Vitale Fight “Just Another Day” For Trigg

Vitale Fight “Just Another Day” For Trigg
SAN JOSE, Calif. —Off the  heels of his latest conquest in Japan, mixed
martial arts (MMA) superstar  Frank Trigg (17-6) doesn’t seem too concerned about
his next challenge,  submission expert, Falaniko “Niko” Vitale (26-8).  In
fact, Trigg’s seemingly nonchalant  attitude toward the 185-pound limit matchup
with Hawaii’s top talent could be  mistaken for brash overconfidence.
“To  me, it’s just another day for me,” said Trigg, a 2000 Olympic wrestling
trials  finalist and former UFC welterweight championship challenger who will
battle  Vitale in a featured Strikeforce “Payback” MMA contest at
Broomfield, Colorado’s  Broomfield Event Center on Friday, October 3rd.  “All of my
days start to run together so  I don’t have any thoughts about a particular
fighter.”
When  the subject of conversation turns to the state of his career, though,
Trigg’s  tone suddenly becomes more focused and intense. “I’ve only got a
couple fights  left so every fight is important to me.”

At  38, Trigg may be nearing the end of his splendid run in professional MMA.
 It is in the last two years, however,  which he has also turned in some of
his most impressive performances, to date,  including back-to-back wins over
Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Kazo “The Grabaka  Hitman” Misaki.
Trigg  attributes these recent, good fortunes to his adoption of all-time
great, Randy  “The Natural” Couture, as a mentor.  Training at the Xtreme
Couture academy in Las Vegas, Nevada has provided  him with a new outlook towards
competition.
“One  of my biggest problems has been that I’ve been my own worst enemy,”
admitted  Trigg.  “I let that get in the way  of my fights.  One thing about 
Xtreme Couture, especially hanging out with Randy, is he (emphasizes) doing the 
best you can, so it really takes the stress off of you.  For him, it’s always
about being  fun.  So, it’s kind of interesting  to see how he trains and I
try to mimic the style.”
While  he has surely carved out a legacy in the sport that almost anyone
would be proud  to call his own, Trigg remains most proud of his career in amateur
wrestling,  which included team competition at University of Oklahoma and
culminated with  his outstanding showing in the Olympic trials.
“The  whole thing was a great memory for me,” said Trigg.  “It’s one of
those things that I’ll  never forget, especially at the level I took it to.  I
took it to a level that very few  people ever get to go to.  Being an  amateur
wrestler is something that will always be important to me.  It developed who I
am, what I do, and  how I approach things.”
Tickets  for Strikeforce “Payback,” priced from $30, are on sale at
Ticketmaster  (303-830-TIXS) and Ticketmaster.com
In  the main event, knockout artist and Denver native, Duane “Bang” Ludwig
(16-8), will attempt  to avenge a previous defeat at the hands of “The Ultimate
Fighter” season three  veteran, Sam “The Squeeze” Morgan (19-10).
Also  back in action at Strikeforce  “Payback” will be “The New York Badass”
 Phil Baroni (12-10) and “The Ultimate  Fighter” season four veteran, “The
Secret Weapon” Pete Spratt (18-14), who will battle  Donnie Liles (11-5).
Broomfield Event Center doors will open for Strikeforce  “Payback” at 5:30
PM MST and the preliminary card will begin at 6:30 PM  MST.  The main card will
commence at  8 PM MST.
About Strikeforce:
Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial  arts cage fight promotion which,
on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with  its “Shamrock vs. Gracie”
event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight  card in California state
history.  The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank 
Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP 
Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265.  Since 1995,
Strikeforce has been the  exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN
and, after 12 years of  success as a leading, world championship kickboxing
promotion, the company  unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs.
Gracie.”  Since then, it has co-produced the first  SHOWTIME PPV mixed
martial arts event in history with its world championship  “Shamrock vs. Baroni”
card on June 22, 2007 followed by the first-ever mixed  martial arts event at
the world-famous Playboy Mansion on September 29,  2007.  On April 12th of  this
year, Strikeforce launched the first-ever 52 week MMA series on one of the 
four major television networks in The U.S. – NBC.
Contacts: 
Mike  Afromowitz, Strikeforce – (917) 566-8754 or
_mafromowitz@strikeforce.com_ (mailto:mafromowitz@strikeforce.com)