FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 5th, 2013

WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING RETURNS TO NBCSN SATURDAY AT 9 P.M. ET

Inaugural Featherweight Title Bout Features Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Lance Palmer

Middleweight Tournament Semifinal Bout: Jesse Taylor vs. Elvis Mutapcic

Co-Feature Bouts Include Nick Newell vs. Sabah Fadai & Dwayne Lewis vs. Kalib Starnes

Stamford, Conn. – December 5, 2013 – World Series of Fighting (WSOF) makes its Canadian debut on NBCSN Saturday at 9 p.m. ET in the promotion’s sixth show of 2013 with an exciting  card of elite mixed martial arts (MMA). The main event features the first featherweight championship fight in WSOF history between Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan (22-3-1, 4 KOs) of Riverside, Calif., and undefeated Lance “Unstoppable” Palmer (7-0) of Sacramento, Calif.

This weekend’s WSOF is also highlighted by the return of undefeated “Notorious” Nick Newell (10-0, 2 KOs) of Springfield, Mass., who fights with one fully-developed arm due to a birth condition known as congenital amputation. 

COMMENTATORS: Play-by-play announcer Todd Harris and mixed martial artist and analyst Bas Rutten will call the action from PNE Agrodome in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Kharakhanyan vs. Palmer

In the main event, Kharakhanyan, a former professional soccer player and top-15 ranked featherweight according to USA Today, looks to extend his eight-fight win streak against Lance Palmer, a former four-time All-American collegiate wrestler at Ohio State University.

Jesse “JT Money” Taylor vs. Elvis “The King” Mutapcic

Jesse “JT Money” Taylor (26-9, 5 KOs) of San Diego, Calif., faces Elvis “The King” Mutapcic (13-2, 5 KOs) of Des Moines, Iowa, in a middleweight tournament semifinal bout. The winner of the bout will progress to the title contest against David Branch. Taylor was a finalist on The Ultimate Fighter 7 and currently holds championship belts for Europe’s Cage Warriors Fighting Championship and Australia’s K-Oz Entertainment. Mutapcic is a former champion for Canada’s Maximum Fighting Championship promotion, and boasts a five-fight win streak and is 10-1 in his past 11 appearances.

“Notorious” Nick Newell  vs. Sabah “The Persian Warrior” Fadai

“Notorious” Nick Newell was the 155-lb. champion for the Florida-based Xtreme Fighting Championship when he decided to fight for WSOF.  In his last WSOF appearance he finished Keon Caldwell with a first-round submission win.  He now faces Sabah “The Persian Warrior” Fadai, a five-time Pan-Asian gold medalist in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Dwayne “D-Bomb” Lewis vs. Kalib Starnes

Dwayne “D-Bomb” Lewis (13-8, 7 KOs) of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, faces Kalib Starnes (15-8-1, 4 KOs) of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, in a light heavyweight contest. Starnes is a five-time UFC veteran and former Armageddon Fighting Championship middleweight champion.

WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING ON NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA

NBC Sports Live Extra — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets — will live stream World Series of Fighting on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET.

Coverage will be streamed via “TV Everywhere,” the media industry’s effort to make quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app for mobile devices and tablets is available at the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and on select Android handset and tablet devices within Google Play.

All NBC Sports Network live events live stream to PCs, mobile devices and tablets through NBC Sports Live Extra, and to the digital platforms of participating cable, satellite, and telco services, via “TV Everywhere,” which is available on an authenticated basis to subscribers of participating MVPDs.

About World Series of Fighting: NBC Sports Network and World Series of Fighting agreed to a three-year partnership in February 2013. The agreement includes at least six events per year on NBC Sports Network beginning this year. www.wsof.com

World Series of Fighting Contact: Danny Brener; dannyb@bzapr.com or 818-577-8215

For more information about NBC Sports Group shows and properties, including press releases, photos, talent and executive bios and headshots, please visit NBCSportsGroupPressBox.com

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