FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 18th, 2015

EIGHT-MAN LIGHTWEIGHT TOURNAMENT HIGHLIGHTS WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING’S RETURN TO NBCSN THIS FRI., NOV. 20, LIVE AT 11 PM ET

Tournament Champion to Challenge for WSOF Lightweight Title

NBC Sports Live Extra to Stream Bouts on NBCSN

STAMFORD, Conn. – November 18, 2015 – World Series of Fighting returns to NBCSN with a special one-night, eight-man lightweight tournament this Friday, November 20 at 11 p.m. ET from Comerica Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. The winner of the tournament will be the next challenger for Justin Gaethje‘s lightweight title.

The NBCSN telecast will feature a pair of two-round semifinal bouts and the a three-round championship bout. The winner of the tournament will have fought three times in one night, a potential total of seven rounds. During the telecast, NBCSN will also present co-main lightweight fight between Jason “The Kansas City Bandit” High (18-5) and Estevan “El Terrible” Payan (16-8).  The four preliminary two-round quarterfinal stage bouts will stream live on WSOF.com.

Todd Harris calls the action joined by mixed martial artist Chael Sonnen and Mike Corey at Comerica Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz.

Following are the athletes participating in the tournament:

  • Brian Cobb (20-8): Cobb is a wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu expert who has produced submission finishes in 12 of his 20 career wins since his professional debut in 2004. He holds notable victories over Rad Martinez, Drew Fickett, Kazunori Yokota and Ronys Torres.
  • Brian Foster (23-7): Foster is 9-2 over his past 11 fights, and is known for both his striking power, with 10 knockouts. He also has 12 victories by submission.
  • Islam Mamedov (12-1): Mamedov is unbeaten in his last 10 starts, a streak that dates back to August 2010. To date, Mamedov has made two appearances in the WSOF cage, scoring first round TKOs on Leon Davis and Jimmy Spicuzza at WSOF 20 and WSOF 22, respectively.
  • Jorge Patino (38-15-2, 1 NC): Patino holds black belts in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo, and has won five of the seven one-night tournaments he has participated in.
  • Rich Patishnock (6-2): Patishnock returns to action for the first time since January 2014, when he fought in the main event of WSOF 8 and was defeated by Gaethje (first-round TKO).
  • Luis “Baboon” Palomino (23-11): Palomino picked up back-to-back knockout wins over fellow tested veteran Jorge “Macaco” Patino and the previously undefeated “Lethal” Lewis Gonzalez earlier this year, before falling to Gaethje in September.
  • Mike Ricci (10-4): Ricci, a Firas Zahabi-trained Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt, has defeated half of his opponents by knockout in his seven-year professional career.
  • Joao “The Brazilain Samurai” Zeferino (18-6): The former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion enters Friday’s tournament coming off five consecutive victories, all by first-round stoppage, including four by submission.

NBC Sports Live Extra: World Series of Fighting will be streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku and Apple TV.

ABOUT WSOF

World Series of Fighting is a professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering an incredible, action-packed entertainment experience for fight fans by producing the best possible matchups between elite fighters from around the globe. For more information please visit WSOF.com. Follow World Series of Fighting on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.

ABOUT NBC SPORTS GROUP

When the Comcast-NBCUniversal transaction was completed in January 2011, the sports assets of the two companies combined to form NBC Sports Group, which serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of a unique array of sports assets, including NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN (NBC Sports Network), Golf Channel, 10 NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Radio and NBC Sports Digital. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of television rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, PGA of America, Churchill Downs, Premier League, Tour de France, French Open, Formula One, IndyCar and many more.