July 8, 2009 – TORONTO – Mixed Martial Arts Expo ~ the original MMA Fan Expo launched in 2005 ~ announced today that following its highly successful MMA Expo IV in Toronto in June, additional dates have been confirmed for Montreal and Vancouver. Simultaneously, MMA Expo also announced a joint venture with Abu Dhabi Combat Club to bring one of the most exciting Submission Fighting events in the world to Canadian cities throughout the year. Hamilton-based MMA retailer and e-tailer, Fight Planet, is the official sponsor of the new ADCC Canadian Qualifier Series.

“MMA is hot in Canada” states Gerald Chopik, President of MMA Expo. “Like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver fans have earned the right to have a Fan Expo of their own and MMA Expo has a solid track record of delivering a unique and highly interactive MMA consumer show model that the fans really enjoy.”
MMA Expo/ADCC Montreal will be held October 17-18, 2009 at Place Forzani, Laval, a popular convention centre just 15 minutes from the Montreal’s international airport. In addition to the no-gi ADCC competition, MMA Expo Montreal will also feature amateur MMA fights, Kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments. MMA Expo/ADCC Vancouver scheduled for April, 2010 will offer fans a similar format.

Fight Planet, one of Canada’s top retailers of MMA apparel and gear is proud to have secured the sponsorship of the ADCC tournaments. “Without question, ADCC is the crème de la crème of amateur submission fighting and we are delighted to sponsor this important series”, stated Fight Planet owner, Riccardo Ammendolia. “We have also been a premier exhibitor at MMA Expo from day one. Gerald Chopik has a solid reputation for delivering a high-quality event and works harder than anyone I know to ensure his exhibitor-partners have a great experience on the show floor. I have also worked closely for the past five years with Emilio Novoa, North American East Coast Director for ADCC. He and ADCC USA Federation president, Carlos Diaz, run top-notch competitions. It really doesn’t get much better than to be able to work with both of these professional organizations at the same time.”

Now heading into its fifth year, the Mixed Martial Arts Expo model was out well-ahead of the curve when first launched. The unique interactive model developed by Chopik – a martial artist and consumer and trade show manager for the past twenty years – includes martial arts tournaments and demonstrations, fitness, gear, apparel and nutrition-based exhibitors, martial arts and business development seminars and casual meet-and-greets with some of the top MMA celebrities in the business.

The success of MMA Expo has not gone unnoticed by the leader in MMA. In February 2009 the USA-based UFC launched UFC Fan Expo encompassing the same concept and components as MMA Expo. “They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, and so yes, I guess I’m flattered”, Chopik quipped. “But credit where due, the UFC created the MMA market in the first place and MMA-oriented businesses have to give the UFC kudos for all it has done to develop the sport and create this new market.”

The MMA market is poised for continued growth and Chopik believes MMA Expo is well-positioned. “As a number of other 1-shot MMA fan expo ventures have discovered it’s a lot more challenging that it appears on the surface to deliver a quality event. We’ve been at it for five years and have developed a model that works for all stakeholders. Unlike some events that outsourced their event to show production companies, we take much more of a hands-on approach to working with each exhibitor. Importantly, MMA Expo is also about half the price of the USA events which helps exhibitors realize a profit.”

MMA Expo is also in the process of discussing joint ventures with a number of fight promoters, martial arts facilities and fitness shows in major cities across Canada and the USA.

About MMA Expo
Mixed Martial Arts Expo is the original MMA Fan Expo first launched in 2005 in Toronto. The event is a unique, high-energy, interactive consumer show for people who love martial arts and the full contact sport of MMA, the fastest growing sport in the world. MMA Expo gives fight fans the unique opportunity to meet personally with some of the top professional fighters and MMA celebrities in the sport for autographs and pictures. Approximately 10,000 fans, 300 exhibitors and 30 MMA celebrities have attended MMA Expo Toronto events to date.

About ADCC
The Abu Dhabi Combat Club and the competition ADCC World Submission Fighting Championships were the creation of a UAE national Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the son of then U.A.E. leader Sheik Zayed, who at the time was completing his advanced studies in USA. In 1993 after watching the first U.F.C. Sheik Tahnoon became a fan of MMA. Shortly after that he started studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego, California. Upon completing his studies, Sheik Tahnoon returned to the U.A.E. but his passion for Martial arts continued. Sheik Tahnoon set out to create and build his vision of implementing Martial Arts not only in his native U.A.E. but also to create a standard for which all ground fighting martial arts would be measured.
To put his vision to reality Sheik Tahnoon developed a two-fold plan; to implement the growth of Martial Arts in the U.A.E. Sheik Tahnoon created the ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club). Sheik Tahnoon converted an idle facility in Abu Dhabi into a Martial Arts Club and hired top instructors in various martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wrestling, Sambo, Muay Thai etc. and gave them a World class facility to train top professional fighters. The quickly became the ADCC the top facility for learning and training MMA in the Arab World.

ADCC Champions and top competitors became highly sought commodities for MMA Events and soon became stars in shows like UFC, and PRIDE and K1 in Japan. Competitors like Royler Gracie, Mark Kerr, Matt Hughes, Ricardo Arona, Tito Ortiz, Rodrigo “Minotauro”, Dean Lister, Ricco Rodrigues, Ricardo Arona, Matt Lindland, Tom Erickson, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza & Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro just to name a few, had or currently have successful careers in MMA.

The ever expansion of Submission Fighting, led by the huge success of ADCC, spawned amateur leagues around the World. With each year, the number of competitors in these and other like events grew tremendously. ADCC Championships is and has been always considered the pinnacle of the modality. The creation of one visionary, ADCC, now in its 9th edition to be held in 2009 has become the beacon of a new generation and a new sport.

For more information visit www.adccregionals.com