FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 15th, 2015
WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING RETURNS TO NBCSN THIS SAT., OCT. 17, LIVE AT 8:30 P.M. ET FROM MASHANTUCKET, CONN.
Jon Fitch vs. Yushin “Thunder” Okami in Welterweight Bout
Champion Blagoy Ivanov vs. Derrick “Caveman” Mehmen in Heavyweight Title Fight
Magomed “Gladiator” Bibulatov vs. Donavon Frelow in the First-Ever WSOF Flyweight Title Fight
NBC Sports Live Extra to Stream All Bouts
STAMFORD, Conn. – October 15, 2015 – World Series of Fighting returns to NBCSN this Saturday, Oct. 17, live at 8:30 p.m. ET, highlighted by a welterweight bout between Jon Fitch (26-7-1) and Yushin “Thunder” Okami (30-9) from Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Conn. The winner of the fight is expected to face Jake Shields for World Series of Fighting’s vacant welterweight title.
Fitch first challenged for the WSOF welterweight title in December 2014 (WSOF 16), which resulted in a submission loss to then-champ Rousimar Palhares. Okami made his WSOF debut in March 2014 (WSOF 9), earning a submission win over Svetlozar Savov, but fell short in a bid for the WSOF middleweight title by fourth-round submission loss to David Branch in November 2014 (WSOF 15).
The co-main event features Blagoy Ivanov (12-1) defending his WSOF heavyweight title against Derrick “Caveman” Mehmen (19-6). In his WSOF debut this past June (WSOF 21), Ivanov scored a third-round submission win over then-WSOF heavyweight champion Smealinho Rama to claim the belt. Mehmen has won seven of his last eight bouts.
In addition, Magomed “Gladiator” Bibulatov (9-0) will face Donavon Frelow (5-0) in the first-ever WSOF flyweight title fight.
Tomorrow’s card also features bouts between “Notorious” Nick Newell (12-1), who went undefeated through his first 11 career fights despite being born with just one fully-developed arm, and Tom Marcellino (7-3) in the lightweight division; and Vinny “Pezao” Magalhaes (12-7) and Matt “The Hammer” Hamill (11-5) in the light heavyweight division.
Play-by-play announcer Todd Harris will be joined by mixed martial artists and analysts Chael Sonnen and Joey Varner to call the action from Foxwoods.
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.
