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Lavar Johnson is
making a return
 (PRESS
RELEASE) -- Six months ago, Lavar Johnson lay in a hospital bed,
clinging to his life after he was gunned down while attending a
family barbeque during the July 4 holiday. On Friday, March 26, the
32-year-old will enter a new chapter in his incredible recovery when
he restarts his professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career in the
main event of a STRIKEFORCE Challengers fight card at Save Mart
Center in Fresno, California on Friday, March 26.
The heavy-handed Johnson (13-3), a 6-foot-4 inch, 250-pound resident
of nearby Madera, will face off with another highly touted prospect,
undefeated Lolohea Mahe (4-0-1) of Wailua, Maui in the STRIKEFORCE
cage.
Tickets for the STRIKEFORCE Challengers event, priced from $30, go
on sale on Monday, Feb. 1, at the Save Mart Center box office and
select Save Mart Supermarkets, all Ticketmaster locations (800)
745-3000, Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com )
and STRIKEFORCE's official website (www.strikeforce.com ).
"My health is great and I'm almost back to where I was," said
Johnson. In his last start in the cage, Johnson crushed Carl
Seumanutafa in just 18 seconds with a single punch at the first-ever
STRIKEFORCE Challengers event at Save Mart Center on May 15, 2009.
After being struck down by the gunfire that also led to the death of
a cousin, Johnson, a father of two boys, ages eight and five, spent
one month in hospital care and lost approximately 60 pounds.
Months of physical rehabilitation followed and, one month ago,
Johnson was cleared by a physician to return to training with
trainer Jasper Tayaba and Team Buhawe in Fresno
"(The experience) made me realize how fragile life is and that every
day I'm here is a blessing. It has also made me take MMA more
seriously."
In other action on the STRIKEFORCE Challengers card, "Abongo"
Humphrey (5-1) of Atlanta, Ga., will square off with George Bush III
(5-1) of Columbus, Ohio, at light heavyweight (205 pounds).
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Luke Stewart (6-2) of San Francisco,
California will make his long-awaited return to action against Andre
Galvao (3-1) of Brazil in a welterweight (170 pounds) contest.
Unbeaten Zoila Frausto (2-0) of Fresno will face off at 135 pounds
with another one of the top prospects in the women's field, Miesha
"Takedown" Tate (7-2) of Olympia, Washington.
American Kickboxing Academy bred wrestling stud Justin "The
Silverback" Wilcox (8-3) of San Jose, Calif., will do battle with
Bryan Travers (13-1) of Bakersfield, Calif., at lightweight (155
pounds).
Save Mart Center doors will open for the STRIKEFORCE Challengers
event at 6 p.m. PT. The first live, non-televised, preliminary bout
will begin at 6:45 p.m.
The live SHOWTIMEŽ telecast will begin at 11:45 p.m. ET/ PT (delayed
on the west coast).
STRIKEFORCE Challengers is a proving ground for up-and-coming MMA
fighters. The series is designed to provide today's top prospects
with the opportunity to step-up their level of competition and
demonstrate their ability in a nationally televised event.
STRIKEFORCE in March 2009 signed a multi-year agreement to stage
live MMA events on the
premium cable television network. The promotion made its live,
primetime debut on CBS with the "Fedor vs. Rogers" mega-fight that
it co-promoted with M-1 Global on Saturday, November 7
and generated 5.46 million viewers for the main event between the
world's number one heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, and superstar
Brett "The Grim" Rogers.
About STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com )
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,
sanctioned by ISKA, 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 (MMA) series with "Shamrock vs. Gracie." In May
2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE,
partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an
entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of
the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.
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