Lauzon-Trites headlines Thursday night at Twin River Event Center in RI
LINCOLN, R.I. (Nov. 29, 2010) – Providence light heavyweight Greg Rebello has been a professional mixed martial arts fighter for nearly six years, but this Thursday night he’ll be making his cage debut in his home state.
Rebello (11-2-0) takes on Cleveland invader Tiawan Howard (7-5-0) on the special “Snow Brawl” professional mixed martial arts card at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, R.I. Rebello-Howard replaced the originally scheduled co-main event between Mike “The Beast” Campbell (8-3-0) and Tony “Lion Heart” Hervey (12-8-0) after Campbell suffered an injury last week at training camp that forced him to withdraw.
“Snow Brawl” is being presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s CES MMA, in association with Twin River. The main event, contested at a 165-pound catch-weight, pits bitter rivals Dan “The Upgrade” Lauzon (13-4-0), fighting out of East Bridgewater (MA), against Boston-based Damien “The Omen” Trites (5-3-0), who’ve both spewed more venom than any MMA opponents in recent memory.
A member of Team Sityodtong, Rebello is a Muay Thai fighter, trained by Mark Dellegrotte, who is riding a 10-fight win streak. All of Rebello’s pro MMA fights have been in nearby Massachusetts because the sport wasn’t sanctioned in Rhode Island until this past September.
Rebello, who participated in The Ultimate Fighter 11 reality television series, last fought May 6, winning a unanimous decision against John Doyle on a Bellator show held in Boston.
“The biggest thing for me, of course, is fighting and winning,” Rebello said, “but fighting in Providence is cool. I work at the best bar in Providence, View Lounge. I’m a bartender and we’re not open on Thursday nights. Other bartenders and customers there are friends and when I fight on weekends it’s tough for them to get time off. I sold a ton of tickets there this week and 30 to 40 people who’ve never seen me fight will be there.
“I’ve always fought where the best opportunities were for me. There was Vale Tudo in Rhode Island, back in ’98-99. Mat Santos is a buddy of mine and he fought back then. But I never thought there’d be MMA in Rhode Island, especially in a cool place like Twin River. I’m excited.”
Rhode Island MMA pioneer Mat Santos (2-6-0), of East Greenwich, takes on Taunton middleweight Ed Medeiros (3-3-0). Also fighting on the undercard are Connecticut featherweight Jason Bennett (4-3-0) versus Tateki Matsuda (4-3-0), out of Boston by way of Tokyo; Brockton (MA) lightweight Lionel Young (4-4-0) taking on Luiz Rodriguez (3-0-0) of Somerville (MA); Lincoln (RI) hometown favorite Jeff “Candyman” Anderson (5-2-0) facing (Danbury (CT) lightweight Hitalo Machado (6-4-0); Waltham (MA) lightweight Tyson Chartier making his pro debut against Justin Switzer (0-1-0), of Lincoln; middleweights Doug Bolanes, of Framingham (MA) and Josh Labossiere, of Narragansett (RI), making their pro debuts against each other; and Providence’s Ruben “Rukus” Rey (1-1-0) tangling with Brockton’s James King (0-1-0) at a 150-pound catch-weight.
All bouts feature three, five-minute rounds. All fights and fighters are subject to change.
Tickets for “Snow Brawl,” priced at $25.00 (SRO), $50.00, $75.00 and $100.00 (VIP), are available to purchase by calling CES (401.724.2253/2254), going online at www.cesmma.com or www.twinriver.com, at Twin River’s Players Club booth at Twin River, or any TicketMaster location.
Contact CES (401.724.2253/2254/www.cesmma.com) or the Twin River Event Center (877.82.RIVER/ www.twinriver.com) for more information. Doors open at 6:00PM/ET, first bout at 7:00 PM/ET.
(Twin River has waived its 18+ rule for “Snow Brawl.” Anybody under the age of 18 must be accompanied at all times by an adult and they must enter through the West entrance.)