Valor Fighting Signs Top MMA Names

Valor Fighting & Management signed to represent some of the world’s best and most legendary Mixed Martial Arts Fighters!

Valor Fighting & Management is proud to announce that the Southern California based management firm has recently signed several of the world’s most talented fighters to representation deals. Dennis “Superman” Hallman, Erin Toughill, Chris “The Westside Strangler” Brennan and the legendary Dan “The Beast Severn are recent additions to the roster of fighters whose careers are managed by Valor, which has secured recent and current bookings such as Ruben “Warpath” Villareal at WFA, Sean O’ Haire at K-1, Butterbean at PRIDE, Kimo at Cage Rage and X-1 and Tank Abbott at Strike Force. More on Valor bookings and its impressive roster of clients later, but first, some background on Valor Fighting & Management.

Valor Fighting & Management first concentrated on MMA management in 1998; spearheaded by the efforts of Valor President Rick Bassman. Bassman negotiated Pride bookings for Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman at that time. Valor also helped to make Mark Coleman’s return to UFC a reality.

To this day, Valor Fighting & Management maintains strong working relationships with the world’s largest fighting promotions including Pride, K-1, UFC, WFA, Rumble On The Rock, Icon, X1 and Cage Rage. Valor remains focused on developing win-win situations between these organizations and its clients.

The firm is very active outside of the ring and cage as well. Through its Ultimate Casting division, Valor works to develop theatrical and commercial casting opportunities for its clients. For example, Oleg Taktarov’s role in the Robert DeNiro feature film “15 Minutes” was booked through Ultimate Casting. Nathan Jones’ appearance in the opening scene of “Troy” with Brad Pitt, and his role in Jet Li’s “Fearless” were set up through Ultimate Casting as well.

Valor’s sister company, Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) through its highly regarded pro wrestling school, Ultimate University, has developed some of the world’s biggest pro wrestling stars including WWE’s Victoria, “The Masterpiece” Chris Masters and current WWE Champion John Cena. UPW recently launched a Scholarship program in which the company will train qualified prospects for free, and put worthy candidates in direct view of decision makers at WWE. As a result, UPW hopes to find and develop many more of pro wrestling’s top stars.

Speaking of UPW, Rick Bassman’s Valor Fighting & Management office staff consisting of Melinda Ackerman, Todd Keneley and Anthony Rosas first worked in UPW Administration before joining Valor. Regarding his long-time staff, Bassman said, “Having such an experienced, cohesive and organized office helps us to effectively and efficiently serve the needs of our clients / fighters, promoters and sponsors alike.”

Now that you are up to speed on what Valor Fighting & Management is all about, it is time to meet Valor’s newest clients:

Dennis “Superman” Hallman

Not just anybody can live up to the nickname “Superman”; Dennis Hallman fits the bill having built an excellent record of 36-12-2 in MMA competition. He holds the distinction of defeating current UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes on two occasions. Hallman’s first victory over Hughes took place at Extreme Challenge 17. “Superman” defeated Matt in just 17 seconds with a guillotine choke. The two would meet again at UFC 29 with similar results. Hallman took out Hughes quickly once again, this time in 20 seconds with an armbar .

Erin Toughill

Considered by many to be the top female MMA fighter in the world, Erin Toughill has also signed a management deal with Valor. The boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist has an MMA record of 7-2-1 (one loss was by disqualification). Erin’s biggest win came in 2004 when she knocked out Marlose Coenon in round one of a bout in Japan. At the time, Coenon had a perfect 11-0 record, and was the #1 ranked female fighter in the world.

Chris “The Westside Strangler” Brennan

Brennan is one of the most effective and prolific submission fighters in the world. His nickname, “The Westside Strangler” came as a result of the frequency in which he chokes out his opponents. Brennan has an MMA record of 18-11-1 (15 wins by submission). Chris is a veteran of Pride and UFC.

Dan “The Beast” Severn

Severn is a true legend of Mixed Martial Arts. The menacing 6’2” 250 pound wrestling machine is aptly nicknamed “The Beast”. Throughout Severn’s storied career, earning championships has been his business, and business has been very good. The Michigan native is the only Triple Crown Champion in UFC history. The fighting icon has also been immortalized as a member of the UFC Hall Of Fame. Prior to that, he was a dominant force in amateur and pro wrestling.
(Photo Courtesy of Mike Lano)

In addition to current top-tier fighters and enduring legends, Valor Fighting and Management is also working hard to help develop impressive and hungry newcomers with the potential to be the future stars of MMA. Valor has already begun to add such athletes to its client roster including Clark “The Irish” Bulldog” Bevans and Taurus Cabbab. Bevans, an aggressive wrestler with explosive power is undefeated (2-0). Taurus is a promising Hawaiian fighter with a perfect 3-0 record. Taurus has steamrolled his opponents to date.

Now that you have met some of Valor’s impressive roster of clients, below are some of the many big bookings that Valor has recently secured around the world:

Valor bookings spanning the globe!

· Valor’s management team recently showed that they could perform under pressure. When on very short notice WFA needed an opponent for Bas Rutten on its August 22 King Of The Streets pay-per-view from Los Angeles, CA, Valor stepped up to the plate the solve the crisis. Rick Bassman and company were able to secure an opponent to face the returning Bas “El Guapo” Rutten with only two days notice in the form of Ruben "Warpath" Villareal. Valor’s ability to work quickly insured that fans would not miss out on the opportunity to see the long awaited return of Rutten.

· Valor Fighting and Management locked in another K-1 booking for pro wrestler turned kick boxer and MMA star Sean O’Haire. O’Haire faced Justice Smith in the K-1 ring in Las Vegas on August 12.

· Beloved pro boxer turned MMA fighter Eric “Butterbean” Esch returned to Pride on August 26 to battle Ikuhisa Minowa. Butterbean’s participation in this high-profile fight was negotiated and booked by Valor Management.

· MMA Icon Kimo Leopoldo will return to competition in London, England on September 30. Kimo is set to lock horns with Dave Legeno at a Cage Rage event thanks to a booking secured by the Valor Management office.

· Valor has also booked Kimo to return to his roots in Hawaii to fight for X1 XTREME FIGHTING in Honolulu on October 6. On the same card, female fighter Leiticia Pestova will compete in a fight booked by Valor Management.

· The very next night (October 7), another legend of the octagon David “Tank” Abbott will battle Paul Buentello on a Strike Force event. Tank’s booking was arranged and secured by Valor.

· New Valor client Chris Brennan has been booked through Valor to compete in the Gracie Fighting Championships in January of next year.

In summation, Valor President Rick Bassman had this to say. “This is a very busy and exciting time for Valor Fighting & Management and especially, for the Mixed Martial Arts industry as a whole. We look forward to continue to pursue and secure quality bookings for our clients, and to help our clients both identify and meet their short and long-term goals.”

For more information, please visit www.valorfighting.com

by Todd Keneley