Valor Bare Knuckle announces lineup for VBK 1 – Heavyweight tournament brackets
KEN SHAMROCK ANNOUNCES FULL LINE-UP OF FIGHTS FOR VBK: 1
RAMEAU THIERRY SOKOUDJOU VS. MIGHTY MO – FIRST HW BRACKET JACK MAY VS. MARK GODBEER – SECOND HW BRACKET ISHE SMITH VS. ESTEVAN PAYAN – 160 LB. BOUT MIKE RICHMAN VS. JC LLAMAS – 175 LB. BOUT
Saturday, September 21 Live On Pay-Per-View
Ken Shamrock, UFC Hall of Famer founder of Valor Bare Knuckle Inc., has announced the complete line-up of fights for VBK: 1, the promotion’s first-ever Pay-Per-View event taking place from 4 Bears Casino & Lodge in New Town, North Dakota.
Valor Bare Knuckle’s inaugural event, VBK: 1 will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH, VUBIQUITY in the United States, as well as Bell TV, Shaw Communications, Rogers and SaskTel in Canada, and the FITE.TV digital platform for a suggested retail price of $29.95. Taxes and fees may apply.
Tickets for VBK: 1 can be purchased online at Ticketforce.com or by calling 4Bears Casino & Lodge at 800-294-5454 (ask for Players Club).
“I fell in love with bare knuckle in the early UFC days and have always wanted to bring it back,” said Shamrock. “Now, with Valor, we are giving athletes today the opportunity to experience the sport of bare knuckle – a pure competition between two fighters using God given talent – nothing more and nothing less. It all starts Saturday, September 21 live on Pay-Per-View with VBK: 1.”
In an unprecedented move, Shamrock turned to combat sports fans worldwide to select the initial matchups for the four-person, one-night heavyweight tournament (206 – 265 lbs.). Through an online Forbes.com poll, fans chose Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (0-0) vs. “Mighty Mo” Siliga (0-0) and Jack May vs. Mark Godbeer as the starting brackets; James McSweeney (0-0) and Brian Heden (0-0) are tournament alternates.
Also as part of the live Pay-Per-View, former world champion boxer Ishe Smith (0-0) will make his bare-knuckle debut in a 160 lb. bout vs. Estevan Payan (1-0) and JC Llamas will square off against Mike Richman (1-0) in a 170 lb. match.
Four Dakotans will kick off VBK: 1 in the first two fights of the night. In a starting non-televised heavyweight preliminary, Chris Jensen (0-0), hailing from Waterford, North Dakota takes on John Carmona (0-0) from Fargo, North Dakota. Dane Sayers (0-0) also from Fargo, fights Brookings South Dakotan Joshua Dyer (0-0) in a 185 lb. preliminary bout.
Shamrock, Valor Bare Knuckle owner and founder, is a UFC Hall of Famer and a four-time heavyweight world champion fighter and a WWE Superstar and international wrestling legend. He is the UFC Superfight heavyweight champion, King of Pancrase champion, NWA/TNA champion, and the WWE IC champion.
The sport of bare knuckle fighting is regulated in Florida, Mississippi and Wyoming and is under consideration with several more states across America.
