Results tagged “PA. State Athletic Commission” from MMA Explosion

Bloodyelbow has a post today about Randy Gordon, a former New York State Athletic Commissioner writing an op-ed piece in one of the NY papers, in support of the sport he once banned, (based on the "new" rules). But in his opinion piece, he has this interesting nugget from UFC 101, held in Philadelphia:

"I got an upclose and personal view of just how popular the sport has become when I went to UFC 101 at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center in August. The event brought in a $3.55 million gate, more than any boxing or combat event ever held in Pennsylvania. The sellout crowd of 15,007 poured into the city early and stayed late, making purchases at arena concessions, staying in hotels, dining at restaurants and taking taxis around the city." (emphasis mine).

Not too shabby, I say. The PA state Athletic Commission recieves no money from the state budget, but does get 5 percent of all gate receipts, so that's anice chunk of change that will go a long way in sustaining the agency that regulates the sport in PA.

from mmajunkie.com
A little less than a month away from a best-of-five matchup with Team Benelux, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned that prospect Charlie Brenneman (8-1), longtime MMAjunkie.com poster Logan Clark (11-3) and John Doyle (7-8) have been added to the M-1 Challenge's Team USA East.

Brenneman, from Hollidaysburg, Pa., is sponsored by Hanover-based MMA company Tap or Sleep. His last win was at Iron Will Fighting Championship. More recently, he was scheduled to fight at WKU Warrior Challenge in the Poconos, but his opponent Marcus Ajian failed his physical.

The two teams will compete at Studio 22 in Hilversum, Netherlands, just outside of Amsterdam, on Aug. 16.

The two-day "mega-taping," scheduled for Aug. 15 and Aug. 16, will feature 50 fights spread between 10 different teams. The event will air as an Internet pay-per-view in all markets outside of the U.S. and South Korea, while HDNet will broadcast the event in North America on Sept. 25.

I checked the Pa. State Athletic Commission Web site for the official results (and injury reports) of the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge II, but nothing has been uploaded yet. No prob., it's still early. I'll check back later and let you know.

Second, I forgot to mention that at the CPWC II, an announcement was made that CPWC III will be held in Lancaster on Oct. 23. This promises to be a huge event - held in one of the halls at the newly-opened Lancaster Convention Center - with possibly some well-known pros on board, not to mention our own home-grown pros and amateurs, who are damn good in their own right. Check out the CPWC Web site for more info. Click "Upcoming events" on the left side to learn more about CPWC III.

Here's a quick run-down of the upcoming MMA events in the state:

7/24 - pro/am at Zembo Hall in Altoona
7/25 - pro/am at Avalon Hotel in Erie
8/8 - UFC 101 at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia
8/15 - pro/am at IceoPlex in Pittsburgh
8/21 - pro/am at Alhambra Arena in Philadelphia
8/22 - pro/am at Tullio Arena in Erie
8/28 - pro/am at Harrisburg Field House in Harrisburg

You might have seen the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge highlight video (below this one), which has spots from a number of Saturday's fights at Wisehaven. But, unfortunately, we weren't abel to get all of them. One in particular that stands out in my mind is Mike Oberdick's win over Rob Haley. Oberdick, who had a tough ground-war loss to Lewis Rumsey in the first CPWC, came back with a venegance, tapping out Haley in 17 seconds with an RNC. I know there's only been two CPWCs, but that 17 seconds record is going to be hard to beat. After the bell rung, was it me or did I see Oberdickpointing to hsi wrist, like where a watch would be, as if to say, "Hey, anybody got the time on that one?"

amateur fights:
135: John Andel beat Ryan Heflin by spilt decision. A great back-and-forth battle.
145: Eric Steppe beat Shea Banks by doctor stoppage in the second round.
145: Kevin Michael Flinchabugh won by uananimous decision over Danny Signor.
170: Justin Scott went 7-0 as an amateur by beating Justin Krebs with an RNC.
170: Dustin Keener beat Shaun Kepner by guillotine.
170: Brett Myers beat Mike Blackwell by armbar.
185: John Flock used a guillotine to secure a win over Troy Jensen.
205: Duane Bastress won over Josh Kessler by unanimous decision.
205: Chad Strawbridge beat Ty Krebs by TKO.
205: Mike Oberdick beat Rob Haley by RNC.
205: Lewis Rumsey used an armbar to beat Keith McDonald.
265: Mike Stoltz won over Matthew Munoz by referee stoppage (strikes).
265: Jon Tuxford beat Adam Hostetter by majority decision.
145: Jenn Martin beat Danielle Martinez by unanimous decision.

pro fights:
145: Preston Marks won over Jay Haas by RNC.
185: John Buck beat Lou Armezzani by referee stoppage (strikes).

Tom Joyce and I had the extreme pleasure of sitting cageside for the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge II on Saturday. What a night of fights, people! Truly amazing from start to finish is all I can say. And since I can't say anymore, check out this highlight Tom and I put together. Sorry if I sound a little sleepy, this is after hours of editing video, but well worth it considering the effort all of the fighters put forth. Congrats to all of them and promoter Mark Jovich, his sponsors and the state athletic commission for another successful MMA event in Pennsylvania.

Just click the banner above.

Announcing the first-ever CPWC/York Daily Record/MMA Explosion live stream and chat. If you wanted to get to the CPWC II but can't make it, just click the banner above and tune in at 5:45 p.m. Saturday. You can view the entire event live, and also chat with other viewers at the same time. The streaming is free, and the chat doesn't require any sign-up. What's better than that? Remember to keep the chatting clean, people. Thanks, and have fun.

Tom and I give our UFC 100 predictions and talk about the upcoming Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge II. The Technique of the Week is brought to you courtesy of george McGinnis at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion.

Mark Jovich tells me there's still a few tickets left if you want to attend the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge II at Wisehaven on July 18. Get your tickets here. The card is stacked with talented local fighters, and there are two re-matches from the last show. It should be an awesome show, as the first history-making event was, and there's not a bad seat in the house.

Yeah ... I'll say this: I'm going to reserve my judgment until I talk with promoters Ryan Kerwin and Raymond Gokool. Maybe this is a tongue-in-cheek thing, just trying to create characters, like pro wrestling. You know, give the crowd heels to boo and babyfaces to cheer (or maybe the opposite). Still, if they were going to do that, they could just make up names for teams like The Straight-Shooters vs. The Scofflaws, or something like that. If they're really glorifying actual police officers and criminals fighting, then I have a problem with it. I'm a cops reporter here at the Daily Record, and while officers are not perfect, I have a deep respect for what they do. On the other hand, everybody's an adult here, so if you're a fighter, it's your choice where to fight, and if you're a potential spectator, you can either buy a ticket or not. Either way, I'll keep you updated.

From its Web site, here's who the promotion has signed:
Tom Sauer (cop) vs. Kevin Jordan (con)
Lamont Lister (cop) vs. Mike Bogner (con)
Taylor Sensabaugh (cop) vs. TBA (con)
TBA (cop) vs. Rick Casarez
TBA (cop) vs. Anthony Morrison (con)

I talked with Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pa. State Athletic Commission yesterday about what it costs to be an MMA fighter in the state. The bottom line: not that much.

First of all, it's $10 for a license. Click here for it.

Then, you need to get a Hepatitis B/C test, an HIV test and a physical. Click here for it.

You also need a national MMA ID card. Click here for that.

The medical testing can be doen at any walk-in clinic for anywhere from $40-90, Sirb said. Heck, if you have a good healthcare plan, you might be able to get your primary care physician to do it for the nominal co-pay.

That's the info. that I got from Greg. For more information, check out the Pa. State Athletic Commission's Web site here.

I meant to say I had a short conversation with Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission earlier today.

Greg was at the Penn on Pain Street, er, I mean, the Pain on Penn Street event Saturday in Reading and said it was a "good show." The event was a half-boxing, half-MMA affair, featuring six MMA bouts.

The event drew 1,600 attendees at the Sovereign Center, Sirb said.

For Sirb, it's on to the next show, which occurs June 11 at The Blue Horizon.

I called up Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, this afternoon, with several questions on my mind:

- The UFC traditionally has weigh-ins the day before their events. A by-product of this is that fighters are able to "diet-down" i.e., come in as shredded as they can, hit the maximum weight allowed in their weight class on the mark, and then gain back 10-15 pounds of water weight before their respective fights.

As you probably know, the UFC has announced that UFC 101 will be held at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia on Aug. 8. I asked Sirb - because as I understand it, the state athlectic commission has same day weigh-ins - what would be done in the UFC's case.

"We're going to be discussing that over the next week or two," he said, referring to the himself and the state athletic commission.

On MMA in Pennsylvania in general, Sirb said things are ging great, with no major problems after several shows. Iron Will Fighting, an event that was held in Johnstown recently, drew 3,400 attendees. Respect is Earned's first event, held in Oaks (just outside Philly) had 1,200 spectators, Sirb said.

The next event, this weekend in Reading, Pain on Penn Street, is an MMA-boxing event. When Ia sked what he thought of hybrid events, Sirb said, "We'll see, it might work." I said asked him if he thought, as others have said, that boxing is trying to bring itself up by catching on to MMA's popularity, he said, "Not at all, I think they can both coexist."