* * MEDIA & PUBLIC OPEN WORKOUT * *
STRIKEFORCE WORLD LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION
GILBERT MELENDEZ, “MAYHEM” MILLER,
FORMER VOLS PLAYER OVINCE SAINT PREUX
AND MORE — MEDIA & PUBLIC WORKOUT
Wednesday, April 14, at Nashville Mixed Martial Arts, 1 p.m. CT
WHO: STRIKEFORCE World Lightweight Champion Gilbert “El Nino’’ Melendez
MMA Star & MTV “Bully Beatdown” Host Jason “Mayhem” Miller
Former University of Tennessee Linebacker Ovince Saint Preux
Hard-Hitting Nashville Fighter Josh “The Warhammer’’ Shockman
Local Fighter Dustin West
WHEN: Wednesday, April 14, at 1 p.m. CT
WHERE: Nashville Mixed Martial Arts, 490 Allied Drive, Suite C, Nashville, TN 37211,
Phone: 615-297-4430
WHAT: Gilbert Melendez and Jason “Mayhem’’ Miller, who will compete on a STRIKEFORCE World Championship tripleheader Saturday, April 17, live on The CBS Television Network (9 p.m. ET/PT) from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., will participate in an open workout in Nashville just three days before the historic event featuring five fighters ranked among the best in their respective weight classes.
Joining the nationally televised fighters will be three local fighters who will compete in the non-televised undercard: Ovince Saint Preux, a former University of Tennessee linebacker, John Shockman and Dustin West.
Melendez (17-2), of San Francisco, Calif., will make his first defense since
regaining the STRIKEFORCE World Lightweight belt against Japan’s Shinya Aoki (23-4),
the DREAM 155-pound champ who has won three straight and six of his last seven.
Saint. Preux, who’ll take on Chris Hawk, of Memphis, played for the Vols from 2001-2004. After graduating with a degree in Sociology in ’04, he became involved in MMA. He competed in Tennessee’s first sanctioned MMA event on Feb. 20, 2009.
Miller (22-7) will face Tennessee’s Tim Stout (12-8). One of MMA’s most eccentric personalities, Miller has become a household name as host of the MTV smash hit reality series, Bully Beatdown.
Nashville fighter Josh Shockman will take on Cale “Aquaman’’ Yarbrough (6-1), of Atlanta, and Nashville locals Andy “Stunner’’ Uhrich (4-0) and Dustin West (2-2) will face each other at 170 pounds
In the main event, legendary MMA superstar and two-time Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson (25-7), who fights out of Temecula, Calif., and is one of the most decorated fighters in MMA history, will make his STRIKEFORCE debut when he challenges Shields, the STRIKEFORCE World Middleweight Champion (24-4-1) of San Francisco, who has won 13 in-a-row and is unbeaten since December 2004.
The enormously talented Gegard “The Dreamcatcher’’ Mousasi (27-2-1), of Armenia, will put a 15-fight winning streak and his STRIKEFORCE World Light Heavyweight crown on the line against one of the most confident, fastest-rising fighters in the world, King Mo (6-0), an undefeated light heavyweight contender from Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Tickets are on sale at the Bridgestone Arena ticket office, all Ticketmaster locations (800) 745-3000, Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and STRIKEFORCE’S official website (www.strikeforce.com).
