Frank Shamrock is an American former professional mixed martial artist. Shamrock was the first to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship and retired as an undefeated champion. Shamrock was the No. 1 ranked pound for pound UFC fighter in the world during his reign as the UFC Middleweight Champion. Shamrock has won numerous titles in other martial arts organizations, including the interim King of Pancrase title, the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship and the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship. Shamrock is regarded as one of the first complete mixed martial artists, having adapted his game from a ground-focused style of fighting to a more well-rounded and versatile style. He is a seventh degree black belt in submission fighting.
Nickolas Robert Diaz is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who competed in the welterweight and middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Diaz is a former Strikeforce, WEC and IFC welterweight champion and a UFC title challenger. He also notably competed in PRIDE, EliteXC, DREAM, and Shooto. Nick is the older brother of former UFC fighter Nate Diaz, with the pair of brothers being one of the biggest influences in the sport of MMA.
Cage Rage Championships, also known as Cage Rage, was a United Kingdom-based, mixed martial arts promotion that premiered on 7 September 2002 in London. Cage Rage went into liquidation and is now no longer trading. Cage Rage had been owned and managed by Elite XC until that company ceased operating, and the British promoters behind Cage Rage formed a new organization and withdrew all the old Cage Rage titles. Matchmaker and on-screen personality Dave O'Donnell was also a minority shareholder in the company. Fellow on-screen personality and co-promoter Andy Geer also owned a minority stake until he left the promotion in 2008. Cage Rage events were replayed on Nuts TV, along with their own weekday show on The Fight Network until these channels closed down. Every Cage Rage event and bout is now archived as part of the UFC Fight Pass library.
Strikeforce was an American mixed martial arts and kickboxing organization based in San Jose, California that operated from 1985 to 2013. It was headed by CEO Scott Coker.
Murilo Milani Rua, also known as Ninja, is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. He is the older brother of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio Rua. He was the inaugural EliteXC Middleweight Champion and also competed in Pride Fighting Championships.
Joey Simon Villaseñor is an American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1999 until 2012, Villasenor competed for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Strikeforce, EliteXC, King of the Cage, DEEP, Shark Fights, BAMMA, and the World Fighting Alliance. Villasenor is the former King of the Cage Middleweight Champion, and defended this title seven times before vacating it to sign with PRIDE.
Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni was a mixed martial arts event co-promoted by Strikeforce and EliteXC. The event took place on Friday, June 22, 2007 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The main card aired on pay-per-view, with the undercard streamed live on ProElite.com. The PPV event was rebroadcast on the Showtime premium cable channel on June 30, 2007.
ProElite, Inc. is an American entertainment and media company involved in the promotion of mixed martial arts (MMA).
EliteXC: Destiny was the inaugural mixed martial arts event by the mixed martial arts organization EliteXC. The event took place on Saturday, February 10, 2007, at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi. The main card aired on Showtime, with the undercard was streamed live on the Proelite.com website.
ShoXC is a mixed martial arts series produced by the mixed martial arts organization EliteXC, Showtime and Proelite.com. The series was announced on July 11, 2007. The purpose of the show is to highlight up and coming MMA fighters.
Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts is an American mixed martial arts training organization headed by former UFC Champion and former co-founder of Team Quest, Randy Couture. Xtreme Couture was founded with the flagship gym in Las Vegas. Since then, the franchise has spread to other cities in the United States and Canada. Xtreme Couture Las Vegas is one of the largest gyms and most recognized brands and MMA gyms in the world, where many past and current top MMA fighters train.
Karl James Noons is a retired American professional mixed martial artist, as well as a former professional boxer and kickboxer. Noons competed for UFC, Strikeforce, DREAM and EliteXC. He is the former EliteXC Lightweight Champion.
Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le was a mixed martial arts event co-promoted by Strikeforce and EliteXC. The event took place on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
Kevin Ferguson, better known as Kimbo Slice, was a Bahamian mixed martial artist, professional boxer, and actor. Originally a bare-knuckle boxer, he became noted for his role in mutual combat street fight videos which were spread online, leading Rolling Stone to call him "The King of the Web Brawlers".
EliteXC: Heat was a mixed martial arts event held by Elite Xtreme Combat on October 4, 2008, in Sunrise, Florida, at the BankAtlantic Center. The event was scheduled to be headlined with a heavyweight fight between Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice, but Shamrock had to pull out due to an injury and Seth Petruzelli was called up to replace him. Petruzelli delivered a shock win by knocking out Slice, but the fight was overshadowed by accusations that Petruzelli had been offered a payment by EliteXC's promoters to not fight Slice on the ground. The event also featured a heavyweight match between Andrei Arlovski and Roy Nelson in a cross-promotional event, and drew an estimated 4,560,000 viewers on CBS.
Prior to the closure of parent company ProElite on October 20, 2008, EliteXC: A Night of Champions was to be a mixed martial arts event held by EliteXC that would have taken place on November 8, 2008 in Reno, Nevada at the Reno Events Center. The event was scheduled to include two title fights and would have aired on the Showtime cable network.
Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz was a mixed martial arts event held by Strikeforce on April 11, 2009 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. It was the first event promoted by Strikeforce after their acquisition of assets from the defunct EliteXC promotion through its parent company ProElite. It aired on the Showtime cable network and online through Strikeforce All Access. Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Pat Miletich were commentating during the broadcast and Jimmy Lennon Jr. was the ring announcer. The official attendance was announced to be 14,409. The event drew an estimated 364,000 viewers on Showtime.
Strikeforce/M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Rogers was a mixed martial arts event held on November 7, 2009 promoted by Strikeforce in association with M-1 Global. It was the first MMA event on network television since the now-defunct EliteXC promotion broadcast its final event, EliteXC: Heat, on CBS on October 4, 2008. The event had a four-fight main card with a broadcasting team of Gus Johnson, Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo. The event drew an estimated 4,040,000 viewers, with a peak at 5,460,000 on CBS.
While mixed martial arts is primarily a male dominated sport, it does have female athletes. For instance, Female competition in Japan includes promotions such as DEEP Jewels. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Valkyrie, and Smackgirl. Professional mixed martial arts organizations in the United States that invite women to compete are industry leader Ultimate Fighting Championship, the all female Invicta Fighting Championships, Resurrection Fighting Alliance, Bellator Fighting Championships, and Legacy Fighting Championship. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Strikeforce and EliteXC. There has been a growing awareness of women in mixed martial arts due to popular female fighters and personalities such as Amanda Nunes, Megumi Fujii, Gina Carano, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm and Joanna Jędrzejczyk and among others. Carano became known as "the face of women's MMA" after appearing in a number of EliteXC events. This was furthered by her appearances on MGM Television's 2008 revival of their game show American Gladiators.
