EliteXC Announces Hawaii Co-Promotion
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HONOLULU, Aug. 16 -- New mixed martial arts heavyweight promoter EliteXC gathered with perennial top Hawaiian promoters -- and long time rivals -- Rumble on the Rock and ICON Sport at the Blaisdell Center Thursday to confirm rumors and officially announce their partnership, which will manifest on a co-promoted event broadcast live from Hawaii on the premium cable channel Showtime.
"It really is a major step," said Director of Live Events for EliteXC Gary Shaw with ICON promoter T. Jay Thompson seated to his right and ROTR's J.D. Penn on his left.
Dubbed "Uprising," the first collaboration between the promoters takes place Sept. 15 at Honolulu's Blaisdell Arena and features an 11-fight card headlined by an EliteXC middleweight championship bout pitting ICON 185-pound ace Robbie Lawler (Pictures) against newly crowned EliteXC champ Murilo "Ninja" Rua.
The event also marks the return of Nick Diaz (Pictures) since his submission victory over Takanori Gomi (Pictures) was erased from the record books after being suspended for marijuana last February. The volatile Californian faces B.J. Penn (Pictures)-trained Mike Aina (Pictures).
"September 15 will be the biggest MMA event Hawaii has ever seen," said Thompson, however the longtime Hawaii promoter predicted "it won't be the biggest MMA event Hawaii will see in the future."
Additional Showtime-televised fights include Joey Villasenor (Pictures) versus Riki Fukuda (Pictures), Jake Shields (Pictures) against Renato Verissimo (Pictures), and Gina Carano (Pictures) facing Tonya Evinger (Pictures).
"Coming to Hawaii was important to EliteXC," said Shaw. "As I said before, I believe this is really the home of mixed martial arts."
When asked about future Hawaiian events for EliteXC, Shaw showed interest in promoting other big shows on the islands, and also mentioned the possibility of bringing the ShoXC series to the Aloha State.
"Next year we'll be back," Shaw said of promoting in Hawaii. "We won't be back in '07, but I guarantee to you … we'll be back here in '08."
Preliminary bouts available at ProElite.com:
Jae Sok Lim vs. Brandon Wolff (Pictures)e
Kala Kolohe Hose (Pictures) vs. Jeff Cox
Mark Oshiro vs. Nui Wheeler
Mark Kurano vs. Jose Diaz
Justin Buchholz vs. Kolo Koka (Pictures)
Tyson Nam vs. Albert Manners
