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FRM Athletes CLEAN HOUSE at King of the Cage: Hurricane |
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By: Andre Fleites
Congratulations to First Round Management athletes Hayder Hassan and Alex “The Last Dragon” Caceres, on both winning in impressive fashion at this past weekend’s King of the Cage: Hurricane event at a jam packed War Memorial Auditorium in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Hayder Hassan started the night of exciting matchups off as the second bout of the evening. Being that he is a local fighter, the War Memorial Auditorium was packed with Hayder fans as the crowd chanted; “Hayder, Hayder, Hayder…” during his entrance. It was his professional debut, and what a debut it was, as Hayder won the match in only :09 seconds with a devastating first round TKO. The crowd was in an uproar as Hayder jumped onto the cage in celebration of his first win in the cage. In his post match interview, Hayder was quick to thank all his friends and fans for coming out to support him in his first professional match. He also, thanked all his trainers at American Top Team who have helped him prepare for this debut match. Lastly, he didn’t forget to thank his sponsors Tapout and Champion Nutrition for providing him the best products in fight gear and supplements.
The fighter better known as “The Last Dragon” Bruce Leroy, Alex Caceres also won his match in the first round Saturday night. The now 3-0 Caceres won his 145lb matchup with a beautiful rear naked choke at 3:40 of the very first round. Knowing his opponent was primarily a wrestler, Caceres did a great job to keep the fight standing; defending against his opponent’s takedown attempts with devastating knees to the body and head. While defending the takedown, Alex, was able to climb his opponents back to eventually lock in the rear naked choke and force the tapout in the first round. In the post fight interview, the very vocal and charismatic Bruce Leeroy, grabbed the microphone to ask the crowd, “Are you not entertained?!” a la Maximus from Gladiator. He later thanked his trainer at Young Tigers Martial Arts and Champion Nutrition for all the supplements they provided him with.
It was a great night for First Round Managements clients, and definitely be on the lookout for these MMA up and comers, and future stars, Alex Caceres and Hayder Hassan. |
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WEC signs Rafael Assuncao; fight with champ Mike Brown unlikely |
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by John Morgan and Dann Stupp on Feb 16, 2009 at 12:40 pm ET  World Extreme Cagefighting's loaded featherweight division just got a bit more crowded.
Rafael Assuncao, who has 10 stoppage victories among his 12 career pro victories, has signed a multi-fight deal with the WEC, his manager, Malki Kawa from First Round Management, today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
As MMAjunkie.com recently reported, Assuncao had been considering offers from the WEC and the upstart Bellator Fighting Championships, where he would have competed in BFC's eight-man featherweight tournament.
"(WEC matchmaker) Sean Shelby developed a relationship with Rafael," Kawa said. "At the end of the day, some people do things for money. Some people do it for prestige. Rafael did it because the WEC developed a solid relationship with him.
"(Bellator CEO) Bjorn Rebney is a great guy, and I think Bellator Fighting Championships is a wonderful organization. I think that promotion is going to be one of the big players at the end of the day. When it was all said and done, though, Rafael just felt comfortable with Sean Shelby and the WEC."
Assuncao, widely regarded as one of the division's top 10 or 15 fighters, joins a 145-pound division that features notables such as Mike Brown (the WEC's current title-holder), Urijah Faber, Leonard Garcia, Jose Aldo and IFL champion Wagnney Fabiano, among others.
However, should Assuncao establish himself in the division and should Brown defend his title, don't expect the two fighters to square off in the future.
"Hopefully, we'll get one or two fights against some solid competition and put ourselves in line to challenge for the title," Kawa said. "Rafael will be training with American Top Team, so he wouldn't want to challenge Mike Brown for the title. He hopes Mike continues to have a great run as champion, but if circumstances change at some point, he would definitely like to challenge for the title."
Assuncao, the brother of former UFC fighter Junior Assuncao, is expected to debut this spring (possibly at WEC 40 in Chicago), though Kawa could not confirm the date.
Assuncao, who had been under contract to the Kentucky-based American Fight League, recently requested and received his release from the AFL. The organization is in "a holding pattern" due to the recent economic downturn, AFL CEO B.J. Santiago recent said.
The 27-year-old is currently riding a four-fight winning streak and has earned submission wins over the UFC's Joe Lauzon as well as BFC's Jorge Masvidal. His lone career loss came to the WEC's Jeff Curran via decision in 2006.
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