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FEDOR EMELIANENKO VS. JAIDEEP SINGH TO HEADLINE RIZIN WORLD FIGHTING
GRAND PRIX ON NEW YEAR'S EVE
Spike To Broadcast Special New Year's Eve MMA Extravaganza
at 10:00AM ET/PT
New York, NY- December 18, 2015 - "The Last Emperor," Fedor Emelianenko (34-4) finally has an opponent for his highly-anticipated return to the sport of mixed martial arts. Former K-1 kickboxing champion, Jaideep Singh (2-0) will take on the Russian icon in the main event of the inaugural Rizin Words Fighting Grand-Prix. Spike will begin its three-hour coverage of this star-studded New Year's Eve MMA event on Thursday, December 31 at a special time of 10:00am ET/PT.
Singh trains with four-time K-1 World Grand Prix champion Peter Aerts, and Rudimar Fedrigo, the founder and head trainer of famed Brazil-based MMA camp Chute Boxe that is responsible for spawning the careers of a host of retired and active world champions including Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, and Mauricio and Murilo "Ninja" Rua.
Recent additions to the card include
· The ever-popular American fighter Bob Sapp taking on Akebono Taro, the renowned former Sumo wrestler and MMA fighter under SHOOT boxing rules.
· Bellator's exciting welterweight contender Brennan Ward (12-3) looks for a fourth straight win against undefeated Ken Hasegawa (10-0-1) from Japan in a catchweight fight.
· Bellator superstar King Mo (16-4) will be part of the eight-man heavyweight tournament that will begin on December 29. His opponent in the first round will be BAMMA vet Brett McDermott (5-2). Other tournament fighters include Satoshi Ishii, Teodoras Aukstuolis, Bruno Cappelozza, Jiri Prochazka, Goran Reljic and Vadim Nemkov.
· A battle of hard-hitting heavyweights as Bellator British slugger James "The Colossus" Thompson (20-15) takes on Tsuyoshi Kosaka (26-18-2), whose impressive resume includes bouts with Randy Couture, Fedor Emeliannko, and Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira.
· A middleweight brawl between Bellator's A.J. "The Mercenary" Matthews (8-3), looking for his third straight win, against fast-rising Russian fighter, Anatoly Tokov (21-1).
Emanating from the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan, the MMA mega-event marks the debut of a Rizin World Fighting, a new global MMA promotion run by former Pride Founder Nobuyuki Sakakibara. The Grand-Prix includes a tournament and fights on December 29 and December 31.
Spike will broadcast the December 31 card on a short delay in the morning (10:00am-1:00pm ET/PT) along with coverage of marquee fights and highlights from bouts fought on December 29.
Bellator MMA will be among the worldwide combat sports organizations partnering with Rizin World Fighting for the Grand-Prix.
Bellator superstar King Mo will be part of the eight-man heavyweight tournament that will begin on December 29. Other tournament fighters include Satoshi Ishii, Teodoras Aukstuolis, Bruno Cappelozza Jiri Prochazka, Goran Reljic and Vadim Nemkov.
The MMA extravaganza also includes a catch-weight fight between Shinya Aoki and Kazushi Sakuraba along with Brazilian superstar Gabrielle Garcia, a jiu jitsu world champion, making her long-awaited MMA debut against pro wrestler "Queen of Rings" Lei'd Tapa.
The other organizations participating include BAMMA, KSW, Bushido, Jungle Fight, and Desert Force. Spike will be the U.S. broadcast home of the Rizin World Fighting Grand Prix and the event will be produced by Fuji Television Network. The announce team of Jimmy Smith and Sean Grande will call the action for the Spike broadcast.
Fedor Emelianenko last fought in June, 2012 and scored a first round KO over Pedro Rizzo. The Russian MMA superstar will look to repeat history on Dec 31 in Tokyo. In 2011, on New Year's Eve, Fedor thrilled the Tokyo crowd with a punishing first round KO over Satoshi Ishii.
Spike TV is available in 91.4 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV's Internet address is www.spike.com.
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