Colloseo Championship Fighting is prepared to make waves on the Western Canada MMA scene on September 26, 2008 at the Century Casino in Edmonton, Alberta.

In hopes to provide the best experience possible, the CCF will feature top Canadian fighters such as Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill, Jarid “Da Tappa” Bussemakers, Lee “The Irish Assassian” MacEachern, and Bill “Hush” Mesi - just to name a few.

This unique fighting experience is sure to set a new standard for mixed martial arts in Canada.

Ed Soares and his company Sinister Brand has dipped its foot into the CCF pond showing support for the blossoming promotion. Sinister Brand fighters and loyal supports will be in attendance as well as John Ouano of Ouano Gloves who is in full support and now the exclusive glove sponsor of the CCF.

When speaking of the partnership, the CCF president said, “This is a great effort by two big players in the MMA world and we’re pleased with this union. We have the full support of the business community in Edmonton, Alberta.”

Photo property of World Extreme Cagefighting.

Reports have surfaced stating that newly signed EliteXC welterweight John Alessio may be in line to face Jake Shields for the EliteXC welterweight title.

According to a report, Shields has been offered the bout with Canadian-born Alessio but he is still considering options and has is currently juggling the idea of moving up to middleweight.

“Right now I have a really good offer on the table to fight a top 185-pounder,” Shields stated. “I’m just waiting, hoping Elite (XC) will give me that opportunity to go out there and represent Elite and test myself.

Rumor has it that opponent may in fact be former UFC welterweight contender Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg. Trigg and Shields have a long standing history which has seen them exchange verbal jabs throughout the media but for various reasons the fight never materialized.

When speaking about Alessio, Shields told MMAWeekly.com that it’s not a fight that excites him.

“Alessio, he’s a good opponent, (but) it’s a fight that doesn’t really excite me though unfortunately. I’m not too motivated about it, but he’s one dangerous guy that you’ve got to watch out for. He’s a really difficult guy to fight, hard to take down, good stand-up, but if that’s the fight I end up taking, I’ll get myself motivated and pumped up to go do it, but right now I’m really excited about the other fight. I think it’s good for my career and I hope (Elite XC) will realize it too, that it’s not bad for their show, that it helps push me further.”

Alessio has very solid striking and a great sprawl but I feel Shields wrestling and jiu-jitsu may just be too much for him at this point.

Five Ounces of Pain is reporting that UFC veteran David “The Crow” Loiseau will battle “The Ultimate Fighter 3” veteran Solomon Hutcherson at XMMA 5: It’s Crow Time.

Loiseau, a native of Montreal, Quebec, possesses a mixed martial arts record of 17-8. Loiseau, a veteran of UFC and EliteXC, holds victories over Evan Tanner, Charles McCarthy, Tony Fryklund, and Curtis Stout.

Solomon Hutcherson possesses a mixed martial arts record of 10-4. Hutcherson fought in the UFC once losing to Luigi Fioravant. Hutcherson is currently riding a four-fight winning streak with victories over Marcus Hicks, Georges Allen, Nabil Khatib, and Anthony Trotter.

XMMA 5: It’s Crow Time is scheduled for September 13, 2008 and will feature notable names such as Gustavo Machado, Guillaume de Lorenzi, Aaron Riley, and Steve Claveau.

Georges St. Pierre def. Jon Fitch - Unanimous Decision
Brock Lesnar def. Heath Herring - Unanimous Decision
Robert Emerson def. Manvel Gamburyan – KO (Punch)
Kenny Florian def. Roger Huerta – Unanimous Decision
Demian Maia def. Jason MacDonald – Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Tamdan McCrory def. Luke Cummo – Unanimous Decision
Cheick Kongo def. Dan Evensen – TKO (Strikes)
Jon Jones def. Andre Gusmao – Unanimous Decision
Chris Wilson def. Steve Bruno – Unanimous Decision
Ben Saunders def. Ryan Thomas – Submission (Armbar)

Main Card:

Jon Fitch (170) vs. Georges St. Pierre (170)
Heath Herring (250) vs. Brock Lesnar (265)
Roger Huerta (155) vs. Kenny Florian (155)
Demian Maia (185) vs. Jason MacDonald (185)
Robert Emerson (155) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (155)

Preliminary Bouts:

Tamdam McCrory (170) vs. Luke Cummo (167)
Dan Evensen (244) vs. Cheick Kongo (235)
Andre Gusmao (205) vs. Jon Jones (205)
Steve Bruno (170) vs. Chris Wilson (170)
Ryan Thomas (170) vs. Ben Saunders (170)

Today the guys at Fight Linker raised a very interesting posting regarding the UFC’s rumored card for November or December in Montreal, Quebec. The Bell Centre is booked for almost every Saturday for the Montreal Canadiens home games.

From Fight Linker:

Sat Nov 15, 2008 - Flyers @ Canadiens
Sat Nov 22, 2008 - Bruins @ Canadiens
Sat Nov 29, 2008 - Sabres @ Canadiens
Sat Dec 6, 2008 - Devils @ Canadiens
Sat Dec 13, 2008 - Capitals @ Canadiens
Sat Dec 20, 2008 - Sabres @ Canadiens

That leaves the UFC with Nov. 1st and 8th with Dec. being fully booked. The UFC currently has shows scheduled for Oct. 18th in England and Oct. 25 in Illinois. That pretty much eliminates the Bell Centre from the picture unless the UFC decides they want to have three big events in the span of four weeks.

One other option for the Las Vegas-based promotion is Olympic Stadium in Montreal. It’d be a very risky move considering the venue holds upwards of 65,000 people. The UFC generated huge interest for their first foray into Canada but they’d really have to advertise and put out a solid card to draw an audience of that size.

As I reported earlier today at Five Ounces of Pain, UFC veteran David “The Crow” Loiseau will be headlining Xtreme MMA 5: It’s Crow Time at the Complexe Sportif Claude-Robillard in Montreal, Quebec.

Loiseau will fight alongside friend and fellow XMMA co-owner Steve “The Snake” Claveau. The card will feature fourteen bouts including Guillaume de Lorenzi, Aaron Riley, Martin Desilets, Gustavo Machado, and more.

XMMA 5: It’s Crow Time

Main Card:

David Loiseau vs. TBA
Aaron Riley vs. Steve Claveau
Martin Desilets vs. Jason Cecil
Aloisio Barros vs. Kajan Johnson
Jay Jenkins vs. Guillaume de Lorenzi
Brandon Sene vs. Brent Beauparlent
Gilbert Burgos vs. Yves Jabouin
Joe Wissman vs. Dan Grandmaison
Dimitri Waardenburg vs. TBA
Gustavo Machado vs. TBA
Antoine Coutu vs. Justin Doyon

Preliminary Bouts:

J.F. Royer vs. Alex Bon Miller
John Makdessi vs. Thiago Tavarez
Daryle Pinter vs. Ian Dawe

Ultime Fanatic is reporting that TKO 35, which is scheduled for October 3, 2008 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, will feature three title fights and the return of UFC veteran Mark “The Machine” Hominick.

The card is slated to feature champions Hatsu Hioki, Jesse Bongfeldt, and Adrian Wooley all defending their TKO titles. MMATraining.com is reporting that Hominick will likely headline the October 3rd card.

TKO 35
October 3, 2008
Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec

Hatsu Hioki vs TBA
Noah Thomas vs Adrian Wooley
Jesse Bongfeldt vs TBA
Steve Bossé vs TBA
Mark Hominick vs TBA
Sean Pierson vs TBA
Syd Barnier vs TBA
Jeff Harrison vs TBA
Richard Ho vs Justin Tavernini
Brad Gabriel vs TBA
Mike Ricci vs TBA
Réjean Groulx vs TBA

Dana’s trip was successful in that the mainstream media have covered Dana and the UFC today. This is especially noticeable in the print media, where the UFC rarely gets mentioned. Imagine my surprise on the subway this morning when a full page article is devoted to Dana White and the UFC. Now the full success would be to have MMA sanctioned in Ontario, but visibility is a start. I did not find anything yet for the Toronto Star or Toronto Sun, but I’m willing to bet articles will show up this weekend.

Other articles found today are:

• St. Pierre faces ‘bad dude’ - Metro News
• Video interview - Sportsnet

Happy reading!

Post more links as you come across them!