Remeber Chuck Liddell’s infamous appearance on that Texas morning news show? Yeah, the one where he appeared to be drugged but was just high on pain and cold medication? Well, remember how Chuck said he wanted to fight Tommy Morrison for his next fight? Looks like Tommy’s practicing… The World Fighting Championship announced today that Tommy Morrison will make his MMA debut on June 9 against 340lb. John Stover at the Cliff Castle Casino in Arizona. Personally, I doubt if this is anything more than a money-grab by Morrison and a promotional hype for the WFC.
May 10, 2007 – Tommy “The Duke” Morrison, one of the most intriguing boxers to even step into the squared circle, shocked the MMA world this week by announcing his intention to fight 340 lb. John Stover, an experienced cagefighter with 8 professional fights, on June 9, 2007 at the Cliff Castle Casino (www.cliffcastlecasino.net) in Arizona in Gino Carlucci’s World Fighting Championship (www.thewfc.com).
Morrison’s bombshell announcement comes over a decade after his previous bombshell announcement that rocked the boxing world that he had tested positive for AIDS. Morrison, however, has been symptom free for 10 years now and claims that he was the victim of a false positive test result. He recently started boxing again and was cleared to return to the ring by the West Virginia Athletic Commission after passing a battery of medical tests in Arizona, the results of which were forwarded to West Virginia.
Best known to the general public for his role as Tommy Gunn in Rocky V, Morrison was on top of the boxing world before a single test result in 1996 took it all away. But Morrison (46-3-1, 40 KOs) was no celluloid tiger and was a significant fighter and box office draw. George Foreman, for example, lost to only five fighters in his career and Morrison is one. Morrison also held a share of the heavyweight title on two occasions.
“I had just signed a three-fight deal with Don King,” Morrison recalls, “that was going to lead to showdown with Mike Tyson that was worth $38 million. My first fight was against Stormy Weathers in Las Vegas, but then came the test result and the fight was cancelled. I estimate that cost me around $100 million in fight purses over the past 10 years.”
Morrison was spurred to start cagefighting by an interview that Chuck Liddell gave on Good Morning Texas where Liddell called out Morrison and said he wanted to fight him. “I couldn’t believe that,” Morrison says. “It’s one thing to talk about fighting someone but another thing to actually do it. Let’s see if Chuck Liddell’s heart is as big as his mouth. He is crazy to want to get into the cage with me. I beat George Foreman. Nobody in the history of boxing hit harder than George Foreman. So why would I be afraid to get hit by Chuck Liddell? He should be the one to be afraid. Liddell has never been hit by anyone like me. Dana White always talks about how a top cagefighter like Liddell could beat a top boxer so here’s a chance to make it happen. I want to know if Liddell and Dana White really mean what they say or if they are just full of talk. I will take on Chuck Liddell anytime, anyplace, anywhere.”
Morrison’s first step in his mixed martial arts career will be followed and reported on around the world and “The Duke” is dead serious about his upcoming fight. “I’m really excited to be fighting in the WFC and I feel like a whole new world has been opened up to me. If you want to see the future of mixed martial arts then come to the Cliff Castle Casino in Camp Verde Arizona on June 9, 2007…because that future is me.”
For ticket and travel information for Tommy Morrison’s cagefighting debut go to www.thewfc.com and www.cliffcastlecasino.net. For all media requests contact Peter McKinn at 602-405-5661.
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Amber
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Singh is King
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@ Richard
You know Rich.. I am only 100 comments out from you .. all I need is one troll bashing on Silva and its done.. lol kidding ..
kansas
i seems to me that u have a special place in ur heart for these brazilian fighters and sometimes tend to overlook our fighters we have in the states ie couture and hendo i wont doubt couture cuz as much as he fights with his body he fights with his mind meaning right now hes watching every fight that he possible can making a game plan that he will stick to in the fight
Hmmm.. the LHW division is my fav… no doubt.. and my fav fighter is Silva no doubt … I lived in Brazil for over year man .. I fought and trained with some of the best fighters in middle Brazil, also in Sao Paulo and Rio .. so I a wider world view, I see things in terms of “the best” rather than “red white and blue” … I love Bj Penn, he is American, you guys hammer me on him but I think he is the best at 155 and 170. I like Anderson Silva, he has proven to be BETTER than Rich Franklin, and I like Wanderlei, who is a BEAST, and for HW I like Fedor, and Cro Cop .. neither are Brazilian.. but after what Gonzaga did to Cro Cop, and Couture said he would rather fight Cro Cop .. well, what do you expect, another Brazilian… Shogun is also Brazilian.. look at it from my perspective.. you could say within 6 months have Gonzaga at HW.. Shogun at LHW..Anderson Silva at Middle, … that’s a lot of Brazilian champions in the UFC if it does par out and I can see it happening.. looked at where these guys are ranked, it would make sense….
i see couture hw
hendo lhw
hendo middle
@Richard
Do you also see the boogie man and Spider man coming to help Couture do that?… lol get off the hopeium man!
Yep, Hulk Hogan can join in that party and body slam Gonzaga while Couture jumps off the top rope, their both Wrastlers .. kidding, I like Randy, I am joking, but seriously, want to know what BJJ vs Wrestling looks like… Penn vs Hughes 1 is an example… plus Gonzaga has a weight advantage, bigtime and can strike, as Cro Cop knows first hand…. so good luck with that prediction, even Randy looked nervous after that last fight..
u say benn vs hughes 1 what about 2 look at gonzagas record he has only beat 1 good guy cro crop thats all im not saying gozonga sucks but couture just aint a wrestler he can box
PLUS GONZAGA GASES
well…im sorry to rain on everybodys parade here…but pitbull is going to dominate the hw ranks, and chuck liddell is coming to knock out jardine,rua, then ultimately the winner of quinton/hendo….lol
Well, Couture is older now.. he is gonna have a harder time with “gassing” than Gonzaga, I know Gonzaga is training his butt off just like Penn did for his last fight, and just like Rampage did for his last fight.. I dunno something about THE BIGGEST TITLE FIGHT OF YOUR LIFE, that makes a man train harder… fight harder… Couture will be handling a much heavier fighter, which will wear him down.. and Gonzaga can handle a much smaller Couture on the ground, no problem.. so again.. good luck with that prediction, common sense says Gonzaga is going to kill Couture in the first round
first round hahaha dont be jaded kansas
@Todd
Yeah well if he ever gets the stones to fight Silva in November, he will be buried so you can visit Chucks grave maybe…. lol
The pitbull, sucks..
Jaded?
Yeah, uhhhh you said Cro Cop would win? He got koed in round 1 .. so what now? You saying Couture at 43 is better than Mirko Cro Cop?
lol
When was the last time the Pitbull put on a good show and won?
im talking about jaded in ur seeing the ko of cro crop and gonzaga aint that fighter if there is any luck in the ufc that was it for sure but yes i think couture is better than cro crop forget about age AGE AINT NOTHING BUT A NUMBER
12/30/2006 of maricio cruz!! lol lol lol
the thing with gonzaga, he is a Big boy to deal with on the ground, this matchup i think will be interesting, but who ever wins that title cant duck and dodge the pitbull for long……like silva dogding chuck……lol
one thing wrong on the pitbull GLASS CHIN
yea….his chin in so glassy it shatters lol! but he is still my fav hw,
Okay boys….. lol…. you both know Silva isn’t ducking Chuck, to say that age ain’t nothin but a number is complete old boy b.s. and you either know that or your full of it, age does take a toll on the body, and Couture is going to gas, while Gonzaga whips… no luck to it, the Brazileiro is going to win.. he is too good and big on the ground, couture needs him to drop about 30 pounds, but that isn’t happening… and Gonzaga, is cutting so he is muscle Rich, not FAT …
I like Arlovski, I used to get super excited when he’d fight, but lately, its been duds, nothing but duds. I don’t see him winning the title again for a while, but he is young and could make a comeback soon… never know… he just needs to clean the glass out of his jaw…. lol
and quit talking about Silva like that… Wandi is awesome, like he said, he did what the promoter told him to do when he shouldn’t have, fought sick and injured…. so if he sticks to fighting healthy, he will be dominant… no doubt he is the most dominant longest reigning LHW in any org ever…
@Richard
Hey wasn’t it you that has like 6 kids and washes dishes.. or is that Rj?
Hellooooo????? Anyone out there in Cyberspace?
seems like whenever champions get to the top they always let things get to their head and they start slacking, they dont fight the same after(arlovski), but im not even going to lie them brazillians dont be playing around, so chuck, pitbull cant slack around because if you do…you get knocked out by even the bumbs like sylvialol, and quinton rampage jackson…..well rampage is not a bumb, but you cant be playing around, especially when everybody is comming to ufc now.
lol yea we know silva isnt ducking chuck…..
kansas
i am a dishwasher but only have one kid RJ has six,u got kids?but couture gonzaga is gonna be awesome
@Todd
What happens – in my opinion – is that they start buying into all the hype they see in the media about themselves, start thinking they are that good, good enough to party all night, skip training, or train half speed for the next fight… they forget that it was the hard work that got them there… there is no such thing as an easy fight as a professional unless you are chuck liddell, he got to many hand-me’s which caused him to get wiped out quickly by a real striker.. I think the cars, espn cover, poster boy for ufc, ect.. all of it went to his head, same for GSP and Franklin.. Hughes just got whupped, plain and simple…
franklin just got his azzzzzzz whooped now liddel i think got caught theres a difference between getting smashed{franklin}and getting caught{liddel}even though i think liddel would of lost
I just watched a video of gonzaga training.. it’s okay.. I think it will be a battle, I recant my 1st round win comment though, but I still think Gonzaga will best Couture…. I don’t have kids, want them, but the wife is still in college… dental hygiene, when she finishes in 24 months we will have a couple..
kansas
clock is ticking how old pushing 55 LOL
yea silva to, we all know about them brazillian *** kittens over there. Well at least we know SILVA wasnt partyin….he was sippin margaritas with the senortias!!!!! lol
@richard
with regard to Franklin and Chuck, i guess that is a pretty accurate comment you just posted.. reflecting back..
Franklin got whipped by a BRAZILIAN MAN! lol!
wandi might be a a bad mother but he is ugly
@Richard
You commenting on my age?
What not pretty enough for your taste Richard?
KANSAS
now that HILLBILLYS gone ur the resident grandfather LOL
Guarantee your older than me…
first wandi is ugly but has a nice bod,second kansas im just messing with u i know ur about i think like 40 through43 right but im only 22 but i be u could EASILY kick my azzzzzzz LOL
Im 28. I don’t think any man has a nice body… now my Brazilian wife… lol different story.. I am not really into men though Rich…. kidding..
kansas
ur 28 NO i thought u said u were like 40 man
i am very comfortable with my sexuality so i can comfortably say i like the way a mans body looks like
@kansas, hey can u hook me up with one of them honey bunnies out there?
I never said I was like 40, that’s dennis.. I am 28 .. and bud if your comfortable with your gaay sexuality, good for you, holdup another rainbow flag for all of us.. lol
hey did doc ever do the rankings
@Todd
No.. lol but I am sure Rich can hook you up with one of those twinks in Cali! LOL! kidding guys pls don’t get mad! lol!
fck, i was looking forward to long nites on the beach………..oh well
kansas
now i have a whole different view of u why dont u go pro didnt u say u have like a 27 and 1 record
24-1
@Todd,
The rankings site is almost ready. I’m getting the final design in this week and hopefully the site will be up by the end of the month.
I’ll have a little “preview signup” for all you guys here to help me test it out before its release to the masses.