Bodog Fight Opens 'Vault' to Showcase Middleweight Tournament

Monday, 31 March 2008

Although the sport of mixed martial arts has been steadily growing in popularity over the past few years, tournaments in which fighters are required to fight more than once on the same card have largely been restricted to underground spectacles or amateur events.

However, with athletic commissions starting to demonstrate a willingness to sanction them, MMA tournaments are beginning to appear at mainstream events.

One such tournament took place as part of a recent Bodog-sponsored Strikeforce event in San Jose, Calif., where a full house packed the HP Pavilion to witness what was, in fact, the first-ever sanctioned MMA tournament in the Golden State.

Scheduled to fight were Jorge Santiago (14-7), Yuki Sasaki (21-13-1), Falaniko "Niko" Vitale (24-7) and Bodog Fight middleweight champion Trevor Prangley (16-4). Due to a failed medical, however, Sasaki was replaced with UFC veteran Sean Salmon (14-4).

Scheduled to take place over the course of a 10-bout fight card, each tournament bout was scheduled for two five-minute rounds, with a draw forcing an overtime round to determine a victor.

Prangley, whose fifth straight victory was a second-round stoppage of Japan's Yuki Kondo at Bodog Fight: New Jersey on July 14, said before the event that stamina would play a factor in the tournament, with the winners of the first bouts having to fight two times during the evening.

"I've fought twice in one night before," said Prangley, referring to Oct. 26, 2002, when he beat Brett Shafer and Manny Valera on the same night in Mexico.

"I won't lie; it isn't easy, especially if you take a couple of kicks to the legs or shots during the first fight. Your body can stiffen up going into the next fight. As tough as it is physically, I think the real test is mental. Physically most fighters can do it, but not everyone has the mental toughness to do it. I like to test myself. That's why I fight, to see just how far I can push myself."

Prangley faces Vitale in the tournament's opening round. Can the Bodog Fight champ win and advance to the finals?

Tune into Bodog Fight's groundbreaking online mixed martial arts series The Vault at fight.bodoglife.net/thevault this Saturday, April 5 to find out.

To see Salmon and Santiago do battle in the other tournament bracket, tune in Tuesday, April 1.