First Photo Exhibition and Film on Mixed Martial Arts Presented in Rome Following Great Success of Combat Event Magnum FC 1 / Kunlun Fight 58

ROME, April 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Second date of new Italy-based professional circuit for combat sports set for 22 July  

There is a growing enthusiasm for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in Italy. A photo exhibition and a film (MMA Love Never Dies) on combat sports, the first of their kind, were presented today in Rome in the presence of Michele Verginelli, currently the best Italian fighter and the leading male role in the movie. Other renowned names of the Italian MMA movement, including Mauro Cerilli, Alessandro Bernardini, Simone D'Anna and Carlo Pedersoli (grandson of Italian actor Bud Spencer), also attended the event.

It follows the great success on March 11 of Magnum FC 1 / Kunlun Fight 58, by far the most important combat sports event at international level ever held in Italy, where seventy athletes, representing twenty countries, faced each other in 35 matches of MMA, K1 (kickboxing with knee strikes) and Muay Thai at the Atlantic Live in Rome in front of three thousand spectators.

The occasion was hosted by Magnum FC, the new Italy-based professional circuit for combat sports, and Kunlun Fight, a prestigious Chinese promotion company whose matches are broadcast to a TV audience of more than five hundred million viewers in Asia and beyond.

"The organisation of Magnum FC 1, the photo exhibition, the growing media interest and also the production of the film in which I starred," said Michele Verginelli, "are the tangible sign of how mixed martial arts are now definitely emerging from the shadows in Italy."

"Mixed martial arts are finally enjoying a time of robust growth in Italy from a competing as well business perspective" said Patrizia Marin, Ceo at Magnum FC. "Our mission is to take the Italian combat sports movement to a professional level and launch a number of skilled fighters in major international competitions."

"Magnum FC 1 was an important evening" said Massimiliano Baggio, President of Kombat League and co-founder of Magnum FC. "I am pleased with the large number of visitors, who cheered the athletes with enthusiasm until the very end. We learnt a lot from it and are now committed to doing even better in the future. Special thanks go to the city of Rome, which turned out to be an ideal "stage" for international events of this level."

"We were very pleased with how the first event of the season played out," said Jiang Hua, Founder and CEO of Kunlun Fight. "I can already announce that we will work alongside Magnum FC also in the second and third of the planned dates."

The second date of the calendar, Magnum FC 2 / Kunlun Fight, has been set for July 22 in Rome at the prestigious Church Palace Hotel. These are some of the pairings already arranged:

Marcin Lazarz (POL) vs Vladimir Filipovic (SRB)

Stipe Bekavac (HR) vs Hraco Darpinyan (ARM)

Carlo Pedersoli (ITA) vs Arber Murati (ITA)

Mauro Cerilli (ITA) vs TBD

The event will also feature a woman's match involving Micol DiSegni, renowned Italian fighter who was awarded the Gold Medal at the 2015 IMAFF world tournament in Las Vegas.

The third date of the Calendar (Magnum FC 3 / Kunlun Fight) remains set for November 11, and will again take place in Rome. Alongside official events, other major combat appointments have been scheduled throughout the season, starting on April 8 in Verona and continuing on April 30 in Bari; May 6 in Trento; July 23 and August 20 in Cagliari.

As regards Magnum FC 1, special thanks go to the following sponsors: Kombat League, Marco Polo Group, The Church Palace, Sevitex, Fonte de' Medici, SantaFiora, Apogeo, Pick Entertainment 2016, BlackCar and Betaland.

The outcome of the 8 Men Tournament (MMA Light Heavyweights category) played on the 11^th of March was as follows:

Stipe Bekavac (HR) vs Evan Nedd (AW)

Bekavac wins by tko (gnp) in the second round.

Donald Njatah Nya (CAM) vs Marcin Lazarz (POL)

Lazarz wins by submission (armlock) in the second round.

Vladimir Filipovic (SRB) vs Laurynas Urbonavicius (LTU)

Filipovic wins by submission (triangle choke) in the third round.

Hraco Darpinyan (ARM) vs Balde Boubacar (FRA)

Darpinyan wins by unanimous decision.

By the end of the season there will be a MMA Light Heavyweights champion, and an official ranking for the other disciplines and categories. Here are the other MMA match results:

Giordano Spalletti vs. Fabio Scaravilli:

Scaravilli wins by unanimous decision.

Simone D'Anna vs. Danilo Pastanelli:

D'Anna wins for ko in the first round.

Silvano Pais vs. Claudio Iancu:

Pais wins by submission (Rnc) in the first round.

Damiano Bertoli vs. Marco Giustarini:

Bertoli wins by unanimous decision.

Raffaele Spallitta vs. Filippo Fagiolo:

Fagiolo wins by tko (wounds) in the first round.

Mauro Cerilli vs. Istvan Ruzsinszki:

Cerilli wins by tko (hammer fists) in the first round.

Carlo Pedersoli vs. Orlando D'Ambrosio:

Pedersoli wins by submission (guillotine) in the second second round.

Fabio Russo vs. Olutobi Ayodeji Kalejaiye:

Kalejaiye wins by tko (gnp) in the first round.

Arber Murati vs. Manuel Valeri:

Murati wins by submission (Heel Hook) in the first round.

Christian M'Pumbu vs. Sergio Souza:

M'Pumbu wins by disqualification of Souza.

Magnum FC developed out of the thirty-year experience, respectively, of Massimiliano Baggio in combat sports (http://www.KombatLeague.net) and Patrizia Marin in international marketing (http://www.MarcoPoloExperience.it).

Italy boasts millions of martial arts fans, and hundreds of thousands of practitioners, of whom 25% are children and 20% women. Magnum FC was created following the stateside success of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), the American professional circuit recently sold for $4 billion, and China's Kunlun Fight.

For further information, please go to http://www.kombatleague.net and http://www.facebook.com/kombatleague/

Press Contact: Diana Patty Tonin +39-339-762-1393 / press@magnumfc.org