Mark Kerr and Ricco Rodriguez added to YAMMA card - MMAjunkie.com
by MMAjunkie.com Staff [mmajunkie-staff] on Apr 01, 2008 at 1:30 pm in - News -
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez (27-8) has been added to YAMMA Pit Fighting's eight-man heavyweight tournament, and two-time UFC tournament winner Mark Kerr (15-6) will fight in a "Masters Superfight" YAMMA bout vs. Oleg Taktarov (15-5-2).
The news was released today by YAMMA Pit Fighting. Additionally, the organization confirmed details of its new fighting surface.
The event, which features the eight-man tournament and two "Superights," takes place April 11 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J. The event will air on pay-per-view.
The fight card for the event is now complete.
Rodriguez, who recently appeared on VH1's hit "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew," is now a favorite among the tournament competitors, which include former UFC and PRIDE fighters. Each opening-round fight in the tournament consists of one five-minute round, and the championship bout will feature three five-minute rounds.
In addition to the roster changes, YAMMA finally confirmed the details of its fighting surface -- one that YAMMA executives initially promised to "revolutionize" the sport.
"There has been a lot of speculation about the Yamma; some people thought it would have a moving floor, spikes or even live alligators," said Bob Meyrowitz of Rope Partners, the event's promoter. "But the Yamma isn’t about flashy gimmicks; it's about the evolution of a sport and how the traditional ring can be altered to accelerate that evolution."
According to lead designer Scott Nagel, "the Yamma" will feature a pit surface in which the edges of the ring are sloped. If a fighter pushes his opponent to the edges of the pit, the opponent actually gets a height advantage because of the incline.
"What goes up is coming back down, probably in a way that causes the opponent a great deal of pain," Nagel said. "It's going to be much more exciting, much more continuous and have much more action."
The full card for the event now includes:
MASTERS SUPERFIGHTS
* Mark Kerr vs. Oleg Taktarov
* Eric "Butterbean" Esch vs. Gary Goodridge
HEAVYWEIGHT TOURNAMENT
* George Bush
* Alexey Oleynik
* Sherman Pendergarst
* Marcelo Pereira
* Ricco Rodrigiez
* Tony Sylvester
* Chris Tuscherer
* Travis Wiuff