MMA Underground

A site for MMA Fans and fighters
by MMA Fans and Fighters.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Owned Entertainment Announces Partnership Between Top MMA Director Bobby Razak and Producer James Hergott

Owned Entertainment Announces Partnership Between Top MMA Director Bobby Razak and Producer James Hergott
Owned Entertainment, Inc. , Owned Entertainment, Inc.





(PressMediaWire) - Owned Entertainment Inc. announced today their partnership with Entertainment Director, Bobby Razak (www.BobbyRazakMovies.com). Razak serves as Director of several national TapouT commercials, as well as several feature films in the action sports genre. Sports Illustrated has referred to him as “King of the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) Screen”. Bobby and Owned President James Hergott’s current collaboration is on the filming of MMA Worldwide, a TV show being distributed by the cable network HDNET. Hergott serves as both Writer and Director for MMA Worldwide while Razak Produces the project. Both Hergott and Razak are heavily involved with MMA Entertainment. Hergott recently completed MMA Legacy (www.mmalegacy.com/) and had a feature film released nationally in theatres in 2005. Hergott can been seen in his recent interview with Fox News: (http://video.aol.com/category/james-hergott). Razak has directed several national commercials and movies for TapouT including Pit Fight, Bloodlines, Mask Man and Simply Believe, which was the official tribute to the passing of Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis of TapouT. Razak’s work on “Simply Believe” garnered so much attention that The Sixth Sense Director, M. Night Shyamalan personally wrote to compliment him on his work. Razak is currently directing a film about the history of MMA titled Und3rdogs. In addition, Razak is directing Sangre Nueva (New Blood), produced with Dethrone Films (www.dethroneclothing.com), which is a film highlighting fighters of Mexican heritage. See more of Razak’s work at (http://www.vimeo.com/user863668).

Owned President James Hergott comments, “The partnership between Bobby and Owned is very significant. From TV, to movies and commercials there isn’t anything in entertainment our team can’t handle. MMA is the most exciting sport in the world and between us we know MMA Entertainment better than anyone on the planet. We will be collaborating on a feature film that we believe will be the best fight movie ever made.” “No one can match our knowledge, experience and connections in MMA that we have as a team,” adds Razak.

Owned Entertainment is positioning itself to be the “go to house” for MMA Entertainment content. Their goal is to handle any size entertainment project in commercial, television and film in the action sports genre. As part of this endeavor, Owned will be apprenticing filmmakers under Hergott and Razak as the next generation of young hot filmmakers.

About MMA Business

In several recent industry articles it was stated that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has been showing recession resiliency. The sport’s biggest league the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held what is estimated to be the biggest PPV in history January 31st despite the nation’s economic slowdown. It is estimated that UFC 93 grossed more than $58 Million Pay Per View buys. The UFC’s President Dana White comments on the sports success, “The crazy thing about this sport is we haven’t even scratched the surface on how big this thing is going to be. It's going to be the biggest sport in the world.”

About MMA Worldwide

MMA Worldwide is the first collaboration between Razak and Hergott. The show is brought to you by Bobby Pittman, Publisher of MMA Worldwide Magazine (www.mmaworldwide.com/) and TapouT Magazine. Additional cast includes RJ Clifford, Fred George and Mike ‘Joker’ Guymon. The project is being edited by Chris Staab (The Mayhem Miller Show, Dan Henderson: Quest for the Belt, Choke Out) with camerawork by MMA Worldwide’s Digital Media Director Rick Lee. Aaron Tru's interview with Chris Cyborg for mmaworldwide.com made the top story at TMZ.com and several other news sites this week when he was choked out cold after asking the wrong question to the wrong women.

About MMA Legacy

MMA Legacy is Executive Produced by Jason Chambers (Human Weapon) and his company Jac’D Productions along with Owned Entertainment and Eric Alfio. MMA Legacy is also produced by Gerald Chopik, President of MMA Expo (www.MixedMartialArtsExpo.com). Legacy was created and directed by Owned president James Hergott. The project is sponsored by Hardcor Fightwear (www.GetHardcor.com).

About Owned Entertainment

Owned Entertainment, Inc. (www.OwnedEntertainment.com) engages in investing, producing, and distributing full-length feature films as well as TV projects, video games, and other entertainment entities specifically aimed at young adult males age 18-35. James Hergott can be reached at James@OwnedEntertainment.com. For PR inquiries contact Teddy Bisrat at Ted158@Comcast.net.

Matt Serra will be in attendance at Wizard World Philly PA.

Matt Serra will be in attendance at Wizard World Philly PA.

Body: Matt Serra will be in attendance at Wizard World Philadelphia (www.wizardworld.com/home-pa.html), a comics and pop culture convention set for June 19-21 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. He will meet fans, sign autographs and give a sneak peek at his Round 5 figurine, which is scheduled for release in late July/early August.


Matt will be on site at Wizard World on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. TNA Wrestling will also have a presence, with stars Tracy Brooks, Demolition, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Jerry "The King" Lawler among the notables. Other special guests in attendance during the three-day event include actor Edward James Olmos, actress Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk) and dozens of comic book artists and writers. See the Wizard World website for a complete list of guests.

http://www.wizardworld.com/home-pa.html

WORKSHOP -Hermes Franca,Robson Moura-EVERYONE WELCOME

WORKSHOP -Hermes Franca,Robson Moura-EVERYONE WELCOME

Body:


PUERTO RICO! Get ready for a full workshop of pure adrenaline ! Come share and learn from some of the best martial arts celebrities including UFC Mixed Martial Arts Superstar Hermes Franca ! Master Kru Gil, 7-Time World Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Champion Robson Moura. Reserve your place on our website before July 13th, www.whitecm.com , and you will receive the registration discount and Hotel discount code for "LA CONCHA" www.laconcharesort.com Puerto Rico's premiere Hotel (you will receive the hotel code upon confirmation of your online registration)! MEN, WOMEN, TEENAGERS, EVERYONE WELCOME! FIRST-TIME BEGINNERS, INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED self-defense and Martial Arts/MMA training !

DAYS: July 17, 18 and 19, 2009 San Juan, Puerto Rico

PLACE: New facilities for Recreation and Sport in Santurce

TIMES:
Friday, July 17, 2009: Last day for registration, photos, signing autographs and guidance; 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Saturday, July 18, 2009: Section Training - 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.; Lunch - 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 pm; Section Training - 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm ; 7:00 pm Event MMA and celebration afterwards.
Sunday, July 19, 2009: Third and last section of training 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm; Lunch with all participants and delivery of certificates - 2:00 pm

PRICES:
2 Days of Training $ 99.00 if you book your place through internet before July 13.
2 Days of Training $ 125.00 if you book your place after July 13.
Training Day 1 (Saturday) $ 85.00
Training Day 1 (Sunday) $ 75.00
Seminar for beginners, intermediate, advanced.
No reservations will be made and / or registrations on July 18 or July 19

BRANDON "THE TRUTH" VERA SEMINAR June 20th

BRANDON "THE TRUTH" VERA SEMINAR June 20th

At The Buffalo Training Center
Clarence Center, NY

$75 advanced or $90 at the door
Join us for a day of food, fun and fighting. Check out BTC and meet our pro-fighters.


Anyone and everyone is welcome.
No Experience Necessary

The UFC's Brandon Vera will be conducting a two hour seminar from 2:00-4:00. Open House from 12:00-5:00
716-406-2616 BuffaloTC@me.com
www.buffalotrainingcenter.com

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Faith; through the eyes of the “Nightmare”

Faith; through the eyes of the “Nightmare”




Exclusive interview with Diego Sanchez


Written by Penny Buffington

Ever wonder why an athlete who is about to fight in a mixed martial arts event would be giving glory to God? UFC fighter Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez gives a look into what his faith means to him and why he always gives the glory to God. Diego explains; to him faith is a matter of religion as well as a spiritual thing. “I consider myself a believer. I believe in Jesus Christ and that he died on the cross for our sins that is what my fundamental belief is. Religion is spiritual. I do go to Church and I do read the Bible. I do study because that is the word of God and you should. But of course it is a spiritual thing.”

The 27 year old UFC mixed martial arts fighters parents brought him up to “believe” in God and his son Jesus Christ, lovingly teaching him the ways of the Bible. “It is what I was born into. Mom had a big influence on teaching me the right way. My parents were Catholics growing up and then they converted to Christians whenever they were pregnant with me.”

Even though “Nightmares” parents wanted him to believe, it really is a choice that had to be made by Diego himself. “You know many things have happened in my life. The trials the tribulations, everybody has their stories, where they went wrong and what they did wrong. As for me, I am the type of person I want to find out on my own. And time and time again God has always let me know from what my Mom and Dad was telling me from the beginning was always the truth. But you know being a kid and being kind of stubborn you want to find out the truth for yourself. Usually in most cases you need to learn the hard way. And I did!”

“Getting into my older age I am starting to finally find wisdom and make better decisions and smarter choices.” Diego admits to making mistakes, “From my turning my back on the laws of God; dancing with the devil and temptation and sin. That wasn’t going to do anything; but digging myself into a hole, that I would eventually have to pull myself out of. Lucky for us we have a very forgiving God. That is why he gave his only begotten son Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins.”
As for Church Diego says, “ I go to The Rock in San Diego and when I am in different places I go to different churches.”

Diego believes in making time to dedicate thoughts and prayers to God. “I do tai chi and I do Qigong energy meditation and I always incorporate my scripture into everything that I do. Whether it be running on the treadmill. Whether it be working out. I’m always constantly reciting scriptures in my mind and communicating with God. Another thing that I recently started to do was writing down all my prayers in a notepad. I’ve had huge success with that by writing everything down.”

Diego starts his day with a text message from his boxing coach. “My boxing coach sends me Bible verses. He text messages me bible verses every morning. I read those and I start my day out like that. I try to get a little wisdom from what he sends me. I’m also looking into joining a Bible study fellowship. Ali does it, so I want to start doing that with her.” Diego’s girlfriend is Ali Sonoma, a former UFC octagon ring girl.

Being a Christian isn’t all that complicated to Diego, “Christian is basically, following the 10 commandments, that is basically what it comes down to.”

Before and after every fight Diego Sanchez can be heard giving all the glory to God. He explains, "I’m giving the glory to him. I am thankful for everything. I give him the victory. I do not consider the victory as mine. It is his. I envision being one of his warriors and giving him the glory, “HIM”. Saying look, this win wasn’t really me winning, it was him winning, through me, by me giving and putting it out there so people can say, look, this guy is giving God credit for his victory.”

The finale thoughts Diego shared with me were, “No matter how down and out you are all things are possible through Jesus Christ. I’m a true witness to that. I have a great life. It’s all because of him. I give him the glory. I give him the credit.” Next time you hear a fighter mentioning God remember that faith is a beautiful thing. Any time someone wants to give God a shout out, it’s a good thing!

Diego praying in the UFC octagon before an event, picture taken and provided by Kasey Anne Leech:


Audio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADRuY7yqtlc




Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Ultimate Women’s Combat Press Release

May 20, 2009 – Los Angeles: Lyle Howry Productions in partnership with Momentum Entertainment & Sports Network is proud to announce the syndication of Ultimate Women’s Combat (working title). Executive Producers are Lyle Howry, Dallas Tanner, and Jeff Rice. This reality based television show will be syndicated by Momentum Entertainment & Sports Network. The show will be broadcast over NBC stations and affiliates throughout the United States. Other network affiliated stations and station groups will also be included in the airing of the show. With an anticipated premiere in late 2009 or early 2010, the show is expected to reach over 60 Million households in top markets throughout the U.S.

Ultimate Women’s Combat is a television show that focuses on 16 female Mixed Martial Arts fighters as they attempt to make a name for themselves in the rough and tumble world of professional cage fighting. Many of these combatants have been connected to male fighters and trainers their entire careers. It’s now time for them to step out of the shadows and into the fire! Throughout the show the audience will get to know these warriors not only as fighters but as women who have lives, responsibilities and experiences that extend beyond the cage. Ultimate Women’s Combat will delve deep into the lives of these women pulling from them the most intriguing details of what makes a female fighter. The weekly challenges will have the girls working closely with nationally recognized organizations to make the public aware of issues that have impacted our communities and the women themselves. Make no mistake, this is a fight show and there will be fights! At the end of the season the winners of the tournament will receive a major contract from a partnered fighting promotion. Ultimate Women’s Combat is not a fighting promotion and the creators do not intend to promote fights under the Ultimate Women’s Combat banner.

Bas Rutten and Maxim 100 model, Joanna Krupa will play hosts to the show. Also featured as coaches are #1 ranked fighter, Tara LaRosa, U.K. fighting sensation Rosi Sexton, Strike Force contender Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos and Jiu-jitsu legend Cesar Gracie. The 16 female fighters include Felice Herrig, Angela Magana, Angela Hayes, Melissa Steele, Roxy Richardson, Lauren Sugahara, Kerry Vera, Michelle Vera, Moroeles Coenen, Casey Noland, Molly Helsel, Vanessa Mariscal, Jessica Aguilar, Martha Benavides, and Kate McGray (fight roster subject to change).

Lyle Howry of Lyle Howry Productions would like to thank the following sponsors for their continual support throughout Ultimate Women’s Combat tryout’s and preliminary events: Self Defined Clothing, Tussle Fight Gear, Super Body Care, U.K. Cage Warriors, HGH Infusion, Bas Rutten's Elite MMA and Dojo Fight Gear.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

XFC 8: Regional Conflict; Bruce “The Noose” Connors



Written by Penny Buffington

XFC 8: Regional Conflict will be on HDNet Sat. April 25th. The main event will be the featherweight championship title bout between undefeated Bruce “The Noose” Connors (7-0) and Jarrod “The Wild Card” Card (7-3-1).
Bruce “tells us, “It’s for the featherweight title for the XFC and it is going to be on HDNet Television live.

I explained to Connors that XFC founder John Prisco has been heard expressing great excitement over this match-up to which Bruce replied, “I know he is excited about the fight. He is excited I am fighting for the title. He put his faith into me and that means a lot because I have been looking to have someone to put their faith into me and to have my back and to promote me and with what he is doing he has done a fabulous job so far.”

Bruce has won all but 1 of his 7 fights by some form of choke gaining him his nick name. “It’s Bruce “The Noose” Connors because some of the guys from my SWAT TEAM started calling me “The Noose” because I kept winning fights by chocking. It was one of the guys I work with and from there it traveled to one of my fights and everybody kind of picked it up.”

His intentions for the fight are, “Basically to keep it my fight and stay calm and stick to my game plan. Nothing fancy just go out there be determined and win the fight.”

Bruce gave some background on himself. “I went into the marine core right out of high school and I tried out for “Snipers” while I was in there. It is an elite unit that you have to actually try out for. You can’t just go in and enter as a Marine sniper. I did 2 tours overseas and while I was in there I actually met a guy that was into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He was basically a beginner. At any free time which wasn’t much we rolled around. It was something that I had wanted to do previously because I had watched the first UFC but I just never knew actually how to get into it. When I got out of the Marine Core I got into Law Enforcement and that actually gave me the time to start looking around. I actually went down to one of the fights down south Florida and that is where I hooked up with Marcio Simas who I train with right now and I started getting into it!”

“I’m still working for the police department I am a sniper on the SWAT TEAM it takes up a lot of my time but if I’m not working then I’m training. I train with Marcio Simas and Gustavo Muggiati.” (Gracie Barra Orlando Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy Orlando, FL) “The Noose” goes on to explain, “They are both black belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I trainMMA under them and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and I also train at Dan's Boxing in Kissimmee. Daniel Soto is the boxing coach over there.”

“The Noose” has helpful supporters. “I have a fiancĂ© who is ride or die for me. She doesn’t necessarily like the idea of me being hurt but she appreciate that I am dedicated to it and all my family has been to all my fights. My brother is right there with me. He trains a lot of the time right beside me and helps me prepare for the fights.”

If Bruce can gain this title to add to his already achived Cage Warriors title the possibilities may start to open up turning him from police officer to full time fighter. “I would hope so and hopefully Remington my manager can make that happen. He has been doing a great job so far.”
As for the fight this Sat. Connors finished the interview letting us know,“It should be a brutal but quick fight.”

Friday, April 17, 2009

Ultimate Womens Combat reality show promo video

ultimate womens combat, bas ruten joanna krupa, felice herrig, brandon vera, kerry vera, michelle vera, molly helsel, penny buffington, Martha Benavides, Vladimir Matyushenkos,Vanessa Mariscal,  Kate McGray, Molly Helsel, Roxy Balboa

Friday, April 10, 2009

MMA Legacy

James Hergott from Owned Entertainment on FOX News

 MMA Legacy- In depth look into the lives of mixed martial artist

Jorge Gurgel, Din Thomes, & Elaina Maxwell are some of the cast members


Thursday, April 9, 2009

Bellator Fighting Championship signs Mikey Gomez




Written by Penny Buffington

BJJ black belt Mikey Gomez, Florida’s number one unsigned mixed artist, packed up and moved from Florida out to Cerritos, Ca. to train at Gracie Barra Cerritos, with head instructor, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, last January. Now he has signed a 4 fight contract with Bellator Fighting Championships. Mikey will fight his first fight on his contract Fri April 10th at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. He will be challenged by Jesse Juarez who has 7 wins 5 losses and trains at Body Shop Fitness Inc. in Lakewood, CA.


The 25 year old says the move was to further his experience in the craft of mixed martial arts explaining, “I figured here would be a great place to be. I’m training with a variety of sparring partners and it really upped my training a lot after I moved here.
Everything is going great”

Mikey is a welterweight. He has 9 wins and 5 losses on his mixed martial arts record and he is the current Cage Warriors USA champion. Bellator scouts took notice after Mikey submitted Lorenzo Borgomeo at EliteXC’s final event.


The fight is on the under card but we can expect it to be very exciting. Out of 14 fights Mr. Gomez has only gone into the 3rd round 1 time. He tells me, “I really always go for the finish whether it is a knock out or submission. I believe that is what people want to see. They want to see the person going after the fight and trying to finish it.


Bellator is the Latin word for ‘warrior’. The show will air 12 two-hour events in its premiere season, broadcast weekly on ESPN Desportes in a primetime Saturday night slot. The events take place live Friday nights.


Mikey isn’t about to pussy foot around. When I asked him who he would like to fight he answered, “I want to fight the best so who ever Bellator has but…maybe one day George St. Pierre.” He went on to explain, “I believe he is a great athlete. Hopefully it is not true the whole thing about him ‘greasing’ because that would be week but not thinking about that aspect I think he is a great athlete and ambassador for the sport.


Ending the interview Mikey said, “I always bring the fight and I’m in there to fight so I hope everybody always loves watching it.
” He also thanked his sponsors and invited everyone to hit him up on his web site or MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/paraguaio>> & http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lm1pa2V5Z29tZXouY29tLw==">http://www.mikeygomez.com/>>