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* FREE OPEN TO PUBLIC WEIGH IN * *
OFFICIAL DRAW FOR THE STRIKEFORCE WOMEN'S WELTERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT & ALL THE FIGHTERS TO STEP ON THE SCALE
Thursday, Aug. 12 at 4:30 p.m. Local Time at Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz.
WHERE: Dodge Theatre
400 West Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85003
***The weigh in will take place in the Dodge Theatre lobby. Media can enter through the 5th Ave and West Adams St. entrance - marked Administration/Production****
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 12 at 4:30 p.m. Local Time
WHAT: All fighters who will compete in the STRIKEFORCE Challengers Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event this Friday, Aug. 13 at Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz., will weigh in the day before, Thursday, Aug. 12, in the Dodge Theatre lobby. The weigh in is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, free of charge, and will begin at 4:30 p.m. local time.
Phoenix's Joe "Diesel" Riggs (32-11) will face knockout artist Louis Taylor (6-1) at a catch weight of 182 pounds in the main event. A former super heavyweight and UFC star who once competed at over 300 pounds, Riggs has notable victories over STRIKEFORCE Welterweight champ Nick Diaz, Kendall Grove, Chris Lytle and "The N.Y. Badass" Phil Baroni. Taylor, of Chicago, has rattled off two consecutive knockout wins since his lone career loss to Nate Moore in Nov., 2009. He has scored knockouts in four of his six career victories and has only gone to the judges scorecards once in his pro career.
Miesha "Takedown" Tate (9-2), Carina "Beauty But The Beast" Damm (15-3),
Hitomi "Girlfight Monster" Akano (15-7) and Maiju Kujala (4-1) will compete in the first-ever STRIKEFORCE women's tournament in history to determine the official No. 2 contender in the fiercely competitive STRIKEFORCE women's welterweight (135 pounds) division. The draw to determine the semi-final matchups for the two-round tournament will take place at the weigh in.
Ryan Couture, son of MMA legend Randy "The Natural" Couture, will make his professional MMA debut for STRIKEFORCE against Lucas Stark of Chandler, Ariz. in a three-round lightweight (155 pounds) bout.
Tickets for the Aug. 13 STRIKEFORCE Challengers event are on sale through www.livenation.com <http://www.livenation.com/> , www.STRIKEFORCE.com <http://www.strikeforce.com/> , the Dodge Theatre Box Office, any Ticketmaster outlet or by phone at (800) 745-3000. The event will be televised live on SHOWTIME® at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).
