"Cowboy Karate" Founder Hallman, Devela, Beerbohm and Caraway
Amongst 12 Seattle Area Fighters Set For Action; First Live Fight At 6 P.M. 

KENT (June 15, 2009) - Twelve area fighters, including popular rising star Cory "The One" Devela, "Cowboy Karate" founder and submission wizard Dennis "Superman" Hallman and undefeated inspiration Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm are scheduled to compete on the Strikeforce Challengers mixed martial arts (MMA) event this Friday, June 19, at the ShoWare Center.

Several of the local competitors will be featured on the event's five-fight telecast on SHOWTIME (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast) while others will go to battle during a six-bout, non-televised undercard.

The first and only time San Jose, Calif.-based Strikeforce promoted an MMA card in the state of Washington came on Feb. 28, 2008, at the Tacoma Dome where it produced the largest live gate in the history of any boxing, MMA or kickboxing event in state history.

Tickets for the Strikeforce Challengers event, priced from $32, are on sale at the ShoWare Center Box Office (253-856-6999 or 877-840-0457), online at ShoWareCenter.com, and at www.strikeforce.com.

ShoWare Center doors will open at 5:30 p.m. PT this Friday and the first preliminary bout will begin at 6 p.m. PT. 

Two of the 12 local competitors - Bryan Caraway (10-3) and Taylor Roberts (1-1) - hail from Seattle while the remaining 10 fight out of various parts of the greater Seattle area. Caraway's opponent, Alex Zuniga (2-1) is based out of Everett and Roberts' adversary, Steve Hadsel (1-0), is a resident of Spanaway.

The 24-year-old Devela, a highly popular competitor amongst fans in Washington State, is a resident of Bonney Lake. He will take on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu stud Luke Rockhold (4-1) of Santa Cruz, Calif.

Hallman (40-12-2), a two-time conqueror of UFC legend, Matt Hughes, is based out of Yelm and his opponent, Cedric "Spider Man" Marks (26-18) fights out of Bremerton. 

Beerbohm (9-0), who trains out of Spokane-based Sik Jitsu club, will face his toughest test to date when he goes up against seasoned knockout artist Duane "Bang" Ludwig (18-8) of Denver, Colo.

Len Bentley (3-2) of Irving will take on Marques Daniels (1-2) of Tacoma and Landon "The Show" Showalter (7-12-1) of Arlington will battle Travis "The Praying Mantis" Doerge (4-8) of Renton.

Devela, who pulled off his best victory to date, a first-round stoppage of former world champion Joe "Diesel" Riggs, at Strikeforce's event in Tacoma last February, is looking to rebound from a shocking upset KO he suffered at the hands of Terry Martin at the world-famous Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Sept. 20, 2008. 

The 34-year-old Hallman, a former UFC world championship challenger, has produced 28 of his career victories by way of submission. He is the founder and captain of fight squad Victory Athletics.

Caraway, 25, holds a college degree in Kinesiology and dates popular female MMA star and fellow Hallman protégé and Strikeforce competitor, Miesha Tate.

Zuniga has won two straight, including a second-round TKO over Vance North in his last outing on Nov. 17, 2008.

Beerbohm, an exciting, no-nonsense fighter whose unconventional nickname stems from the specialized, colorful trunks his mother sews for him, went unbeaten in the amateurs (12-0) and has had only one of his nine pro fights go the distance.

In a terrific nine-year career, Ludwig has fought and defeated much better. He's gone to-to-toe with the great Takanori Gomi, legendary BJ Penn, Paul "Semtex'' Daley and current Strikeforce belt-holder Josh Thomson. Ludwig has won two in a row. Ludwig unanimously outpointed Yves Edwards in his last effort at Strikeforce: "Destruction" on Nov. 21, 2008.

Bentley was a Northwest amateur champion before turning pro in January 2007. He is a war veteran who served in the first wave of action in Iraq while stationed in Washington at Ft. Lewis.

The 33-year-old Showalter has garnered respect as a man that will fight anyone, anytime, anywhere at a moment's notice. He has taken on several world-class competitors, including Pete Sell and Hallman, and owns a 3:00, first-round submission victory (triangle choke) over perennial contender Drew "The Master" Fickett. 

In the June 19 main event, "Smokin" Joe Villasenor (26-6) of Albuquerque, New N.M., will face Evangelista "Cyborg" (16-12) of Rondonopolis Mato Grosso, Brazil, at middleweight. Nick "The Goat'' Thompson (38-10-1), of Minneapolis, who is 2-0 since passing his law exam and becoming a lawyer in late 2008, will square off with Army Ranger and Green Beret Tim Kennedy (9-2) of Fayetteville, N.C., in another middleweight contest.

Unbeaten, hard-hitting Sarah Kaufman (9-0) of Victoria, Canada, takes on talented, determined Shayna "The Queen Of Spades'' Baszler (11-5) of Sioux Falls, South Dakota., in a 135-pound women's fight and Jorge Gurgel (12-5) of Cincinnati, Ohio, will collide with Conor "Hurricane'' Heun (8-2) of Hollywood, Calif., in a 155-pound scrap.

All 11 fights are scheduled for three, 5-minute rounds.

About Strikeforce:
Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its "Shamrock vs. Gracie" event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose's HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with "Shamrock vs. Gracie." In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of Strikeforce, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.

About ShoWare Center
The nation's first sports & entertainment arena awarded "Silver" certification by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED(r)), ShoWare Center is home to the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds, as well as concerts, family shows, corporate events, tradeshows and other sporting events. Located just 17 miles from Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma, ShoWare Center offers guests complimentary parking and is the crown jewel in a well-designed gathering place for residents of the Puget Sound region. Visit www.ShoWareCenter.com.

About SMG
Founded in 1977 and headquartered in Philadelphia, SMG provides facility services to more than 215 public assembly facilities including arenas, stadiums, performing arts theaters, and convention, conference and trade centers worldwide, totaling more than 1.5 million entertainment seats and more than 10 million square feet of exhibition space. SMG manages 76 arenas including Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. Visit www.SMGWorld.com.