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Bobby Lashley bringing out 'The Beast' in Bob Sapp on June 27

BILOXI, Miss. (May 14, 2009) – Styles make fights and the June 27 main event match-up between contrasting MMA fighters, kick-boxer Bob "The Beast" Sapp and wrestler Bobby Lashley, features a potential instant classic of pure entertainment on the "Ultimate Chaos" pay-per-view event live from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The imposing 6-4, 350-pound Sapp (10-3-1), who played in the NFL for four years before becoming an iconic combat fighter in Japan, wants to brawl on his feet while the chiseled 6-3, 265-pound former WWE star Lashley (2-0), 3-time NCAA champion (1996-98) and 4-time All-America wrestler at Missouri Valley College, prefers to ground and pound.

"Ultimate Chaos," presented by Prize Fight Promotions and Fight Force International, in association with the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum, Treasure Bay Casino and Budweiser, is being produced and distributed by Gotham MMA and Integrated Sports at 9:00PM ET/6:00PM PT in the United States on cable and satellite via iNDemand, TVN and DirecTV for a suggested retail price of only $29.95.

Sapp starred as an offensive lineman on the University of Washington’s football team, winning the prestigious Morris Award, and he was selected in the third round of the NFL draft in 1997 by the Chicago Bears. Bob turned to pro wrestling after football and was later recruited by PRIDE in Japan, where his incredible size, strength and bull-rush style made him an instant fan favorite. He went on to star in K-1 as well as become an actor, playing roles in movies like The Longest Yard and Elektra.

Star-divide

"This fight is what fight fans want to see," Sapp said. "It’s intriguing and will be very entertaining. Bobby is bringing ‘The Beast’ out in me- I want to brawl. I’m the last person to say I’m a submission artist. I want to box. I’m a brawler. I’m going to come at him with my long arms and legs, punching and kicking. He’s going to come strong at me, trying to take me off balance, but I’ll come back with a straight right knee to his jaw and follow with a left hook. He’s never been hit by anybody like me. He’s new on the MMA scene. Bobby’s more or less a grounder and pounder who wants to slam me and hold me down. He’ll throw in some elbows and maybe some new, slick MMA moves. What’s left?

"I’m a huge test for him, which says a lot about Bobby. He has no fear of getting cracked real hard. It could be a flash knockdown or an accumulation of punches, which does worse damage and is tougher to get over. Bobby’s powerful, his slams are strong and he does have some pro wrestling moves. But I’ll be faster than he imagines. If he wants to be a star in MMA, he needs a more entertaining style of fighting, one that I’ve built by career on. I’m more of an entertaining fighter than typical MMA guy."

After graduating from Missouri Valley College, Lashley joined the U.S. Army and was a 2-time Armed Forces Champion and 2002 Military Games Championship silver medalist. Two years ago, Lashley became a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) superstar, joining Donald Trump at Wrestlemania 23 in a bet against WWE president

Vince McMahon. Lashley won the match and helped Trump shave McMahon’s head in the ring. Bobby made his MMA debut last December 13, stopping Joshua Franklin only 0.41 into the opening round, and March 21 he won a 3-round decision versus 37-fight veteran Jason Guida in Pensacola (FL).

"This fight is going to let fans in the U.S. know that Bob’s still around," Sapp added. "I’ve been fighting for organizations all over the world, in a ring, not a cage. I want to go at it and make all my fights exciting. I’ll be training 20 days in a Judo center in Japan (for a DREAM show there in late May) and it’ll be the first time that I’m only training for an MMA fight – no movies, no television, just training everyday. It’s a great opportunity for me and American fans are going to see the real Beast."

In a co-feature that could be the main event on most cards, former UFC title challenger and feared Brazilian striker, Pedro "The Rock" Rizzo (16-8-0), takes on controversial Dutch heavyweight Gilbert "The Hurricane" Yvel (35-13-3).

Dangerous lightweight Din "Dinyero" Thomas (24-8-0), star of The Ultimate Fighter 4, faces former KOTC and Gladiator Challenge champion Javier "Showtime" Vasquez; Canadian lightweight sensation Chris "The Polish Hammer" Horodecki (12-1-0) meets dangerous William "The Bull" Sriyapai (12-4-0).

Also fighting on the card are welterweights Brett Cooper (8-4-0) vs. Waachiim "Native Warrior" Spirit Wolf (5-4), Affliction vice president Tom Atencio (1-0) vs. lightweight Randy Hedderick, middleweight James Orso (3-2-0) vs. Colby McMahan (1-0-0), middleweight Danny Abbadi (3-4-0) vs. Lance Thomson (1-0-0), and welterweight Eric Bradley (2-1-0) vs. Colin McKee (3-2-0). All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Tickets are priced at $25.00 (limited discount seating), $40.00 (general admission) and $55.00 (premium reserved seating) and sale at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum and all TicketMaster outlets.

For more information go to www.theultimatechaos.com, www.fightforce.org or www.mscoastcoliseum.com. Doors open at 5PM/CT, first fight 6 PM/CT, and the first PPV fight is at 8 PM/CT.

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“I’m the last person to say I’m a submission artist.”

Come on Sapp, does ANYBODY say you’re a submission artist?

Good experience for Lashley, it’s not often someone his size runs into a fight and gives up this much weight. I know this one is much more freak show than fight, but I want to see it.

by O damn he got caught on May 14, 2009 1:19 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

And I think at this stage in his career this will count for a quality win if Lashley can pull it off.

by BNF on May 14, 2009 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

yep

by McArthur on May 14, 2009 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Lashley will pull this one off if Sapp is not the beast that he used to be. And also, the promotion is labelling this as a “Prize Fight” It should be a “Freakroid Show Fight”!

by The Negation on May 14, 2009 11:53 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

oops, my bad. I just saw the word “Prize fight”, and when I took a look at the poster again, Prize fight was actually the name of the promotion. Well in any case, they should rename their promotion to the one I said earlier in the previous comment.

by The Negation on May 14, 2009 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

better than Guida imo. Sapp has lost something though, he looks like a pro wrestler who quit juicing.

by JRE on May 14, 2009 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

What’s the over/under on Sapp crying before the end of the second round?

by Jeremyjackson on May 14, 2009 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Anyone else really intrigued by Yvel-Rizzo. Should be a war but i got Yvel via hellish KO.

by NameNotRequired on May 14, 2009 6:06 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Damn right NNR! People bash Gilbert cause he is a piece of crap, but he is a very tough and skilled striker. I really look forward to this fight, and I believe that Rizzo is just too old for the wild dutchman!

by john on May 15, 2009 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Can someone tell me where i can see this

by SLEEPER on May 14, 2009 1:22 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

PPV

by BNF on May 14, 2009 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

It’s worth $25 or whatever just to see the return of the greatest TUF alum ever, Danny Abbadi.

by PW on May 14, 2009 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

trust me guys, lashley is gonna lose this one!

by jayshogun on May 14, 2009 1:23 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Maybe, but if he just throws bombs at Sapp he’ll be fine, “The Beast” still tends to think throwing his arms out straight in front of him and turning his head to the side is a good defense.

by O damn he got caught on May 14, 2009 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

yeah sapp has ‘power’ well a little and lasley didn’t do that well against guida

by ruan-fiy on May 14, 2009 6:16 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

This event actually if no injurys pop up, may actually be worth watching. Pedro vs Yvel should be a good matchup and I’m always interested in watching Din Thomas and Chris Horodecki fights.

by markie on May 14, 2009 1:33 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

what an awful poster.

by ShaiZ on May 14, 2009 3:06 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Leave john out of this!

by Jeremyjackson on May 14, 2009 6:20 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

john?

by the still operator on May 14, 2009 7:10 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

What an awful poster.

by Jeremyjackson on May 14, 2009 8:29 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Leave john out of this

by Alpha Male 360 on May 14, 2009 9:31 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Lashley is going to have major bitch tits in about 10 years.

by Ixian on May 14, 2009 4:15 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

yea, Lashley is already starting to look a little odd since he was into some hardcore juicing a few years ago and is now off of it. when you go from 175lb to 275lb in only a year like he did for the WWE, it’s not pretty coming back down when you don’t have a frame big enough to support that much “synthetics”

by RJ on May 14, 2009 10:55 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

i hope danny abadi is killed. maybe he’ll get his ass beat in the ring then run over by a truck when leaving the stadium.

 ha anyways, i love bob sapp but i think lashley’s gonna knock him out. he’s is incredibly fast, but im still rooting for the beast

by tapps on May 14, 2009 6:10 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I am very excited to see this event. There are a lot of good fighters on here for the money. Lashley and Sapp have drawing power, and I am interested in seeing Yvel vs. Rizzo. I have also read the Horodecki’s opponent was injured in training (broken hand i believe), and Rich Clementi is a possible replacement. That would be a huge test for Chris if this is the case.

I have a floor table for the show, and I am looking forward to the whole event. (10 floor tickets are the same price I paid for a floor seat to UFC 88 from Ticketmaster so they are very reasonably priced)

by dbmahan on May 14, 2009 6:11 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

If thats true then this card just got more interesting, Horedecki-Clementi would be an awesome fight. I’m still annoyed that Clementi got cut from the UFC, there are several guys that deserved to go before him.

This card won’t have many PPV buys but it could actually turn out to be a fun show. Lashley-Sapp is the sort of freakshow you normally only get in Japan and it should be a fun fight to watch.

Rizzo-Yvel could have been a huge fight back in the day but unfortunately Pedro’s well past his prime and is a shadow of the guy that beat Arlovski, Barnett and Coleman back in the day. It’s sad seeing a once great fighter in this way. Yvel should be able to pull this one out.

Din Thomas is a good fighter and is always fun to watch. I also was annoyed when the UFC unfairly cut him and I’m suprised that he never got a shot at 145 in the WEC. He’s a great addition to this card.

To top it off, any show with Danny Abaddi and Tom Atencio fighting is worth watching for the laughs. It’s quite embarrassing when a guy who has fought in the UFC is actually a less legitimate fighter than a 42 year old VP of a t-shirt company turned MMA promotion.

by David W-S on May 14, 2009 10:59 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I’m gonna go ahead and call Bob Sapp pulling a work in this one, just like he did against Nortje and Aerts.

Lashley is a huge public figure and this has Sapp taking a fall written all over it.

I’m gonna call it Lashley by first round TKO with Sapp being booed after fight.

by DirtyML on May 14, 2009 6:37 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

How do you know? Is EliteXC promoting it?

by PW on May 14, 2009 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Lashley fighting in the mfc tomorro night on hdnet live

by plum crazy on May 14, 2009 9:18 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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