FightZone TV To Air

World Fighting Championships (WFC)

Battle Of The Bay 8

FightZone TV is proud to announce that they will once again be providing national television coverage for

World Fighting Championships “Battle of the Bay 8,” an action-packed Mixed Martial Arts extravaganza at

Tampa's USF Sundome to be held on Friday, July 10, 2009.

The taped event, featuring cageside commentary by Fight Zone's Jay Adams, will be aired nationally at a

later date by FightZone TV to over 21 million homes on Fox Sport Net's (FSN) affiliates SunSports,

SportSouth, and nationally on DIRECTV, The Dish Network and AT&T U-verse, reaching over 20% of US

homes with cable TV.

Famed music promoter Ted Lucas of Slip-N-Slide Records and fight promoter and WFC President, Tom

Crowther have joined forces to present “Battle of the Bay 8 which will will feature a main event showdown

with former UFC Champion and “Celebrity Rehab” star Ricco Rodriguez and Mario “Big Hurt” Rinaldi along

with thrilling bouts from some of the top mixed martial artists in the country. To make the evening even

more exciting, it will be hosted by special guest cage girl Amber Smith, star of VH-1 TV'S two hit reality

series, “Celebrity Rehab” and "Sober House." With Ricco and Amber Smith, both stars on “Celebrity

Rehab,” the July 10th event will aim on creating anti-drug awareness and promote a world free of both

recreational and sports-related drugs.

Tickets priced from $25 -$75 are on sale now and available at www.ticketmaster.com or www.mmawfc.com.

VIP tables are also available starting at $1,000. Showroom doors open at 7pm, preliminaries start at 8pm,

and main event commences at 11:30pm. The USF Sundome is located at 4202 East Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL

33620. Phone is (813) 974-3002. A portion of the proceeds from the event will go to Community Anti-Drug

Coalitions of America, or CADCA whose mission is to create and maintain safe, healthy and drug-free

communities.

The main bout of the evening features former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight and “Celebrity

Rehab” star Ricco Rodriguez (29-10-0) against Mario “Big Hurt” Rinaldi (8-02-01). This is Rodriguez's first

fight since becoming clean and sober and losing his UFC belt. “After recovery comes redemption,” says

Ricco. “I'm in great shape and ready for the ultimate comeback.”

Ricco Rodriquez is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion. He has also competed

in PRIDE Fighting Championship, EliteXC, International Fight League, World Extreme Cagefighting and

King of the Cage and holds notable wins over Andrei Arlovski, Jeff Monson and Randy Couture.

Rodriguez wrestled in high school while living in New York. He later moved to California and began training

in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with Rigan and Jean Jacques Machado. He competed and won many Jiu Jitsu

tournaments before moving on to MMA. In 1997, Ricco Rodriguez became the first American to win a

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship. He won the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in

the Absolute (open weight) division in 1998. In the following year Rodriguez began his MMA career with a

win against Rocky Batastini. He won several of his first matches before losing to Bobby Hoffman at the

Superbrawl 13 event in Hawaii. He later fought in the PRIDE Fighting Championship before moving on to the

Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Rodriguez's first UFC match was at UFC 32 against Andrei Arlovski which he won by TKO. Rodriguez went

on to beat Williams, Jeff Monson (UFC 35) and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (UFC 37) to earn a title shot against

heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 39. Rodriguez was losing on the scorecard in the initial

rounds. In the fifth round Rodriguez was able to achieve a ground-and-pound victory with a stoppage by

verbal tapout.

Voted “One of the Sexiest Women in the World” by Maxim Magazine, Tampa- native Amber Smith will be

the special guest cage girl. Amber has graced the covers of over 300 magazines worldwide, including

Playboy, Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire and Maxim, with her initial fame concurrent with her appearances in two

Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues. An internationally recognized supermodel and actress for almost 20

years, today Amber Smith is perhaps even more recognizable as one of the top reality TV stars in America

for her participation in the VH-1 TV series “Celebrity Rehab” and its sequel “Sober House.” For more

information on Amber, go to www.ambersmith.com.

“Battle of the Bay 8” will feature some of the most talented MMA fighters to step into the ring including

Regino Pena vs. Dustin Winterhalt, Frankhad Sharapov vs. Chris Manuel, Brian Eckstein vs. Ralph Acosta,

Zack Light vs. Patrick Mikesz, Alex Caceres vs. Matt McCook, Erik “War Face” Covik vs. Caleb Archer,

James Wynn vs. Giovani Moljo, Joe Ricart vs. Malachy Freidman, Gino Tutera vs. Andrew Parker and James

Powell vs. TBA.

The official “Battle of the Bay 8” WEIGH-INS will be held on Thursday, July 9 at 6pm at the Embassy Suites

on USF campus, next to the Sundome and are OPEN to the public. The weigh-ins will include a meet and

greet with the fighters as well as on-on-one interviews with the press, available upon request.

A portion of the proceeds Go To Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America.

ABOUT CADCA

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, or CADCA, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to

strengthen the capacity of community coalitions in their effort to create and maintain safe, healthy and drug-

free communities. CADCA supports its members with training and technical assistance, public policy

advocacy, media strategies and marketing programs, conferences and special events. For more information,

go to www.cadca.org.

ABOUT WFC

World Fighting Championships (WFC) is the premier MMA league that prides itself on being the most fighter

friendly organization in the world while hosting the intense, action packed events that fans want to see. The

WFC's foundation is focused on forming true relationships with fighters, fans and sponsors within the

community coupled with creating the edge of your seat adrenaline filled shows and concepts that make the

WFC the league of choice. Please log-on to www.mmawfc.com for more information on upcoming WFC

MMA fights.

ABOUT SLIP-N-SLIDE RECORDS

Recognized by many as the record label that truly revolutionized the "Miami Sound", Slip-N-Slide has

become synonymous with cutting edge stars and chart-topping music. With upwards of 10 million records

sold worldwide, numerous gold and platinum albums, and the presence of three superstars in Rick Ross,

Plies, and Trina, Slip-N-Slide has put out some of the industry's biggest stars. The label has reached such

accolades as the Miami Award's "Top Independent Record Label" and the Source's #1 Independent Record

Label in the state of Florida. The SNS family has also been recently featured in editions of Vibe and Source

Magazines. Founded in 1994 by Ted "Touche" Lucas, Slip-N-Slide began its official climb to the top when

Trick Daddy released his debut album Based On A True Story, selling close to 300,000 copies

independently. For more information, go to http://www.slipnsliderecords.net.
 

- Press Release from Fight Zone Media with a little editing from us (color, etc...)

Subject to change

(6/28/09)