Prangley To Rematch Ruiz At Playboy Mansion?; More

SAN JOSE, Calif. — South African powerhouse Trevor Prangley (17-5) has stepped up to fill the void left by injured Renato “Babalu” Sobral, and will square off in a Strikeforce mixed martial arts (MMA) light heavyweight (205 lb. limit) rematch with Anthony Ruiz (21-11) at the world-famous Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, CA. on Saturday.

Prangley effectively utilized his strength to wear Ruiz down and set up an armbar submission in the first round of their initial meeting during Strikeforce “Tank vs. Buentello” at Fresno, California’s Save Mart Center on October 7, 2006.

The 36-year-old Prangley is a former South African National Wrestling Champion and Olympic team alternate. After leaving his homeland to pursue more sophisticated training in his chosen athletic discipline, he went on to earn two-time All-American honors and place as Junior College Nationals runner-up at North Idaho College (NIC). Prangley’s start will be his first since his runner-up finish in “Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives,” the first sanctioned MMA tournament in California history on November 16, 2007. Ruiz is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jeremy Freitag on July 26th. The 30-year-old native of Modesto, California has emerged victorious in 12 of his last 15 bouts.Ruiz made his first dent in the world of Strikeforce by defeating World Light Heavyweight Champion, Bobby Southworth, in a non-title matchup, on November 16, 2007. He moved on to win his next five straight fights before losing a decision to Southworth in their championship bout rematch on June 27th. All inquiries regarding tickets for “Strikeforce At The Mansion II” should be directed to Dan Guiterrez at Strikeforce’s corporate headquarters (Ph # 408-998-8232.) “Strikeforce At The Mansion II” will be headlined by a showdown between 2006 Pride Fighting Championship Grand Prix winner and top 10 world ranked, Kazuo “Grabaka Hitman” Misaki (20-8-2), and 25-year-old former UFC star, Joe “Diesel “Riggs (28-10).

Strikeforce World Lightweight (155 lb. limit) Champion, Josh “The Punk” Thomson (16-2) will return to action in a non-title matchup with Lion’s Den prodigy, Ashe “The Archer” Bowman (10-4).

Top-ranked lightweight (155 lb. limit) mixed martial arts (MMA) gun, Mitsuhiro “The Endless Fighter” Ishida (16-4-1), will make his way from the battlegrounds of Japan to face former NCAA Division I wrestling stud and rising Team AKA star, Justin “The Silverback” Wilcox (5-2).

Twenty-four year old thoroughbred Cory “The One” Devela (9-1) will bid for his eighth consecutive victory when he takes on what is arguably his most dangerous challenge to date, heavy-handed Terry Martin (17-5), in a middleweight contest.

In addition to a full night of MMA action, all “Strikeforce At The Mansion II” guests will be entitled to a top-shelf, open bar; buffet-style, gourmet dinner; and wine-tasting party featuring the spirits of various California gold medal wineries.

Strikeforce wrote a new chapter in sports history when it produced the first-ever MMA event at the Playboy Mansion last September. Amongst the host of celebrities who attended the affair were Playboy Enterprises Founder, Hugh Hefner and “The Girls Next Door;” comedians Gary Shandling and Joe Rogan; actress and model Jaime Pressly; actors Michael Duncan Clarke, Christina Fulton, Ethan Suplee, Ernie Hudson, and Page Kennedy; MMA legends Royce Gracie and Bas Rutten; and superstars Cung Le, Frank Shamrock, Josh Barnett, and Andrei Arlovski.

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.

Local artist Patrice Peris to sing National Anthem at WCF4 on Sept. 19th.?

Local recording artist Patrice Peris to sing
National Anthem at WCF4 on Sept. 19th.

Tickets on Sale Now.

Boston, Mass. September 16, 2008 - World Championship Fighting today announced that local recording artist Patrice Peris will be singing the National Anthem for the September 19th event. A Shrewsbury Mass native, Patrice has taken New England by storm with soaring vocals and boundless energy. She is currently at Bristol Studios working with renowned producer and development coach Ric Poulin to develop original songs for her upcoming CD.

For Peris performing the National Anthem at WCF 4 is an exciting opportunity, "I am excited to be a part of this AWESOME event. My family is big into the WCF so it will be amazing to see a live show and it is looking like it is going to be a good fight!" Head promoter for World Championship Fighting, Joe Cavallaro, is also excited to have Peris sing the National Anthem at the September 19th event, "We're excited to have Patrice sing the National Anthem for us, this shows the tremendous growth of Mixed Martial Arts and how it's going mainstream. This type of cross over from Hip-Hop and R&B to MMA is great!"

Despite her ever-growing collection of original songs, the National Anthem still holds a special place in Peris' heart. "It is always a privilege to sing our Nations Anthem and it is a great way to honor our troops. There is such a sense of unity among the crowd and I love to feed off of that energy. It is an emotional song in that you can not sing it without feeling a great sense of pride and there is no better feeling than that."

Peris' highlights include performances at the DCU Center; the Topsfield Fair; Boston hotspot Felt; the Winter Special Olympics; the 3-Day Walk for Cancer in Boston; and R.I. College where she was the opening act for Universal/Motown artist Jada. Her music can be heard on the airwaves of Boston's Kiss 108-FM and other regional stations, with press mentions in Pulse Magazine and on the International Artist Debut Radio. For more information on Patrice Peris and her music visit her myspace profile at www.myspace.com/patriceperis.

About World Championship Fighting: World Championship Fighting is a Boston based company specializing in live Mixed Martial Arts events. With major media coverage by ESPN, NBCsports.com and HDNet, World Championship Fighting has established itself as the premiere Mixed Martial Arts organization on the East Coast. Founded in June of 2006, World Championship Fighting continues to raise the bar of excellence in live Mixed Martial Arts events.

Full Fight Card:

Sam Hoger (MFS) vs. Jason Dolloff
Dan Bonnell (Renzo Gracie NH) vs. Joe Cushman (Aggression)
John Benoit (Renzo Gracie NH) vs. Davin Wesinger (USMMA)
Matt Smith (Renzo Gracie NH) vs. Josh Spearman (Dragon Warrior)
Scott Rehm (Sit Yod Tong) vs. Lamont Lister
Nik Patnaude (Burgess) vs. Matt Martin (USMMA)
Chad Beane (Green Mountain Boys) vs. Kirill Sementsov (Chase MMA)
Wayne Harnois (Bruteforce) vs. Kevin Corrigan (USMMA)
Joe Keane (Fenix Fight Club) vs. Barry Liseno (MMATC)
Rodrigo Almeida (BMAC) vs. Jose Lopez (Ravenous)
Mike Varner (Boneyard) vs. Joe Kavey (Wasteland)
Justin Hammerstrom (Tengu) vs. Matt Johnson (SSSF)
Stephen Stengel vs. Bobby Dias (Boneyard)

*Fight card subject to change.*

More news to be announced soon!

Visit WCFighting.com for more.

WHERE: Aleppo Shriners Auditorium, 99 Fordham Road, Wilmington, MA 01887
WHEN: Friday, September 19th, 2008. Doors open at 6:30PM, first fight at 7:30PM.

Special Guests expected in Attendance:
UFC Fighters: Marcus "The Irish Handgrenade" Davis; Kenny "KenFlo" Florian; Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon; Sean "The Gladiator" Gannon; Jorge "El Conquistador" Rivera; Muay Thai Coach Mark DellaGrotte "The Ultimate Fighter 4"; Boxing Coach Peter Welch "The Ultimate Fighter 2."

Ticket Prices: $40, $45, $65, $100, $250

Tickets on Sale Now.

Or charge by phone at: 1-800-595-4849 Toll Free.

Hotel Accommodations:
Special Fight Night hotel rates for World Championship Fighting 4 fans at the Holiday Inn Express North Andover. Call the hotel directly at 978-975-4050 and ask for the "WCF" group rate of $62 plus tax, per room, per night. The special "WCF" group rate is valid September 18th through September 21st.

Holdiay Inn Express North Andover
224 WINTHROP AVE.
LAWRENCE, MA 01843
Phone: 978-975-4050

To book:
- Visit us at www.hiexpress.com/andovernorth. In the "check availability" section, Select your reservation dates, and enter "WCF" in the group code box.

- Call central reservations at 1-877-410-6667, and ask for the "WCF" rate.

- Call the hotel directly at (978) 975-4050 and ask for the "WCF" group rate.

Holiday Express Inn North Andover is the official hotel of World Championship Fighting 4.

Remember to Save The Date: Friday, September 19th, 2008!

Prangley To Rematch Ruiz At Playboy Mansion?; More

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