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Two world title fights headline World Series of Fighting 9 on March 29 at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas

Welterweight champion Steve Carl meets Rousimar Palhares, Marlon Moraes faces Josh Rettinghouse for inaugural bantamweight belt


World Series of Fighting, the Las Vegas-based mixed martial arts promotion, returns to The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas on March 29 with a pair of championship titles on the line, as welterweight title holder Steve Carl (21-3) defends his belt against Brazilian jiu-jitsu master Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares (15-5) and bantamweight Marlon Moraes (12-4-1), a world-ranked top-10 contender, meets Josh "The Finisher" Rettinghouse (10-2) for the promotion's inaugural 135-pound championship.

"We are very excited to be returning home for this incredible fight card," World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. "Steve Carl will have a real serious challenge ahead for the first defense of his welterweight title as he faces Rousimar Palhares, and Marlon Moraes vs. Josh Rettinghouse will be an incredible fight and a great way to crown our first bantamweight champion.

"We're working on a few more fights that we should be able to announce shortly, but fans are really going to love the lineup for this event, and great fights are guaranteed."

The 29-year-old Carl earned World Series of Fighting's welterweight belt in October with a dramatic, fourth-round submission win over Josh Burkman. The Iowa native has already earned three victories under the World Series of Fighting banner and currently boasts a seven-fight winning streak.

For his first title defense, Carl now meets submission expert and one of the most feared men in MMA, Rousimar Palhares. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and former Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship silver medalist, the 33-year-old Palhares is a grappling master who has earned 11 of his 15 career wins by way of submission.

Meanwhile, Moraes has quickly established himself as one of world's best fighters at 135 pounds and has already earned four wins for the promotion after downing Carson Beebe, Brandon Hempleman, Tyson Nam and Miguel Torres. A former Muay Thai Brazilian national champion, Moraes currently trains under respected MMA legend Ricardo Almeida. The 25-year-old Moraes is currently ranked as the No. 8 bantamweight in the world by Fightmatrix.com.

Moraes now meets Washington's Rettinghouse. The 23-year-old made his World Series of Fighting debut in October, earning a hard-fought decision win over Olympic wrestling bronze medalist Alexis Vila. Rettinghouse has won his past eight fights, and eight of his 10 career victories have come by stoppage.

Burkman-Stinson and two other fights round out main card for WSOF 9 set for March 29 at Hard Rock Las Vegas‏


The five-fight, NBCSN-televised main card for World Series of Fighting 9 is now complete with the addition of three new contests, including welterweights Josh "The People's Warrior" Burkman (26-10) vs. Tyler "The Evolution" Stinson (27-9), lightweights Ozzy Dugulubgov (5-1) vs. Johnny Nunez (4-0) and featherweights Mike Corey (12-3-1) vs. Shane Kruchten (11-2).

The three new bouts join a pair of previously announced championship matchups at "World Series of Fighting 9: Carl vs. Palhares," which takes place March 29 at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

"We were already excited for this card with our welterweight champion Steve Carl facing Rousimar Palhares and Marlon Moraes facing Josh Rettinghouse for our inaugural featherweight title," World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. "But now we're adding a big welterweight fight with two fan favorites in Josh Burkman and Tyler Stinson, as well as two key bouts that could see some of our developing contenders make a big statement in the lightweight and featherweight divisions.

"This card should be absolutely fantastic."

Burkman, of Salt Lake City, returns to the decagon following a failed October attempt to claim the World Series of Fighting's inaugural welterweight belt. The loss put an end to Burkman's impressive five-fight winning streak that included World Series of Fighting victories over MMA notables Jon Fitch, Aaron Simpson and Gerald Harris.

Meanwhile, Stinson, who's based in Denver, made his World Series of Fighting debut in January, earning a hard-fought TKO win over Valdir Araujo. The 28-year-old Stinson now boasts four consecutive wins and makes his first main-card appearance for the promotion.

Dugulubgov, who trains with Renzo Gracie's team in New York, seeks his third straight World Series of Fighting victory. After outpointing Chris Wade at World Series of Fighting 2, Dugulubgov scored an impressive submission victory over Andrew Osborne with a second-round Achilles lock at September's World Series of Fighting 5 event and now owns a four-fighting winning streak.

Nunez, who's based at Las Vegas' Syndicate MMA, made his pro debut in 2012 and has gone unbeaten at 4-0 with three stoppages. The impressive prospect now makes his World Series of Fighting debut.

Corey, a Team Curran fighter based in Chicago, fights for the first time under the World Series of Fighting banner. Seven of his 12 career wins have come by way of stoppage, including six submissions. The 29-year-old looks to rebound from a disappointing April loss but was unbeaten in his seven prior appearances.

Kruchten, a San Diego-based fighter who trains at The Arena, lost the first two fights of his pro career. However, he has since rebounded with 11 straight wins, including nine victories by stoppage. He now makes his World Series of Fighting debut, as well.

World Series of Fighting 9 lineup complete with addition of six preliminary contests. Prelims feature Chris Gruetzemacher vs. John Gunderson, as well as some of Las Vegas' finest budding talent


With a stacked main card already in place that includes two championship contests, World Series of Fighting 9's full lineup is now complete with the addition of six preliminary bouts. The intriguing contests include no less than 10 of Las Vegas' finest mixed martial artists, as the "Fight Capital of the World" will be well represented on the card. The new matchups include featherweights Chris "Gritz" Gruetzemacher (11-1) vs. John "Guns" Gunderson (34-15), bantamweights Sean Cantor (1-0) vs. Bryson Hansen (6-1), welterweights "Filthy" Phil Dace (9-4) vs. Danny "Dee1" Davis (8-8-1), bantamweights Jimmy "Rabbit" Jones (4-2) vs. "Ruthless" Rudy Morales (2-0), lightweights Gil Guardado (2-0) vs. Jimmy Spicuzza (2-0) and debuting lightweights Tanner Cowan (0-0) vs. A.J. Williams (0-0).

"One of the great things about being based in Las Vegas is the proximity to so many of the world's absolute best MMA camps," World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. "With us returning to our home base for this amazing event, it made sense for us to feature some of the city's best talent, and I think we've put together a preliminary card that is going to deliver an entertaining evening ahead of our spectacular NBCSN-broadcast main-card lineup."

"World Series of Fighting 9: Carl vs. Palhares," which features a welterweight title fight between champ Steve Carl and challenger Rousimar Palhares, as well as Marlon Moraes vs. Josh Rettinghouse for the inaugural World Series of Fighting bantamweight title, takes place March 29 at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Gruetzemacher, a member of The MMA Lab in Glendale, Ariz., brings an impressive 10-fight winning streak to the cage. He faces Gunderson, a Syndicate MMA fighter who drops to featherweight for the first time in his career in this, his 50th professional fight.

Cantor is a Wanderlei Silva product who earned a close split-decision win in his professional debut. He now returns against Xtreme Couture fighter and transplanted Hawaiian Hansen, who recently rebounded from his first professional loss with a TKO win over Jesus Alvarado.

Syndicate MMA fighter Dace fought most recently in May, where he downed Jesus Wong via TKO. He now meets "Dee 1" Davis, who currently boasts a two-fight winning streak.

Xtreme Couture's Jones remains one of Las Vegas' most personable fighters, and he looks to rebound from a November 2012 loss to Sergio Pettis. He faces the hard-hitting Morales, who has earned two quick wins since turning pro in August.

Xtreme Couture' Guardado followed up his undefeated amateur career by turning pro in March 2012 and is still unbeaten after picking up a pair of stoppage wins. Meanwhile, Syndicate MMA's Spicuzza is also unbeaten through the first two fights of his professional career.

Rounding out the card, Utah's Cowan travels to Las Vegas to meet Syndicate MMA's Williams in a bout where each man makes his professional debut.

Top-ranked middleweight Yushin Okami vs. Svetlozar Savov added to World Series of Fighting 9's star-studded lineup - Brenson Hansen vs. Boostayre Nefarios also added to preliminary card, lineup complete now with 13 fights



Perennially top-ranked middleweight Yushin "Thunder" Okami (29-8) makes his World Series of Fighting debut on March 29, as he battles Svetlozar Savov (12-4) on the NBCSN-broadcast main card of "World Series of Fighting 9: Carl vs. Palhares."

Additionally, a featherweight matchup between Brenson Hansen (5-2) and Boostayre "Bullit" Nefarios (2-1) has also been added to the night's WSOF.com-streamed preliminary card.

"I was already excited for World Series of Fighting 9, but the addition of Yushin Okami against Svetlozar Savov to our live NBCSN broadcast leaves no question that this is the best card we've ever put together," World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. "This card now has some of the world's most established talent, as well as some of the top up-and-coming names in the sport. This truly is a card you do not want to miss."

"World Series of Fighting 9: Carl vs. Palhares," which features a welterweight title fight between champ Steve Carl and challenger Rousimar Palhares, as well as Marlon Moraes vs. Josh Rettinghouse for the inaugural World Series of Fighting bantamweight title, takes place March 29 at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

The 32-year-old Okami, of Kanagawa, Japan, is a judo black belt who owns career victories over MMA notables Alan Belcher, Hector Lombard, Nate Marquardt, Mark Munoz, Anderson Silva and Mike Swick, among others. He now meets 25-year-old Bulgarian prospect Savov, who boasts 11 stoppage wins among his 12 career victories.

Hansen has already fought three times under the World Series of Fighting banner, earning wins over Josh Montalvo and Tom Marcellino before suffering a hard-fought split-decision loss to Freddy Assuncao at January's World Series of Fighting 8 event. Meanwhile, Nefarios makes his World Series of Fighting debut. The son of longtime MMA veteran Marvin Eastman, Nefarios is a well-known name on the Las Vegas fight scene after fighting several times in Sin City as an amateur before making the transition to the pro ranks.

With the two additions, the World Series of Fighting 9 lineup now includes:


NBCSN-TELEVISED MAIN CARD:

Champion Steve Carl vs. Rousimar Palhares - for welterweight title
Marlon Moraes vs. Josh Rettinghouse - for inaugural bantamweight title
Yushin Okami vs. Svetlozar Savov
Josh Burkman vs. Tyler Stinson
Ozzy Dugulubgov vs. Johnny Nunez


WSOF.COM-STREAMED PRELIMINARY CARD:

Mike Corey vs. Shane Kruchten
Chris Gruetzemacher vs. John Gunderson
Sean Cantor vs. Bryson Hansen
Phil Dace vs. Danny Davis
Brenson Hansen vs. Boostayre Nefarios
Jimmy Jones vs. Rudy Morales
Gil Guardado vs. Jimmy Spicuzza

WSOF 9 Final Fight Card:


MAIN CARD:

Steve Carl (c) vs. Rousimar Palhares – WSOF welterweight title bout
Marlon Moraes vs. Josh Rettinghouse – WSOF inaugural bantamweight title bout
Yushin Okami vs. Svetlozar Savov
Josh Burkman vs. Tyler Stinson
Ozzy Dugulubgov vs. Johnny Nunez


PRELIMINARY CARD:

Mike Corey vs. Shane Kruchten
Sean Cantor vs. Bryson Hansen
Chris Gruetzemacher vs. John Gunderson
Brenson Hansen vs. Boostayre Nefarios
Phil Dace vs. Danny Davis
Brenson Hansen vs. Boostayre Nefarios
Gil Guardado vs. Jimmy Spicuzza