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UFC 50 Line-up
October 22, 2004 Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, New Jersey
Line-up (not in fight order): Fight 1 - Light Heavyweight Bout Tito Ortiz (11-4) vs. Guy Mezger (44-13-6)
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 Trevor Prangley (8-1) vs. Ivan Salaverry (8-3-1)
Fight 6 - Welterweight Bout Frank Trigg (11-2) vs. Renato “Charuto” Verissimo (5-1)
Fight 7 - Light Heavyweight Bout (Prelim) Patrick Cote (5-0) vs. Marvin Eastman (7-3)
Fight 8 - Heavyweight Bout John Marsh (12-4) vs. Tra Telligman (15-4-1)
LAS VEGAS, NEV., September 14, 2004….There’s going to be a war Friday, Oct. 22, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ, when top contending light heavyweights Tito Ortiz and Guy Mezger renew a long-standing feud and former welterweight champion Matt Hughes battles Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight championship at Ultimate Fighting Championship® 50: War Of 04. Six additional fights will complete the all-star, eight-fight card that 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. 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. champion, and Mezger (44-13-6) from Dallas, TX, their main event battle will be the continuation of a war that began May 30, 1997, at UFC 13: The Ultimate Force, resumed March 5, 1999, at UFC 19: Young Gun and eventually led to one of the biggest fights in UFC history, Ortiz’ match up with Mezger’s mentor Ken Shamrock
November 22, 2002, at UFC 40: Vendetta. Mezger had tapped out, and Ortiz by massive punches in a revenge-filled re-match that included post-fight antics and a T-shirt message that had Shamrock attempting to jump over the Octagon to get at Ortiz while vowing “I’ll never retire from the UFC until I fight him.” That became reality in the main event of UFC 40 when Ortiz, then the UFC light heavyweight champion, was victorious by technical knockout after three rounds. Now, the stage is set to settle the score with Mezger. And yes, Shamrock will be in his corner again. Ortiz needs a victory to get back in the light heavyweight title chase and Mezger would definitely improve his rank in
the division with a win. beaten many favored fighters in the past because I always figure out a way to win. I really expect this to be the
UFC’s best fight of the year,” Mezger said. punishment
and I plan to stop him once and for all,” he said. Hillsboro, Ill., was the UFC welterweight champion until he tried a reversal move in the first round at UFC 46: Super Natural and was caught in a rear naked choke by BJ Penn. He lost his belt, but rebounded with a dominating three-round unanimous decision over Renato Verissimo at UFC 48: Pay Back! Hughes is one of the strongest pound-for-pound fighters in MMA who is renown for his wrestling skills and ability to slam opponents and deal out brutal damage on the ground. He is driven to re-gain the title and prove he is one of the best welterweights in the world. But St. Pierre (7-0-0) from Montreal, Canada, is the undefeated Canadian welterweight champion who is equally dangerous standing or on the ground. He impressed everyone in his debut at UFC 46 with a unanimous decision over judo expert Karo Parisyan followed by a first-round knockout of Jay Hieron at UFC 48.
Hughes knows that St. Pierre is talented. “But, it’s too soon for him to be taking me on,” he said.
“He doesn’t know what’s coming. This is my time,” St. Pierre counters. Three middleweight matches, a welterweight bout, a light heavyweight match and a heavyweight fight will complete the card.
With two of the UFC’s most talented young fighters moving to middleweight, the division now rivals the light heavyweights for competitive action.
“Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (8-2-0) from Davenport, Iowa, who introduced his explosive knockout power as a welterweight, moves up to face veteran Evan Tanner (31-4-0) from Gresham, Ore. Lawler quickly established a reputation as one of MMA’s most dangerous strikers with impressive wins over Aaron Riley, Steve Berger, Tiki and Chris Lytle, the last three by KO. Just 22, Lawler is still developing and now makes his debut as a middleweight. Tanner, a member of UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Randy Couture’s Team Quest Fight Club, reeled off six victories as a light heavyweight before he dropped down to middleweight and continued his win streak with two consecutive victories over highly regarded Phil Baroni. Tanner makes no bones about the fact he wants to be the UFC’s next middleweight champion.
Another middleweight newcomer will be powerful Rich Franklin (17-1-0) from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is moving down from light heavyweight to face one of the UFC’s best all-around fighters, Jorge Rivera (9-2-0) from Milford, Mass. Franklin, an outstanding striker with excellent submission skills, won his last two UFC fights by TKO in the first round as a light heavyweight. He pummeled Tanner at UFC 42: Sudden Impact in Miami, Fla., and then defeated Edwin DeWees in just 3:35 at UFC 44: Undisputed in Las Vegas. He will be formidable as a middleweight. But Rivera is a hardnosed striker who likes to move forward and keep the pressure on opponents. While striking is his strength, he has all the tools to become a top middleweight contender. Rivera made an impressive debut at UFC 44 with a unanimous decision win over tough Canadian David Loiseau.
The card’s third middleweight match will pit grappler Trevor Prangley (8-1-0) from Couer D’Alene, Idaho, against Ivan Salaverry (8-3-1) from Seattle, Wash. Prangley, a native of Cape Town, South Africa, is a world-class grappler, but is not afraid to stand and strike with opponents. In his last UFC appearance, he defeated Curtis Stout at UFC 48: Payback! with a neck crank at the 3:51 mark of round two. Salaverry is strong on the ground or standing up. He defeated Andrei Semenov by TKO at UFC 37: High Impact.
The welterweight bout will have an East Coast flavor because Frank Trigg (11-2-0) grew up in Rochester, N.Y., although he now lives and fights out of El Segundo, Calif. His opponent, “Charuto” Verissimo (5-1-0) is from Hilo, Hawaii. Trigg is world-class wrestler who is always in top condition and he has added striking and submission skills to complement that wrestling ability. In his last UFC fight, he defeated wily veteran Dennis Hallman by first-round TKO with strikes on the ground at UFC 48. Verissimo is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who made an impressive debut at UFC 46: Super Natural in January with a unanimous decision victory over former welterweight champ Carlos Newton. In his next match, he nearly submitted Hughes at UFC 48 before losing a close decision. Also of note is the fact Verissimo trained and coached Penn when he defeated Hughes for the welterweight title.
In the light heavyweight prelim match, Canadian Patrick Cote (5-0-0) from Rimouski, Quebec, will make his UFC debut against talented Marvin Eastman (7-3-0) from Las Vegas, Nev. Cote holds the TKO Canadian Light Heavyweight championship and is a power puncher who has knocked out some of Canada’s toughest fighters. His TKO belt will not be on the line in this fight. Eastman has an extensive wrestling background and is a quick striker who never backs down. In his UFC debut, he stepped up at UFC 43: Meltdown and took on former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort. Although Belfort won the fight en route to winning the title, Eastman gave him all he could handle.
No fight card is complete without a heavyweight bout and UFC 50: War Of 04 will not disappoint fans when John Marsh (12-4-0) from Redondo Beach, Calif., makes his UFC debut against veteran Tra Telligman (15-4-1) from Ft. Worth, Tex. Telligman, one of the best strikers in the heavyweight division, has fought some of the best fighters in MMA and is renown for two incredible wars with Pedro Rizzo. Telligman is not afraid to throw down with anyone and feels it is time to establish him self as one of the top UFC heavyweights. Marsh is a very aggressive heavyweight who has excellent submission and striking skills. His biggest weapon is a powerful right hand and he said although Telligman is experienced, “he will make a mistake and I will take advantage of it.”
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Historic Boardwalk Hall, which first opened in 1929, received a $90 million renovation to transform the building into a modern special events arena capable of variable seating for up to 13,800. The facility is the home of the ECHL’s 2003 Kelly Cup Champion Boardwalk Bullies, in addition to hosting an array of other events including concerts, boxing, family shows and Atlantic City’s signature event, Miss America. For more information, visit www.boardwalkhall.com. Boardwalk Hall is an SMG-managed facility.
- News release from the UFC.tv website with some editing from us (highlights, de-highlighting, etc...)
card subject to change
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