Rich Chou Appointed First Strikeforce MMA Matchmaker‏

[keithlewis]

RICH CHOU APPOINTED FIRST STRIKEFORCE MMA MATCHMAKER

NEW YORK (October 3, 2009)--Rich Chou has been hired by STRIKEFORCE to serve as the world championship mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion's first-ever official matchmaker.

Chou comes to STRIKEFORCE with 10 years of experience in the MMA business. During his tenure in the sport, he has functioned in the same capacity with two other organizations and worn a number of other hats including that of competitor and referee.

"It is an honor to have the opportunity to work for a top organization like STRIKEFORCE," said Chou, who will be responsible for creating matchups between fighters for STRIKEFORCE's monthly events that air live on SHOWTIME® as well as for the promotion's live debut on CBS on Saturday, November 7. Before the acquisition of Chou, STRIKEFORCE had relied on a committee, headed by CEO Scott Coker, to create its matchups.

"STRIKEFORCE has done some incredible things over the course of the last few years to emerge as one of the world's premiere MMA promotions. They have a deep roster of world class talent so it's going to be very exciting and a lot of fun to be able to put together highly compelling matchups for their events."

The 30-year-old Chou graduated from Pepperdine University in 2001 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications and Business Administration. During his college years, he began training in the fighting discipline of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Shortly after commencement, Chou relocated to Honolulu, Hawaii with the intention of becoming a professional mixed martial artist. He went on to compete in numerous grappling tournaments as well as in one professional MMA fight and referee over 100 MMA bouts in Hawaii.

In 2004, Chou was hired by promoter J.D. Penn, the brother of MMA superstar B.J. Penn, to assist with the growth of J.D's "Rumble on the Rock" series of MMA events and to spearhead all matchmaking efforts for the promotion. Chou played a similar role with EliteXC between 2007 and 2008.

Chou will relocate from Honolulu, Hawaii to STRIKEFORCE's headquarters in San Jose, California to assume his new position.

STRIKEFORCE in March 2009 signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME to stage live MMA events on the premium cable television network. Last week, STRIKEFORCE announced that it would make its live, primetime debut on CBS with its "Fedor vs. Rogers" mega-fight that it will co-promote with M-1 Global on Saturday, November 7.