockout artist Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (15-4) and slugger Mike “MAK” Kyle (20-9-1) serves as the evening’s main event. Branch, of Brooklyn, N.Y., fights for the third time under the World Series of Fighting banner. The Renzo Gracie protégé, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, defeated former World Extreme Cagefighting champion Paulo Filho and kickboxing specialist Dustin Jacoby in his first two appearances. Villefort, of Coconut Creek, Fla., made his World Series of Fighting debut in March, when he earned a decision win over three-time UFC veteran Kris McCray. A 29-year-old Brazilian native and member of Florida’s famed Blackzilians team, Villefort is 5-1 in his past six fights and owns black belts in both Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo. Mutapcic, who was born is Bosnia and now resides in Des Moines, Iowa, makes his World Series of Fighting debut. The 26-year-old currently boasts a five-fight win streak and is an incredible 10-1 in his past 11 fights. During that run, he claimed the middleweight title of Canada’s Maximum Fighting Championship promotion but relinquished that belt to chase the World Series of Fighting crown. Taylor, of San Diego, Calif., brings a six-fight win streak to his World Series of Fighting debut. A seven-year veteran of the sport, the 29-year-old Taylor holds championship titles on two continents after recent outings in Europe and Australia. Taylor has long been featured on the sport’s biggest stages with past appearances for noted promotions such as the UFC, Strikeforce and DREAM. World Series of Fighting 5 features a five-fight main card in addition to a full lineup of preliminary contests. Additional bouts will be announced in the coming weeks. The live, two-and-a-half-hour NBC Sports Network telecast of the World Series of Fighting 5 main card begins at 9 p.m. ET. The night’s preliminary bouts stream live on World Series of Fighting’s official website, WSOF.com, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. ABOUT WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING Based in Las Vegas, the fight capital of the world, World Series of Fighting is a professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering an incredible, action- packed entertainment experience for fight fans by producing the best possible matchups between elite fighters from around the globe. For more information please visit WSOF.com. Follow World Series of Fighting on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo. ABOUT REVEL Revel is smoke-free and features more than 1,800 rooms with sweeping ocean views. A member of the American Express Gold Hotel Collection, the resort houses a 130,000-square-foot casino with more than 2,000 slot machines, nearly 100 table games, electronic tables and a Poker Room. Designed to embrace its natural surroundings, Revel curates a collection of daylife and nightlife experiences crafted to bring the outside in and the inside out. Indoor and outdoor pools, gardens, lounges, and a 32,000-square-foot spa provide guests with a relaxing resort, while an outstanding collection of 14 restaurant concepts from award-wining chefs and restaurateurs, live entertainment featuring marquee acts and international artists, nightclubs, a casino that feels like a theatre and a collection of boutiques in The Row tailor to each guest’s passions. Revel was most recently named one of the Best Hotels in the Northeast by Amtrak’s Arrive magazine and one of the Top 10 Best New Hotels in the U.S. by Gayot.com. To start your Revel journey, visit www.revelresorts.com. To receive the latest updates on Revel, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/revel and follow @revelresorts on Twitter and Instagram. Revel is located on the Boardwalk at Revel Blvd in Atlantic City, New Jersey. ABOUT NBC SPORTS NETWORK NBC Sports Network, part of the NBC Sports Group, is dedicated to serving passionate sports fans. Now in more than 80 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics, National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France and the 34th America’s Cup, and beginning in 2013, the Premier League and Formula One. In addition, NBC Sports Network features college football, college basketball, college hockey, outdoor programming, horse racing surrounding the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, Fight Night boxing, Ironman, the Dew Action Sports Tour and USA Sevens Rugby. The network is also home to original programs such as Costas Tonight, The Crossover, NFL Turning Point, Pro Football Talk and The Dan Patrick Show. NBC Sports Network is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States..