The Weekly Wrap: Oct. 24 - Oct. 30

Odds and Ends

• Promoter Roy Englebrecht announced the formation of the Professional Mixed Martial Arts League, an International Fight League-esque promotion compromised of teams of fighters from different areas facing off in a tournament. The league is set to premiere early next year, with eight teams representing sections of Southern California and Nevada. A league draft will be held in December, and each team will select 14 fighters. Englebrecht has framed the promotion as a minor league operation for up-and-comers who will be paid between $10,000 and $25,000 per year.

• Matt Horwich defeated Jason Lambert by split decision in the main event at Aggression MMA 1 “First Blood” on Oct. 24 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. With the win, Horwich avenged a 2004 loss to his fellow UFC veteran.

• Maximum Fighting Championship has stripped its light heavyweight titleholder, Trevor Prangley, after he accepted bookings outside of the promotion. The MFC said the action was taken because Prangley took fights while under MFC contract; Prangley told MMAWeekly.com the MFC did not respond to his requests to take outside fights. He defeated Emmanuel Newton in a hard-fought decision to take the title in May.

• The mostly-forgotten Pro Elite Inc., the parent company of the defunct EliteXC organization, was recently sold. An entertainment company called Stratus Media Group announced it has paid $2 million for what remains of Pro Elite’s assets, most of which, including fighter contracts and Showtime and CBS television deals, were purchased by Strikeforce. It remains unclear what assets were left. Stratus officials said in a press release they intend to “re-establish ProElite as a leading international MMA company.”

• Ten years since the last installment of Vale Tudo Japan, a seminal series in the development of Japanese MMA, leading Shooto promoter Sustain staged Vale Tudo Japan 2009 on Oct. 30 in Tokyo. Takanori Gomi toughed out a five-round decision over Tony Hervey to take a strike-heavy unanimous verdict in the main event. Meanwhile, Takeshi Inoue defeated Alexandre Franca Nogueira via fourth-round technical knockout in a battle of Shooto featherweight luminaries, and the tenured Rumina Sato used a Superman punch and ground-and-pound to finish Cory Grant in the first round.