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Palomino vs Gonzalez Set for WSOF 12 on Aug. 9 in Las Vegas


Fresh off a successful debut on network television, World Series of Fighting returns to NBCSN for "World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez," which takes place Aug. 9 at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

In the night's main event, two of the promotion's top lightweights bid for a shot at World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, as exciting Peruvian veteran Luis "Baboon" Palomino (22-9) faces undefeated Californian "Lethal" Lewis Gonzalez (9-0).

In the night's co-feature, Brazilian brawler Ronny Markes (14-3) returns to light heavyweight to make his World Series of Fighting debut against undefeated submission machine Kelvin "The Mama's Boy" Tiller (6-0).

The night's main card also features a middleweight attraction when Bosnian-born Elvis "The King" Mutapcic (13-3) returns to the World Series of Fighting decagon against undefeated Bulgarian-born standout Krasimir Mladenov (11-0). Two exciting bantamweights kick off the NBCSN telecast, as ageless Olympian Alexis Vila (13-4) takes on Brandon "Hot Rod" Hempleman (9-2).

"We had an incredible July event on network television, and our roster is full of hungry fighters who want to have that same type of opportunity," World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. "We're happy to be back at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for World Series of Fighting 12, where all four main-card matchups feature fighters who can really make an impact with a solid performance, and it's capped off by what looks like a thrilling fight between Luis Palomino and Lewis Gonzalez, both of whom want to be the next to challenge our incredible lightweight champion, Justin Gaethje."

Luis Palomino returns to action for the first time since a "Fight of the Year" candidate knockout win over Jorge Patino at January's World Series of Fighting 8 event. The eight-year veteran boasts 12 knockouts among his 22 career wins and is known for putting on thrilling performances. He now meets gritty 26-year-old Lewis Gonzalez, who is unbeaten through the first nine fights of his professional career. Gonzalez made an immediate impact at World Series of Fighting in his promotional debut, scoring an upset win over gritty veteran Antonio McKee at World Series of Fighting 4.

The 26-year-old Ronny Markes is a member of Brazil's famed Nova Uniao fight team, home to some of the top fighters in the world. Markes returns to the 205-pound division, where he won 12 of his 13 bouts as professional before embarking on a four-fight run at middleweight. He now meets the undefeated Kelvin Tiller, who is perfect through the first six fights of his career and now looks to prove himself on a national stage. Tiller has earned four of his six wins by submission, and three of those came in the opening round.

Elvis Mutapcic was a member of World Series of Fighting's inaugural middleweight championship tournament but suffered a decision loss to tourney finalist Jesse Taylor. Still, Mutapcic is 5-1 in his past six career outings, and 11 of his 13 career wins have come by knockout or submission. Meanwhile, the durable fighter has never been finished, as all three of his losses came by way of decision. He now meets Krasimir Mladenov, who has already notched a pair of wins under the World Series of Fighting banner with past victories over Angel DeAnda and Kendrick Miree.

Alexis Vila remains one of the top bantamweights in the world, even at 43 years old. The Cuban national was a bronze medal-winning wrestler at the 1996 Summer Olympics and is currently 3-1 in his past four fights, with the lone loss coming in a heartbreaking decision result to a game Josh Rettinghouse at World Series of Fighting 6. He now faces Brandon Hempleman, who came up short in a hard-fought No. 1 contender fight against current World Series of Fighting bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes at World Series of Fighting 4. Hempleman lost the fight but gained fans as he weathered an incredible storm of offense in a losing result that snapped six-fight winning streak.

"World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez" adds Bryson Hansen vs. Matt Sayles


World Series of Fighting's return to Las Vegas now features five main-card matchups, as bantamweights Bryson Hansen (7-1) and Matt "Robo" Sayles (2-0) will kick off World Series of Fighting's NBCSN-televised main card.

Featuring a lightweight headliner between exciting Peruvian veteran Luis "Baboon" Palomino (22-9) and undefeated Californian "Lethal" Lewis Gonzalez (9-0), "World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez" takes place Aug. 9 at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

In addition to the headliner, the newly announced Hansen vs. Sayles contest joins previously announced matchups of Brazilian brawler Ronny Markes (14-3) vs. undefeated submission machine Kelvin "The Mama's Boy" Tiller (6-0), Bosnian-born Elvis "The King" Mutapcic (13-3) vs. undefeated Bulgarian-born standout Krasimir Mladenov (11-0) and ageless Olympian Alexis Vila (13-4) vs. Brandon "Hot Rod" Hempleman (9-2).

"Bryson Hansen looked fantastic in his World Series of Fighting debut, so we're excited to have him back in the decagon so quickly and see if he can turn in another performance like that," World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. "On the other side of the cage is Matt Sayles, who has been absolutely destroying his competition early on in his career and already looks prepared for a step up in quality. This fight should kick off our broadcast with real fireworks."

Originally from Hawaii, Bryson Hansen made his World Series of Fighting debut in March and needed just 46 seconds to score a TKO win over Sean Cantor. Hansen now trains at Las Vegas' Xtreme Couture, and five of his seven career wins have come by way of knockout, including four victories that came in the first round.

Meanwhile, Matt Sayles turned pro in January and has already registered two victories, needing just 121 seconds to earn first-round stoppages of Dylan Stanfield and Chris Floyd. Those wins came after a successful amateur career that saw "Robo" stop three different opponents. A San Diego resident, Sayles is currently a member of top California academy Alliance MMA.

With Krasimir Mladenov injured, Cully Butterfield vs. Ronny Markes, Elvis Mutapcic vs. Kelvin Tiller booked for World Series of Fighting 12


With undefeated Bulgarian standout Krasimir Mladenov (10-0) forced to withdraw from next month's "World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez" event, submission ace Kelvin Tiller (6-0) has agreed to drop down to 195 pounds and meet Elvis Mutapcic (13-3) in a catchweight affair.

That switch left Brazilian veteran Ronny Markes (14-3) without an opponent for the night's co-main event, but promotional newcomer Cully Butterfield (13-3) has agreed to step in to fill the void.

The two new matchups now complete the five-fight main card for "World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez," which takes place Aug. 9 at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The two-hour NBCSN broadcast kicks off at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT local time). Preliminary contests will be announced shortly and will stream live on NBCSN.com.

The 26-year-old Ronny Markes is a member of Brazil's famed Nova Uniao fight team, home to some of the top fighters in the world. Markes returns to the 205-pound division, where he won 12 of his 13 bouts as a professional before embarking on a four-fight run at middleweight. He now meets Cully Butterfield, a Wisconsin native who fights out The Grind Fitness Factory. "The Mason" turned pro in 2009, and while he opened his career with a respectable 3-2 record, he's since gone 10-1 in his past 11 appearances. Additionally, 10 of his 13 career wins have come by way of stoppage.

Kelvin Tiller is perfect through the first six fights of his career and now looks to prove himself on a national stage. Tiller has earned four of his six wins by submission, and three of those came in the opening round. He now faces Elvis Mutapcic, who was a member of World Series of Fighting's inaugural middleweight championship tournament but suffered a decision loss to tourney finalist Jesse Taylor. Still, Mutapcic is 5-1 in his past six career outings, and 11 of his 13 career wins have come by knockout or submission. Meanwhile, the durable fighter has never been finished, as all three of his losses came by way of decision.

"World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez" Adds Four Undercard Bouts to Compliment Five-Fight Main Card


The lineup for next week's "World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez" is now complete with the addition of a four-bout preliminary card.

The new additions to the event include lightweights Lucas Montoya (6-3) vs. Jimmy Spicuzza (4-0), welterweights Danny "Dee1" Davis Jr. (9-8-1) vs. Jorge "Lil' Monster" Lopez (11-4), bantamweights Adam Acquaviva (1-1) vs. Cody Maltais (2-0) and featherweights Soslan Abanokov (4-1) vs. Bryson Gutches (2-0).

"World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez" takes place Aug. 9 at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Featuring a key lightweight matchup between hard-hitting Peruvian veteran Luis Palomino (22-9) and undefeated Californian contender Lewis Gonzalez (9-0), the evening's five-fight main card airs live on NBCSN at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT local time). The newly announced four-fight preliminary card streams live on NBCSports.com at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT local time).

"Part of our job at World Series of Fighting is to seek out the best up-and-coming talent in mixed martial arts and put them in matchups that truly test their ability to perform at the highest level of the sport," World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo said. "Seven of the eight fighters on this preliminary card live and train right here in our home base of Las Vegas, the 'Fight Capital of the World.'

"This event will give them all a chance to shine and perhaps earn their way into a televised main-card matchup in the very near future."

Lucas Montoya is a part of Utah's Blackout MMA and makes his World Series of Fighting debut. Fighting professionally since 2007, Montoya started his career at just 1-2 but has since rebounded with an impressive stretch of five wins in his past six bouts, with all five of those wins coming by first-round stoppage. He now meets the Robert Drysdale product Jimmy Spicuzza, who already owns World Series of Fighting wins over Justin Jaynes and Gil Guardado. Both of those wins came earlier this year.

Danny Davis Jr. is a longtime veteran of the Las Vegas fight scene who boasts previous appearances for Strikeforce and King of the Cage, among others. While dealing with his share of losses throughout the years, Davis has been fine-tuning his game at Xtreme Couture and Robert Drysdale Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and currently owns a three-fight winning streak, including a World Series of Fighting 9 win over Phil Dace. Meanwhile, Jorge Lopez is a longtime Wanderlei Silve protege who is now training at Syndicate MMA. He'll look for a much-needed win after dropping three heartbreaking fights in a row by decision, including two razor-thin split-decision results.

Just 22 years old, Syndicate MMA's Adam Acquaviva made his World Series of Fighting debut in June, turning in a thrilling performance in a hard-fought loss to Timur Valiev. He now returns to action against undefeated Californian Cody Maltais, who now works under submission master Robert Drysdale.

Following a successful amateur career, Syndicate MMA fighters Bryson Gutches made his professional debut in December and has since earned a pair of victories. He now meets 25-year-old Soslan Abanokov, who fights for the first time this year after putting together a perfect 3-0 campaign in 2013.


The complete "World Series of Fighting 12: Palomino vs. Gonzalez" lineup includes:


(NBCSN-televised card):

Luis Palomino vs. Lewis Gonzalez
Cully Butterfield vs. Ronny Markes
Elvis Mutapcic vs. Kelvin Tiller
Brandon Hempleman vs. Alexis Vila
Bryson Hansen vs. Matt Sayles


(NBCSports.com live stream):

Lucas Montoya vs. Jimmy Spicuzzai
Danny Davis Jr. vs. Jorge Lopez
Adam Acquaviva vs. Cody Maltais
Soslan Abanokov vs. Bryson Gutches