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| #Post#: 33415-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Kurt Angle Announced for MMA FanFest | |
| By: ChrissiCalvert Date: October 28, 2015, 6:05 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| It�s True! It�s Damn True! � Bellator MMA signs Former WWE and | |
| Current TNA Superstar Kurt Angle | |
| Santa Monica (Oct. 28, 2015) � On November 5, combat sports fans | |
| from all around the country will converge on the Dave & Busters | |
| in Maryland Heights, Missouri for the �Official Bellator Fan | |
| Fest,� where they can meet several of their favorite athletes | |
| and receive photos and autographs. | |
| Bellator officials announced today that TNA superstar, former | |
| WWE superstar and Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle will join the | |
| epic line up, which is already packed with star power the likes | |
| of Kimbo Slice, Liam McGeary, Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and | |
| Tito Ortiz. | |
| WHAT: | |
| Bellator Fan Fest at Dave & Buster�s | |
| Fans of all ages are invited to Dave and Buster�s in Maryland | |
| Heights, MO to meet and receive autographs from some of the | |
| greatest and most popular MMA fighters of all time. Fans will | |
| also have the opportunity to win tickets and great prizes, as | |
| well as snap a photograph with the Bellator ring girls. | |
| WHERE: | |
| Dave & Buster�s | |
| 13857 Riverport Dr. | |
| Maryland Heights, MO | |
| WHEN: | |
| Thursday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. CT | |
| WHO: | |
| Kurt Angle was a Pennsylvania High School State Champion | |
| Wrestler, and an All-State linebacker on the Mt. Lebanon High | |
| School Football team. The two-sport star pursued wrestling at | |
| Clarion University�s D-1 program, where he collected a slew of | |
| accolades including one National runner up, two National | |
| Championships, three All-American honors, and countless | |
| additional championships. | |
| After college, Angle won gold at the FILA Wrestling World | |
| Championships and began training for the 1996 Olympic games | |
| under the tutelage of Dave Schultz at the Foxcatcher Club before | |
| his highly publicized murder. After Schultz�s death, Angle would | |
| leave Foxcatcher and join the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club in his | |
| memory. | |
| When the Olympic trials concluded, Angle had earned his spot to | |
| compete in the Olympics, but suffered two fractures of his | |
| cervical vertebrae, two herniated discs and four pulled muscles | |
| in the process. With five months to rest and rehab, Angle would | |
| win his Olympic gold medal in the 90-100 kg division. | |
| After winning the gold, Angle parlayed his wrestling skills into | |
| an amazing career in professional wrestling in several | |
| organizations such as TNA, ECW, NWA, WCW, IGF and most notably | |
| the WWF/WWE. | |
| Angle is the only professional wrestler in history to have won | |
| championships in WWE, WCW, TNA and IWGP, totaling an impressive | |
| 13 World Championships and 21 total championship belts. In 2010, | |
| Dave Meltzer�s �Wrestling Observer Newsletter� named Angle the | |
| �Wrestler of the Decade� for the 2000s. | |
| There is only one Kimbo Slice. The unmistakable bearded brawler | |
| achieved fame through a series of street fights that garnered | |
| extreme levels of attention on YouTube. After parlaying his fame | |
| into an MMA career, Kimbo exploded onto the scene and became one | |
| of the sports most popular stars of all-time. Kimbo has been the | |
| focal point of the first and third-most watched MMA fights in | |
| the sport�s history. This past June in St. Louis, his fight | |
| against Ken Shamrock shattered Bellator MMA�s viewership | |
| records. | |
| The first British World Champion in the history of MMA will | |
| always be Liam McGeary. At 6�6 the towering fighter has achieved | |
| notoriety around the world with his impressive skillset which | |
| has seen him end fights with impressive knockout power as well | |
| as jiu-jitsu prowess. Currently undefeated at 11-0, the future | |
| is bright for the Bellator MMA Champion. Most recently, McGeary | |
| defeated fellow Fan Fest participant Tito Ortiz in the main | |
| event of the groundbreaking �Bellator MMA: Dynamite 1.� | |
| The name Gracie is synonymous with MMA, and that is largely in | |
| part to Royce Gracie, the man who is considered to have invented | |
| the sport as we know it today. The winner of the first several | |
| UFC events, Gracie would dismantle multiple opponents in a | |
| single night, many of whom were much larger than him. For many | |
| years there was no answer for the Gracie Jiu Jitsu technique | |
| that he brought into a fight. Today, it�s hard to find an MMA | |
| fighter who hasn�t trained in the art of jiu-jitsu. | |
| Often referred to as �The Godfather� of MMA, Ken Shamrock is a | |
| pioneer of the sport, and introduced an incredible brand of MMA | |
| that helped shape the sport into what it is today. With | |
| incredible suplexes and leg locks, �The World�s Most Dangerous | |
| Man� always made for must-see TV. His heated rivalries with guys | |
| like Royce Gracie and Tito Ortiz generated incredible buzz, and | |
| helped popularize the sport. His fight with Tito Ortiz was at | |
| one time the second-most watched MMA fight of all time. | |
| �The People�s Champion� Tito Ortiz is a fan-favorite all over | |
| the world. The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion was one of | |
| the toughest competitors in the cage. Utilizing his wrestling | |
| background, Ortiz was a grinder who defended his title an | |
| impressive five times. Always with a flare for the dramatic, | |
| Ortiz had intense rivalries in the cage with guys like Ken | |
| Shamrock, as well as outside the cage with UFC President Dana | |
| White. | |
| FIGHT INFO: | |
| �Bellator 145� features two world title bouts. Patricio | |
| �Pitbull� Freire (24-2) defends his featherweight strap against | |
| Daniel Straus (23-6) and Will �Ill Will� Brooks (16-1) meets | |
| submission specialist Marcin Held (21-3), with the 155-pound | |
| belt on the line. The event will also feature a trio of Missouri | |
| natives with Michael Chandler (13-3), who fights David Rickels | |
| (16-3, 1 NC); heavyweight Bobby �The Dominator� Lashley (13-2) | |
| who looks to avenge a previous loss on his record when he | |
| finally meets James Thompson (20-14) in a rematch; and Justin | |
| Lawrence (8-2) who meetsEmmanuel Sanchez (11-2). | |
| Tickets for �Bellator 145,� which start at just $30, are on sale | |
| now at Ticketmaster.com and at the Ford Box Office at Scottrade | |
| Center. Doors for the event open at 5:00 p.m. CT local time, and | |
| the first contest takes place one hour after. | |
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