BattleGrounds MMA ‘O.N.E.’ Tournament Fighters Make Weight – MMA News
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All eight fighters made weight and drew their quarterfinal stage matchups one day before the highly-anticipated, one-night BattleGrounds MMA (www.battlegroundsones.com) welterweight (170 pounds) tournament that will award its winner a grand prize of $50,000 live on pay-per-view from the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. on Friday, October 3.
The official weigh-in was co-hosted by WWE Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Ross and retired UFC superstar Chael Sonnen, the duo that will call all of the live televised action in the cage tomorrow.
Only one tournament contestant – submission expert Cody “AK Kid” McKenzie (15-4) of Spokane, Wash – needed a second try to make the required weight after he originally tipped the scales at 172.4 pounds. McKenzie will square off with Brock Larson (37-8) of Brainerd, Minn. Larson, a two-time, one-night tournament winner weighed in at an even 170 pounds.
In the same tournament bracket, Joe Ray (11-3) of Sarasota, Fla. registered a weight of 169.6 pounds and drew Luigi “The Italian Tank” Fioravanti (24-11) of St. Louis, Mo. as his quarterfinal stage opponent. Fioravanti, a hard-punching protégé of retired kickboxing champion Jesse Finney, weighed in at 171 pounds.
In the opposite tournament bracket, wrestling stylist Jesse “JT Money” Taylor (27-10) of Murrieta, Calif. came in at 170.2 pounds. Taylor drew Trey “That Just Happened?” Houston (11-2) of Bixby, Okla. Houston weighed in at 169.6 pounds.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace Roan “Jucao” Carneiro (16-9) of Atlanta, Ga. will face off with 25-year-old finisher Randall “Buddy” Wallace (9-2) of Oakdale, Calif. Both fighters clocked in at 170.4 pounds.
In the new co-main event, bantamweight (135 pounds) finisher and former NCAA Division I wrestling standout for Oklahoma State University, Tyler Shinn (6-2) of Stillwater, Okla., will square off with KO artist and rising star Chris “El Guapo” Gutierrez (4-1) of Greenville, Texas. The bout between Shinn and Gutierrez was elevated to co-main event status yesterday after Jonny Carson of Broken Arrow, Okla. withdrew from his scheduled co-main event matchup with Danny Navarro of Riverside, Calif.
In Superfight action on the pay-per-view telecast, former Oklahoma State University All-American wrestler and undefeated featherweight (145 pounds) Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) upstart Jamal Parks (3-0) of Tulsa, Okla. will look to extend his perfect run in the cage in a Superfight with Ruben Warr (3-3) of Whittier, Calif.
BattleGrounds MMA ‘O.N.E.’ will be distributed at a price point of $19.95 in the United States and Canada by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing, beginning at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on both cable and satellite pay-per-view carriers iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH and Avail-TVN in the United States and Bell TV, Rogers, SaskTel, TELUS, MTS and SHAW PPV in Canada.
The free-of-charge pre-show bouts will begin at 9 p.m. EST/6 p.m. PST. In addition, the event will be available online as an iPPV at a price point of $19.95 on Go Fight Live (www.gfl.tv).
Tickets for the event, priced from $65, can be purchased online at www.bokcenter.com as well as at Arby’s Box Office at the BOK Center, all ticket outlets, or by calling 1-800-7-BOKCTR.
Doors at BOK Center open at 6 p.m. CST. The first preliminary bout will begin at 7:15 p.m.
Official BattleGrounds MMA: ‘O.N.E.’ Weigh-In Results (Pay-Per-View Telecast Bouts):
Tournament Fighters:
Bout # 1
Cody McKenzie – 170.6 pounds
Brock Larson – 170 pounds
Bout # 2
Joe Ray – 169.6 pounds
Luigi FIoravanti – 171 pounds
Bout # 3
Jesse Taylor – 170.2 pounds
Trey Houston – 169.6 pounds
Bout # 4
Roan Carneiro – 170.4 pounds
Randall Wallace – 170.4 pounds
Bantamweight (135 pounds) Co-Main Event:
Tyler Shinn – 135.4 pounds
Chris Gutierrez – 135 pounds
Featherweight (145 pounds):
Jamal Parks – 145.4 pounds
Ruben Warr – 146 pounds
Light Heavyweight (205 pounds):
First Non-Tournament PPV Fight
Wayne Cole – 207.6 pounds
Niko Koliastasis – 204.4 pounds
Featherweight (145 pounds):
Zac Church – 146.2 pounds
Ryan Haynes – 145.4 pounds
About BattleGrounds MMA
BattleGrounds MMA (www.battlegroundsone.com) is a world championship professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion designed to place combative sports athletes on a major stage in the most challenging and exciting format possible: one-night, single-elimination tournaments that reveal the toughest competitors in their respective weight divisions. Launched by Olympic wrestling legend Kenny Monday and Bryan O’Rourke in 2012 as a regional organization in Tulsa, OK to unearth promising new talent in one of MMA’s biggest hotbeds, the promotion is quickly capturing the hearts of fans nationwide as it brings about an exciting new era in the world’s fastest growing sport.
About the BOK Center:
The BOK Center is Tulsa’s state-of-the-art sports and entertainment venue that opened in fall 2008. The 19,199-seat arena is home to the WNBA Tulsa Shock and the CHL Tulsa Oilers. The BOK Center was designed to host major concerts, family shows, ice shows, and other world class entertainment. Owned by the City Of Tulsa, the BOK Center is part of Vision 2025, a project to grow economic and community infrastructure for future generations. In 2011, the BOK Center won the prestigious International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) Venue Excellence Award.
About SMG
Founded in 1977, SMG provides management services to more than 230 public assembly facilities including convention and exhibition centers, arenas, stadiums, theatres, performing arts centers, equestrian facilities, science centers and a variety of other venues. With facilities across the globe, SMG manages more than 14.4 million square feet of exhibition space and over 1.75 million sports and entertainment seats. As the recognized global industry leader, SMG provides venue management, sales, marketing, event booking and programming, construction and design consulting, and pre-opening services for such landmark facilities as McCormick Place & Soldier Field in Chicago, Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Houston’s Reliant Park and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. SMG also offers food and beverage operations through its concessions, catering and special events division, SAVOR, currently servicing more than 100 accounts worldwide. For more information visit www.smgworld.com.