UNDEFEATED RISING STAR TYRON WOODLEY UNDEFEATED OLYMPIANS DANIEL CORMIER
AND DR. RHADI FERGUSON, FORMER VOLS LINEBACKER OVINCE SAINT PREUX, UNBEATEN WOMEN’S PROSPECT JULIA BUDD
Wednesday, Jan. 5, at Nashville Mixed Martial Arts, 2 p.m. CT
WHO: Undefeated Main Event Fighter and Rising Star Tyron Woodley
U.S. Olympic Wrestler and Undefeated MMA Heavyweight Daniel Cormier
U.S. Olympic Judo Player and Unbeaten MMA Light Heavyweight Dr. Rhadi Ferguson
Former Vols Star Linebacker Ovince Saint Preux
Women’s Middleweight Prospect Julia Budd
WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 5, at 2 p.m. CT
WHERE: Nashville Mixed Martial Arts, 490 Allied Drive, Suite C, Nashville, Tenn., 37211,
Phone: 615-297-4430
WHAT: The fighters who will compete on a STRIKEFORCE Challengers Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event Friday, Jan. 7, live on SHOWTIME® (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast)) from Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., will participate in an open workout in Nashville just two days before the eagerly awaited event.
The 28-year-old Woodley (7-0), a two-time All-American NCAA wrestler for the University of Missouri and St. Louis native, will take on fellow fast-rising star Tarec “The Sponge” Saffiedine (10-2), of Temecula, Calif., in the main event.
Cormier (6-0), a 31-year-old, two-time U.S. Olympic wrestling team member who placed fourth in the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece, will face Devin Cole (18-8-1) of Medford, Ore. The ambitious Cormier competed successfully five times in 2010.
Ferguson (2-0), the only athlete to compete in the Olympic Games, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) World Championships and the Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championships, was a three-sport star at Howard University in the mid-90s competing in football, wrestling and track & field. While training for the Olympics, he furthered his schooling and received a doctorate in education in ’09 from Capella University. The 35-year-old will face undefeated Ion Cherdivara (1-0), of Montreal, Canada, on Friday.
Saint Preux (9-4), who’ll take on “Abongo” Humphrey (7-2), of Atlanta, played for the Vols from 2001-2004. After graduating with a degree in Sociology in ’04, he went on to compete in Tennessee’s first sanctioned MMA event on Feb. 20, 2009. On Friday, the 27-year-old will become the first fighter in history to compete in three consecutive STRIKEFORCE events. He has won six in a row.
The promising, 27-year-old Budd (1-0), a chiseled athletic specimen from British Columbia, Canada, will face Amanda “Lioness Of The Ring’’ Nunes (5-1), of Patterson, N.J., by way of Salvador, Brazil, in a women’s middleweight (145 pounds) match. Budd, a seasoned kickboxer, recorded her first pro MMA victory, a second round TKO over Shana Olsen in STRIKEFORCE Challengers competition last Oct. 22.
Tickets are on sale at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium ticket office, all Ticketmaster locations (800) 745-3000 including Kroger and FYE, Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and STRIKEFORCE’s official website (www.strikeforce.com).
CONTACT: Mike Afromowitz, STRIKEFORCE, (917) 566-8754, mafromowitz@strikeforce.com
John Beyrooty, Brener Zwikel & Assoc. (562) 233-7477 JohnnyBey@aol.com