MMA And Pro Wrestling News: UFC Returns To Sydney, Australia In March 2012; WWE News, CM Punk

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The rough and tough MMA based sport of UFC has announced its return to Sydney for 3rd March 2012.

Your main event will be a welterweight match-up between Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann inside the octagon at a hopefully jam packed Allphones Arena.

The exciting MMA card will also feature the debut of the UFC’s flyweight division with a two-bout tourney to decide the top contenders at 125-pounds (56.7kg).

Tickets are now on sale, and we understand, selling fast, but not quite as quick as the past two Australian tours we've been leaked.

UFC Managing Director of International Development Marshall Zelaznik advised the UFC was wrapt to return to Sydney for its third live event in as many years.

"We’ve had tremendous success with our two previous events, with last year’s UFC 127 remaining the equal fastest sell-out in the organisation’s history," he said.

"I’ve got no doubt that our Aussie fans will be just as excited about our March event, especially as they’ll witness UFC history with the introduction of the flyweight division. The 125-pound contenders will absolutely put everything on the line is Sydney, knowing that the winners of those two bouts will then have a shot at the inaugural flyweight title. It’s going to be a great show."

Zelaznik said on the upcoming Australian tour: “Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann are two seasoned mixed martial artists who are sure to go to all out in the octagon. Both athletes are coming off recent wins and will be looking to continue their streak to climb the welterweight ladder.”

Insiders will already know that just off his first round beat-up of UFC newcomer Papy Abedi at UFC 139, Thiago Alves (24-7) has returned once again in strong form that has previously seen him rampage through the welterweight division with wins over UFC greats such as Chris Lytle, Matt Hughes and Josh Koschek, before challenging for the welterweight title in July 2009.

Martin Kampmann (18-5) is looking to reinforce his unanimous decision win at UFC 139 over up-and-coming welterweight Rick ‘The Horror’ Story when he faces of against Alves in the Octagon on Australian soil. Whose face gets rubbed in the dirt er soil, remains to be seen.

The Dane has formidable knock-out power and an underrated ground strategy that has seen him score victory in 9 of his 12 fights in the Octagon, including bests over Carlos Condit, Jorge Rivera and Paulo Thiago.

In the flyweight division, ex No.1 WEC bantamweight contender Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson (14-2) will go against the recently crowned Tachi Palace Fights flyweight champion, Ian McCall (11-2), while Joseph Benavidez (15-2) will challenge Japanese competitor, Shooto champ Yasuhiro Urushitani (19-4-6) in the weight division’s two semi-finals.

UFC / WWE Scoops...

Brock Lesnar May return to WWE

Potential opponents are rumoured to be The Undertaker and the recently returned, Chris Jericho (also a rumoured opponent at WWE WrestleMania against CM Punk)

WWE interested in former U.S Olympic wrestling superstar Kurt Angle for Royal Rumble; Angle says he's staying loyal to Impact Wrestling; Angle won't rule out UFC at some point.


CM Punk Talks UFC via MMA Fighting and more...

WWE star CM Punk appeared on "The MMA Hour" with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting. The highlights...

-Helwani introduced Punk and noted that he received a lot of heat for having him on as a guest because some people don't want any crossover. Punk noted that pro wrestlers are doing submission holds they've picked up for MMA, and noted that Alberto Del Rio battled Mirko CroCop.

-Helwani mentioned Triple H's comments about UFC needing to evolve more than WWE. "I think that's absolutely insane," Punk said. He said every sport or business needs to evolve. "Pro wrestling has, in my opinion, a lot of work to do," Punk said. He said he's spoken with Triple H numerous times about MMA. "He just doesn't get it," Punk said. "He doesn't watch it either. I think it's just an education thing. Saying UFC has to evolve, I guess he's not wrong, but he's missing the big picture that UFC is evolving."

-Punk was quizzed whether MMA has hurt the pro wrestling business. "Well, it hasn't helped," he said. "To deny that UFC isn't our competition is ridiculous." He added that everything from Cirque du Soleil to television shows such as "Breaking Bad" are competition to WWE.

-Helwani probed whether it surprises Punk that WWE hasn't looked at MMA to see things they can emulate. Punk said he's a wrestling guy and he believes it is a sport. "I'm a fan," Punk said. "I would love to see clean finishes, less run-ins, and I'd like to see wins and losses matter... Those are things that are based in reality." He questioned why guys get title shots time after time when they are losing. He said there are certain things that could be tightened up in that regard.

-Punk said some days are better than others when it comes to travel. He said some top guys have buses they travel in. He said he's getting to the point where he's considering that possibility. He said he enjoys traveling and the challenge of living on the road, but he said he would like to be at home for six months just to see what it was like. He added that he would probably go nuts seven days in.

-Punk advised he became an MMA fan early on going back to the first or second UFC event. He said he and his friend were hooked. He said Dan Henderson is probably his favorite wrestler.

-Punk said the last UFC event he watched live was Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez. He said he doesn't go out to find the shows when he's on the road. He said he despises Hooters, and doesn't think it would end well if a pro wrestler went to watch an MMA show with drunk people who want to prove something in the room.

-Punk was asked about the Brock Lesnar and Undertaker confrontation. He said he thinks he knows more about that situation than most people. He thought it was fantastic that two guys could exchange a glance at get the sports world talking. Punk said Dana White will never allow Brock Lesnar to get a WrestleMania payday while he's under UFC contract.

-Helwani asked Punk who he will face at WrestleMania 28. Punk said he doesn't know who he will face tonight on Raw because things change every three minutes. Punk said he would like to face Steve Austin, and joked that Austin would never duck a challenge. "As far as who I am actually wrestling at WrestleMania, I could tell you and it would probably change 162 times today."

MMA fans, that's a wrap.

As per usual, Australian fans who don't attend the matches in person can tune into Main Event TV on Foxtel.

UFC SYDNEY 2012 EVENT DATE:
Saturday 3 March - Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park

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WWE Legend's House begins filming next month in California; Foxtel May Scoop Slam, by Greg Tingle

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Wrestling fans from Sydney's Bondi Beach, New York, USA, Hollywood and around the world are buzzing at the news of an upcoming WWE television show - WWE Legend's House, which will be one of the showcase programs on the new WWE Network.

Filming is to commence next month in Rancho Mirage, California, USA and its turned into quite a news media frenzy with video camera operators and photographers all seeking out shots of the legends.

This February at least eight former World Wrestling Entertainment stars will be under one roof in a show not too unlike MTV's "Real Life" with a bit of "Jersey Shore", "Big Brother", "The Ultimate Fighter" and "Tough Enough" thrown in there for good measure.

WWE Legends House will be filmed in Rancho Mirage at the historic home of late comedian Harpo Marx at the Tamarisk Country Club.

WWE Hall of Famer "Mean" Gene Okerlund, the legendary wrestling announcer and interviewer, has been confirmed for the show. Australian fans will recognise Gene as the host of "WWE Vintage Collection" as seen on Foxtel - Fox 8, usually in a TV spot next to WWE SmackDown or WWE Superstars.

We're been tipped off that other cast members with include "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and The Iron Sheik. We're hoping that Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, "The Honky Tonk Man", "The Magnificent" Don Muraco or even Ric Flair (*Flair is currently under contract to Impact Wrestling) are also a chance to appear. Don't expect Scott Hall to appear as the man formally known as "Razor Ramon" has been getting some WWE Wellness Program rehab (for real) in recent years, and to have Hall on the new show would not be a wise risk to take at this stage of the game, however we're hopeful Hall may be able to appear on future episodes of Legends House, should the show be as wildly successful as anticipated.

Sadly Australia's "Outback Jack" - real name Peter Stilsbury (circa 1987 with WWF) won't appear, nor will Nathan "The Front Row" Jones. Neither would be considered an outright WWE legend, however both were certainly well known in their day.

Can you imagine The Iron Sheik drinking, eating and just socializing in general with other WWE legends. Something tells us they are going to have to bleep out much of his foul language, but fans familiar with the very funny and vulgar sheik will get the idea.

Hardcore fans will remember the time Australia's Wide World of Sports on Channel Nine aired the Madison Square Garden matches featuring "The Iron Shiek". One was when then WWF Champion Bob Backlund got caught in the camel clutch by the Iranian and Backlund's manager, (the late) Arnold Skaaland threw in the towel. The other famous sheik match that aired on the then Kerry Packer owned Channel Nine was when Hulk Hogan beat the sheik with his famous clothesline and atomic leg drop. The old WWF Championship Wrestling used footage from the Hogan - Sheik match for its intro music video for many years.

The WWE is going to pitch "Legends House" to audiences as unscripted drama, which is curious as pro wrestlers by nature usually work of a script. Wooooo! - we just broke kayfabe again, but most of the western world knows pro wrestling aka "sports entertainment" has storylines, angles, script writers et al these days, but that's not to say they are not talented athletes - they are indeed some of the best athletes on the planet, but only a few such as Roddy Piper could be considered a very talented actor as far as regular movie appearances go.

The concept does share some similarities to the UFC's Ultimate Fighter (TUF) series, but its wrestling legends - not up and coming UFC stars, who have to prove their worth in matches.

Many fans are hoping for a few outcomes - legends sharing tales from the road trips and locker rooms, who hated who for real, secrets of the profession and that sort of thing. We suppose if a real fight breaks out on set that will be a bonus.

The Media Man agency's spokesperson said "We fully expect that WWE Legends House" will become one of the most popular and most talked about shows on both American and Australian television. WWE top brass genius Vince McMahon has really hit the sweet spot with this one. It's got ratings winner all over it and fits in perfectly with the current "reality era" of the WWE, where the pro wrestling action and scripts carry a much more realistic edge than in the '90 - 2000 era. Australian TV networks, be it Foxtel or Network Nine or Ten, would do well to get in early on this one and secure the rights of a sure fire winner. Kids and parents should try not to copy some of the bad language and practical jokes that are bound to be a staple of this hot new show".

*Wrestling History

January 23, 1984: Hulk Hogan beats Iron Sheik to win hist first WWF title - Madison Square Garden, New York, USA

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Hulk Hogan Pro Wrestling God Tours Casinos; Sports Entertainment News Update, by Greg Tingle

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Sylvester Stallone Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon

From Bondi Beach, Australia to Japan, Canada, the USA - most of the world knows of Hulk Hogan.

Who can forget the Hulk-A-Mania Australian tour from a few years ago where he feuded with long time rival Ric Flair, and how about the wrestling angle at the then Star City Casino (now The Star), where it appeared at first that Hogan and Flair went at it for real when Flair implied he "had" Hogan's wife "Jennifer", before Hulk did! Now, that would start a fight and boy did the blood flow. The action was so hot that Seven News decided to purchase the video camera footage from the Media Man agency for a considerable sum.

The red did turn to green, as the old wrestling kayfabe saying goes, but not anywhere near as much as the Australian promoter or Hogan would have prefered.

The arena numbers in Australia were on the downside so much that it was largely responsible for TNA Wrestling deciding not to to ahead with an Australian tour.

The only American (or actually global) pro wrestling - sports entertainment company that he since graced Australian shores is the one and only WWE, headed up by promoter genius Vince McMahon. Once in a while Hogan teases a return to the WWE, and the two do have some line of communication. Take note that McMahon has old Hogan rival Flair getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame again (with the other 3 Four Horseman members) the night before WrestleMania, so anything can and does still happen in the WWE. Read up on other recent Media Man WWE news for more on that matter.

This writer would like to see Hogan and Flair both become official WWE spokespersons at some point, but if its to be - they need to make the move soon. Father time is ticking away.

Pro wrestling cousin of sorts, UFC from the MMA world is about to hit Sydney, Australia for a third time, but it ain't wrestling. Note, Brock Lensnar from the UFC and pro wrestling world, has left the UFC recently suffering a loss at the hands of Alistair Overeem at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, USA.

Hardcore pro wrestling fans of the WWF and ECK ilk will likely know this bit of trivia. It was Lesnar that "injured" Hogan's back in 2002 which was the official reason that The Hulk didn't visit down under back then. The back story is that Hogan and McMahon couldn't come to business terms. What's left to say but that's the pro wrestling industry.

Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan was at Speaking Rock Casino and Entertainment Center last week.

Hogan was there for the Micro Championship Wrestling event held at the venue.

Hogan was accompanied by the Nasty Boys, Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags, as well as Ed Leslie, better known as Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, the former WWF Tag Team Champion (having held the title with wrestling legend Greg "The Hammer" Valentine).

Micro Championship Wrestling has a show promoted by Hogan on TruTV. The show, which screens as midget wrestling which has been up and running since August. Note we called them midgets, not dwarfs, so haters lay off ok. Some of the wrestlers also like to be called "little people". Whatever, they are full of excitement, talent and fun, and don't mind sharing it with the world.

Australia's Foxtel doesn't currently get TruTV, so we can't enjoy Hogan's midget wrestling show on the box at this stage, but we're hopeful time will change that. Foxtel is going to soon get a new Factual channel, so there's hope yet wrestling fans.

Hogan is the most recognizable figure in the history of professional wrestling from his success in the business since the 1980s. Hogan's also had many of movies and a host of other high profile shows and projects. Hogan's star power even ecliped "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Gorgeous George (Wagner) and Bruno Sammartino (for you old school wrestling fans out there).

Hogan enjoyed high level feuds with the likes of Andre the Giant, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Paul "Mr Wonderful" Orndorff, King Kong Bundy, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "The Magnificent" Don Muraco, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

On the big screen Hogan has starred in "No Holds Barred," "Suburban Commando" and "Mr. Nanny." He has also made appearances in Rocky III and Walker, Texas Ranger. One can argue that current WWE superstars, John Cena, "The Rock" and Steve Austin took off where Hogan finished as far as mixing wrestling and movies. Roddy Piper is widely regarded as the most talented actor that pro wrestling ever produced. From time to time Piper does his famous "Pipers Pit" talk show segment for the WWE as well as helping out a few other smaller wrestling promotions.

Hogan even had his own reality TV show called "Hogan Knows Best.", and it wasn't long before daughter Brooke, did her own "Brooke Knows Best" show.

Hogan became a household name while in Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now known as WWE, which enjoyed a live event in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Sunday at the Pan American Centre.

He is currently signed to the Impact Wrestling - Total Nonstop Action wrestling promotion and has a range of business projects on the go including in the TV, gaming, casino and internet b2b sectors.

Recently, Hogan has made headlines on celebrity websites for his divorce, his son Nick's car crash, daughter Brooke's music career and the pending removal of his world famous moustache (to satisfy some Hollywood movie producers).

Other

Ric Flair is almost as famous as long time rival Hulk Hogan, who along with Flair is currently under contract to Impact Wrestling. Most would argue that Flair is one of the greatest pro wrestlers in history, while Hogan has earned more income from wrestling and wrestling related activities than just about anyone else.

* The writer has a b2b agreement with the WWE (WWE Shop)

* Wrestling legend Andre The Giant gets online slot game via Richard Branson's Virgin Casino.

* Hogan recently released his Kinnect-based "Hulk Hogan's Main Event" game which got mixed reviews from the gaming industry. The game promo goes "Get pumped and bring the pain in the first full-body wrestling game on Kinect for Xbox 360! In Hulk Hogan’s Main Event Hulkamaniacs can train with wrestling icon Hulk Hogan himself. As your mentor, Hulk will help you build your own wrestling personality and school you in the art of showmanship to win over the crowd. Entertain roaring fans with brutal stunts, combos, even devastating chair hits, that will knock your opponent to the mat or out of the ring. The crazier and wilder your motions, the more high impact your wrestling performance is in your living room ring!"

* Hulk Hogan is also tipped to be soon getting his own online slot game. His Hulk-A-Mania game is being developed by Endemol Games. Endemol is the company behind the famous Big Brother franchise, so you know they know about marketing and publicity. The Media Man agency is tipped to soon come to business terms with Endemol.

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Virgin Casino Releases Andre the Giant Slot Game

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*sorry, no U.S, Canadian, New Zealand or Australian players. See World Casino Directory

Richard Branson's Virgin Casino announced the release of its latest slot game entitled Andre The Giant this week.

Virgin is in the batch of the first casinos to get this amazing slot game. PartyCasino.com is tipped to also host the pro wrestling themed game.

The new wrestling slot game is a Microgaming flash casino game that is based on the iconic World Wrestling Entertainment star Andre the Giant. It has been launched on the QuickFire platform and is fully licensed by CMG Worldwide.

This 5 reel, 25 pay-line slot game has symbols that revolve around the professional wrestling entertainment genre. Players can wrestle with symbols such as the Andre the Giant logo as the scatter, an image of Andre the Giant acts as the wild and there are additional symbols such as the wrestling ring, championship belt, the mask and tickets.

The biggest pay out a player can win from this game is 5,000 coins and this occurs when five matching symbols appear on the same pay-line. Players can then multiply their winnings by playing a game of Hi or Lo with cards.

The Andre Goes Wild feature round allows the wild symbol to expand to cover all three positions on the reel. This will only occur if the expansion results in a winning combination. The wild symbol only appears on reels 2 and 4 during the game.

If two or more Andre the Giant logo scatter symbols appear on the reels at any one time this will activate a scatter pay out. The scatter pay out for hitting five scatter symbols is 200 coins. If a player hits three or more scatter symbols then they will trigger the Battle Bout Bonus round.

In this round, the player is giving 10 free spins. Throughout these 10 free spins, Attack symbols are collected and saved for the second phase of this bonus round. These symbols are some of Andre the Giant signature wrestling moves. Once the free spins finish, the player then takes the Attack symbols collected into the next part of the bonus round where they pick an opponent to fight and then unleash the Attack symbols on that opponent.

Opponents include Flame Bro, Jimmy Iron Legs and Voltage Van Zandt. No, Hulk Hogan or Jake "The Snake" Roberts are not in the game, but we hear both of these wrestling icons are interested to have their own slot game, and Hogan's wish will be coming soon later this year.

If Andre the Giant hits the opponent then the player wins bonus credits. If Andre the Giant hits the opponent three or more times then the player can select one of Andre the Giant’s finishing moves to win the bout and earn multiple bonus credits.

The Andre the Giant slot game is available to play Virgin Casino right now and Virgin offer some of the best online casino bonuses on the planet so ring the bell!

*Andre The Giant fans may also like The Incredible Hulk online slot. Hulk Hogan purchased the Hulk naming rights to use "The Incredible Hulk" from Marvel Entertainment in a multi million dollar deal approximately 20 years ago.

*Australian, New Zealand and Canadian players - try other Hollywood and branded slot games at PartyCasino.com

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Wrestling News: Ric Flair - Four Horsemen Appearing at the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony

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From Bondi Beach, Australia to Japan, Canada, the USA - most of the world knows of Ric Flair.

Flair is almost as famous as long time rival Hulk Hogan, who along with Flair is currently under contract to Impact Wrestling. Most would argue that Flair is one of the greatest pro wrestlers in history, while Hogan has earned more income from wrestling and wrestling related activities than just about anyone else.

The last memory of Ric Flair for many people was the night after WrestleMania 24 when he "retired" into the sunset. Maybe only Flair knows for sure if he thought he had retired for real back then.

This past Monday's WWE Raw, the Four Horsemen—Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, Arn Anderson and Ric Flair—were announced as inductees for the 2012 Hall of Fame.

Ric Flair's inclusion has got the industry and fans talking given "The Nature Boy" is currently under contract with another wrestling organisation.

Ric Flair himself confirms he will be present at the American Airlines Arena the night before WrestleMania 28.

Speculation on how all of this came about is rife.

Did the WWE negotiate a deal with Impact Wrestling so that the 16-time world heavyweight champion could make a one-night appearance?

If such a deal wasn't made, did Flair take it upon himself to commit to show up?

Let's assume a deal wasn't reached between the two companies...it's possible that Flair being shown on WWE TV may have have legal ramifications.

Could WWE top brass Vince McMahon be looking to take over Impact Wrestling, just as he did with WCW and ECW?

Wrestling fans the world over are glued for this developing story and Media Man will be following up.

The Late News...

* Ric Flair spoke with Mike Mooneyham of The Post & Courier about The Four Horsemen going into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.

Flair confirmed reports that Triple H called him while he was at the Impact tapings to tell him about the induction. Flair said the whole TNA crew was watching the Hall of Fame video from RAW backstage at the tapings.

Flair also said that WWE has limited his speech this year to 7 minutes. When Flair was inducted back in 2008, his speech went over an hour.

Flair is looking forward to linking back up with the WWE crew and said, "We’re going to blow the roof off."

* Wrestling legend Andre The Giant gets online slot game via Richard Branson's Virgin Casino.it will be exciting to see the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair on WWE TV even if it's only for a few minutes

* Hulk Hogan is also tipped to be soon getting his own online slot game. His Hulk-A-Mania game is being developed by Endemol Games. Endemol is the company behind the famous Big Brother franchise, so you know they know about marketing and publicity. The Media Man agency is tipped to soon come to business terms with Endemol.

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