NEW YORK (April 29, 2009)—Mixed martial arts (MMA) upstart Kim “Sugar Free” Couture (1-1) has withdrawn from the series debut of Strikeforce Challengers, scheduled for Friday, May 15. Couture was slated to face submission expert Miesha Tate (5-1) in a 135-pound fight. Strikeforce is working to replace the fight and finalize the card.


Strikeforce Challengers will take place at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif, on Friday, May 15, and air live on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). The fight card, headlined by undefeated lightweight Billy Evangelista (9-0) versus BJ Penn protégé “Iron” Mike Aina (11-6-1), will feature up to five live bouts.


Strikeforce Challengers is a proving ground for up-and-coming MMA fighters. SHO MMA provides today’s top prospects with the opportunity to step-up their level of competition and demonstrate their ability in a nationally televised event.


Tickets for the first Strikeforce Challengers event are on sale at the Save Mart Center box office and select Save Mart Supermarkets as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and Strikeforce’s official website (www.strikeforce.com).

NEW YORK (April 28, 2009)—By day, Ben Holscher (1-0) is an educator in Clovis, California’s public high school system. After school is out, though, he shifts gears towards his other career – professional mixed martial arts (MMA) prize fighting in the cage.


The 28-year-old Health teacher, who also coaches wrestling for the high school, is in the midst of preparing for his second professional MMA bout, which will take place at Fresno, California’s Save Mart Center on Friday, May 15 as part of the inaugural SHO MMA: Strikeforce Challengers event. He is slated to square off with Cody Cantebury (1-3-1) in a preliminary matchup prior to the SHOWTIME telecast, which airs live at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).


“I just have an inner-competitiveness that drives me to test my mind and my body,” said Holscher, a lifetime athlete who excelled in the sport of wrestling all the way through his career as a student at NCAA Division II Chadron State College. A four-year starter for the school located near his home in Ogallala, Nebraska, Holscher boasts two-time National Qualifier, three-time Academic All-American, and two-time team captain, amongst other achievements, on his resume.


“Whether it’s a workout, a fight, or even a card game, I like to compete and, now, I can make a little bit of money doing it, too.”


Holscher is in the midst of his second year teaching at Clovis High but, for the first several months on the job, he kept his other career under wraps. It was shortly before his professional debut that the cat came out of the bag.


“Some of my students and wrestlers had known it was a hobby but, then when I had my first fight in November, that’s when they found out about it,” he said.


Needless to say, the news changed the dynamic of Holscher’s relationship with the teenagers, who fall into MMA’s primary demographic group of viewers.


“I have a pretty good relationship with the kids. They were very excited about it,” he said. “They think it’s cool and my colleagues and principal were real supportive of it. There are always a few people that kind of question it, but you’re always going to have those.”


Maintaining this kind of double life isn’t easy, to say the least. Holscher rises at 5 am every day to do his road work and doesn’t complete his daily training until approximately 10 pm. If he is lucky, he can catch a few winks between the close of the school day and the outset of his training that is interspersed each day with his coaching duties.


“After training is done around 10, I may have to go home and grade papers for an hour or so, sometimes,” said Holscher. His schedule has been in the same taxing state for a year and a half since he initially accepted the teaching position.


“It’s a challenge, but I was a college athlete and I grew up on a farm so time management was ingrained in me a long time ago. If I wanted to make my schedule easier, I could just take a few things off my plate, but I don’t want to do that right now.”


While a number of his teaching colleagues used their recent spring break to vacation and regroup, Holscher continued his daily MMA regimen and even ventured north one week to San Jose, an MMA hotbed and the home of Strikeforce, to train with a number of the sport’s top athletes. “I slept in the gym for almost the whole week,” he noted.


“Right now, I’m just enjoying the ride. I’m blessed that I have the opportunity to train with some of the top guys. Wherever this takes me, I’m going along with it and going to bust my butt. Wherever I end up in a year or 10 years, that’s where I’ll be.”


Tickets for the first SHO MMA: Strikeforce Challengers event are on sale at the Save Mart Center box office and select Save Mart Supermarkets as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and Strikeforce’s official website (www.strikeforce.com).


Undefeated lightweight (155 lb. limit) sensation Billy Evangelista (9-0) will face off with hard-hitting brawler and BJ Penn protégé “Iron” Mike Aina (11-6-1) in the main event that will air live, along with as many as four other Strikeforce bouts, on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) from the Save Mart Center.


Also during the live telecast, female MMA upstart Kim “Sugar Free” Couture (1-1), wife of MMA legend Randy Couture, will take a major step up in competition when she squares off with submission expert Miesha Tate (5-1) in a 135 lb. limit featured contest while Aaron Rosa (11-2) will meet Anthony “A Train” Ruiz (21-12) in a light heavyweight (205-pound limit) fight.


SHO MMA: Strikeforce Challengers is a proving ground for up-and-coming MMA fighters. SHO MMA provides today’s top prospects with the opportunity to step-up their level of competition and demonstrate their ability in a nationally televised event.

A category 4 tornado, a devastating tornado, generates winds in the 207-260 m.p.h. range on the prairie. This past weekend in Kansas, prairie central, Graham Rahal rode winds in excess of 211 m.p.h. in order to secure the pole position. Then came race day when gusts of Kansas wind punched an additional 35 m.p.h. as 22 cars raced over 200 m.p.h. on a track with a temperature of 86 degrees. As Graham confessed, “It’s always dangerous running at those speeds and I’ve dealt with rain but wind is the worst.” Angst was palpable everywhere.


As with the IRL season opener in St. Petersburg, Rahal wasn’t destined to retain his leading position but it wasn’t lost on the first turn as it was that first race. Neither did the King of Kansas, Dan Weldon, the only back to back Indy winner at Kansas, pull off a third win, but the power behind the now deposed King Weldon did pull off a three-peat. Mr. Chip Ganassi, for whom Weldon raced during his two-peat win, won this race with his Ice Man, Scott Dixon. Sports genius, C.M. Sinn called this race last Thursday. I doubted C.M. Good job, C. M. (Note: Scott is hardly the Ice Man since his marriage. Let us never forget Rousseau’s insight that men will always be what women want them to be. Emma is way too hot for ice.)


Over-achiever of the week awards go out to Dario Franchitti and Helio Castroneves. Having some of the fastest times in qualifying, neither of them could keep his car on the right side, literally, of that white line as the other 20 drivers managed to do. C’mon guys, you’re supposed to be a couple of the best but both were way over the line and with papal-like certainty Brian Barnhart sent both of them to the back of the field for race day. Top achiever goes to Helio as he not only came from last place to finish the race in second but survived a nasty, wing-flying, nose shattering rear-ending of Vitor Meira, which most unfortunately took Vitor out of the race. And again at the back of the pack, Helio worked his way back up to the front. Dario seems to have taken a “bullet” of sorts this week as it appears he took his car into the wall rather than rear end Graham Rahal as both were going into the pits. If that is true, good job Dario and we won’t make fun of your hair anymore.


This race, like every IRL race, is a matter of handling snakes. Snakes, like the sharp edge of technology and audacity, are unpredictable and sometimes, instantly damaging. This season is growing intense like holding multiple prairie rattlers. Scott Dixon, last year’s season overall winner, believes he can be this season’s overall winner but Dario Franchetti, Tony Kanaan think the same of themselves and Helio Castroneves, who has never taken the season needs to so as to solidify his history in the IRL. And there are others who genuinely believe and just might take the season such as Danica Patrick and Ryan Briscoe. Dan Weldon, now with Panther Racing, is always a contender but in Kansas he just didn’t have the car. If Dan can do with Panther what Sam Hornish did with Panther, Dan could take the season but presently that seems iffy. As to Marco Andretti, there’s a sense around the track that he’s yet too young and not a season champion though competitive each individual race – second at Indy his rookie year.


Now its May and now comes Indy, or as it is known out there in the world, The Indianapolis 500. Thirty-three cars driving in access of 220 m.p.h. for 500 miles with those all important 8.0 second - four tires and 22 gallons of fuel - pit stops. The race is in four weeks so next week’s article will focus on the next step to The Greatest Spectacle in Racing where the Indy track is the highest-capacity sporting facility built in human history can hold within its confines the Roman Coliseum, an NFL football stadium and an MLB stadium as well as 400,000 + spectators. Ah, back home again in Indiana tempting fate.

NEW YORK (April 27, 2009)–Fresh off their respective thrilling wins, the versatile Nick Diaz (19-7) and knockout artist Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (17-5) are eager to get back in the cage. The pair will square off on Saturday, June 6, in a special 180-pound showdown during the live SHOWTIME® telecast of Strikeforce: “Lawler vs. Shields” from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.


“I think this is a great fight for me, but I really hate that (Smith) brings his kids to every one of his fights because now I’m going to be made out to be the bad guy or some sort of villain after I beat him up,” said the 25-year-old Diaz, who shocked the MMA world with his complete dominance of four-time world champion Frank Shamrock in the Strikeforce main event on SHOWTIME from HP Pavilion in San Jose on Saturday, April 11. “At the end of the day, I’m going to do what I have to do though and take him out.”


Against Shamrock, Diaz demonstrated his versatility. The Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt spent the majority of the match trading strikes—and getting the better of the exchanges. Known for his prowess on the mat, Diaz is also a professional boxer.


Known for his outstanding endurance, Diaz just completed a 5K race and will compete in an upcoming triathlon near his hometown in Stockton, Calif., in order to prepare for what could be a marathon slugfest in the cage with Smith.


Earlier on the “Shamrock vs. Diaz” fight card, the 29-year-old Smith prevailed in a brutal and action-packed fight that surely will be candidate for 2009 Fight of the Year. The thrilling, seesaw battle with middleweight Benji “The Razor” Radach ended when Smith landed one monstrous punch in the middle of the third round.


“I’m pretty much 100% right now, other than some stitches I have that are tender,” said Smith, who returned to training on Monday, April 13, two days after his victory.


“I usually take a few weeks off, get out of shape and go up to about 210 pounds and wind up spending a few weeks just getting back in shape,” he said, “but I decided I wasn’t going to do that this time. I’m 195 pounds right now and I feel great.”


With 15 of his 17 wins having come by way of knockout, Smith, a Muay Thai specialist, has lived up to his nickname. To prepare adequately for Diaz’s grappling capabilities, Smith will work with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Ricardo Barros.


“Diaz is a great fighter,” acknowledged Smith. “He’s going to come in there and out grapple me and out strike me so what I have to do is go in there and beat him up. I actually think this is more of a dangerous fight for him than it is for me.”


Tickets for Strikeforce: “Lawler vs. Shields” are on sale at the Scottrade Center box office as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), and Strikeforce’s official website (www.strikeforce.com).


The live SHOWTIME telecast of the event begins at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). In the highly anticipated main event, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (16-4) will face off with fellow top-ranked superstar Jake Shields (22-4-1) in a 182-pound catch weight fight.


Additionally, “The New York Badass” Phil Baroni (13-10) will collide with Joe “Diesel” Riggs (29-10) in a 170-pound contest.


Doors at the Scottrade Center will open for Strikeforce: “Lawler vs. Shields” at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, June 6. The first non-televised preliminary bout will begin at 7 p.m.

Australian Tour With Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog
Starts April 29th, 2009


Southern Cali rap-rock hybrids, the Kottonmouth Kings are still riding high from their annual 4/20 celebration with the release a new video for the track “Pack Your Bowls” online at www.KottonmouthKings.com. The track appears on the group’s tenth studio effort “The Green Album”, which was released through Suburban Noize Records.


Kottonmouth Kings have also released the conclusion to their new video feature “America’s Most Busted!” online at http://www.kottonmouthkings.com/happy-4-2-0-from-the-kottonmouth-kings/. The clip spoofs the Kings being busted by police and shows how this group of outlaw misfits get themselves out of a sticky situation.


“We shot ‘America’s Most Busted’ as a comedy sketch,” says Kottonmouth Kings’ Daddy X. “The video is part of a DVD called ‘Lost Adventures’ that will appear in our upcoming ‘Hidden Stash 4′ CD/DVD that is coming out this summer. We also shot a green screen video for the stoner anthem ‘Pack Your Bowls’ and now we’re packing our bags to head to Australia. The most important thing for us is that after 13 years of doing this we’re still having fun. We’re probably having more fun now than we’ve ever had.”


Kottonmouth Kings recently wrapped up their annual 4/20 Freedom Fest tour and will now head down under to Australia for a headlining tour alongside Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog.


KOTTONMOUTH KINGS TOUR DATES:



Apr 29 - Bunbury, AUS @ Prince of Wales Hotel
Apr 30 - Northbridge, AUS @ Metro City Perth
May 01 - Adelaide, AUS @ HQ Complex
May 02 - Acton, AUS @ Union Bar
May 03 - Melbourne, AUS @ Hi-Fi Bar Melbourne
May 06 - Frankston, AUS @ Pier Live
May 07 - Surry Hills, AUS @ The Gaelic
May 08 - Callaghan, AUS @ The Bar on the Hill
May 09 - Towradgi, AUS @ Towradgi Beach Hotel
May 10 - Mona Vale, AUS @ Mona Vale Hotel
May 14 - Coolangatta, AUS @ The Coolangatta Hotel
May 15 - Brisbane, AUS @ Hi-Fi Bar Brisbane
May 16 - Maroochydore, AUS @ Sands Tavern

“All’s fair when love is war” is the generic tag line for Screen Gems’ new thriller ‘Obsessed’ opening Friday April 24th. Coming from director Steve Shill, this movie appears to have a decent storyline that will gain enough interest from moviegoers to place this movie at the #1 spot on the box office charts opening weekend.


The film centers on asset manager Derek Charles (Idris Elba). While being highly successful with his career and in his marriage with his beautiful wife Sharon Charles (Beyonce Knowles),his world is turned upside down when his company hires a seemingly perfect temp named Lisa Sheridan (Ali Larter) who begins to stalk him, placing his life, job and marriage in jeopardy.


I’m 99.9% positive that when this film gets released, certain film critics will butcher it and spew out lines such as “this film is unoriginal and has been done before in the past and better too.” So who gives a crap if it’s original or not. Nothing in Hollywood is original. I, for one, am a huge fan of these type of thrillers such as 1987’s ‘Fatal Attraction’, 1994’s ‘Disclosure’ and even 20th Century Fox jumped on the stalker ban wagon with the teen version titled ‘Swimfan’ in 2002.


‘Obsessed’ is a film that I’ve been anticipating for a while now. The story might be similar to previous films but it looks like a fresh new approach to the stalker genre. Idris Elba, Beyonce Knowles and Ali Larter seem to have perfect chemistry to make the situation very believable. Besides, I’m always down for two beautiful females in a heated cat fight!

Finally!  A funny episode of South Park!  And this time it isn’t a re-run!  I’ll be honest, the last few weeks of the show have left more than a little something to be desired.  Like laughter for one.  I like fishsticks as much as the next guy (not fish dicks), but an episode all about Kanye West not understanding a simple joke makes for some pretty lackluster comedy.  This week, however, is a much different story.  Like one taken straight from the headlines.


South Park has always been popular for taking headline news and twisting it into a hilarious twenty two minute parody that make you realize just how ironic this world really is.  I was shocked when I saw the Yahoo! news bulletin about Pirates taking two hostages off the coast of Somalia, but Matt and Trey saw something else.  Gold.  Not pirate gold; comedy gold.  If you missed the mid-season finale on Wedensday, I recommend you watch the episode prior to reading this review as it will be the last one you see for quite some time (the f**k!?).  But for you impatient sons of biscuits out there, here’s a quick re-cap of what went down in Pirate town.


Cartman believes he has embarked on the opportunity of a lifetime:  pirates are back!  When he plans to visit Somalia to become one of them pirates, Kyle seizes the opportunity of his lifetime and encourages him to go to get rid of his fat ass.  Unbenounced to Kyle, Cartman doesn’t go alone.  Craig, Butters, and Kyle’s Canuck little brother, Ike, all tag along once again succumbing to the overwhelming charm of televisions greatest character.  Of course what Cartman believes pirates to be and what Somalian pirates really are was expected, the confusion was a great comedic vehicle when the boys had no effing clue that they were hostages.  That is until Cartman comandeers a French ship and becomes the pirate leader (who knew?). Once Kyle discovers that his little brother has tagged along on this ridiculous adventure, it is up to him to bring him back.

So you just got knocked the F$#* OUT by a less than 100% Shogun. Your old friend Dana White is saying your career is over, and all you can think about is what you’re going to do with your life. Well isn’t it obvious?! Sell yourself to a music video for some bubble gum pop artist.


You can now see the Iceman in Mandy Moore’s new music video for her song “I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week” I couldn’t believe it either until I saw it for myself. The only logical reason I could come up with is that he was offered a dump truck full of cash, or at least that’s what I’m trying to make myself believe.


Just take a look at the video and pay attention around the 2:10 mark as Mandy opens her trench coat to show a dress, that is barely riskay for the Amish community, and watch chuck deliver a Oscar worthy drool inducing rapist grin. Pretty disturbing actually. But that is all quickly fallowed up with yet another Chuck Liddell Knock out.


Don’t believe me? Go see for yourself.