Top prospect super-fight of Saul Almeida vs. Calvin Kattar, David Loiseau booked for undercard of Dave Bautista's MMA debut

September 7, 2012

The highly anticipated debut of former six-time WWE world champion Dave Bautista's (0-0) first foray inside a cage will take place on Saturday October 6th in Providence, Rhode Island. Bautista will face off with New York amateur heavyweight Rashid Evans (3-1 AM) in the main event of a CES MMA promoted card. CES MMA matchmakers have decked the undercard of the show entitled "Real Pain" with two of the best prospects in the New England MMA region.

In a match-up at featherweight 23 year old Saul Almeida (12-2) will tangle with 24 year old former lightweight prospect Calvin Katter (12-2) in a bout set for 145 pounds. A rare battle of two five star rated prospects, both Almeida and Kattar have competed on the Northeast MMA circuit since 2008. Almeida will look to bounce back from a March loss on a Bellator undercard in the lightweight division; while Kattar has not competed since an October 2011 win over Cody Stevens.

A product of Dragon's Lair in Massachusetts and California's Blackhouse affiliate, Almeida entered the year as the number two ranked featherweight prospect in MMA per ULTMMA.com. On a four fight winning streak, Kattar came into to 2012 as a five star prospect at 155 pounds and was ranked as the number two lightweight prospect in MMA according to ULTMMA.com. The Massachusetts free agents each made the 2012 ULTMMA50, a pound for pound prospect top 50, at number five for Almeida and number 11 for Kattar.

Former UFC middleweight title challenger David Loiseau (20-10) will make his debut under the CES MMA banner and compete for the first time 20 months. Loiseau will be in the co-main event slot versus 32 year old South Carolina fighter Christopher McNally (5-4).

CES MMA Real Pain: Bautista vs. Evans
Providence, RI
10/6/12

Dave Bautista vs. Rashid Evans
David Loiseau vs. Christopher McNally
Saul Almeida (No. 2 FW, No. 5 ULTMMA50) vs. Calvin Kattar (No. 2 LW, No. 11 ULTMMA50)
Todd Chattelle vs. Chandler Holderness
Josh Diekman vs. Tyler King
Andre Soukhamthath vs. Rob Costa
Brennan Ward vs. Shedrick Goodridge
Keith Jeffrey vs. Chad Reiner

Press release

Six-foot-6, 290-pound former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) champion Dave Bautista will make his highly-anticipated professional mixed martial arts debut Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012 at "Real Pain," presented by Jimmy Burchfield's Classic Entertainment & Sports in association with June Entertainment at The Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, R.I.

Bautista, a six-time WWE champion and the longest-reigning title-holder in WWE history, will face Rashid Evans (1-2) in the main event. Tickets go on sale starting Friday at 1 p.m. at www.ticketmaster.com and are available for purchase at $20.00, $35.00, $55.00, $75.00, $125.00 and $250.00. The show will also air live on Direct TV Pay Per View.

"Fighting MMA is a dream come true," Bautista said. "I'm very excited to make my debut in Providence with Jimmy Burchfield, who has so much experience putting on fights. CES treats me like family and I can't wait to make my debut with them. MMA has been my lifelong dream and I'm glad to be able to do it with them on the East Coast."

"Of all the promoters in the world, Dave Bautista chose CES because we take care of fighters and we deliver results," added Burchfield. "We're going to turn Oct. 6 into a night to remember."

The undercard of "Real Pain" features hometown heroes Mike "The Beast" Campbell of Providence; Todd "The Hulk" Chattelle of Pawtucket, R.I.; and Woonsocket, R.I., bantamweight Andre Soukhmathath in addition to former Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) stars David Loiseau of Montreal and Boston's John "Doomsday" Howard, who was featured on two of the last three CES MMA shows.