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Top 'Ultimate Fighter(R)' Alumni Take to the Octagon(R) on Spike TV's 'UFC(R) Fight Night(TM)' Wednesday, September 19 at 9:00pm ET/PT
Din Thomas, Nate Diaz, Chris Leben, and Mike Swick All Face Tough Tests In
Nationally Televised Fight Card
NEW YORK, July 31 -- For The Ultimate Fighter(R) alumni
Din Thomas (Season 4), Nate Diaz (Season 5 champ) Chris Leben (Season 1)
and Mike Swick (Season 1), the Ultimate(R) Fight Night(TM) on Spike TV
Wednesday, September 19 at 9:00pm ET/PT will provide a golden opportunity
to showcase their talents in front of a nationally televised audience. Each
fighter is facing a tough test with the winners moving up the UFC(R) ranks
and another step closer to a title shot. The two-hour live fight card will
take place live from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV.
Din Thomas (23-7) may have gained national recognition on Season 4 of
The Ultimate Fighter last year, but the 30 year-old fighter was already
well-known to mixed martial arts fans with a resume including an impressive
win over current welterweight champ Matt Serra at UFC 41 in 2003. Now, the
American Top Team product out of Port St. Lucie, Fl. looks to ascend the
lightweight ranks against Spencer "The King" Fisher (21-3). The 31 year-old
Team Miletich fighter from Bettendorf, Iowa earned national acclaim when he
won a hard- fought decision over Canadian Sam Stout on Spike TV in June.
With three wins in his last four UFC fights, "The King" is inching closer
for a shot at the UFC lightweight throne.
A bold personality from Season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter, Chris "The
Crippler" Leben (16-4), was a rising star in the UFC with five straight
victories until his career was sidetracked by a devastating stoppage at the
hands of current middleweight king, Anderson Silva, last June. Leben,
fighting out of Gresham, Ore., has lost two of his last three bouts, and is
desperate for a win against Chicago's Terry Martin (18-2). The 26-year-old
Martin, working toward a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, is on a
two-fight winning streak in the UFC including a first round TKO over Ivan
Salaverry at UFC 71 in May.
The Ultimate Fighter 5 champ Nate Diaz (6-2) gets his first big
opportunity as a UFC fighter against the tough Atlanta-based Junior
Assuncao (6-2). Diaz was awarded a six-figure multi-fight deal with the UFC
when he defeated Manny Gamburyan in the second round of their
nationally-televised bout in June. Diaz will look to use his impressive
array of submission skills against the hard-charging Assuncao.
Mike Swick (10-2) was on the fast track to a UFC title shot with a
five- fight winning streak since appearing on The Ultimate Fighter 1 with
wins over vets David Loiseau and Joe Riggs. However, the talented
28-year-old fighting out of San Jose, Calif. lost a decision in a
three-round war to Yushin Okami at UFC 69 in April. Now he is dropping down
to welterweight to fight Canadian Jonathan "The Road Warrior" Goulet
(19-8), who trains with UFC star Georges St-Pierre, and is making his fifth
appearance on a Spike TV fight card.
The undercard will also feature prominent The Ultimate Fighter alumni
as Gray Maynard (Season 5) takes on Joe Veres, Cole Miller (Season 5)
battles Leonard Garcia, and Pete "Drago" Sell (Season 4) takes on Nate
Quarry (Season 4).
Spike TV is available in 91.6 million homes and is a division of MTV
Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the
world's leading creators of programming and content across all media
platforms.
SOURCE Spike TV
http://www.spiketv.com
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