Andre Winner the favourite in Inaugural 'Fight Stars' Lightweight Tournament Dec. 1 at Liverpool Olympia

Nov 21, 2012

(PRESS RELEASE) -- LIVERPOOL, England (November 18, 2012) -- Aptly-named UFC veteran Andre Winner is the favourite fighter heading into the inaugural £10,000 "Cage Contender Fight Stars" tournament, featuring eight of the top (155-pound) lightweights in Europe, on Saturday, December 1 at Liverpool Olympia.

"Cage Contender Fight Stars" is presented as a joint venture by Ferguson Sports Group and Liverpool-based promoter Chris Zorba, in association with online retailer Fightshop.com.

Eight fighters will battle in the innovative £10,000 "Prizefighter"-like MMA tournament for one title in one night of action.

The four winners in the quarterfinals (2 X 5 rounds) will advance to the semi-finals (2 X 5 rounds) and the two survivors advance to the championship final (3 X 5 round).

The Line-Up

Andre Winner Team Rough House 14-7-1 (4 KOs, 5 SUBs) England

Martin Stapleton 7-2-0 (4 KOs, 1 SUB) England

Tommy Maguire Tsunami Gym 11-6-0 (3 KOs, 6 SUBs) England

Uche Ihiekwe Team Kaobon 4-2-0 (2 KOs, 2 SUBs) England

Chris Stringer Chum Sut Total Fighting 9-8-1 (1 KO, 6 SUBs) No. Ireland

Phil Flynn Predators MMA 6-6-0 (3 KOs, 3 SUBs) England

Arnold Quero Campio 3-1-0 (3 KOs, 0 SUBs) France

Mihail Kazaku Ready To Fight Ferrera 5-1-0 (2 KOs, 1 SUB) Italy

(all fighters are subject to change)

"This could be one of the greatest nights in UK MMA history," co-promoter and matchmaker Chris Zorba said. "The line-up has the right mix of top quality with hungry up-and-coming fighters. This will be the UK show of the year. It's what UK MMA needs at this moment. We have eight top-class athletes competing for the prize and the winner of this will catapult himself into the MMA big league. The winner of this tournament will be looking at a top 10 ranking spot, especially if they manage to defeat UFC and TUF veteran Andre Winner."

"We are over the moon with this line-up," Cage Contender CEO John Ferguson added. "Cage Contender 'Fight Stars' is going to be special, make no mistake about it. In particular, I'm looking forward to the Power Play feature, which will allow fighters to wager each other's percentages of their purse in each bout. We have a real cracking mix of talent who all want to leave with the spoils."

The show will be broadcast for in two parts on Ch 428 Premier Sports in the UK, on Thursday, Dec. 6 from 10 p.m.-11 p.mn, and Friday, Dec. 7 from 10 p.m-11 p.m. In addition it will be broadcast in a further 103 countries worldwide (including 54 in the French Language) as part of Cage Contender's current global broadcast footprint

Tickets, ranging between £30.00 and £60.00, are available to purchase by calling the box office at 0151 263 6633, or going on line to www.ticketline.co.uk. For more information visit www.cagecontender.com or wwwo.olympialiverpool.com, at Facebook.com/CageContenderOfficial, or follow on Twitter @CageContender. Corporate packages are also available.

Doors open at 6 p.m., first fight at 6:30 p.m.