Urban Conflict Championship Mixed Martial Arts Fight League Debuts 'UCC 1: MERCILESS'

JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 19, 2010, Jersey City's National Guard Armory will be the site of the first major Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event to take place directly outside of New York City – "UCC 1: MERCILESS."  This event will introduce a new metropolitan-area MMA fight league called Urban Conflict Championship, whose mission is to continue to drive the popularity of the sport in the Tri-State area.

"UCC 1: MERCILESS" presents an all-professional, MMA fight card lineup, featuring some of the most anticipated talent in the sport. The lineup hails fighters from a number of distinguished schools in the area including AMA Fight Club, American Top Team, Bomb Squad, Iron Horse, Renzo Gracie, and Tiger Schulmann's. A sell-out crowd of 2,500 people is expected to attend the first of six events to take place this year, in various locations encompassing the Tri-State area.

Within the past year, MMA has become widely accepted as the fastest growing sport in the nation.  However, it continues to struggle against state regulators who look to monitor the sport's brutality.  It remains banned from competition in Maine, Michigan, New York, South Carolina, and West Virginia.  Amid controversy, MMA continues to draw positive attention and record popularity through both broadcast and live events.  The best known fight league in the sport, The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), continually reaches record breaking Pay Per View sales and sell-out events in every state and country it travels to (UFC: 111 scheduled on March 27, 2010, in Newark, NJ was reported sold out by mid February).  Over the past two years the sport has seen an increase in start-up fight leagues across the United States, attracting a growing number of professional MMA fighters.  

The March 19th event takes place at The National Guard Armory of Jersey City, a building with a rich history in prizefight boxing from the 1970-80s.  Former New Jersey Governor Brendon Byrne and former Jersey City Mayor Thomas F.X. Smith entered the boxing ring at the Armory with Mohammed Ali at a benefit event held for the Jersey City Medical Center in 1972(1).  The Armory is located off the Journal Square stop on the Path Train, only minutes away from New York City where the legalization of MMA has incited recent political controversy.  New York Governor David Paterson and Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez both argue that the legalization of the sport will create service jobs and immediate relief for the State's fiscal budget.

The event will be sponsored by HD Net Fights, Liquid Lightning, Untamed Industries, Cucca Fresca Spirits, BuddhaSport.com, Redi Print, and The Blaq List.  Film production of the event will be managed by Code Films, a division of The Napoleon Group (NY, NY) – a progressive production house with over 25 years experience.  Getz Media (NY, NY), the creative consulting agency for UCC Fights, created all advertising materials for this event.

The official weigh-in for "UCC 1: MERCILESS" is scheduled for Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 7:00pm, in the Liberty Room of the Hyatt Regency of Jersey City on the Hudson, 2 Exchange Place, Jersey City, NJ 07302.

Please visit www.uccfights.com for updated information regarding Urban Conflict Championship and "UCC 1: MERCILESS."  

The "UCC 1: MERCILESS" Fight Card will feature 9+ professional bouts including:

(1) Karnoutsos, Carmela. "New Jersey National Guard Armory." Jersey City: Past and Present. 1997.  New Jersey City University. 22 Feb. 2010  http://www.njcu.edu/Programs/jchistory/Pages/A_Pages/Armory_New_Jersey_National_Guard.htm.

TO ALL INTERESTED MEDIA:

TO INTERVIEW UCC PRESIDENT CHRIS SBLENDORIO, MATCHMAKER AND FIGHT PROMOTER PHIL ROSS, OR TO RESERVE AN ALL ACCESS MEDIA PASS TO THIS EVENT:

SOURCE Urban Conflict Championship