ANOTHER “LIVE” CHALLENGER NEXT FOR BROCK
San Francisco, CA– Just a couple of weeks removed from his greatest moment as a fighter in surviving the early onslaught to come back and defeat unbeaten Shane Carwin, UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar will go right back in the hell’s kitchen as Cain Velasquez has been confirmed as Lesnar’s next challenger October 23rd at the Anaheim Pond. Velasquez, fighting out of San Jose, CA, is 6′1 and 243 lbs. is giving up a couple inches and height and 20+ lbs. Unbeaten at 8-0, a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Cain will need to take Brock late into the fight to have any opportunity of a win.
STRIKEFORCE & COKER MUM ON BAUTISTA
Dave Bautista, 41, ex-WWE star, recently gave up a contract in excess of $1.2 million a year from the wrestling company. He said he was sick of the “PG rated” show the WWE is trying to put on for sponsors. He also sees the potential for money in MMA. That being said, Dave told TMZ that he had signed with Scott Coker’s Strikeforce. Coker says there are ongoing talks. My guy told me thay had come to an agreement, but that some minor details need to be worked out. Coker denied such! A Bautista vs. Bobby Lashley MMA fight could do some numbers if poroperly promoted, be it on CBS, Showtime or PPV.
KEN SHAMROCK FIGHTING THIS WEEKEND “DOWN UNDER”
The fledgling promotion known as Impact Fighting Championship will hold a card seen here in the US on PPV July 17. On top, long in the tooth Ken Shamrock vs. the usually not so entertaining Pedro Rizzo. Other names appearing include Ricco Rodriguez (is he still fighting?) and Bob Sapp. Unless the Aussies are super desperate, this event if it does, will barely get off the ground.
UFC, WWE NEWS & NUMBERS
The WWE website snagged only 11.8 million hits in May, their lowest numbers in better than a decade. They are averaging about 450 individual sales of memorabilia per day and shipped out nearly 350,000 DVDs in the month. The last WWE PPV barely did over 100,000 homes on PPV in the USA. As the UFC grows, the WWE numbers seem to get smaller.
RICKY “THE DRAGON” IN HOSPITAL AFTER RAW TV SHOW
Ricky Steamboat, 56, one of the great performers in pro wrestling history, was hospitalized with a Brain Aneurysm, this after a “worked” beat-down on Monday Night Raw two-weeks ago from the NXT crew. Felling ill a couple of days later, Steamboat who had wrestling fulltime from 1976 to 1994, had a small “brain bleed” that was discovered after he complained of dizzyness, etc. In great shape foir a young man, let alone 56, stuff like this is going to happen as older athletes continue to push the envelope further and further.
“Ring Talk News Service”