Dave Bautista, Vince Lucero ready to battle
By Media Report on Doghouse Boxing (Oct 5, 2012) Doghouse Boxing
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Oct. 5, 2012) – Forgive Vince Lucero if he’s a bit
star-struck at the idea of facing former six-time World Wrestling
Entertainment (WWE) champion Dave Bautista tomorrow night in front of a
worldwide Pay Per View audience.
Even his own kids are in awe of
the 6-foot-6, 265-pound giant known throughout the world for his
death-defying moves inside the squared circle.
“When I told them I
was fighting Bautista, they didn’t say, ‘Good luck, dad!’ They asked,
‘Can you get his autograph?’” joked Lucero at Friday’s pre-fight
weigh-in at the Providence Downtown Marriott Hotel. “The guy is a
freakin’ monster, but how do you say no to this fight? This is what I’ll
be remembered for, so I need to leave it all in the cage.”
Two
weeks ago, the Casa Grande, Ariz., native had no idea he was about to be
thrust into the spotlight, but when Bautista’s original opponent,
Rashid Evans, fell through, Lucero (20-22, 11 KOs) accepted the fight on
short notice. He and Bautista will clash tomorrow night in Bautista’s
long-awaited mixed martial arts debut at The Dunkin’ Donuts Center in
the main event of “Real Pain,” presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic
Entertainment & Sports in association with June Entertainment and
4zero1 Entertainment Group.
“When you’re a fighter, you fight,” Lucero said.
Lucero
has faced elite competition throughout his career, former two-time
Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia,
former UFC heavyweight contenders Justin Eilers, Homer Moore and
Christian Wellisch, Strikeforce veteran Ruben Villareal and former World
Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) contender Jimmy Ambriz.
“I’ve been in there with some prime UFC veterans. I’ve been around the world. I know what it takes,” Lucero said.
“This
is truly an honor. When they asked me to fight Sylvia, I had already
retired. I had a full-time job, but I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ It was like
facing Michael Jordan in basketball. You can’t say no to opportunities
like this. I’m a fighter, so I fight.”
Added Burchfield: “Vince
isn’t coming here to lose. He knows what this fight can do for his
career. For Dave to accept this fight against a guy with 42 fights and
say, ‘I’ll take him,’ that says a lot. He doesn’t have to do this – he
wants to do this.”
The 43-year-old Bautista is a six-time WWE
world champion, winning the World Heavyweight Championship four times
and the WWE Championship twice. He also won the World Tag Team
Championship three times and is the longest-reigning World Heavyweight
Champion in WWE history. The former bodybuilder and wrestler is also one
of the stars of the upcoming Quentin Tarantino motion picture The Man
With The Iron Fists, which is scheduled to hit theaters Nov. 2.
“I’m
doing this for my love and passion of MMA, not for personal reasons,”
Bautista said. “I’m tired of talking about myself at this point, but I
want to thank everyone who has supported me and supported this event.
The
undercard features 13 fights, including three UFC veterans. Charleston,
S.C., middleweight Chris McNally (5-4) will face former UFC title
contender Dave Loiseau (20-10, 13 KOs); former UFC welterweight Marc
Stevens (14-7, 6 KOs) of Lorraine, N.Y., will face dangerous Providence
native Luis Felix (7-6, 4 KOs); Boston native John “Doomsday” Howard
(17-7, 6 KOs), a veteran of seven UFC shows will take on middleweight
Brett Chism (16-11, 7 KOs) of Valdosta, Ga.; and former UFC welterweight
Chad Reiner (29-13, 9 KOs) of Omaha, Neb., will face Pawtucket, R.I.,
veteran Keith Jeffrey (8-2).
The remainder of the undercard is
littered with Top 10 regional fighters, including a dynamic showdown
between No. 1 ranked 145-pounder Saul “The Spider” Almeida (12-2) of
Framingham, Mass., and No. 4 ranked Calvin Kattar (12-2, 6 KOs) of
Methuen, Mass. Pawtucket’s Todd “The Hulk” Chattelle (10-7, 8 KOs), the
former CES MMA middleweight champion, will end his five-month layoff and
face Boulder, Colo., native Chandler Holderness (9-3, 4 KOs) in a bout
originally scheduled for June before Chattelle suffered an arm injury
during training camp. In the 205-pound division, Providence’s Greg
Rebello (13-4, 7 KOs), No. 3 in the northeast, will look to get back on
track against Chris Guillen (13-12, 1 KO) of St. George, Utah.
Providence’s Mike “The Beast” Campbell (11-4, 7 KOs), now ranked No. 5
among lightweights in the northeast, will face Philadelphia’s Gemiyale
Adkins (7-3, 3 KOs), a former welterweight making his first appearance
in the 155-pound division.
“Real Pain” also features another
battle between two Top 10 fighters, this time in the heavyweight
division with No. 3 Josh Diekmann (12-4, 8 KOs) of Groton, Conn., facing
No. 5 Tyler King (4-1, 2 KOs), a former NFL offensive lineman from
Norwood, Mass. King and Diekmann actually fought on the same card in
separate bouts in Rhode Island back in February; King beat Eric Bedard
while Diekmann lost to former UFC contender Josh Hendricks.
Also
on the undercard, No. 6 ranked middleweight Brennan Ward (3-0, 2 KOs) of
Providence will face Shedrick “Chocolate Thunder” Goodridge (2-2) of
Rahway, N.J.; Providence’s Nate Andrews (1-0) will battle Leon Davis
(2-0) of Springfield, Mass., in an interstate welterweight showdown;
bantamweight Andre Soukhamthath (2-1, 1 KO) of Woonsocket, R.I., will
face Rob Costa (2-0) of Fall River, Mass.; and Waltham, Mass.,
welterweight Tyson Chartier (3-2, 1 KO) will face Kevin Horowitz (4-4)
of Queens.
Tickets are available at www.cesmma.com or
www.ticketmaster.com and are priced at $20.00, $35.00, $55.00, $75.00,
$125.00 and $250.00. The show will also air live on Direct TV Pay Per
View for $29.95 ($39.95 in high definition) beginning at 8 p.m., or
through Livestream via www.bautistamma.com in high definition.
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