"Giant" Steps Towards “The Beast”

February 23, 2008

Tacoma Dome

Tacoma, Washington

TACOMA, WA.—Nearly 700 lbs. of human flesh will collide in the cage when 6’11” K-1 kickboxing star and

undefeated professional boxer Jan “The Giant” Nortje (25-17) meets former University of Washington

football standout and NFL lineman turned martial arts fighting sensation, Bob “The Beast” Sapp (8-2-1), in

the main event of the “Strikeforce At The Dome” mixed martial arts event at Washington’s Tacoma Dome on

Saturday, February 23rd.

Interestingly enough, the 32-year-old Nortje, who tips the scales at around 330 lbs, is a former training

partner of Sapp. Nortje and his former training team were one of the first groups to help Sapp develop

combat skills after The Beast entered the world of martial arts fighting in 2002.

“I’m extremely excited,” said Nortje. “I’ve always seen Bob get big opportunities so I think it’s my turn to

show what I can do against him.”

Nortje is coming off a second round TKO victory over Dong Wook Kim. The matchup took place before over

17,000 fans at Japan’s Yokohama Arena on K-1’s “World GP 2007 Final” on December 8th.

A native of South Africa, Nortje relocated last year to Las Vegas, Nevada where he has been aggressively

training with K-1 superstar and world kickboxing champion, Ray “Sugarfoot” Sefo. “It’s been a great

experience so far. Ray is so knowledgeable in all areas of fighting,” Nortje said.

“Strikeforce At The Dome” is being presented by bodogFIGHT. Tickets for the event, priced at $150, $75

and $35, are on sale at all Ticketmaster locations (253-627-TIXS), the Tacoma Dome box office,

Ticketmaster.com, and the official Strikeforce website, www.strikeforceusa.net.

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion and K-1 North America king, Maurice “Big Mo” Smith (73-20-4), will

battle fellow legend and six-time world kickboxing champion, Rick “The Jet” Roufus (57-7), in a featured

heavyweight contest during “Strikeforce At The Dome,” which will feature 10 world-class, professional mixed

martial arts bouts.

Doors at Tacoma Dome will open for the event at 7 PM PST and the first fight will begin at 8 PM PST. The

event is being promoted by Strikeforce in conjunction with Brian Halquist Productions.

About Tacoma Dome:

The Tacoma Dome is one of the largest wood domed structures in the world. It is owned and operated by

the City of Tacoma’s Public Assembly Facilities Department. The Tacoma Dome hosts over one million

guests annually. The Tacoma Dome Arena and its attached Exhibition Hall host over 300 days of events

every year including WIAA high school sports, major concerts, family shows, and several tradeshows.

About Strikeforce:

Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made

history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California

state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record

crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for

ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company

unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” Since then, it has produced the first

SHOWTIME PPV mixed martial arts event in history with its world championship “Shamrock vs. Baroni” card

on June 22nd of this year followed by the first-ever mixed martial arts event at the world-famous Playboy

Mansion on September 29th.

About Brian Halquist Productions:

Brian Halquist Productions is the Northwest premiere fight promotion company creator of the famed “Battle

at the Boat” boxing series now in its 12th year and nearly 100 fights at the Emerald Queen Casino. In the

past year Brian Halquist Promotions has promoted events for ESPN, ShowTime and HBO and was recently

featured on Showtime’s historic boxing event in St Lucia. BHP fighters included Undefeated David Torres,

Undefeated Heavyweight Eric Fields and Native American Prospect Roger Cantrell. Brian Halquist

Productions has been promoting fights and concerts for over 20 years in the Pacific Northwest.

Contacts:

Mike Afromowitz, Strikeforce – muaythaimes@aol.com

Brian Halquist, Brian Halquist Productions – bhalquist@qwest.net

Kellyann Hussey, Brian Halquist Productions – bhmainevent1@qwest.net

- From Strikeforce with a little editing from us (color, etc...)

(1/21/08)