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Written by Julian Radbourne
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YAMMA PIT FIGHTING CROWNS TRAVIS WIUFF AS HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION Inaugural Event Also Sees Victories by Oleg Taktarov and Pat Smith in ‘Masters Superfights’
Atlantic City, April 12, 2008 – On April 11, Travis “The Diesel” Wiuff was crowned the first YAMMA Heavyweight Champion, outlasting seven other competitors in an awe-inspiring tournament in YAMMA Pit Fighting's inaugural pay-per-view event. For the first time in over a decade, MMA returned to its origins by reviving the hugely popular tournament format, in which fighters participated in multiple fights in an attempt to capture the title of YAMMA Heavyweight Champion. Wiuff’s hard-earned victory included wins over Marcelo Pereira, Alexys Oleynik and Chris Tuscherer. The event, held at the Trump Taj Mahal, was comprised of an eight-man tournament and two ‘Masters Superfights,’ in which Pat Smith defeated Eric “Butterbean” Esch and Oleg “The Russian Bear” Taktarov defeated Mark Kerr. The event also featured ring announcer Scott Ferrall and Olympic gold medal winner Jeff Blatnick commentating. YAMMA Pit Fighting is the brainchild of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) founder Bob Meyrowitz. The championship match got off to a raucous start in the first round when Wiuff delivered several devastating strikes to Tuscherer, sending him wobbling to the ground. The second round saw Wiuff continue to dominate with a relentless ground-and-pound attack and constantly getting the better of Tuchscherer while trading stand-up strikes. Tuscherer mounted a brief comeback in round three, delivering a flurry of blows to Wiuff in the final seconds, but the rally came too late, and Wiuff was awarded the win by decision. “Chris is a tough guy, a guy who’s definitely on his way up. I’m glad I fought him now – he’s only going to get better,” said Wiuff. “But I didn’t train for one fight, I trained for three. I always planned to fight three fights, and that’s just what I did.” "This was an unbelievable night for MMA," said Bob Meyrowitz, Rope Partners. “Between the unveiling of the YAMMA, the return of the tournament format and two phenomenal Masters Superfights, we showed the world tonight that YAMMA Pit Fighting truly is the evolution of MMA." In the first ‘Masters Superfight,’ Oleg Taktrov used his Sambo prowess to quickly submit Mark Kerr with a kneebar. Crowd favorite Butterbean suffered a staggering loss to Pat Smith in the second ‘Masters Superfight,’ with Smith going toe-to-toe with Butterbean in what was arguably the most technical fight of Smith’s career. When Butterbean slipped and the fight went to the ground, Smith dominated with seemingly endless elbow strikes, until the fight was stopped by the referee. “It was a tough fight – You’ve got to respect Butterbean. He nicked me a couple of times and I really felt the power behind those punches.” said Smith. “But in the end, I proved that I could stand up with him and win.” The event witnessed the unveiling of the Yamma, an evolution of the traditional fighting structure designed to keep the fighting more explosive and continuous. The Yamma is a circular pit, shaped almost like a bowl, with a flat bottom that rises up with a three foot lip around the edge. In this ring, if a fighter is pushed backwards towards the fence, he moves up the lip, gaining both a height and leverage advantage over his opponent. From this position, the fighter on the lip can use gravity and leverage to reverse his opponent, and take the fight back into the center without a break in the action. Complete results for the April 11th fight card are as follows: Tournament Round 1Alexy “Samurai” Oleynik def. Sherman “The Tank” PendergarstChris Tuscherer def. Tony “The King” Sylvester Travis “The Diesel” Wiuff def. Marcelo “Pato” PereiraRicco “Suave” Rodriguez def. George Bush III Masters Superfight 1Oleg Taktarov def. Mark Kerr Tournament Round 2Chris Tuscherer def. Alexy “Samurai” OleynikTravis “The Diesel” Wiuff def. Ricco “Suave” Rodriguez Masters Superfight 2Pat Smith def. Butterbean Tournament Heavyweight ChampionshipTravis “The Diesel” Wiuff def. Chris Tuscherer About Rope PartnersRope Partners, formed by Bob Meyrowitz and Peter Kauff, have over a 20 year track record of pioneering successful ventures in the music, broadcasting and sports industries. This is illustrated by their successes with DIR Broadcasting (the largest independent radio syndication company), The College Television Network (the largest private television network in the United States), and Semaphore Entertainment Group (the originator and founder of the UFC). For more information, visit www.yammapitfighting.com or www.myspace.com/yammapitfighting
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