Building off a successful run in 2012 at Club Nokia at L.A. LIVE, the University of MMA has set four dates at the venue in 2013. Now rebranded as “University of MMA: Fight Night,” the first event of the year will take place on Sunday, March 3, with subsequent dates in May, August, and December. Tickets for the March 3 event go on sale at 10:00am, Thursday, January 31, at www.UofMMA.com or www.axs.com.

“This is the next step for us in building a regular fight series at Club Nokia,” commented U of MMA founder Turi Altavilla. “We’ve said before that our goal is to be L.A.’s fight show both for fighters in the Southern California community and the fight fans.”
University of MMA: Fight Night will mark the crowning of two new U of MMA champions, in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. Both title quests began as four-man tournaments at U of MMA events in 2012.

Alexander Arslan (Pimpit Fight Academy) and Renardo Palmer (Muay Thai Kickboxing Team) will fight for the University of MMA’s heavyweight (265 lbs.) championship. Both men have been on a collision course against each other since May 2012, at the onset of the University of MMA’s heavyweight championship tournament.

Also, Jens ‘The Sandman’ Grau (Bas Rutten’s Elite MMA) will have his chance for gold when he fights in the University of MMA light heavyweight (205 lbs.) championship finals against Joshua Neal (Bowman’s Killer Bees). The Danish strongman advanced to the University of MMA light heavyweight championship finals after a closely-contested majority decision win in October. Neal is a lifelong martial artist who will make his U of MMA debut with this championship opportunity.

Several other U of MMA superstars are expected to make their return to Club Nokia at L.A. LIVE, including female fan favorite Brooksie ‘The Bear’ Bayard, Dean Bo Moskowitz, knockout artist Matt Jones, and University of MMA featherweight champion ‘Gorgeous’ Georgie Garcia.

“We grow a little bit more with each show. We want as many different gyms and fight teams involved as possible, and these dates in advance allow us to help fight teams schedule their year better,” said U of MMA matchmaker Jay Tan.

As always, the University of MMA will also showcase women’s MMA and combat jiu jitsu matches. Several new fight teams are expected to make their U of MMA debuts, such as Camp Wolverine, Bowman’s Killer Bees, SD Range Fighters, Elite Training Center, 10th Planet Burbank, and Robot Fight & Fitness. Similarly, familiar faces like Legends MMA, Pimpit Fight Team Academy, FightworX, Bas Rutten’s Elite MMA, Hayastan MMA, Kings MMA, Fight Academy Pasadena and Valhalla Elite Training Center anticipate having fighters represent and compete on the March event.

Dates for the University of MMA’s May, August, and December events at the same venue will be released publicly in the coming months.
The University of MMA’s next event takes place at 4:00pm on Sunday, March 3, 2013, at Club Nokia at L.A. LIVE, 800 West Olympic Boulevard. Doors open at 3:00pm. Tickets go on sale Thursday, January 31, at 10:00am PST, and can be purchased at www.AXS.com, charge by phone at 888-9AXS-TIX or 888-929-7849, and from 10:00 AM-5:00 PM, Mon-Fri at the STAPLES Center Box Office located at 1111 S. Figueroa St. Applicable fees may apply. The Club Nokia box office will open at 2:00pm the day of the event.

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