NBC “Strikeforce At The Mansion II” Coverage Continues With Prangley-Ruiz Rematch
SAN JOSE, Calif. —The drama-filled light heavyweight (205 lb. limit) rematch between former South African National Wrestling Champion, Trevor Prangley (18-5), and former world championship challenger, Anthony “A-Train” Ruiz (21-12), will highlight NBC’s second consecutive week of Strikeforce Playboy Mansion event coverage on Saturday night. The second encounter between Prangley and Ruiz, two powerhouses, was a much-anticipated follow up to their meeting at Strikeforce’s “Tank vs. Buentello” event at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California on October 7, 2006. Prangley overpowered Ruiz in the early going of their initial meeting before securing an armbar that forced Ruiz to submit at the 4:42 mark of the opening round of action. The 36-year-old Prangley became South Africa’s national wrestling champion thirteen years ago. Soon after, though, he left his homeland for The United States in search of more advanced training. He settled in Idaho, where he secured a college scholarship and, later, became a two-time All-American at North Idaho College.Ruiz, 30, is a product of AAA Academy of Kickboxing, the Modesto, California-based training center that, five years ago, produced a K-1 North American champion in Carter Williams. Ruiz emerged victorious in six consecutive bouts before losing a five-round unanimous decision to Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight Champion, Bobby Southworth, on June 27th. Last Saturday’s “Strikeforce on NBC” episode marked the network premiere of Strikeforce’s September 20th affair at the world-famous Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, California. The episode featured the card’s middleweight (185 lb. limit) battle between heavy-handed Terry Martin (17-6) and 24-year-old rising star, Cory “The One” Devela (9-2).”Strikeforce on NBC,” the first 52-week mixed martial arts series in network television history, airs every Saturday, immediately following NBC’s hit poker tournament series, “Poker After Dark” (check local listings). MMA legend Ken Shamrock and award-winning ESPN announcer, Lon McEachern, co-host each program and provide expert, play-by-play commentary. About Strikeforce:Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” Since then, it has co-produced the first SHOWTIME PPV mixed martial arts event in history with its world championship “Shamrock vs. Baroni” card on June 22, 2007 followed by the first-ever mixed martial arts event at the world-famous Playboy Mansion on September 29, 2007. On April 12th of this year, Strikeforce launched the first-ever 52 week MMA series on one of the four major television networks in The U.S. – NBC.