World Fighting Alliance
Encyclopedia
The World Fighting Alliance was a mixed martial arts
organization based in the United States.
Originally owned and organized by MMA Legend and trainer John Lewis (Promoter/Match Maker) and nightclub operator and "Club Rubber" promoter John Huntington (Producer) along with Lawyer Louis Palazzo (Investor), the WFA began promoting events after the Nevada State Athletic Commission began sanctioning mixed martial arts. The Las Vegas based promotion, unlike its cross-town rival, the Ultimate Fighting Championship
, featured a nightclub environment and a slogan of “Where the fight club meets the Night Club”. Sexy and flashy, its events featured several scantily-clad ringgirls between rounds and go-go dancers between fights, and plenty of loud music, including guest performers like Ice-T
.
However, in an incident at Level 3 which seriously harmed the promotion's reputation, credentialed photographers were ejected by venue security from their areas and were forced to move to where they could not take acceptable pictures. The inconvenience caused by the ejection was substantial, some writers at the event were forced to track down their photographers and leave their beat, while some offended editors decided to yank coverage of the event altogether.http://www.fcfighter.com/wfa3-problems.htm While the difficulties of the last event did not seem to deter the promotion and the promoters promised a Level 4, Lewis and Huntington did not promote another WFA event since, and the promotion was assumed to be defunct.
After a rise of interest in mixed martial arts in the United States in 2005, the WFA reemerged with new ownership and began an aggressive program to establish itself as a new major mixed martial arts promotion. The owners, Ross Goodman and Louis Palazzo, both attorneys from Las Vegas, began by signing contracts with several of the biggest free agents on the market, including former UFC middleweight
contender and Olympic silver medalist Matt Lindland
, PRIDE middleweight contender Quinton Jackson
, retired UFC and Pancrase
champion Bas Rutten
, former top-ranked bantamweight fighter Urijah Faber
, and former UFC Heavyweight
Champion Ricco Rodriguez
. In their recruitment efforts, they also came close to signing Tito Ortiz
before he was enticed by an offer from the UFC.http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3006&zoneid=3
The fruits of their acquisitions culminated in WFA: King of the Streets on July 22, 2006, a pay-per-view broadcast event at the Forum in Inglewood, California
. The card was headed by a main event of Quinton Jackson
vs. Matt Lindland
, Jackson's first fight on American soil since becoming a headliner in PRIDE, and featured famed boxing broadcaster Barry Tompkins
and wrestling star Bill Goldberg
at the announce desk. Despite heavy expectations and an aggressive marketing campaign, including a pre-event special broadcast on Showtime,http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=798 the event only attracted a crowd of over 5,000, with only 2,300 tickets sold. Pay-per-view buys were also low, reportedly under 50,000.
Despite the disappointing numbers, and rumors of financial troubles, the WFA announced their next event, WFA: King of the Streets II at Aladdin Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
scheduled for December 9, 2006. However, the event was then postponed until early 2007 for undisclosed reasons. On November 15, 2006, the WFA's CEO, Jeremy Lappen, sued the WFA and its owners for breach of contract, claiming he has not been paid since June 2006, a few weeks before King of the Streets. Finally on December 11, 2006, Zuffa, the parent company of rival promotion UFC, announced it had acquired select assets of the WFA, including the contracts of WFA fighters. The WFA afterward ceased operations per the sale agreement.
The WFA brand was revived in THQ
's video game UFC Undisputed 2010
, an update to their wildly popular multi-platform MMA video game UFC 2009 Undisputed
. In the game's career mode, which mimics that of an actual MMA fighter, players start off in the WFA and after a certain amount of success are invited to the UFC.
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
organization based in the United States.
Originally owned and organized by MMA Legend and trainer John Lewis (Promoter/Match Maker) and nightclub operator and "Club Rubber" promoter John Huntington (Producer) along with Lawyer Louis Palazzo (Investor), the WFA began promoting events after the Nevada State Athletic Commission began sanctioning mixed martial arts. The Las Vegas based promotion, unlike its cross-town rival, the Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...
, featured a nightclub environment and a slogan of “Where the fight club meets the Night Club”. Sexy and flashy, its events featured several scantily-clad ringgirls between rounds and go-go dancers between fights, and plenty of loud music, including guest performers like Ice-T
ICE-T
* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...
.
However, in an incident at Level 3 which seriously harmed the promotion's reputation, credentialed photographers were ejected by venue security from their areas and were forced to move to where they could not take acceptable pictures. The inconvenience caused by the ejection was substantial, some writers at the event were forced to track down their photographers and leave their beat, while some offended editors decided to yank coverage of the event altogether.http://www.fcfighter.com/wfa3-problems.htm While the difficulties of the last event did not seem to deter the promotion and the promoters promised a Level 4, Lewis and Huntington did not promote another WFA event since, and the promotion was assumed to be defunct.
After a rise of interest in mixed martial arts in the United States in 2005, the WFA reemerged with new ownership and began an aggressive program to establish itself as a new major mixed martial arts promotion. The owners, Ross Goodman and Louis Palazzo, both attorneys from Las Vegas, began by signing contracts with several of the biggest free agents on the market, including former UFC middleweight
Middleweight (MMA)
The middleweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:*UFC's & Strikeforce's middleweight division, which groups competitors within 171 to 185 lb...
contender and Olympic silver medalist Matt Lindland
Matt Lindland
Matthew James Lindland is an American mixed martial artist, Olympic wrestler and politician. He won the Oregon Republican Party's nomination for the Oregon House of Representatives, District 52 seat on May 20, 2008....
, PRIDE middleweight contender Quinton Jackson
Quinton Jackson
Quinton Ramone Jackson ;, also known as Rampage Jackson, is an American mixed martial artist and actor. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Jackson rose to prominence in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships where he was noted for his powerful body slams including a knockout victory over...
, retired UFC and Pancrase
Pancrase
Pancrase is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. Pancrase is taken from Pankration, a sport in the ancient Olympic games. Suzuki and Funaki are particularly skilled in the art of catch wrestling and based the...
champion Bas Rutten
Bas Rutten
Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten is a retired Dutch mixed martial artist, Karate and Taekwondo blackbelt, and kickboxer. He was a UFC Heavyweight Champion, a three time King of Pancrase world champion, and finished his career on a 22 fight unbeaten streak...
, former top-ranked bantamweight fighter Urijah Faber
Urijah Faber
Urijah Christopher Faber is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting as a bantamweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization. Faber won the WEC featherweight championship at WEC 19 on March 17, 2006 and held the title for over two years until his loss to Mike Brown at WEC...
, and former UFC Heavyweight
Heavyweight (MMA)
The heavyweight division in mixed martial arts generally groups fighters between .Although many ambiguities exist within the lower weight classes regarding division naming and weight limits, the Heavyweight division is, for the most part, uniform...
Champion Ricco Rodriguez
Ricco Rodriguez
Ricco Rodriguez is an American mixed martial artist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion. He has also competed in Pride Fighting Championship, EliteXC, International Fight League, BAMMA, World Extreme Cagefighting and King of the Cage.-Early life:Rodriguez grew up in the...
. In their recruitment efforts, they also came close to signing Tito Ortiz
Tito Ortiz
Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz is a Mexican-American mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, having held the title from April 14, 2000 to September 26, 2003. Along with fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, he was one of the sport's early stars...
before he was enticed by an offer from the UFC.http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3006&zoneid=3
The fruits of their acquisitions culminated in WFA: King of the Streets on July 22, 2006, a pay-per-view broadcast event at the Forum in Inglewood, California
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
. The card was headed by a main event of Quinton Jackson
Quinton Jackson
Quinton Ramone Jackson ;, also known as Rampage Jackson, is an American mixed martial artist and actor. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Jackson rose to prominence in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships where he was noted for his powerful body slams including a knockout victory over...
vs. Matt Lindland
Matt Lindland
Matthew James Lindland is an American mixed martial artist, Olympic wrestler and politician. He won the Oregon Republican Party's nomination for the Oregon House of Representatives, District 52 seat on May 20, 2008....
, Jackson's first fight on American soil since becoming a headliner in PRIDE, and featured famed boxing broadcaster Barry Tompkins
Barry Tompkins
Barry Tompkins is a well-known American sportscaster. He is better known for his work as a boxing commentator, but he has covered football and another number of sports as well.-San Francisco, New York City and NBC:...
and wrestling star Bill Goldberg
Bill Goldberg
Goldberg earned a scholarship to play for the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team where he served as a defensive tackle. He was taken in the 11th round, with the 302nd overall selection, in the 1990 NFL Draft....
at the announce desk. Despite heavy expectations and an aggressive marketing campaign, including a pre-event special broadcast on Showtime,http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=798 the event only attracted a crowd of over 5,000, with only 2,300 tickets sold. Pay-per-view buys were also low, reportedly under 50,000.
Despite the disappointing numbers, and rumors of financial troubles, the WFA announced their next event, WFA: King of the Streets II at Aladdin Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
scheduled for December 9, 2006. However, the event was then postponed until early 2007 for undisclosed reasons. On November 15, 2006, the WFA's CEO, Jeremy Lappen, sued the WFA and its owners for breach of contract, claiming he has not been paid since June 2006, a few weeks before King of the Streets. Finally on December 11, 2006, Zuffa, the parent company of rival promotion UFC, announced it had acquired select assets of the WFA, including the contracts of WFA fighters. The WFA afterward ceased operations per the sale agreement.
The WFA brand was revived in THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
's video game UFC Undisputed 2010
UFC Undisputed 2010
UFC Undisputed 2010 is a mixed martial arts video game featuring Ultimate Fighting Championship properties and fighters developed by Yuke's and published by THQ. It was released on May 25, 2010, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and for the first time PlayStation Portable...
, an update to their wildly popular multi-platform MMA video game UFC 2009 Undisputed
UFC 2009 Undisputed
UFC 2009 Undisputed is a mixed martial arts video game featuring Ultimate Fighting Championship properties and fighters developed by Yuke's Osaka and published by THQ. The game was released in the US on May 19, 2009, for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3...
. In the game's career mode, which mimics that of an actual MMA fighter, players start off in the WFA and after a certain amount of success are invited to the UFC.