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UFC 50 Update Mezger Injured; Cote To Fight Ortiz In Main Event
October 22, 2004 Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, New Jersey
The following is a news release issued by the UFC:
LAS VEGAS, NEV., October 15, 2004…. A training injury has sidelined light heavyweight contender Guy Mezger, so undefeated Canadian Patrick Cote (5-0-0 in mixed martial arts) from Rimouski, Quebec, gets the opportunity to fight one of mixed martial arts’ top fighters, Tito Ortiz (11-4-0) from Huntington Beach, Calif., in the main event of Ultimate Fighting Championship® 50: The war Of 04 next Friday, Oct. 22, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. Cote originally was scheduled to fight Marvin Eastman (7-3-0) from Las Vegas, Nev.
Eastman will now fight UFC newcomer Travis Lutter (6-1-0) from Dallas, Tex., in the pay-per-view card’s other light heavyweight match.
In another card change, Middleweight Trevor Prangley has been forced to withdraw due to injury and will be replaced by Tony Fryklund (11-3-0) from Las Vegas, Nev., in his scheduled match against Ivan Salaverry (8- -1) from Seattle, Wash. UFC officials also announced that the heavyweight fight between Tra Telligman (15-4- ) from Ft. Worth, Tex., and John Marsh (12-4-0) from Redondo Beach, Calif., has been dropped from the card.
One co-main event on the seven-fight card will be for the welterweight title as former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes (37-4-0) from Hillsboro, Ill., attempts to regain the belt against undefeated Georges St. Pierre (7-0-0) from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The other co-main event now pits Cote, a power puncher with a knockout reputation, against Ortiz, the former UFC light heavyweight champion who dominates opponents with a devastating grappling and ground/pound style. It did not take long for the war of words to start.
“Tito has no chin and I have already knocked out the two fighters with the best chins in Canada with one punch each. If he thinks Chuck Liddell hit him hard, he will realize he hasn’t seen anything yet,” Cote said.
“Big words for a little man,” Ortiz responds. “Sounds like he needs to learn some respect, which will happen next Friday. Stand up or on the ground, he gets a beating.”
The Fryklund-Salaverry bout now matches two well-rounded fighters with excellent stand-up and ground fighting skills. Although he now fights out of Las Vegas, Fryklund is part of the Miletich Fighting Systems team from Davenport, Iowa, one of the top MMA clubs in the world. But, Salaverry also is a world-class fighter who always puts on an exciting show.
Lutter is an excellent grappler and submission fighter who has earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under the tutelage of legend Carlos Machado. But, he will get a real introduction to the UFC from the veteran Eastman, a quick striker with an extensive wrestling background. In his UFC debut, Eastman stepped up at UFC 43: Meltdown and took on former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort. But, with that loss now a distant memory, Eastman looks to position himself in the incredibly talent-laden weight division.
UFC On FSN, 5 p.m. Local Time, This Sunday, Oct. 17 The first of four, one-hour UFC® fight show specials on FSN (Fox Sports Network) will air at 5 p.m., local time, this Sunday, Oct. 17. “Ultimate Fighting Championship” will re-live the epic battle between top light heavyweight contenders Liddell and Ortiz, and the action-packed welterweight battle between Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler at UFC 47: It’s On! from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Future fight shows will be announced.
“Ultimate Fighting Championship” will air quarterly during the next year following a recent agreement signed between the UFC and FSN.
UFC 50: The War Of 04 will be available LIVE on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EDT on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, Echostar, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $29.95.
Tickets in all price ranges, $350, $250, $150, $75 and $35, are available at the Boardwalk Hall box office in Atlantic City, at all Ticketmaster locations, www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-736-1420. For general information, call 609-348-7000. Tickets are subject to transaction fees. Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, Trump Marina and Trump Taj Mahal are hosts of the event.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship® brand is the world’s leading professional mixed martial arts association and offers the premier series of MMA events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® fight programs are distributed internationally throughout the world, including broadcast on WOWOW, Inc., in Japan and Globosat in Brazil. Zuffa, LLC licenses the distribution of UFC video games through Crave Entertainment and Take Two TDK Mediactive, its fight show DVDs through Studioworks Entertainment, a Ventura Distribution company and its music CDs are published by Nitrus/DRT Entertainment, the official publisher of UFC music. “Ultimate Fighting Championship,” “Ultimate Fighting,” “UFC,” “Submission,” “As Real As It Gets” and the Octagon cage design are registered trademarks or trademarks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the U.S., Japan and other jurisdictions. All other marks that may be referenced herein belong to their respective holders
- News release from the UFC.tv website with some editing from us (highlights, de-highlighting, etc...)
New Line-up (not in fight order): Fight 1 - Light Heavyweight Bout - change Tito Ortiz (11-4) vs. Patrick Cote (5-0) - Cote replaces Guy Mezger
Fight 2 - Welterweight Title Bout Matt Hughes (37-4) vs. Georges St. Pierre (7-0)
Fight 3 - Middleweight Bout Robbie Lawler (8-2) vs. Evan Tanner (31-4)
Fight 4 - Middleweight Bout Rich Franklin (17-1) vs. Jorge Rivera (9-2)
Fight 5 - Middleweight Bout - change Ivan Salaverry (8-3-1) vs. Tony Fryklund (11-3) - Fryklund replaces Trevor Prangley
Fight 6 - Welterweight Bout Frank Trigg (11-2) vs. Renato “Charuto” Verissimo (5-1)
Fight 7 - Light Heavyweight Bout (Prelim) - change Marvin Eastman (7-3) vs. Travis Lutter (6-1) - Lutter replaces Patrick Cote
Heavyweight Bout - cancelled John Marsh (12-4) vs. Tra Telligman (15-4-1)
card subject to change
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