Meza & Schmidt fighting for 1st SNMMA featherweight championship in “Extreme Beatdown” headliner

Posted on | April 6, 2009 | No Comments

Special Guest Brock Lesnar April 11 at Apache Gold Casino show

PHOENIX (April 6, 2009) – A pair of former Arizona high school wrestlers, featherweights Yaotzin Meza and Jamie “The Headhunter” Schmidt, will fight for one of two Sovereign Nations Mixed Martial Arts (SNMMA) title belts being contested for Saturday night, April 11 in “Extreme Beatdown” at Apache Gold Casino, located five miles east of Globe in San Carlos, Arizona. MMA heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will be a special guest at “Extreme Beatdown.”

SNMMA links federally recognized tribes throughout the United States and Canada. SNMMA’s mission is to develop, promote and help regulate mixed-martial-arts in a fair and professional manner by federally recognized tribes that are sovereign nations.

Show sponsors include MTX Audio, Respek MMA Fight Gear, Catch 22 Sports Grill, and Hacienda Harley. Highlights of “Extreme Beatdown” will be taped and later shown on HD Net’s Inside MMA Show.

Meza (11-4-0), fighting out of Phoenix and representing Southwest MMA, takes on Schmidt (7-2-0), now fighting out of Denver for N.E.S.T., in the main event (5 five-minute rounds) for the first SNMMA featherweight title belt. Meza and Schmidt have similar fighting styles due to their wrestling backgrounds.

“It’s going to be a good experience,” Meza said. “I’m really excited to be in the main event for the first time and fighting for the SNMMA title. I’m finally in the last fight of the night. I’ll go the way the fight goes. I’m a wrestler who likes to ground and pound, but I’m also comfortable fighting on my feet. If I’m not doing too well on my feet, I’ll push for a takedown. Schmidt’s tough and I never underestimate anybody. I think he’s a wrestler who likes to fight on his feet. It’s going to be an exciting fight. We’re both wrestlers and that makes for a great match-up.”

Schmidt was born and raised in Arizona, where he first started free style wrestling when he was only six. “I turned my life around fighting,” the 24-year-old Schmidt explained. “I started out wrestling but now I’m a better stand-up fighter. I have heavy hands. I practice kick boxing and Jiu-Jitsu, too. This is a big fight for me. Basically, a win will push me to the next level, and I’ll be able to make MMA fighting more of a career. I really like to stand-up and bang but, if we go down to the mat, he’s in even more trouble. I’m comfortable in either situation. Meza’s a wrestler and I don’t think he likes to get hit. I want to stand and bang, he wants to go to the ground, where I’ll submit him even faster because my Jiu-Jitsu is much better than his.”

In the other SNMMA championship match, the first super heavyweight (266-pounds or more) belt will be on the line in the co-feature (5-five minute rounds) between local hero Chance “King of the Street” Williams (6-2-0), who hails from nearby Globe (AZ), and Las Vegas invader Brice Ritani-Coe (2-0-0).

Lesnar will be at “Extreme Beatdown” to sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans, as well as to support his friend and Minnesota Martial Arts Academy workout partner, Chris Tuchscherer (16-1-0), the first and reigning SNMMA heavyweight champion. The former 2-time NCAA, Division II All-America wrestler, Tuchscherer, from Fargo (ND), is slated to fight in a non-title match against an opponent to be determined.

Phoenix-based MMA rising stars on hand at “Beatdown Extreme” for a meet-and-greet with the public include Efrain Escudero, Danny Martinez, Ben Henderson and others.

Phoenix’ hybrid MMA/boxing star Elena “Baby Doll” Reid (2-0-0), who is a 2-time world boxing champion with a 19-5-6 (5 KOs) pro record, meets Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson (7-2-0), from Albuquerque, in a special female 112-pound catch-weight attraction bout.

Also on the undercard is Phoenix bantamweight Jesse “Arturo” Moreng (8-1-0) vs. Brandon Miller (3-3-0), of Fresno (CA); Phoenix light heavyweight Jesse “Kid Hercules” Forbes (8-3-0) vs. Shane De Zee, of Minneapolis; Phoenix middleweight Ray “C4” Steinbeiss (11-5-0) vs. Chris Hugh (6-2-0), of Bismarck (ND); Phoenix lightweights Chris Gruetzemacher (0-2-0) vs. Josh Gaskins (4-1-0); Phoenix middleweight Jeremy Larsen (3-1-0) vs. Jeff Horlatcher (6-16-0), of Globe (AZ); York (ND) heavyweight Seth Harrison (2-1-0) vs. TBA.

All fights and fighters are subject to change. All fights excluding the two SNMMA title matches feature 3 five-minute rounds.

Tickets, priced at $20.00 (bleachers), $30.00 (floor) and $50.00 (ringside), are available

at the Apache Gold Gift Ship (1.800.272.2438 X3277) or at www.TicketWeb.com (Age requirements: General Admission – all ages; Floor Seats and Ringside — 21 years of age or older). Go to www.ApacheGoldCasinoResort.com or www.snbcmma.com for additional information. Doors open at 6 PM/MST, first bout at 7 PM.MST.

OFFICIAL WEIGH-IN – OPEN TO PUBLIC

The official weigh-in for “Extreme Beatdown” will be held Friday, April 10 at 11 AM at Catch 22 Sports Grill (18725 North 32nd St., Phoenix, Arizona 85050 – 602.482.9222 – www.catch22phx.com).

SNMMA

SNMMA is committed to serving the communities and advancing the lives and economic situation of all Native people, as well as all professional MMA fighters, in a positive and professional manner. For more information about Sovereign Nation Mixed Martial Arts call 701.6277539, go online at www.snbcmma.com, or write to SNMMA, P.O. Box 5, Parshall, ND 58770.

-SNMMA-