sPidA: Thank you for making time for us here at TexasFighting.com. How are you man?

Will Campuzano: No problem man, I’m doing good. Just finished tonights training.

sPidA: I’ll make this brief bro. How are you prepearing for this UFC event coming up here in Texas?

Will Campuzano: I came here to Cali to train with Team Alpha Male, its hard but I’m getting myself ready.

sPidA: You were a definite stand out here in the Texas MMA scene, both as an ammateur and going Pro, how has the roller coaster ride been?

Will Campuzano: Awe man, its been great. Traveling, meeting alot of new people. Definetly a dream come true.

sPidA: Both you and Shalarus got picked up by the WEC, what was your first reaction when the UFC made there announcment of making them one company?

Will Campuzano: I wasn’t expecting it. I dont think any of us were. I’m glad they did though.

sPidA: You train up in North Texas, how did you get connected with Team Alpha Male?

Will Campuzano: I train out of Mohler in Dallas, the guys there are great! I train up here before all of my fights. I just called them up one day and flew here the next.

sPidA: I’ve seen you fight twice, do you typically go after the knockout?

Will Campuzano: I always go out guns blazing! I know the ground game but definetly go after the knockout.

sPidA: How is your ground game and what are you doing to improve it these days?

Will Campuzano: Its good and its getting better everyday. I picked up a lot of new techniques while training here.

sPidA: You are fighting in your home State and with 1 loss in the UFC, how is your mental game going into this next fight?

Will Campuzano: My mental game is always a top priority when going into a fight but I’m prepearing for everything here. I feel great!

sPidA: I hear you bro, well I do hope we get to cover this event, either way we will be supporting you as I’m sure the State of Texas will be. Any last words or people you’d like to thank?

Will Campuzano: Yea, everybody that has been helping me. My training partners, my sponsors and supporters.Thank you all!

courtesy mmaweekly.com

Shark Fight Promotions announced today that UFC veteran Brock Larson will face Strikeforce sensation Tarec Saffiedine at the Shark Fights 13 pay-per-view event in September. Shark Fights: Jardine vs. Prangley will take place Saturday, September 11, at the Amarillo Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas.

According to Brent Medley, president of Shark Fight Promotions, “We feel that Brock Larson and Tarec Saffiedine are a great addition to our pay-per-view roster. Larson, a seasoned UFC and WEC veteran, was originally slated for the under card, but we feel his bout against Saffiedine is worthy of live pay-per-view coverage. Larson is back on track and determined to make it back into the UFC. He knows that losing is not an option. Standing in his way is Tarec Saffiedine, an explosive MMA fighter that hails from Belgium.”

Medley went on to say; “Saffiedine is a well-rounded fighter and rising star in the Strikeforce welterweight division. He has fought in a number of promotions around the world including DREAM in Japan, and holds notable wins over PRIDE veteran Seichi Ikemoto, James Terry and Nate Moore. Both fighters are hungry for this win. Fans can expect an exciting, action packed fight to kick off the night!”

Brock Larson (29-4-0), a seasoned UFC and WEC veteran, who trains out of Brooklyn Center, MN at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, has his sites on redemption and returning to the UFC. Larson kicked off his fight career in 2002 with an impressive twelve-fight win streak. He now boasts 29 wins in 33 MMA fights and has been featured on several recognized top-ten welterweight rankings throughout his career. Larson holds notable wins over top-notch fighters such as Mike Pyle and John Alessio and is currently riding a three-fight win streak.

courstesy esther lin/ strikeforce

Tarec Saffiedine (9-2-0) is a black belt in Shihaishinkai Karate, a style of Karate that includes striking, Judo throws, and ground fighting. He also boasts an amateur kickboxing record of 12-1-1. Saffiedine, who began his professional mixed-martial-arts fight career in his native Belgium, now trains out of Temecula, California at Team Quest. He is determined to gain MMA recognition in the U.S. and is well on his way. As a result of Saffiedine’s impressive second-round KO victory over Nate Moore at the Strikeforce Challengers 8 in Portland, many are referring to him as a breakout star in the Strikeforce welterweight division.

Official Bout Card for Shark Fights: Jardine vs. Prangley:

Main Card:
1. Keith Jardine vs. Trevor Prangley
2. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Houston Alexander
3. Paul Daley vs. Jorge Masvidal
4. Joey Villasanor vs. Drew McFredries
5. Brock Larson vs. Tarec Saffiedine

Undercard:
6. Ronnie Mann vs. Douglas Evans
7. Paul Bradley vs. Johnny Reese
8. Aaron Rosa vs. Devin Cole
9. Marcus Hicks vs. Karen Darabedyan
10. Pete Spratt vs. Eric Davila

Shark Fights MMA: Jardine vs. Prangley, will take place on Saturday, September 11 at the Amarillo Civic Center Coliseum. Doors open at 6:00pm CT. Fights start at 7:00 pm CT. PPV airs at 10:00pm ET. Tickets are on sale now! To purchase event tickets please go to www. Sharkfights.com, www.Panhandletickets.com, or visit any Panhandle ticket outlet.

Shark Fights MMA: Jardine vs. Prangley will be available live on Pay-Per-View on iN DEMAND, Bell TV and Viewers Choice Canada for just $29.99! Contact your cable provider for details. For additional information on Shark Fight Promotions, please visit sharkfights.com.

Andrew Chappelle talks with Texas Fighting about his career, his success at Bellator 20, a fall out fight with WEC’s Marcus Hicks and his new gym Action MMA in Converse Texas.

Andrew would like to give a shout out to Ranger Up for their support. Stay in touch with Andrew at ActionMMA.net

Interview by: Chris Lopez Jr.

Courtesy of the WEC.

Below are the official weigh-in results for Sunday’s WEC event, which features the lightweight bout between Jamie Varner and Kamal Shalorus [out of Austin, TX], as well as bouts between Mark Hominick and Yves Jabouin and LC Davis and Josh Grispi, airs live on VERSUS, beginning at 9pm ET / 6pm PT.

Kamal Shalorus (155) vs. Jamie Varner (156)
Yves Jabouin (145) vs. Mark Hominick (144.5)
L.C. Davis (146) vs. Josh Grispi (145)
Dan Downes (156) vs. Chris Horodecki (154)

Will Campuzano vs. Eddie Wineland (135.5)
Will Kerr (155) vs. Karen Darabedyan (155.5)
Frank Gomez (135.5) vs. Wagnney Fabiano (135.5)
Bendy Casimir (145.5) vs. Erik Koch (145.5)
Diego Nunes (144) vs. Rapael Assuncao (144.5)
Rafael Rebello (135) vs. Chris Cariaso (135)
Renan Barao (141.5) vs. Anthony Leone (142) ….. Note: Fight takes place at catch weight of 143

WEC 44 promises to be a thriller with another possible fight of the year candidate. WEC fights are among the most exciting with quick action and endless energy and Mike Brown and Jose Aldo promise to keep the WEC’s string of great fights intact. Jose Aldo (15-1, 5 consecutive knockouts) is one of MMA’s most exciting, young prospects that will face his toughest test in his short career. Aldo is coming off an exciting, eight-second KO win of Cub Swanson with a flying double knee that left the Sacramento crowd buzzing and earned him the coveted Knockout of the Night bonus. Mike Brown (22-4, 10 straight wins) conquered the WEC most recognizable face, Urijah Faber, twice. Brown will want use his strong wrestling background to close the gap and neutralize Aldo’s heavy hands. Jose Aldo will surely want to keep the fight standing to add another knockout to his resume but is also a black belt jiu-jitsu artist. However, Brown was not afraid to trade punches with the heavy-handed Leonard Garcia, instead he stunned Garcia with a flurry of punches and earned a win via an arm-triangle choke showing he can also do it all in the cage. This promises to be another WEC instant classic full of fireworks.

In the co-main event, Leonard Garcia will take on Manny Gamuryan. The two former UFC competitors will face off to determine who will earn the next title shot against the Brown-Aldo winner. Garcia is one of my favorite fighters because he seems to enjoy fighting, smiling through most of his fights. His heavy hands will be occupied trying to keep himself upright if the judo expert, Manny Gamburyan. In what should be another exciting fight, I expect Leonard Garcia’s power as the difference in the fight. Gamburyan was the victim of one of the quickest knockouts in UFC history when Rob Emerson knocked him out in 12 seconds. Garcia hits much harder and will certainly test the chin of the Armenian.

In a busy MMA month that features 4 major events, including 3 Zuffa events in two weeks, WEC promises to be the belle of the ball. If have yet to enjoy a WEC event, do yourself a favor and tune into Versus tonight at 8:00 pm/central.

images via sherdog.com

World Extreme Cagefighting Presents:
“Brown Vs Aldo”
Featherweight Championship
“Garcia Vs Gamburyan”
Wednesday November 18
Live on Versus.com
WEC.tv

I wanted to see how the up-start league compared to the big boys.  I have had co-workers and colleagues rant and rave about the unbelievable access and availability of not only the fighters but of the management as well. WEC gave me a 3 day, all-access, insider view of the organization and I left a believer.

I must admit, I have already been a die-hard fan of MMA for the past 6 years and am hard-pressed to remember more than 3 UFC pay-per-views or Spike TV specials I have missed in that time span. I have also been a loyal WEC follower for at least 3 years. Some have called the organization “the UFC’s little brother” while others have called for Zuffa to be merge WEC with the UFC and make it one product. In some aspects, I agree with the latter only because I want to see these guys get paid UFC money and be rewarded for the effort they put forth every single time in the ring but at the same time, WEC feels like my little secret. I have something a lot of MMA fans still don’t know about. These guys never disappoint. Every event has at least one moment where your jaw-drops below your knees. At least one fight will have you saying, this definitely has fight of the year potential.

Part of this is accomplished with the aide of a 26 ft ring, 4 feet smaller the UFC’s “Octagon”. The ring creates fast-paced action these lighter weight fighters thrive in. The action is non-stop with moves you will never see with the UFC’s larger fighters (i.e. see Miguel Torres’ wheel kick). They are smaller but tougher. They typically train with larger fighters who never take it easy on them. Dana White said, “If you are a fighter in the WEC, you have to be one bad mother blank.” With this in mind, I couldn’t wait to see it first hand.

I got to experience the unparalleled access granted by the WEC when Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Leonard Garcia allowed us to film and interview them for TexasFighting.com the Thursday before the fight. They couldn’t be better guys and there was never a staged answer. Everything was raw emotion, available for anyone to see.  It’s refreshing to see professional athletes who are real and not afraid of the consequences of their words, after-all, they must back them up in the cage.

My favorite part of the weigh-ins was the Q&A session with Miguel Torres, Jamie Varner and Frank Mir. Again, no generic answers, just the truth. Miguel Torres continually challenged Floyd “Money” Mayweather to a MMA fight after “Money” said they weren’t real fighters. Miguel argued that MMA fighters must be more well-rounded and questioned Floyd’s ability to survive the ground game. The most surprising moment of the night was Jamie Varner’s ability to show how good of a person he is. I thought Varner was a punk and had been running from a rematch with “Cowboy” but I left the evening pondering to myself whether all fighters should have his heart saying he wouldn’t want his younger brother to fight because Varner does this to provide a better future for him. He also seemed most media savvy, giving the perfect answer for every question. (Visit Texas Fighting on Youtube for the full Q&A with Frank Mir, Jamie Varner and Miguel Torres (WEC® 43)coverage.)

Now lets get to my prediction for Fight of the Year. “Cowboy” Cerrone and Ben Henderson.  I came in just wanting to see a great fight. I got that and more. Ben Henderson survived multiple submission attempts with literal thumbs up. In a moment that made everyone look away fearing his shoulder dislocating, Ben “smoothly” relaxed and got out of the submission not once visibly wincing or seemingly thinking of tapping. “Cowboy” was also unrelenting bringing his Muy Thai and kickboxing skills together with his under-rated ground skills to further show his all-around game. Ben Henderson answered with equally impressive stand-up and ground and pound skills. The action never allowed you to catch your own breath. I was physically exhausted just watching these two warriors battle for 5 rounds. The decision went to Ben “Smooth” Henderson. The fight was close but no one saw it as controversial. Joe Martinez promptly announced the fight as the best in WEC history and I couldn’t disagree nor could I argue that this was one of my favorite events in my professional career.

-Jacob Calbillo

Video Interview with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Cowboy talks about the TapouT House, the fighters who live there and Tapout. Special Thanks to Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

TexasFighting.com exclusive interview with WEC® Fighter Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. He spoke with us about Jamie Varner before his upcoming fight with Ben Henderson at WEC 43 in San Antonio, TX