Results tagged “Pittsburgh” from MMA Explosion

NCAA Champion and Undefeated Professional Fighter Phil Davis to make Pennsylvania Debut.
LionHeart Management will hold a press conference for ALL interested media.

Currently 3-0 as a professional Mixed Martial Arts Fighter, Phil will look to improve to 4-0 as he makes his Professional Debut in Pennsylvania. Davis, a 2008 NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion for Penn State, and a Harrisburg native, will be fighting on June 27th at UCFC "Rumble on the Rivers" at the Mellon Arena in downtown Pittsburgh.

Phil Davis Press Conference Details:

Date: Monday, June 22nd
Location: 127 Sowers Street, State College, PA
Time: 2PM
RSVP: chad@lionheartfighters.com

Contact: Chad Dubin for additional information at (814) 280-1982 or chad@lionheartfighters.com

One of the sets of "Warrior" in Pittsburgh.

Here's the fourth installment of George McGinnis' blog on his experiences as an extra on the movie set of "Warrior," an MMA movie being filmed in Pittsburgh. He called this one "Home Sweet Home."

Well I made it in. I got home Thursday morning around 1:00 - 1:30 a.m.

I was so anxious to get home, that I unfortunately forgot to get into touch with key people that have potential business opportunities for me in the future. At this point, I no longer feel the need to force opportunity. Due to my patience, hard work and persistence, things for me lately have been more or less falling from the sky. I will however stay focused and chase down the things that are important to me. There has been random yet potentially promising opportunities presenting themselves for me since my arrival to the set...

George doin' some grappling.

Here's day 3 of George McGinnis' (owner/heads trainer of York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion) blog of his experiences as an extra on the MMA movie "Warrior," being filmed in Pittsburgh:

Naturally I was running late. Should you find me on time, its most likely due to my not having a choice in the matter (i.e. - my own funeral).

I did get up on time and was on pace, but I again underestimated the ridiculous Pittsburgh traffic, and what should have only taken fifteen minutes (York time), ended up taking me damn near an hour. I was just fifteen or so miles away! *Arghhh* Anyway... I got to the parking lot and made the bus. We ended up working so late the night before (9:pm +) that they ended up calling us all later that night to tell us that we wouldn't need to be on the set till 8:30am. "How generous" I thought. Clearly I was being sarcastic...

Pic from the set of "Warrior"

Here's the second installment of George McGinnis' adventures as an extra in the major motion MMA picture, "Warrior," be ing filmed right now in Pittsburgh:

Ok. Well today started off a little better. I managed to get 4 - 5 solid hours of sleep, which to be honest is a blessing seeing as how I don't typically get that good of sleep from home. I guess my being up for 30 some hours straight contributed to the much needed rest.

So I grabbed my things and made way for the bus parking lot a.k.a. Extras Parking. Traffic ended up being a bit worse then I anticipated which put me slightly behind schedule, but I managed to make it to the parking lot in time to make the bus. No worries. if I would have missed it, my trusty navigation device would have worked it out : )

I / we arrived at the set and check in. This requires us to fill out a form that simulates a time slip and we head to wardrobe from there to get our training outfits approve for the days agenda / shots. From there we make way to the holding area and await further instruction.

I have noticed that a good bit of the fighters are "standoffish." To be quite honest, I personally suspect this to be in their personality for multiple reasons. (A) They fight, so automatically many of us (i.e. - them) feel they are special or above the average Joe. (B) They have had a handful of fights so others around them (in their opinion) don't have the experience or skills that they do, so us "small timers" who don't fight regularly don't perhaps qualify to be among their presence and or a part of the fighter cast. The funny thing to all this, half of the fools that suggest they are this and that stood side lines while many other fighters did their thing front and center of the main actor cam.

George with a triangle on brother Brett Myers.

Eric Hibler, left, owner of Eric Hibler's Pittsburgh Fight Club, talks with stunt double Jace Jeanes, center, and actor Tom Hardy before a take on the set of "Warrior." Photo from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

George McGinnis, owner and head trainer at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion, is an extra in the new MMA movie Warrior, being filmed in PIttsburgh. Here's an email he sent out about his first day on set:

Ok, last week I received an email from Lissa Brennan who represents a "talent search" company who's job at that present time was to locate fighters for an up coming film (to be called "Warrior") and is being produced by Lionsgate Entertainment. Well, needless to say, after weighing many pros and cons in my mind, I had pretty much decided against it. That was until my parents, family, friends, etc had egged me on to take the challenge and potential life-changing experience. Well, here is a quick run down on how everything looks as I sit here tonight.

A: I am an Extra among the cast, not a high priority star.
B: I will most likely only be here for a few days. At the point I get to show them some of my stuff, I may be asked to stay on.
C: The money sucks, but to be honest, I am here for all of YOU, not myself. This is an opportunity for the school to receive a good bit of extra publicity and may also open doors to new opportunities with high end people in the process.

George (right) demonstrates a kick at a seminar he did in February at Elicker Kenpo Karate Academy in West Manchester Twp.

Pittsburgh, PA - April 30, 2009 - Still Standing Productions, LLC is proud to announce its first ever Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion in the State of Pennsylvania. Owner, Tiffany Holtzman, will establish a new sports franchise within the city of Pittsburgh and the Tri-State area.

Established Florida matchmaker, Paul Andres Domenech, is the official matchmaker for the company and plans to feature the top international, national, and regional fighters for these events.

Along side of Holtzman, Roy Englebrecht, formerly with Golden Boy Productions have teamed up with local radio personality, Bubba Snider, of B94-WBZW, and will be introducing the premier Ultimate Cage Fighting Challenge (UCFC) on Saturday, June 27th at the Mellon Arena.

I met Pittsburgh native Mark Miller - who has competed in both K-1 kicboxing and pro MMA - at LionHeart Fighters in State College last year. Prior to being hired to train LH's fighters like Paul Bradley, Phil Davis and Biff Walizer, Miller had trained at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Before that, he trained at Miletich Fighting Systems. Not long after we met at LH, he lifted up his shirt to show me a nine-inch scar down the middle of his chest. He had undergone open-heart surgery a couple years ago and said he was planning his comeback to the fight game. The casual observer might scoff, but they don't know the will of the Fight Shark. Check out the trailer.