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The Franchise August 30th Podcasts

The Swan Song, The Grand Finale, The Final Curtain, The Last Show..... on CJLO 1690 AM!

Weekly HABit: They have finally signed! Find out what Gary and Nick think about where Tanguay and Schneider have landed. Murdocco apologizes for jumping the gun on an outdoor NHL game being played at the Olympic Stadium.

Franchise Weigh In: We invite Mitch "The Manager" Mayberger to help us break down Saturday night's UFC 102.

Deep Impact: Nick Murdocco and Gary Whittaker break down what Montreal's last win does for their playoff chances, as well as the week to come.

Alouettes Weekly Review: It may be a bye-week for the Als, but the Franchise is hard at work breaking down their next game.

The Franchise FULL SHOW: Only on the full show can you get all the above, and the wrap up of the 1st ever Napa Rally 5000 with guest Adam Reid. We also review what's been happening with the Montreal Juniors pre-season. We run down the long list of people who have helped us get to where we are today. We also need to thank you, our fans, for generating the kind of buzz about us that has led to us taking the next step!

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What does a Halifax Police officer, a former junior league hockey player and a former college offensive linemen have in common? All of these players will be making there debut at Extreme Cage Combat 10: Demolition. The event was officially announced today at Palooka's Boxing Gym for September 26th at the Halifax Forum. This will be the first event in the Nova Scotia capital in almost a year. The promoters are happy to have this event back where it started after a year long delay but they wanted to try new areas.

"Our last event we held in Sydney a little while ago. we wanted to spread it across the province a little bit," says promoter Peter Martell.

" We looked at Halifax and Cape Breton haven't had one yet and we decided to hold one there. It is a little bit of timing sometimes we would go to the forum and there would be competing events or other fighters would have commitments elsewhere. This is a good time for us to get the team together."

The main event will Halifax's Roger Hollett make his debut at middleweight against Frtiz Paul from Team Nestor in Montreal. Hollett comes into this fight losing two straight to Emmanual Newton and UFC vet David Heath. Paul is coming off a three year layoff but it won't be an easy match-up with Paul facing guys such as Jason MacDonald and his last fight beating Nabil Khatib. While Hollett is moving down a weight class for this fight, this doesn't mean that he will stay in the 185lb division.

"I feel really good about it," says Hollett.

"I am not fighting to keep weight on anymore. Really this is my natural weight. I will still continue to fight at 205 and I am going to fight at 185 as well. It will be case by case. I am just not going to cut weight anymore. It has been a little hard sometimes cutting all that weight. I gotta just get my legs back under me and get some steam going again. Training has been going really good. I am feeling really good at the lighter weight, so I think this will be a good idea. "

While the event will see veterans on the card such as Matt McGrath, Dan Grandmaison and Tannaya Hantleman on the card, it will feature some interesting newcomers. First, Andre Habib who is a Halifax Regional Police officer will take on Moncton's Cory Boone. Bryan Jordan will bring the maritimes first super heavyweight fight when he takes Jason Harper. Jordan is best known as an offensive linemen with the Saint Mary's Huskies in Atlantic University Football. Also another cross sports athletic will make his debut when Colby Macintyre faces Alderic Keith. Macintrye played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for the Halifax Mooseheads for two season where he racked up over 300  minutes in the box  in just 58 games. Now while there are many interesting fighters on this card to draw in different groups of people. It wasn't planned out that way.

" It was good that it worked out that way. If I could I would like to go out and get someone from the city council fighting," says Martell

"But  they trained here and have interest in fighting. We are very happy to put them in there and let them showcase what they know. we are happy that Bryan, Colby and Andre fighting will reach out to some people perhaps who haven't taken that step to an mma fight live."

The only other debut that will be on the card will be Jeremy Josey. Josey has been training with Team Titans as Hollett's sparring partner for the past year. While he has had the experience in the gym, will it transfer over to the cage? While Josey is just happy that he won't have to fight Hollett, he knows that everything can play a factor.

"I just know that going to the cage can be a factor. Right now in my head (in the gym) , I have the idea of these are my buddies. I don't want to hurt them." says Josey.

"I don't take it personal when I get cracked. You do have to hold a little bit back. There is a little something that you have to hold back everytime your sparring with somebody you know. Come the 26th, I have no idea who this guy is. I don't care if he hates me or not. There won't be that little bit holding me back."

For any information about the card you can check out Extreme Cage Combat's website at www.eccmma.ca.

Full Fight Card

COLBY MACINTYRE 185 LBS TEAM TITANS HALIFAX Vs ALDERIC KEITH 185 LBS TEAM SAIGO MONCTON

BRYAN JORDAN 300 LBS TEAM TITANS HALIFAX Vs JASON HARPER 300 LBS RGDA CANADA BARRIE ON

JEREMY JOSEY 205 LBS TEAM TITANS HALIFAX Vs ELI RASHAD 205 LBS TEAM BUENO CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI

ANDRE HABIB 185 LBS TEAM TITANS HALIFAX Vs CORY BOONE 185 LBS TEAM SAIGO MONCTON

RICKY GOODALL 185 LBS TEAM TITANS HALIFAX Vs JEFF PIMENTEL 185 LBS TEAM ONTARIO WHITBY ON

TIM KELLY 185 LBS TEAM TITANS HALIFAX Vs BRETON LEBLANC 185 LBS TEAM SAIGO MONCTON

TANNAYA HANTLEMAN 135 LBS TEAM TITANS HALIFAX Vs KATE ROY 135 LBS K&K COMBAT QUISPAMSIS NB

MATT MGRATH 170 LBS TEAM TITANS HALIFAX Vs DAN GRANDMAISON 170 LBS TEAM SHREDDER SUDBURY ON

Main Event

ROGER HOLLETT 185 LBS TEAM TITANS HALIFAX Vs FRITZ PAUL 185 LBS TEAM NESTER MONTREAL QUE

No MMA fights at Moncton University

Last week at The Franchise, we told you about a promoter in Moncton, New Brunswick named Dwayne Storey trying to do co promotion card of boxing and mma. Well we have learned that there will be no mma fights on the next great heavyweight tournament. Storey told the Times and Transcript that the event venue at the University of Moncton would not let the fights happen on there campus. Storey has said to me that he will continue to try and put a co promotion fight card together in the near future.

TUF 8 contestant vs Marvin Eastman fight in the works

Ultimate Fighter Season Eight competitor, Ryan Jimmo will be taking a big step in the fight game as it looks like he will be facing UFC veteran Marvin Eastman. When speaking to Jimmo ealier this week, he said that it looks like he will face him at MFC 22 on October 2nd. Jimmo said that the deal is in its final stage and it looks like it will be signed within the next week or two. The Saint John, New Brunswick native is on a ten fight winning streak which includes names as fellow TUF alum Jesse Forbes and former world kickboxing champion Rick Roufus. Jimmo has recently moved to Edmonton for training with the likes of UFC heavyweight Tim Hague and former MFC poster boy Ryan Ford.

Other match-ups confirmed for MFC 22 will be Jason Macdonald against Travis Lutter. Also John Alessio will fight on the card but has yet to have an opponent but all signs seem to be pointing to former UFC vet and recent MFC signing Luigi Fioravanti.

Allard-Caméus joins the Alouettes

Montreal, July 14, 2009 – Montreal Alouettes’ Vice President and General Manager Jim Popp announced today that Quebec-born running back Guillaume Allard-Caméus has been added to the team’s practice roster.

USL's Future Uncertain As Teams Look For Options

The Team Owners Association, a self governing board of USL team owners, has been until now, trying to negotiate with the USL parent company USISL Inc., a way to make the USL run and owned by its teams.

Negotiations have now come to a head as Nike Inc., the USISL’s parent company, has announced that the USL has been sold to NuRock Soccer Holdings which does not presently have a team in the USL Division-1 League.

The TOA, which includes the Montreal Impact, are now looking at all options that will allow for them to be part of a league that allows for self governing as FIFA regulations warrant.

Please read on for the full release from the TOA.

Impact Settle for 1-1 Tie Vs Railhawks

The Montreal Impact managed a 1-1 tie against the 2^nd place Carolina Railhawks yesterday afternoon and maintained their 6^th place position in the USL Division 1 standings.

While

Montreal

was able to take the lead on a Tony Donatelli header off a Adam Braz cross at the 33^rd minute of play, it was as if déjà vu had set in after the first half. 

Als Legend Sam Etcheverry Passes Away At 79

The Montreal Alouettes and the Etcheverry family announced the passing of legendary quarterback and coach Sam "The Rifle" Etcheverry. Sam passed away Saturday morning  at the age of 79 following a long battle with cancer.

The Alouettes will communicate the details of the funeral and how people may pay tribute to Sam Etcheverry over the course of the next week.

Juniors Unable to Make it Two Wins Vs Gatineau in Preseason Play

The Montreal Juniors were back at it against the Gatineau Olympiques in a back to back pre-season stint that saw the Juniors win 3-2 Friday night, but Gatineau answering in kind with a 5-2 victory on Saturday. With only a few cuts remaining before the Juniors announce their final roster, every remaining pre-season game is vital for the players suiting up.

Please read on for the Juniors' post game recap.

UFC 102 Results and Bonus info

Main Bouts:
-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Randy Couture by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)*
-Thiago Silva def. Keith Jardine by KO (Punch) at 1:35, R1
-Jake Rosholt def. Chris Leben by Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) at 1:30, R3***
-Nate Marquardt def. Demian Maia by KO at :21, R1**
-Brandon Vera def. Krzystztof Soszynski by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Boxing and MMA card in the works in Moncton for September 12th

By Derek LeBlanc

In the last year and a half the idea of putting on a card with boxing and mixed martial arts has gotten mixed messages from promoters and journalists.  It has had success with most notably Roy Jones Jr co promotion of March Badness earlier this year.   For the first time in Atlantic Canada the idea will be tested on September 12th in Moncton, New Brunswick.  The fights will be on the next great heavyweight boxing tournament. The idea additionally came after a historic event in mixed martial arts.

"The idea came a little bit after I watched UFC 100," says promoter Dwayne Storey    

"I wasn't really a big UFC fan, but i can fell for it immediately after seeing Georges St-Pierre and saw one of the most extraordinary athletics in the world. I watched UFC 101 after that and realized there was more to it and I thought nobody that I knew is doing a hybrid event of MMA and boxing. The concept is a little ground breaking in Eastern Canada."

Storey was a former boxer who has now become a promoter this year with his wife to start the next great heavyweight boxing tournament back in June.  The 2nd round of this event will take place as well as a cursierweight tournament beginning on the same night.  The idea for mma on the card is to do the same tournament style setting for different weight classes.  The idea is to try and give newer athletics a chance to get there career started.

"We are working with some of the regional fighters and promoters to put an mma component to the show as well," says Storey.

"We set up a website the recruit fighters that we called eastcoastmma.ca.  We have received a lot of applications and calls.  There are a good supply of fighters around that are willing to be part of it.  Right now we are just trying to pull something together that makes sense and works."

While Storey has had a number of fighters wanting to do the event there still has been a small obstacle or two.  While the event is taking place on the Unservite of Moncton campus, he still trying to work out to see if they can have mma on the card.  His idea for this card is to have two mma matches and have another card in the late fall.  Until he gets the full details on what he can do, he says that he does have one match just waiting to be signed.  If it doesn't work for this card it will be added on to future events his company puts on.  The idea is to get fans of both sports who would not normally check out an mma event or vice versa.  You can find all the information on this event at www.thenextgreatheavyweight.com

Juniors Handle Olympiques In Pre-season Action

The Montreal Juniors were in Pointe-Claire last night where they played their 3rd pre-season game of the season against the Gatineau Olympiques. With all three Montreal goaltenders seeing some action and Guillaume Asselin potting two goals in the game, the Juniors won the game 3-2 despite a third period that saw them lose their 3-0 lead due to penalty trouble.

Please read on for the official Juniors post-game report.