The ProElite 2 Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton live on HDNet on Nov. 5

[Kemal]

Venue issues have forced ProElite into a change for its November show.

Sources close to the promotion have confirmed to MMA Fighting that ProElite, in its second incarnation after folding up shop in late 2008, will move a planned Nov. 5 event from Atlantic City, N.J., to the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill. An official announcement from the promotion is expected by week's end.

The main event is expected to be a heavyweight bout between former UFC champion Tim Sylvia and three-time UFC heavyweight title challenger Pedro Rizzo. Additionally, fellow former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski will fight Travis Fulton, regarded as the busiest fighter in MMA history with more than 300 career fights.

The event was originally targeted for Nov. 12 at the Resorts Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, but was moved to Nov. 5. Logistical trouble with Resorts caused the promotion to look elsewhere, and sources said when additional venues in Atlantic City didn't work out, the decision was made to move to the Quad Cities area in western Illinois. In addition to Moline, ProElite officials considered the Target Center in Minneapolis as a host venue for the show.

The event now will take place Nov. 5 at the iWireless Center in Moline, which has hosted MMA events in the past – including Adrenaline MMA, the promotion started by MMA promoter and manager Monte Cox several years ago. Cox has been informally consulting with Pro Elite. Both the original Nov. 12 date and the new date of Nov. 5 are up against UFC events.

In addition to the main and co-main events on Nov. 5, sources told MMA Fighting that Reagan Penn, brother of former UFC champion BJ Penn, will fight on the card, as will highly regarded women's 125-pounder Tara LaRosa. ProElite reformed earlier this year and hosted a show in Honolulu last month that included Arlovski, Reagan Penn and Kendall Grove.

Sylvia and Arlovski on the same card sets up the possibility for a future meeting between the two, which would be their fourth fight. Arlovski won their first bout, taking the UFC interim heavyweight title at UFC 51. Sylvia then took the belt from Arlovski with a first-round TKO at UFC 59 and defended it at UFC 61 three months later.

Though a published report says Sylvia and Arlovski will meet on the Nov. 5 show, ProElite's head of fight operations T. Jay Thompson confirmed to MMA Fighting that Slyvia-Arlovski will not take place on that day. Additional sources told MMA Fighting it will be Rizzo meeting Sylvia – and that Sylvia-Arlovski IV is not in the promotion's current plans, but could be targeted down the road. It's a fight Arlovski, 1-2 against Sylvia, has wanted for some time.

Sylvia (29-7) has rebounded after a rough stretch that saw him lose four of five fights. He lost his heavyweight title to Randy Couture at UFC 68. He then beat Brandon Vera, but followed that with a loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira that ended his run in the UFC. He moved on to Affliction's short-lived MMA promotion and suffered a quick submission to Fedor Emelianenko. Then came a 9-second knockout loss to pro boxer Ray Mercer that will likely be the biggest stain on his record. Since then, though, he has won five of six over the last two years, with all his wins by stoppage – and all at super heavyweight.

Rizzo (19-9) has not fought since a July 2010 win over Ken Shamrock for Impact FC in Sydney. Rizzo has fought some of the sport's heavyweight legends, including Mark Coleman, Dan Severn, Josh Barnett and Arlovski. In 2001, he twice lost to Couture challenging for the UFC heavyweight title. Since leaving the UFC in 2003, Rizzo's appearances have been more sporadic – with just nine fights in nearly eight years.

Arlovski (16-9) snapped out of a four-fight skid with a win over Ray Lopez at ProElite's show last month. Prior to that, Arlovski lost to Emelianeko, Brett Rogers, Antonio Silva and Sergei Kharitonov, the latter three for Strikeforce.

Fulton is an Iowa-based fighter with a career record of 247-48-10, according to most databases, though it is believed that 10 of those losses came in kickboxing competitions and not in MMA. Fulton fought 13 times in 2010, but has only fought twice in 2011 – going 2-0. The majority of Fulton's losses have come against future UFC fighters like Ben Rothwell, Forrest Griffin, Travis Wiuff, Rich Franklin and Evan Tanner.

[blackadder]

Meer dan 300 profpartijen. Met 30 verloren partijen op KO. WTF...

[basblue]

Pedro Rizzo, die wil ik wel weer een keer in actie zien. En die Travis Fultin... 300 partijen...

[Briant]

Travis Fulton is een cult figuur, hij heeft ook nog es iets van 30 bokspartijen of zo.

[maartenjackie]

Mooi mannetje is dat ja, hij had die lekkere takedown ko aantal jaar geleden. Prachtig

[Kemal]

Pedro Rizzo Pulls Out of ProElite Main Event Against Tim Sylvia

UPDATE: German Andreas Kraniotakes (12-4, 12 finishes) has agreed to meet Sylvia, sources close to the fight confirmed to MMAFighting.com.

Veteran heavyweight Pedro Rizzo has suffered an arm injury and will not be facing former UFC champ Tim Sylvia at ProElite 2 on Nov. 5 in Moline, Ill.

Rizzo announced his withdrawal Monday morning on Twitter.

"Unfortunately I got injured, training here in Holland, had a partial tear in the triceps tendon of my left arm," Rizzo tweeted. "... So I would like to apologize to the ProElite and especially to Tim Sylvia because I can't be in the ring on November 5th to face him ... I think I am in the prime of my condition and I'm really very frustrated with what happened."

Rizzo, 37, was looking to return to the ring for the first time since his TKO win over Ken Shamrock at Impact FC 2 in July 2010. The former UFC title contender has been saying he wants to make another run in the UFC before he retires.

The 35-year-old Sylvia is 1-1 in 2011, losing via TKO to Abe Wagner in January and then stopping Patrick Barrentine in August.

The ProElite 2 card features Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton and an eight-man heavyweight tournament.

[Kemal]

ProElite Signs Broadcast Deal With HDNet

ProElite is back on cable television.

The organization announced late Monday night that it had signed a multi-fight broadcast deal with HDNet to air its events live on the cable network. As a result, ProElite: Big Guns will air live on HDNet on Nov. 5 from the i wireless Center in Moline, Ill.

"Our multi-fight agreement with HDNet elevates the ProElite brand to a national MMA audience with a preeminent broadcast partner," said Paul Feller, President and CEO of Stratus Media Group, the parent company of ProElite, and Chairman of the organization. "This strategic partnership offers new opportunities for corporate sponsors and advertisers looking to reach this passionate and rapidly growing audience of ProElite fans."

The co-main event for the organization's second card under new ownership will feature Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton and Tim Sylvia vs. Andreas Kraniotakes, plus the start of eight-man heavyweight tournament.

EliteXC, a subsidiary of ProElite, debuted on Showtime in Feb. 2007 and subsequently folded in Oct. 2008. In Aug. 2011, the new ProElite launched, with its first event airing online.

[Kemal]

ProElite Fight Card: Sylvia vs. Kraniotakes

Tim Sylvia vs. Andreas Kraniotakes and Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton will lead the Nov. 5 ProElite 2 fight card at the i wireless Center in Moline, Ill.

Also on the card will be an eight-man heavyweight tournament as well as the second fight for Reagan Penn, the younger brother of B.J.

Check out the current ProElite 2 lineup below.

The event will air live on HDNet.

Non-Tournament Pro Bouts
Tim Sylvia vs. Andreas Kraniotakes
Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton
Reagan Penn vs. TBA
Waylon Lowe vs. TBA

Heavyweight Tournament Bouts
Mark Ellis vs. Ryan Martinez
Richard Odoms vs. Jason Bosler
Jake Heun vs. Chris Birchler
Esteves Jones vs. Walter Harris
Todd Monaghan vs. TBA (tournament reserve bout)
Amateur Bouts
Kelly Skeffington vs. Jonathon Thomson
Daniel DeCamp vs. Nick McClean

[basblue]

Pedro Rizzo Pulls Out of ProElite Main Event Against Tim Sylvia

UPDATE: German Andreas Kraniotakes (12-4, 12 finishes) has agreed to meet Sylvia, sources close to the fight confirmed to MMAFighting.com.

Veteran heavyweight Pedro Rizzo has suffered an arm injury and will not be facing former UFC champ Tim Sylvia at ProElite 2 on Nov. 5 in Moline, Ill.

Rizzo announced his withdrawal Monday morning on Twitter.

"Unfortunately I got injured, training here in Holland, had a partial tear in the triceps tendon of my left arm," Rizzo tweeted. "... So I would like to apologize to the ProElite and especially to Tim Sylvia because I can't be in the ring on November 5th to face him ... I think I am in the prime of my condition and I'm really very frustrated with what happened."

Rizzo, 37, was looking to return to the ring for the first time since his TKO win over Ken Shamrock at Impact FC 2 in July 2010. The former UFC title contender has been saying he wants to make another run in the UFC before he retires.

The 35-year-old Sylvia is 1-1 in 2011, losing via TKO to Abe Wagner in January and then stopping Patrick Barrentine in August.

The ProElite 2 card features Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Fulton and an eight-man heavyweight tournament.

Neeeeeeeeeeee, Rizzo ligt eruit. Balen. Maar waar in Nederland heeft hij dan getraind?

[basblue]

Ik kende tegenstander van Sylvia niet.... Andreas heeft een aardige record, maar niet echt op grote gala's gestaan.



Zijn record: 12 - 4 - 0 (Win - Loss - Draw), zijn wins: 8 (T)KOs, 4 Submissions.

*Win David Shvelidze Submission (Punches) SFC 5 - Germany vs. Georgia 9/17/2011 1 2:51
*Win Dave Keeley Submission (Armbar) CWFC 43 - Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 43 7/9/2011 1 3:48
*Win Jay Mortimore TKO (Punches) CWFC - Fight Night 1 6/16/2011 1 4:14
*Loss Ajlin Ahmic Submission (Armbar) WFC 13 - Heavy Hitters 4/17/2011 2 4:33
*Win Arunas Vilius KO (Knee to the Body) SFC 3 - MMA Fight Night 3/5/2011 1 1:06
*Win Thorsten Kronz Submission (Reverse Triangle Choke) TFS - Mix Fight Gala XI 11/27/2010 1 3:24
*Etc etc

[Kemal]

Andreas Kraniotakes Out of ProElite 2 Main Event Against Tim Slyvia

ProElite's second fight card since returning to the major mixed martial arts landscape has hit another snag.

Just 10 days after main event heavyweight Pedro Rizzo had to pull out of his fight against former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia with an injury, Rizzo's replacement, Andreas Kraniotakes, now also is off the card.

Sources close to ProElite on Wednesday told MMA Fighting that Kraniotakes' fighter license was not approved by the Illinois State Professional Athletic Commission, which oversees MMA in the state. That leaves ProElite scrambling for a replacement to fight Sylvia on what will be less than 10 days notice for ProElite 2 at the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill., on Nov. 5.

According to sources close to the event, the reason behind the state commission's refusal to approve Kraniotakes stems from a lack of sanctioned fights on his record. Though the German heavyweight is 12-4, the bulk of his 16 career fights have come in Europe, leaving him without any sanctioned fights in the United States for the commission to base its decision on.

ProElite is said to have a replacement fighter lined up to face Sylvia, and attempted to present that fighter to the Illinois commission on Wednesday – only to find the board had closed up shop for the business day. A decision on Sylvia's new opponent is expected Thursday, which will give him nine days to prepare for the fight – and Slyvia nine days to prepare for what will be his third opponent since signing on for the event.

Early Thursday morning, Kraniotakes posted a video with his reaction to the cancelation on his official website.

"Eventually, the commission wouldn't give me a license for some reasons no one understands," Kraniotakes said. "I think the people making those decisions probably don't know anything about the sport. I did everything I could do, my management did everything it could do, ProElite did everything it could do to make the fight happen. But the commission just said no."

Kraniotakes, who had come to the States to train in San Diego leading up to the fight, said he is unsure what his next move will be, but he'd like to get a fight in 2011.

"I thought this was the moment in my career where all the suffering and the hard stuff I've put into it, all the training and all the work, finally paid off," Kraniotakes said. "And now I stand here and don't really know what to think. It's kind of tough for me. I don't really know where to go from here, but I know this eon't hold me down."

ProElite has not yet announced its third event, though it is not likely to take place this calendar year. Its first event since folding up shop in late 2008 took place in August in Hawaii, and a return to the Aloha State would seem possible – and may prove to be an easier road to getting Kraniotakes a license than in Illinois, a state commission that has not been without trouble in the past.

In March, the Chicago Tribune reported that the commission's No. 2 official was put on administrative leave so the state could investigate complaints he used his position to benefit, in part, political campaigns run by his wife and his brother's work as a boxing judge.

Last month, MMA Fighting was first to report Sylvia in the main event of ProElite 2 against Rizzo on a card that was moved to the Quad Cities area of western Illinois from its original planned home in Atlantic City. Sylvia, a Maine native, has lived in the Quad Cities for years, training with the Pat Miletich team during his UFC run as heavyweight champion.

But just 10 days ago, Rizzo had to pull out of the fight with an injury and Kraniotakes was tapped as his replacement. Though Kraniotakes is largely unknown outside of Europe, he is ranked in the Top 100 of some MMA heavyweight lists.

Slyvia (29-7) has won five of his last six. In August, he beat Patrick Barrentine (9-6) on a show in Rockford, Ill., a fight which was approved by the Illinois commission.

ProElite 2 features a co-main event between former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski and Travis Fulton, a veteran of more than 300 career fights. BJ Penn's brother Reagan meets Evan Cutts, and former UFC fighter Waylon Lowe fights Floyd Hodges. In addition, a ProElite heavyweight tournament gets underway with four quarterfinal bouts, including one featuring NCAA wrestling standout Mark Ellis (1-0).