Birmingham, AL January 25th 2011- SportFight X became the first Mixed Martial Arts promotion to be licensed in the state of Alabama exactly two weeks ago today. Over the past few weeks the company has been planning their debut for Alabama with little information being released. Earlier today the much anticipated news was made public as SportFight X President Adam Gibbs was scheduled to appear on Birmingham’s ABC 33/40 “Talk of Alabama” morning show. Gibbs announced the company will host the next SportFight X event in Huntsville, AL Saturday March 24th from the Von Braun Center.
SportFight X will play host to Alabama’s first professional MMA contest sanctioned by the Alabama Athletic Commission. The company had eyed both Huntsville and Birmingham before making their decision but will likely make their stop in the Magic City later this year. The show will be broadcast live on pay-per-view and will feature some of Alabama’s top fighters including Stephen Wilhite and Dustin “Deuce” Rhodes among other fighters to be determined. Gibbs stated “We will look at some guys on our roster in other markets like Atlanta and make a selection in the coming days for the Rhodes and Wilhite fight.”
Stephen Wilhite will make his professional MMA debut in the SportFight X main event. . Wilhite is no newcomer to the Alabama fight scene or the SFX cage. The 155 pound warrior fought last year at SportFight X’s “Middle Tennessee Mayhem” event in Murfreesboro, TN. Wilhite’s original 155lb opponent was pulled from the card at the last minute when he stepped up to fight a much larger 170lb Greg Taylor from IMA. Wilhite entered the cage and after dominating Taylor in every area he was announced the winner at 2:32 of round 1 by rear naked choke. Gibbs said “He is a tough guy and only fights the best. He’s local celebrity that has a huge fan base and it’s no wonder as hard as he trains.”
Dustin “Deuce” Rhodes will re-enter the cage in the SFX Co-Main event. Rhodes has been out of competition since October 2010 due to a shoulder injury. The 185lb Rhodes has fought tough opponents and holds an even record of 2-2. Rhodes is a very well rounded fighter scoring two first round victories, one win by arm bar submission and the other by a 25
second referee stoppage.
Tickets for SportFight X Huntsville will go on sale in the coming weeks at the VBC through Ticketmaster. The Company will conduct a number of events leading up to the fight including press conferences and ring girl searches. For more information check out www.sportfightx.com and fan us on Facebook.