Bellator Fighting Championships founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney announced today that Roger Huerta will face rising star Pat Curran in the semi final round of the lightweight tournament. “This is the match we wanted”, said SuckerPunch president Brian Butler, “Pat is the dark horse in this tournament and we knew if we got through the “GSP protege” that Huerta would be the ideal match we wanted”.

Curran finishing Ricci on April 15th

Currans KO over Ricci became the latest Youtube moment for Bellator who seems to continue to get amazing highlights out of the matches they put together. In just five days, the clip has already been viewed online more than 66,000 times.

With the chips stacked against him and fighting in this tourney outside his natural weight class of 145lbs, Curran does not feel the pressure that one might expect. “I knew if I got passed Ricci that there would be a chance that I could face Roger and now that it is official, I couldn’t be happier”, said Curran, “I can beat Roger, I know I can”. As for fighting out of his weight class Curran told us, “I feel really strong at 155lbs and I bulked up pretty fast, I also like the fact that it adds to me being the underdog because that just puts more pressure on my opponents”.

The fight will take place on May 6th at the Wang Theatre in Boston.

photo courtesy of Tomba Images

Coming off a “Submission Of The Night” victory in in UFC 107 over Edgar Garcia, Damarques now faces powerful striker “Bad” Brad Blackburn at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi.
Photo courtesy of Sherdog.com

We hit D up on Facebook all the way over in Abu Dhabi with a few questions and here is what we got out of him.

SP) How is it over there?

DJ) This place is beautiful! I’m really excited to be out here for this fight. Still haven’t got used to the time out here which is why I’m up talking to you at 5am! lol”.

SP) How is the weight cut goin?

DJ) Weight is all set, just need to weigh in now.

SP) What should we expect from you in this fight?

DJ) I am going to go into this fight and lay it all on the line like I always do and let the chips fall where they may.

SP) We’ve seen pics online of Blackburn out and about riding Camels and stuff, have you had a chance to enjoy some of the local scene?

DJ) Its not that kind for trip for me… there will be pleanty of time for vacation trips, beers, camels, dolphins and fun after the fight… I came here to win.

SP) What are you’re plans when you get home?

DJ) Gonna spend some time with the family and friends as usual then maybe do some appearances for my sponsors. I’m so appreciative for them and I really look forward giving my support back to them. Then I’m gonna get back in the gym and train as hard as ever!

SP) Who do you want to thank for supporting you in this fight?

DJ) My family and friends of course, my team at Jeremy Horn’s Elite Performance Fitness, I gotta say thanks to Punk Ass, Skrape, Cheri, Julez, Damon and everyone at TAPOUT, Siegel Suites and Gold Spike Hotel, Hayabusa, Combat Professional and SuckerPunch for bringing it all together.

As Patrick “Paddy Mike” Curran takes on the biggest test of his young career in the elite 155lb Bellator tournament, Cousin and Coach Jeff “Big Frog” Curran will also headline the card in the main event in the Windy City for Bellator XIV on Thursday April 15th at the historic Chicago Theatre.

Pat Curran will make the jump to lightweight for this tournament and will face Georges St. Pierre prodigy and much-talked-about Canadian prospect Mike Ricci in a quarterfinal lightweight bout. “I feel very focused and ready for this opportunity and am very confident about this fight”, Pat told us. “Pat is looking better than ever” said cousin Jeff Curran, “He has packed on a lot of muscle and is walking around right now a ripped 174lbs and our camp is buzzing like never before. We have Bartsy goin hard, Mackens Semerzier getting ready for his his WEC fight on the 24th, Muay Thai specialists Chike Lindsay workin in with us, things are looking real good right now.”

Jeff Curran will square off against late replacement and WEC prospect Bryan Goldsby in the main event. “Bryan is a tall athletic striker and it should be a good show for everyone” Curran said, “I am not looking past Goldsby but I’m not about to let him stop me on my return to the top 10″.

Ryan “The Rhino” Sturdy will also fight on the undercard that night against a game Luis taylor who boasts a near perfet 5-1-0 record. Ryan is coming off of his latest win at XFO33 and looks to add to his record of 12-4-1.

It was over 10 years ago when a skinny, red headed, bullied 15 year old boy named Bart Palaszewski decided that he would not be bullied any longer and began training in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Jeff Curran. After years of competing in both BJJ tournaments and MMA, Palaszewski decided to focus on solely his MMA Career. Years into the sport he became known as one of the best KO artists in the lightweight division while scoring an occasional victory via submission and earning the moniker, “Bartimus” . Bart’s KO power left most opponents feeling safest on the ground when squaring off with him.

Photo courtesy of Sherdog.com

Now on a 2-fight win streak in the WEC with victories over top rising contender Anthony Pettis and most recently, an armbar submission over Karen Darabedyan, Bart promises to be a contender himself. Coach and mentor, Jeff Curran, felt it is time to move him up to the rank of Black Belt. “His Jiu-Jitsu is awesome and his time has been put in over the years for sure” said Curran. “I am so proud of Bart for holding the rank proudly and representing my style of Jiu-Jitsu.”

Palaszewski with friend and instructor Jeff Curran

“It’s a very proud moment for me and I hope to make everyone proud and represent everything I have learned when I fight.” said Palaszewski, “Of course I still like to bang but I could get used to tapping people out too”.

Bart’s next fight for the WEC should be announced soon.

Friday March 26th Ron Humphrey AKA, “Abongo” will make his return to the cage and debut as a light heavyweight contender at the Strikeforce Challengers series live on Showtime.

Abongo gained national recognition after he won the heavyweight tournament on the BET mixed martial arts show The Iron Ring. He signed to fight with the EliteXC promotion shortly before its collapse, never officially debuting in a fight.

In April 2009, Humphrey made his debut in the Strikeforce promotion and faced fellow undefeated Heavyweight Brett Rogers. He suffered his first career loss and made the choice to move down to Light Heavyweight where he will fight George Bush III this Friday on the March 26, 2010.

“I’m really looking forward to this fight and giving the fans a good show”, said Abongo, “I’m going in for the finish in this fight and I am ready claim my spot in the light heavy division of Strikeforce.”

Abongo’s coach, Mr. Gary Brown tells us, “I get asked all the time what style of fighter Abongo is and my answer is we train in everything. We don’t classify Abongo as a striker, wrestler or BJJ guy, he is a fighter and we train him to win fights. I have coached a lot of fighters in my day and I have never seen anyone as athletic and powerful as Abongo, he is a natural and we feel good about this fight.”

Check your local cable provider and tune into Showtime to watch Strikeforce Challengers on Friday night!

For immediate release, March 5 2010:
SuckerPunch Entertainment, an MMA Management company has signed 5 new athletes to its stable of professional mixed martial arts fighters.

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Ron “Abongo” Humphries | StrikeForce
Pro Record 5-1-0
Freestyle Fighter
Out of Atlanta, GA
Next fight: StrikeForce Challengers, March 26th

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Warren Thompson | The Ultimate Fighter season 11
Pro Record 5-0-0
Muay Thai/BJJ
Out of Atlanta, GA
Next fight: Sport Fight X (Red Line Grand Prix) March 26th

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Brent Weedman
Pro Record 16-5-1
Karate/Muay Thai/Judo/BJJ
Out of Louisville, KY
Next fight: N/A

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Dhiego Lima
Pro Record 1-0-0
BJJ/Muay Thai
Out of Atlanta, GA
Next fight: Sport Fight X (Red Line Grand Prix) March 26th

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Eric Kriegermeier
Pro Record 1-0-0
BJJ/Boxer
Out of Chicago, IL
Next fight: N/A

Matt “Meat” Mitrione announced today that he will enter his training camp for his next fight at legendary striking coach Duke Roufus’s gym in Milwaukee, WI. Roufus has built a successful camp that boasts fighters such as Pat Barry, Eric Schafer, Alan Belcher, Anthony Pettis, Eric Koch, Ben Rothwell and Razak Al-Hassan to name a few.

“I have been looking for a camp that can develop my natural skill sets and my manager Brian suggested coach Roufus as an option because of the size and type of guys he has out there”, said Mitrion, “I have heard nothing but good things about coach Roufus so trust me when I tell you, I’ll be ready for my next fight.”

With a such a high quality collection of Heavy and Light Heavyweights at Rufus’ gym Mitrione will be able to work with fighters such as Rothwell, BJJ black belt Eric Schafer and possibly the best striker in the UFC’s heavyweight division in Pat “HD” Barry, giving Mitrione an opportunity to evolve into a legit contender. “I like Matt and I think he got a bad rap on the show” said Duke, referring to Mitrione’s stint on TUF10. “I think this man can fight and he’ll be a great addition to the group we have here.” Duke also goes on to say, “We have a very good camp especially for big guys in MMA and we are looking forward to Matt getting in here.”

Mitrione has made it clear that he has set his sights to finish his next fight in an explosive manner and making the move to train with other elite heavyweights is a major step towards that goal.

Shortly after celebrating the victory of his younger brother Freddy Assuncao at the Virginia based promotion RIE (Respect Is Earned), Junior sat back to watch the remaining bouts on what turned out to be a very competitive card. “I got really frustrated when I saw my friend lose in the main event to local fighter Beau Baker. No disrespect to Beau but I just kept hearing the crowd go crazy for him and I kept seeing things that my friend wasn’t executing made me want to get in there!”, said Assuncao.

Following that fight the promoter, Jon Price, entered the cage to make some announcements, one of which was a challenge thrown down for Junior to fight the local hero in an upcoming show. Beau’s manager, Rick McCoy and Juniors manager Brian Butler agreed to let this fight happen if the promoter could put it together in a timely manner.

The crowd went crazy when their local hero accepted the challenge with the 3X UFC veteran by squaring up with Junior in the center of the cage. “I’ll fight anybody but right now, I feel like I am at at the best I have ever been.” said Junior. “Beau and his brother Kyle are very tough prospects in this sport and this would be a good fight!” said Butler, “Let’s see if they can make it happen.”