SIX-PART ‘ART DAVIE SPEAKS OUT’ VIDEO SERIES DEBUTS THIS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22

Los Angeles, CA –In conjunction with the 21^st anniversary of ‘UFC 1: The Beginning,’ the UFC’s inaugural event from 1993, the University of MMA has produced a six-part video interview series featuring Art Davie, creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The first episode will launch this Wednesday, October 22, at 11:00am PST on the University of MMA’s YouTube channel(www.YouTube.com/UofMMA).

Entitled ‘Art Davie Speaks Out,’ the series will spotlight Mr. Davie’s thoughts on several topics related to the creation and evolution of mixed martial arts in North America. A short sizzle piece for the series can be found here: http://youtu.be/RuK3NtkFCmU

On July 1, Mr. Davie’s tell-all memoir, Is This Legal? The Inside Story of the First UFC From the Man Who Created It, hit Amazon.com and bookstores across the country. Since it’s launch, Is This Legal? has ranked at the top of Amazon.com’s martial arts biographies numerous times in both the digital and hardcover categories.

The University of MMA interviewed the pioneering promoter to commemorate his appearance and book signing at the U’s previous show, Fight Night 8. Originally intended as a two-part interview, the discussion proved to be substantial enough to expand into a larger series.

“I’m a firm believer that knowing one’s history is an important part of evolution, whether you’re talking about people, sports, society at large, or whatever. It was an honor just to have Art at our show. Now, to have this interview series as part of the U’s library, is a company high water mark for us,” said University of MMA matchmaker Jay Tan.

“To say that Art Davie is a legend is an understatement.  Whatever a legend is, he’s several notches above that,” added University of MMA founder Turi Altavilla. “Without his vision and the courage to pursue that vision, chances are we’d all be doing something a lot different than being involved in MMA.”

When informed of the plans to break the interview up into multiple installments, Mr. Davie noted “this was one of the most penetrating and incisive interviews that I’ve enjoyed since the book was released in July. I’m thrilled that the (University of MMA videographer/editor) Bob Skolnick was able to take what we recorded and expand it into something larger,” said Mr. Davie.

Among the topics Mr. Davie discusses are his relationship with Rorion Gracie, why he wrote Is This Legal?, the fighters of UFC 1, how the ‘UFC’ name was conceived, the evolution of MMA, and his views on amateur MMA.

ABOUT THE University of MMA (www.UofMMA.com): TheUniversity of Mixed Martial Arts (aka “The U of MMA”) is a Los Angeles-based fight promotion specializing in exciting, high-octane, upscale amateur MMA events around the Southern California region. Its mandate is to provide a stage for young, aspiring fighters to hone their MMA skills and develop themselves as marketable personalities and respectable ambassadors of the sport. The U of MMA was founded in 2010, and ran its first show on September 19^th of that year at the Irvine Mariott in Irvine, CA, as part of the inaugural California Amateur MMA Organization (CAMO) State Tournament. TheU of MMA serves as a scouting show for professional organizations such as King of the Cage and the Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA). Each event is sanctioned by the CAMO, which upholds the highest safety standards in the nation for amateur competition. The team behind the U of MMA collectively has over 20 years of professional promoting experience at the highest level of the sport, including international and domestic events which were broadcast on pay-per-view, cable, and network television in the United States, Japan, and Great Britain. For tomorrow’s MMA stars and champions … IT STARTS HERE!

ART DAVIE, CREATOR OF THE UFC, TO ATTEND BELLATOR MMA 122 ON JULY 25, AT PECHANGA CASINO

July 22, 2014 — With his tell-all memoir, Is This Legal?: The Inside Story of the First UFC from the Man Who Created It, receiving universal praise from book fans, sports media, and the MMA community, UFC creator Art Davie is making the rounds to various fight promotion live events throughout the summer. Most notably, Mr. Davie plans on attending the upcoming Bellator MMA 122 event, scheduled for Friday, July 25, at the Pechanga Resort and Casino, in Temecula, CA.

Bellator 122 marks the beginning of a new era for the promotion, as the event will be the first to take place under the new direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, founder and former owner of Strikeforce MMA in San Jose, CA. Bellator MMA announced in June that Coker would take over as CEO of the Viacom-owned fight promotion.

“Scott Coker is an ideal promoter to reboot Bellator. He’s got a ton of experience with his success at Strikeforce to draw on,” said Davie. “Not all fighters who win can be stars. But Bellator has been a talent factory for creating credible new stars in the MMA universe. This new era for Bellator promises to be the most productive yet.”

Mr. Davie’s co-author for Is This Legal?, Sean Wheelock, is best-known for his play-by-play work with Bellator since 2010. Wheelock and Davie started writing the book in 2012, and this will be the first Bellator event to take place since the book’s launch on July 1.

“Sean Wheelock was my anchor in writing IS THIS LEGAL? He’s been a friend and rock-solid supporter of mine for years. I’m very fortunate to have him in my corner,” commented Davie.

In addition to Mr. Wheelock’s involvement in the book, Spike President Kevin Key and Bellator color commentator Jimmy Smith both contributed blurbs to the book.

Is This Legal? is Davie’s tell-all memoir about creating the inaugural UFC over 20 years ago. Taking place on November 12, 1993 in Denver, CO, UFC 1 stands as a revolutionary moment in marital arts and combat sports, when ten men competed in a one-night, style-versus-style martial arts tournament that captured the imagination of 4,000 attending fans and almost 90,000 households across America via pay-per-view TV.

Described as equal parts Abner Doubleday, PT Barnum, and Dr. James Naismith, Davie tells a vivid and fast-moving first-person account of navigating through a world of financial risks, political power-plays, egotistical fighters, family feuds, and numerous powder-keg situations – all to answer the age-old question of who is the world’s best fighter? 

Is This Legal? also features a highly improbable cast of characters, including Academy Award nominee John Milius, NFL Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, action film star Chuck Norris, kickboxing champ Benny ‘The Jet’ Urquidez, Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Rorion Gracie and pay-per-view TV pioneer Bob Meyrowitz.

Mr. Davie will be available for interviews at Bellator 122, as scheduled in advance through Jay Tan, who will also be in attendance and reachable at (213) 618-0332 /jtan@TanDynasty.com.

For more information on IS THIS LEGAL? The Inside Story of the First UFC from the Man Who Created It, visit www.isthislegalthebook.com. Visit www.ascendbooks.com for more great titles on your favorite teams, coaches, athletes, and celebrities.

Bellator Re-Signs On–Air Analyst Jimmy Smith To Five Year Deal

Newport Beach, Calif. (February 13, 2014) – After 109 Bellator events, fans around the world have become accustomed to hearing on air analyst MMA veteran Jimmy Smith break down the intricacies of every fight inside the Bellator cage. That analysis will continue as Smith and Bellator have agreed to a new five year contract extension that will keep the former fighter turned broadcaster on air for Bellator through 2018.

“I couldn’t be happier to know that the next half decade I’ll be able to continue calling Bellator home. The entire team at Bellator are really like family to me and to have seen this family/company grow the way it has since I came aboard is really incredible,” Smith said. “I’ve been with Bellator since the start of Season 2, and I’ve called almost 100 fights with the company over the last five years. Our partnership with Spike, the ratings, audience, sold out live events and most importantly the incredible fights, makes this a perfect situation for me. Having seen firsthand what’s happened over the last four years, I cannot wait to see what happens over the next five.  I absolutely believe in Bjorn’s vision and in everything that Bellator, Spike and our family are doing. I’m just thrilled to be part of it long term. ”

A wrestler in high school, Smith began studying at UCLA and joined the schools wrestling club. After a local jiu-jitsu instructor showed up to teach a class for the club, Smith was hooked on mixed martial arts, and began training with Team Punishment in Huntington Beach. After a 6-1 professional career concluded in 2006, Smith began working on “Fight Quest”, which featured Smith traveling the world as he learned different fighting styles from across the globe. After a two year run on “Fight Quest”, Smith received a last minute call to commentate a fight in Russia with play-by-play man Sean Wheelock.

“I had no idea what to expect when I sat down, but Sean gave me a quick crash course in broadcasting, and I just took it from there,” Smith said. “From that point on, Sean and I began to build a chemistry together, and after calling fights all around the world together, we really developed a unique bond and comfort level with each other that I think transfers over to the broadcast. It was that chemistry that led Sean and I to Bellator.”

As Bellator was set to begin its second season in 2010, the promotion was looking for a veteran broadcast team to anchor the telecast. While the two had never met, a phone call between Smith and Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney was all that was needed to convince Rebney he had found the right team.

“I called Jimmy early in 2010 about the possibility of joining the Bellator team,” Rebney said. “I was familiar with his work, but had never had an actual conversation with Jimmy. I brought up that we were doing a welterweight tournament in our second season, and before I could talk about who was fighting, Jimmy gave me a breakdown of every fighter in the tournament, who he thought was the favorite, and who I should keep my eye on. It was evident then this was the guy we needed, and the rest is history. The chemistry between Sean and Jimmy is magic. In almost every highlight we have in our collection, those are the two voices you hear. They are in the fabric of everything we do, and it’s great to have Jimmy on board with our family for the next five years.”

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney and check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BellatorMMA