DAVE JANSEN TO REPLACE UFC-BOUND BRIAN COBB IN M-1

[keithlewis]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -

DAVE JANSEN TO REPLACE UFC-BOUND BRIAN COBB IN "M-1 CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY AFFLICTION" SEASON OPENER

Amsterdam, Holland -- After an exhaustive search, first-year Team USA West owners Roy Engelbrecht and Steve Bash have signed undefeated lightweight Dave Jansen to replace Brian Cobb in this Saturday's "M-1 Challenge Presented by Affliction" season opener at the Emerald Queen Casino near Tacoma, Washington.

The move to sign Jansen was necessitated by the fact that Palace Fighting Championship lightweight champion Brian Cobb was plucked from USA Team West after signing a multi-fight agreement with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

"Those people who know me know I am a glass is half full kind of fight promoter," Engelbrecht began, "So as the managing partner of the USA West Team in the 2009 'M-1 Challenge Presented by Affliction,' I hear about Brian Cobb signing with the UFC to fight this coming Saturday in London, it was like bad news/good news for me. The bad news is that we had lost Brian but the good news is that we were able to sign Dave Jansen as the replacement!

"While I am thrilled that Brian has been given a career changing opportunity with the UFC, I am also elated that Dave has been given the same career changing opportunity with the M-1 Challenge and Team USA West. No matter what happens next Saturday in London or at the Emerald Queen Casino, both fighters are winners this week."

Cobb joins Gegard Mousasi (DREAM), Kirill Sidelnikov (Affliction), and Daisuke Nakamura (DREAM) as M-1 Challenge fighters to be signed by a major promotion.

Jansen, 8-0, trains under Matt Lindland and Robert Follis at Team Quest in Portland, Oregon and is set to take on former Rio Heroes and Vale Tudo veteran Flavio Alvara of Team Brazil Naja in a lightweight encounter.

"I am really excited," said Jansen. "This was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. To be able to fight a tough and experienced guy like Flavio Alvara is the test I've been waiting for. I'm ready to step up."

The 29-year old Jansen accepted the fight vs. Alvara even though just competed on Feb. 6 during the inaugural show for the World Cagefighting Alliance. Facing former BodogFIGHT veteran Matt Lee in front of a capacity crowd at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., Jansen maintained his perfect record after submitting Lee with an Anaconda choke just three minutes into the fight.

Despite only having 15 days between fights, Jansen feels he's more than ready.

"Physically I think I am in the best shape of my life," he said. "My preparation for my last fight went smoothly and the I didn't take any damage in the fight itself. Leading up to the fight, I had done incredible amounts of cardio... And with only a few weeks having passed, I don't think I've lost any of that stamina."

In addition to Team USA West vs. Team Brazil Naja, the '09 season opener will feature a total of three head-to-head matchups with 15 fights. Returning champions Russia Imperial Team (formerly known as Russian Red Devil) will be taking on South Korea and the returning Team Finland will also be squaring off with the debuting Team Benelux. Tickets for the opener are currently available at Ticketmaster.com (search keyword: M-1 Challenge).

Complete lineups for the event are as follows:

Finland vs. Benelux (best of five) -

-- Lightweight (154 lbs./-70 kg): Juha-Pekka Vainikainen (Finland) vs. Danny van Bergen (Benelux)

-- Welterweight (167.2 lbs./-76 kg): Janne Tulrinta (Finland) vs. Tommy Depret (Benelux)

-- Middleweight (184.8 lbs./-84 kg): Lucio Linhares (Finland) vs. Kamil Uygun (Benelux)

-- Light Heavyweight (204.6 lbs./-93 kg): Marcus Vanttinen (Finland) vs. Jason Jones (Benelux)

-- Heavyweight (204.7 lbs.-plus/+93 kg): Toni Valtonen (Finland) vs. Sander Duyvis (Benelux)

South Korea vs. The Imperial Team (best of five) -

-- Lightweight (154 lbs./-70 kg): Dohyung Kim (South Korea) vs. Mikhail Malyutin (Imperial)

-- Welterweight (167.2 lbs./-76 kg): Myungho Bae (South Korea) vs. Erik Oganov (Imperial)

-- Middleweight (184.8 lbs./-84 kg): Hyungyu Lim (South Korea) vs. Dmirty Somoylov (Imperial)

-- Light Heavyweight (204.6 lbs./-93 kg): Jae Young Kim (South Korea) vs. Mikhail Zayats (Imperial)

-- Heavyweight (204.7 lbs.-plus/+93 kg): Sang Soo Lee (South Korea) vs. Alexey Oleinik (Imperial)

Team USA West vs. Team Brazil Naja (best of five) -

-- Lightweight (154 lbs./-70 kg): Dave Jansen (USA West) vs. Flavio Roberto Alvaro (Brazil)

-- Welterweight (167.2 lbs./-76 kg): Dylan Clay (USA West) vs. Eduardo Pamplona (Brazil)

-- Middleweight (184.8 lbs./-84 kg): Reggie Orr (USA West) vs. Juliano Cioffi Belgine (Brazil)

-- Light Heavyweight (204.6 lbs./-93 kg): Raphael Davis (USA West) vs. Jair Goncalves Junior (Brazil)

-- Heavyweight (204.7 lbs.-plus/+93 kg): Carl Seumanutafa (USA West) vs. Jose Edson dos Santos Franca (Brazil)

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