Tito Ortiz vs. Dana White Boxing Match Confirmed

LAS VEGAS -- " Nevada regulators today approved an unusual grudge match between Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White and the "bad boy" of Huntington Beach, Calif., Tito Ortiz. White is the 37-year-old president of the mixed-martial arts promotion company that has become a heavyweight in the pay-per-view business. Ortiz (15-5-0) is one of its toughest, most popular combatants. Ortiz made the three-round match -- " in which both fighters will box only, no grappling -- " a condition of his recent contract negotiations.

White was once Ortiz' manager, but the two "had a real bad falling out" in 2003, White said. "The last time Tito and I boxed was six years ago, and he's a lot better than he was six years ago," White said after a hearing at the Nevada Athletic Commission, which approved the fight 3-1. "I'm a lot older than I was six years ago, so we'll see."

Regulators expressed concern that White would be seriously hurt by Ortiz, 32. But most commissioners were reassured by sparring tapes showing White in the ring against another heavyweight from two months ago. White said he's been training since last July. "I've seen Tito as a boxer, and he's probably not as good as you are," commission chair Dr. Tony Alamo told White.

Ortiz will weigh in at 205 pounds, while White weighs 196 pounds, both the boxing equivalent of heavyweight fighters. The fight March 24 will likely take place at the UFC training center in Las Vegas and be broadcast later on the company's Web site, www.ufc.com, the company said.

source: wrestlezone.com

Cingular to Put Wrestling on Mobile Phones

Triple H will be on my phone!

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Professional wrestlers will soon be fighting for space on tiny mobile phone screens thanks to Cingular Wireless.

The top U.S. mobile service provider, owned by AT&T Inc (Charts). , plans to announce an agreement with World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (Charts) Thursday to sell everything from ringtones with famous wrestlers' voices to graphics and videos, including weekly matches and the annual spring tournament.

Some World Wrestling videos will be available as part of Cingular's $19.99 a month media service plan and the company will also sell a premium video package for $4.99 a month featuring highlights from WrestleMania and other shows.

Cingular, which is being rebranded as AT&T, will also sell related ringtones for $2.49 each and graphics for $1.99.

It will launch the service Thursday on phones with high-speed Web links with video clips and will add new features in the following months, said Cingular spokesman Mark Siegel.

He believes enough of Cingular's 61 million customers are wrestling fans "that this will do very well."

But WWE's 15 million weekly viewers are the ones who will ultimately decide if the phone screen can deliver a clear enough image of favorite super stars such as Hacksaw Jim Duggan or his curvaceous female counterparts.

source: cnn.com

Inside the Steroid Sting-Kurt Angle Being Investigated for Steroid Use

By Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim

The Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center is decidedly less exotic than its name might suggest. Wedged between a lawyer's office and a brokerage firm on the third floor of a dreary Jupiter, Fla., office building, it is a glorified boiler room, "basically a call center," as one employee explains. Yet investigators contend that the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center (PBRC) -- and dozens of so-called antiaging or wellness centers like it -- is a vital component in a massive illegal distribution network that enabled customers to place orders over the Internet for performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids and human growth hormone (HGH)...

...Kurt Angle, a 1996 Olympic gold-medal-winning freestyle wrestler and now a star professional wrestler, received two prescriptions for trenbolone and one for nandrolone between October 2004 and February '05. (Angle did not return messages left with his spokesman.)...

source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Countdown to Battleground - International Fight League

By Jessica Schweitzer

New York, NY -- MyNetworkTV, the broadcast home of the International Fight League, announced today that it will present “Countdown to Battleground” on Wednesday, March 7th at 8:00 p.m. (EST/PST) The one-hour special will give audiences a sneak preview of the new MyNetworkTV show, “IFL Battleground.”

The program is designed to introduce audiences to the IFL and mixed martial arts, as well as the athletes and teams that make up the league.

“Countdown to Battleground” will include interviews with the fighters and the five legendary coaches, Ken Shamrock, Renzo Gracie, Pat Miletich, Bas Rutten and Frank Shamrock. Audiences will also get a taste of the action-packed fast-paced competition through recaps of recent IFL events.

“We are excited to bring viewers a taste of the powerful battles, intense rivalries and inspiring stories that will be featured this season on ‘IFL Battleground,’” said Greg Meidel, President, MyNetworkTV.

“We are looking forward to exposing these great athletes and our legendary coaches and the sport of MMA to the largest TV audience ever,” said Gareb Shamus, co-founder and CEO, International Fight League.

source: www.ifl.tv

Triple H Sighting!

Raw's most wanted man was at the Arnold Classic this past weekend and damn didn't he look good! See for yourself...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv2wpC7qReE

Coulter B*tch At It Again

No Ann, please keep talking. We enjoy you making a fool out of yourself in the name of the Republican party. What makes it so entertaining is that you are so ignorant (as all bigots are) that you don't realize that you are hurting your part instead of helping it. Sad that you are that publicity hungry.

Coulter under fire for anti-gay slur - CNN.com

Couture Shuts out Sylvia to Win Third UFC Heavyweight Title

By Thomas Gerbasi

COLUMBUS, OH, March 4 – After losing two out of three fights to UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and a tearful retirement in 2006, most believed that Randy Couture had run out of miracles. But before a packed house at the Nationwide Arena, the 43-year old UFC Hall of Famer shocked the world once again, dominating Tim Sylvia for five rounds, en route to a shutout five round decision that earned Couture a third UFC heavyweight championship.

“Not bad for an old man,” said Couture, whose three belts are now added to two UFC light heavyweight championships, giving him five total belts.

“He kept me off balance all night,” said Sylvia, a two-time champion himself. “He kept me guessing the whole 25 minutes.”

Entering the Octagon for the UFC 68 main event to the strains of Aerosmith singing ‘Back in the Saddle’, Couture smiled from ear to ear, seemingly overjoyed to be back in action as an active fighter. Conversely, Sylvia was all business – for him, this wasn’t a celebration; it was an affirmation that he was the UFC heavyweight champion and that an aging legend wasn’t going to change that fact in the next 25 minutes or less....You can read the rest of the story here.

Triple H Update

HHH is healing ahead of schedule and should be back in action by, hopefully, Summerslam if all goes well. It could be September before he is back as it all depends on how fast The Game heals. But the bottom line is that HHH is doing really well.

source: www.jrsbarbq.com

Hot 99.5 Rescinds the Bobby Brown Offer

Hot 99.5 and Kane, Morning Show Host weekdays from 5:30am to 10am, have decided to rescind the offer made to Bobby Brown and agreed upon as of Thursday, March 1, 2007.

Hot 99.5 and Bobby Brown's Attorney have mutually decided that this wasn't in their best interest and Bobby's attorney has agreed to return the money to Hot 99.5.

"We thought we clearly communicated to Bobby our intentions, but once we had him on the air this morning it was clear that we were not on the same page," said Kane. "At this point, we feel that there are better things we can do with the money locally and we'll use this weekend to figure out how we'd like to use the money. We'll take suggestions from listeners on Monday."

source: http://www.hot995.com/pages/bobbybrown.html

DX in New Hampshire Remix

Several months ago, a couple of knuckleheads went through some towns in New Hampshire and spray painted the DX logo on buildings and cars. SabufanX at YouTube created this remix. Enjoy.

Battle Worn

This article upset me a great deal. You have someone that believes the hype of going to Iraq/Afghanistan to help the people there and fight terrorism. Then, when that individual gets injured, the government forgets all about them. The process that this soldier has to go through to get assistance is pathetic. And the wonder why recruitment is down.

Battle Worn - washingtonpost.com

Tragic Toll Part of Wrestling's Way of Life

By TIM BAINES - Ottawa Sun

Michael Alfonso had a wife and two children.

He had a good job as a sales associate with Coldwell Banker in Tampa.

As wrestler Mike Awesome, he won championships in ECW and Japan's FMW.

And now, at age 42, he's dead. According to The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, Alfonso was found hanging in his home last Saturday.

A tragedy. But death at a young age is not unique to wrestling. Far from it.

It's just another name to add to the body count, a list that is far too long.

How about these names ... and this is just a sampling:

Louie Spiccoli, 27; Crash Holly, 32; Eddie Gilbert, 33; Owen Hart, 33; Chris Candido, 33; Adrian Adonis, 34; Yokozuna, 34; Brian Pillman, 35; Eddie Guerrero, 38; Davey Boy Smith, 39; Johnny Grunge, 39; Rick Rude, 41; Miss Elizabeth, 42; Big Bossman, 42, Dino Bravo, 44; Mr Perfect Curt Hennig, 44; Bam Bam Bigelow, 45, Junkyard Dog, 45; Road Warrior Hawk, 45; and Big John Studd, 46.

Oh, there are others ... many others. But this column only has so much space.

To blame wrestling for all the deaths would be inaccurate and unfair.

But there's little doubt that wrestling and its way of life have taken their toll.

While wrestling matches are scripted, there's no scripting what happens outside the ring ... what happens when the wrestlers can barely roll out of the bed in the morning because of the pain they're feeling.

Some wrestlers turn to painkillers. Others, looking to bulk up in an industry where "size does matter," juice up with steroids.

If you looked at the list above, painkillers and steroids have certainly contributed to deaths.

There are "wellness" policies in place to help wrestlers. But as another body was lowered into the ground, it just doesn't seem like enough.

source: http://slam.canoe.ca