Hip-Hop Meets MMA At “Shamrock vs Baroni”

Live Performance by Rich Boy Friday, June 22 at HP Pavilion, San Jose, Calif.

Interscope Records hip-hop star, Rich Boy, will become the first major recording artist to perform at a mixed martial arts event when he takes the stage during "Shamrock vs. Baroni,” the Strikeforce-EliteXC co-produced world championship fight card that will be televised live on pay-per-view from San Jose, California’s HP Pavilion on Friday, June 22.

The 22-year-old Rich Boy (www.richboyonline.com, www.myspace.com/richboy) shot to stardom last year when “Throw Some D’s,” the lead single from his self-titled, debut LP, catapulted to the No. 2 spot on Billboard’s rap chart and the No. 6 slot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. The album, released on March 13th of this year, reached as high as No. 3 on Billboard 200, which rates the top 200 selling music albums, after being placed in heavy rotation on both MTV and BET.

The artist’s follow-up single, “Boy Looka Here,” was featured in 2006’s Rocky Balboa, the final chapter of Sylvester Stallone’s legendary boxing saga. The hit track was produced by Atlanta, Georgia’s Polow Da Don, who has been working on projects with a number of other prominent urban music stars, including G Unit’s Young Buck, Young Jeezy, Gwen Stefani, and Mya. Polow Da Don is also a member of Atlanta-based rap group, Jim Crow.

In addition to Polow, Rich Boy boasts a number of other, A-list production credits including “crunk” pioneer, Lil Jon, and Khari “Needlz” Cain, who rose to power through his creation of hit tracks for rap superstars 50 Cent (“Piggy Bank” and “God Gave Me Style”), Young Buck (“Let Me In”) and The Game (“Special”). The beats featured on Rich Boy’s album have been described as “intoxicating” and the lyrics offer a look into the experiences that made the artist the man he is.

A native of Mobile, Alabama and the son of a liquor store owner, Rich Boy, whose real name is Marece Richards, felt the lure of street life on a daily basis during his adolescent and teen years. Thanks to the strong will of his mother who pulled him in the opposite direction and brought him to church on a regular basis, Rich Boy persevered to overcome the pitfalls of his neighborhood and was eventually accepted to Tuskegee University as a mechanical engineering major.

During his first semester in college, Rich Boy had a meeting with fate when he befriended a schoolmate who had a hobby of creating original beats. Intrigued by what he heard, he asked his new acquaintance to teach him the craft. Within one year after Rich Boy began creating original music, former world boxing champion, Roy Jones, Jr, who has dabbled in the world of hip-hop, began purchasing tracks from the aspiring, new talent. The interest others showed in his music convinced Rich Boy to leave school and pursue his dream of becoming a successful producer.

While struggling to get his tracks heard on the radio airwaves in Mobile, Rich Boy began rapping over his own beats and, eventually, crossed paths with Polow and another prominent figure in the music industry, Mannie Fresh, the former in-house producer for Cash Money Records. During a trip to Atlanta, Rich Boy signed with Polow’s Zone 4 Entertainment, which later partnered with music industry powerhouse, Interscope Records.

Growing up, Rich Boy was heavily influenced by a number of Southern rap legends, including Too Short, 8-Ball and MJG, and UGK.

StrikeForce Elite Xtreme Combat: Shamrock vs. Baroni will be headlined by the long-anticipated showdown between former UFC middleweight champion and King Of Pancrase, Frank Shamrock, and UFC and Pride veteran, “The New York Badass” Phil Baroni. At stake in the main event will be the vacant Strikeforce world middleweight (185 pound limit) championship.

The live Pay Per View event will be distributed by SHOWTIME® PPV beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT with a suggested retail price of $34.95 and including up to six live matches. For more information and to order “Shamrock vs. Baroni,” viewers should contact their pay-per-view provider.

Additional undercard matches will be streamed free and live on the internet at www.ProElite.com and www.strikeforceusa.net.

Ticket prices for “Shamrock vs. Baroni” start at $30 and are on sale at Ticketmaster (408-998-TIXS) and Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) as well as at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070).

The star-studded event will also feature the return of undefeated world San Shou kickboxing champion and middleweight mixed martial arts contender, Cung Le who will face his greatest test to date in Tony "The Freak" Fryklund.

Strikeforce’s latest recruit, 2003 K-1 North America tournament champion, Carter Williams will meet hard-hitting Paul Buentello in a heavyweight matchup.

In another top-notch bout, EliteXC’s Charles Bennett who is coming off a stunning, upset knockout victory over EliteXC’s KJ Noons, will take on Victor Valenzuela.

EliteXC fighters, Joey Villasenor and former Pride star, Murilo "Ninja" Rua, will lock horns for the vacant EliteXC middleweight title.

On February 10th, Villasenor pulled off a shocking upset by outmaneuvering and, eventually earning a unanimous decision over EliteXC’s David "The Crow" Loiseau. Villasenor’s career is highlighted by a 15 fight-winning streak put together between December 2002 and April 2006. A member of the famed Chute Boxe fight squad in Brazil, Rua was last seen in action on September 30th when he submitted British kickboxer Mark Weir, with an arm triangle choke in the second round of their meeting.

Strikeforce star and Pride and UFC veteran, Josh "The Punk" Thomson, will take on Nick Gonzalez, an elusive striker from Austin, Texas, who boasts five professional boxing bouts and an appearance in K-1 Max competition in Japan. In 2006, Thomson put together a splendid year of fighting by defeating three straight opponents over the course of six months. Gonzalez is looking to extend his win streak to four consecutive bouts.

UFC veteran and K-1 Max star, Duane "Bang" Ludwig, will go head to head with British Cage Rage champion, Paul "Semtex" Daley, in a bout that will be shown to viewers should there be sufficient time remaining on the Pay Per View broadcast following the first three of six main card bouts scheduled to air live.

StrikeForce Elite Xtreme Combat: Shamrock vs. Baroni is co-produced by ProElite, Inc., the parent company of EliteXC, and Strikeforce.

Source: www.strikeforceusa.net