FightZone TV To Air Art Of Fighting Event featuring Kimbo Slice Slayer Seth Petruzelli

Posted on | August 20, 2009 | No Comments

Art of Fighting is proud to present its fourth mixed martial arts (MMA) event in the state of Florida and its first event in Tampa Bay. After three successful events in Sarasota, to include the first ever MMA light heavyweight Florida State Title, Art of Fighting has put together a bout worthy of a large scale venue in Tampa. Marcio “Pe de Pano” Cruz vs. Tom “Trauma” Sauer for the first ever WFO World Title and a Headline Bout worthy of large scale attention, Seth “The Silverback” Petruzelli vs. Tampa Area police officer Chris Baten.

CRUZ VS. SAUER
Sherdog.com, the most visited MMA website, rated this fight one of the top 10 in the WORLD to see!

Marcio Cruz is a 6’4″ Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu phenom who has conquered the world’s best fighters inside the cage to include current UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, UFC Veteran Dan Christison, and Japanese legend Mu Bae Choi. However Marcio Cruz is better known in the Jiu-Jitsu community as a six time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion, 5 time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu National Champion, and 8 time Pan-American Champion. Also as a world class grappler, “Pe de Pano” has defeated Jeff “The Snowman” Monson, Roger Gracie, Paulo Filho, Marcelo Gracie, and many others.

Tom Sauer is a 6’1″ Greco Roman Wrestler with outstanding striking and submission ability. He has over 40 professional MMA fights and has beaten some of the best in the world including Jeff “The Snowman” Monson, Enson Inoue, Crafton Wallace and many more in his 30 professional wins. “Trauma” is on a 5 fight win streak and has hoisted himself as the hands down number one heavyweight in the state of Florida and possibly on the east coast. What may be more astonishing is Tom Sauer has Tourette syndrome. Outside of the cage he has very noticeable symptoms but inside the cage he is focused and poised as a possible world champion should be. Tom Sauer was featured on the VS channel Tapout show (Season 2 Episode 9) as the trainer of the recent winner of the Florida State Light Heavyweight Title Holder, TJ Cook.

This bout will be the first ever WFO(World Fighting Organization) world title. The WFO is the same sanctioning body as the IBO (International Boxing Organization), who’s boxing champions include Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao, Vladimir “Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko, and Chad Dawson. The IBO is looking to sanction MMA and aid in its lacking rank structure. Many believe the future of the sport is run through sanctioning bodies like the IBO and the Art of Fighting is proud to host the first ever World Title for the WFO.

PETRUZELLI VS. BATEN

Seth Petruzelli is a seasoned MMA fighter with appearances in the WEC, UFC, and EliteXC. Petruzelli is well known as the “Kimbo Killer” after his October 2008 destruction of street fighting youTube star Kimbo Slice. Petruzelli wasn’t even scheduled to fight Kimbo, but after a cut opened above MMA legend Ken Shamrock’s eye, Seth “The Silverback” Petruzelli stepped in to fill his spot and fill it he did. Now seen as the “Rocky” of MMA, Petruzelli KO’d Slice in an astonishing 14 seconds of the first round in front of a stunned crowd of millions on CBS. The August 22 bout at the USF SUN DOME will be Petruzelli’s first fight since defeating Kimbo Slice.

Chris Baten is no Kimbo. Baten is a seasoned MMA fighter who has made appearances in the now extinct IFL. At 205 lbs. Baten will be an entirely different opponent for Petruzelli as fans should expect to see a standup war. Baten is also a Tampa Area police officer who has a large following in the area. Baten will seek to defeat a big time name in the sport cementing his name as one of the world’s best fighters.

OTHER MATCHUPS
Other matchups include the IFL vet Delson “Pe de Chumbo” Heleno versus the heavy handed pride of Kansas Tyler Stinson. This fight is going to be extremely exciting as Stinson has already put on a great show of skill in his first AOF vicotry against the Swiss Muay Thai Champion Yasubey Enomoto. Delson Heleno is an extremely well rounded fighter who brings a nuclear amount of energy into the cage. These two fighters are amongst some of the other elite athletes to be in the Sun Dome on August 22.

UPDATE:

EliteXC star American Top Team Trainer, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo black belt Nicolae “Armor” Cury slated to fight WEC vet Justin Haskins at 170 lbs.

Lightweight State Champion, Eric Reynolds has been just added to the card to fight Ireland’s Greg Loughran. Both fighters did a short stint on ESPN Deportes’ Bellator Promotion. Eric is the Florida State Lightweight Champion, the belt is not on the line since Loughran is not from Florida.

TV
AMP Film Studios, a division of Active Media partners, has negotiated a distribution agreement for Art of Fighting 4 – Cruz vs. Sauer. The show, produced by AMP Film Studios Creative Director, Edward Isin, will be available in its entirety in over 44 million homes in the US, Canada, and parts of Mexico and the Caribbean using Pay Per View On Demand services on popular cable and Telco outlets, including ATT Uverse, Verizon Fios, Time Warner, Cox Communications, Comcast and More.

FightZone TV will air the event at a later date on Sun Sports, Sport South, DIRECTV, The Dish Network and ATT U-verse to over 25 million homes.