| Mavericks owner Mark Cuban held a press | | | | Justin Howard (7-1, San Antonio) in a 3-round |
| conference at the American Airlines Center to officially | | | | Heavyweight contest. |
| announce the formation of HDNet Fights. The first | | | | Also featured on the card will be UFC Veteran, Sean |
| event will take place on October 13th and will feature a | | | | Salmon (10-3, Los Angeles). Salmon is set to challenge |
| pair of former UFC fighters in Sean Salmon and Justin | | | | Leopoldo Serao (14-6, Brazil). |
| Eilers. According to the event facts, the first event will | | | | According to Cuban, his fighting franchise will be a big |
| feature ten bouts, including a Champion vs. Champion | | | | plus for MMA fans at the live gate, as well as for his |
| Light Heavyweight fight between former Shooto | | | | HDNet viewers. |
| Champion Eric Paulson and Kickboxing Champion Jeff | | | | Mixed martial arts fighting is a fast, emerging |
| "Big Diesel" Ford. Ultimate Fighter Season 4 competitor | | | | business and there’s a lot of demand out there |
| Pete Spratt is also slated to be on the card, but an | | | | right now. said Cuban. It is in the best interest of |
| opponent has yet to be named. | | | | HDNet that we provide the programming that the |
| Make sure you stay tuned to 5thRound for more | | | | viewers want and MMA fighting has done very well |
| details about HDNet Fights. | | | | for us. At the same time, we can serve the many fight |
| For more information, make sure you check out the | | | | fans in Dallas and other cities by bringing the sport to |
| official website for HDNet Fights. | | | | them in an arena atmosphere. |
| Here is the official press release from HDNet: | | | | But is he an MMA fan, himself? Absolutely, he |
| HDNet FiGHTS PREMIER SET FOR DALLAS | | | | quickly responded. I don’t put my energy into |
| SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13...AMERICAN AIRLINES | | | | anything I don’t enjoy. This is simply an exciting |
| CENTER | | | | sport. |
| TEN MMA FIGHTS FEATURING ERIC PAULSON VS | | | | Cuban has hired Dallas MMA legend and former UFC |
| JEFF FORD | | | | champion, Guy Mezger, to take charge of fight |
| DALLAS, TEXAS...SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 --- Mark | | | | operations for his new company. For Martial Arts Hall |
| Cuban announced today that his high definition | | | | of Fame member, Mezger, working with Cuban and |
| network, HDNet will be entering into the | | | | HDNet will give him an opportunity to help build a solid |
| mixed-martial-arts fighting circle, with the debut of | | | | fighting organization. |
| HDNet FiGHTS in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, October | | | | Actually, it’s a dream come true for me to |
| 13 at 7:00 p.m. | | | | work with Mark and his HDNet team, the 5-time |
| While HDNet has aired MMA events in the past, this | | | | World champion said. I know that Mark is |
| will be the first venture into the MMA business for | | | | committed to producing the best MMA events possible |
| Cuban and HDNet, with the inaugural event set for the | | | | and I’m going to do everything possible to help |
| American Airlines Center, the premier sports and | | | | him do that. I’m looking forward to growing with |
| entertainment venue that is the home of | | | | the company and making some noise in this exciting |
| Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks. | | | | business. |
| Slated for the light heavyweight main event will be | | | | As for HDNet FiGHTS first event, Mezger sees an |
| former Shooto World Champion, Eric Paulson (10-4-1, | | | | entertaining fight card. We have a solid main event |
| Los Angeles) taking on 5-time World Kick Boxing | | | | in Eric Paulson against Jeff Ford, he noted. Both |
| Champion, Jeff Ford (7-2, Denver). The Paulson vs | | | | guys are former world champions in their respective |
| Ford fight will be one of ten bouts scheduled on the | | | | fighting styles, so when you put them into the ring, |
| card. | | | | together in an MMA fight, you can end up with some |
| Tickets for the event are priced starting at , , , and 0 | | | | real fireworks. |
| (VIP, which includes Platinum Parking, plus convenience | | | | Justin Eilers and Sean Salmon are former UFC |
| charges. Tickets go on sale Monday, September 17at | | | | veterans that always put on great fights. We also |
| the American Airlines Center and all Ticketmaster | | | | have several Dallas area fighters that will be fighting on |
| outlets, including, and can be ordered by phone by | | | | the card, so we have something for everyone -- all |
| calling 214-373-8000. | | | | kinds of fighting styles and all brave warriors, ready to |
| Highly regarded middleweights, Jason House (7-3, | | | | go on October 13. |
| Dallas) and Freddy Espiricueta (6-2, Austin) square off | | | | Also, we're going to be doing a LIVE radio show called |
| in an all Texas shootout. Former UFC World | | | | the 5thRound Beatdown! on THURSDAY 9/13/07 @ |
| Heavyweight title challenger, Justin Eilers (17-6, Las | | | | 10PM PT. Make sure you join us to listen in, there will |
| Vegas), will head up the undercard when he battles | | | | also be a link on our site that evening. |