VISALIA, CA –RingSport.com Fans of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting in California’s central valley will be treated to a night of excitement at PureCombat’s “Bombs Away!” event on Friday, June 6^th in Visalia.

Headline MMA Event

In the headline event of the evening Champion Brett ‘Fudoshin’ Cooper will defend his title against Dustin ‘the Rooster’ Arden. The co-main event pits former professional boxer turned MMA fighter Hector ‘the Pride of Tulare’ Alatorre, Jr. (boxing record of 15-3) in a rematch with Elvis Franco of Hanford.

After the past weekend’s WEC dual championship defenses at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, CA by WEC Featherweight Urijah Faber and Bantamweight Miguel Torres, central valley fans are hungry for more MMA action, and PureCombat predicted tickets would sell out by mid-morning on Friday.

The MMA Promoter

www.RingSports.com caught up with promoter Al Joslin recently in an audio conference who said “We’re so honored to be promoting fights in the central valley of California. It’s a real honor to be able to work here near our home in the valley as well as throughout the rest of California and the Western states. We’re promoting MMA nationwide and are actively growing into places like Michigan and Florida. This country is really ready for MMA on a mass scale.”

The MMA Fights

At “Bombs Away” in total, 9 bouts will take place with 18 of the nation’s best mixed martial arts fighters. Doors will open at 6 PM, and fights begin at 7:30 PM.

Former UFC Heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell attended PureCombat’s recent MMA event in Stockton in early May as a spectator, and many in the crowd appeared excited to be at the same event as such a legend in the sport. The crowd was frequently on its feet during a well planned evening full of exciting and brutal mixed martial arts competitions.

“Big Daddy” Joe Stevenson from the UFC® and The Ultimate Fighter® fame will be on hand at this event to do the live commentating and quick interviews in the cage with the opponents following their fight.

Don’t miss the action for the upcoming event Friday the 6^th in Visalia!

FOR TICKETS: call (559) 713-4040 or online at www.PureCombatMMA.com

Event sponsored by BudLight, SpecterGear, and www.RingSports.com

Boxing publishing icon aims to reinvent itself into one of the premier online communities and news destinations covering boxing to mixed martial arts with social networking, reality shows, and news

SACRAMENTO, California – (OBSNews.com) – Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans around the world are cheering a hot new player in the online world of combat sports, www.RingSports.com.

The company’s expansion plans include a MMA social networking site, a reality TV show pilot that is currently in production, as well as video and text news and interviews devoted to fights, fighters, and fans.

The company created a YouTube channel that currently features interviews with WEC World Champion Urijah Faber as well as other fighters. Faber, in his video, stated, “I watch RingSports.com, do you watch RingSports.com?”

Free MMA subscriber benefits

When fans sign up as subscribers to the channel they get access to unique videos, free tickets to upcoming fights including UFC and WEC fights, behind the scenes interviews with fighters and opportunities to win free RingSports.com gear.

To sign up please visit: www.YouTube.com/RingSports.

RingSports.com’s website is currently scheduled to unveil its redesign by mid-June 2008. Sponsors and advertisers are lining up to discuss sponsorship opportunities with RingSports.com.

For more information please contact: Team@RingSports.com

By Pramit Mohapatra

As the sport of mixed martial arts grows in popularity, some of its biggest stars are enjoying some crossover celebrity success.

In fact, right now there are two shows on NBC that include MMA stars in them. The first one is Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice, which airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. Unlike previous seasons, there is no job working for Trump at stake. Instead, the contestants are all competing for their favorite charity. MMA is represented by Tito Ortiz, and the first episode took place this past week.

I have to admit, I watched The Apprentice the first couple of seasons it came out but lost interest over time as the show became a bit repetitious. The celebrity hook, however, has me back watching. In the first episode, the teams were divided into men vs. women, and the task was to make as much money as possible selling hot dogs. The men crushed, raising about three times as much as the women. The first eliminated contestant was former Playboy playmate Tiffany Fallon (who, by the way, could be considered a member of the MMA community given her role on IFL Battleground.)

Ortiz had a minor role in the first episode, though girlfriend Jenna Jameson did make an appearance.

The other show featuring a MMA star is American Gladiators, a revival of the show I loved growing up. The Gladiators on the newest season of the show are celebrities for the most part, including Leila Ali and Hulk Hogan. MMA is represented by Gina Carano, the EliteXC fighter who is well-known as much for her looks as her skill. On the show, Carano plays the role of Crush. The first episode airs tonight at 9 p.m.

I’ll definitely be watching…

By Jerry Magee

Mixed martial arts has too few combatants in its mix to sustain its current programming level in this state, according to Armando Garcia, executive director of the California Athletic Commission.By Garcia’s accounting, an annual 50 to 60 MMA cards are being offered in California. Garcia said he considers the number of shows out of proportion to the number of fighters available to compete.

Enlarging the pool of MMA contestants is an arduous process, as Garcia detailed it. When a boxer applies to be licensed in California, his qualifications can be checked through U.S.A. Boxing, which administers amateur boxing in this country. There also are Web sites that deal with amateur boxing.

“But there is no U.S.A. Boxing in MMA,” Garcia said. “We have to rely on gym evaluations, which can be difficult to gather. But we check very carefully.”

Garcia said he is seeing an increase of men in their 30s and 40s who wish to begin careers within the octagon.

The Unleashed gyms in San Diego and Escondido are planning an MMA card at the San Diego Convention Center on Feb. 8. Matchups have not been made.

As Garcia assesses it, boxing in California is thriving as the new year begins. He can point to $1.7 million in revenue the sport has generated for the state in this fiscal year, a strong increase in the number of promotions and the point that the state has applications from 10 persons who would like to join the 50 promoters operating in California.

“What does that mean?” Garcia questioned. “It means that business is really good.”