Gray Maynard has been supporting Jose Aldo from the very beginning. Maynard flew down to Brazil to train with Aldo, teaching him how to prepare for Mendes’ wrestling moves. Maynard believes Aldo is ready for the fight and thinks that Mendes does not have enough experience to meet the challenge.

In response to learning the Maynard has been training with Aldo, Mendes said, “So wrestling? I don’t care who he’s working with. He can work with the best wrestler in the entire world for a camp, and his wrestling isn’t going to be anywhere near as good as mine. I’m sure he understands that.” With Aldo training for Mendes’ strong wrestling skills, Mendes is training for Aldo’s killer striking skills.

DJ Irie and Hamed Wardak teamed up to celebrate the efforts of the Irie Foundation, which “seeks to improve the lives of South Florida’s youth through educational and extracurricular opportunities that may otherwise not be available to them.” Earlier in the day, DJ Irie brought 78 kids from Madison Middle School to spend the afternoon munching down endless amounts of pizza and enjoy the swimming pool only to leave with their very own iPod.

To end the days festivities, 500+ people showed up to the Stoli sponsored evening. Among those attending were Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival Cruises and owner of the Miami Heat, Reggie Bush and Alonzo and Tracy Mourning.

While Machida has been increasingly desperate, Jones has only had one defeat for throwing too many blows to the head of Matt Hamill in 2009. Since then Jones has helped promote UFC and K-Swiss.

Many people are drawn the Jon’s style because of his graceful spins that lead into deadly punches and kicks. Jones also has a strong background in UFC’s most important base: wrestling. “Stylistically, this fight is so fun and interesting,” UFC President Dana White said. “Machida is only interested in winning back the title. It’s all he’s been thinking about. I don’t expect him to lie back as he’s been doing. I expect fireworks from Machida right away.” Jones, however, has been unpredictable and has made life miserable for all his opponents making his confidence soar.

DJ Irie understands the importance of bringing the holiday spirit to underprivileged kids and has said that he “is extremely excited to co-produce this event with Hamed & Ludus. This time of year is all about spreading joy and goodwill and we share the same vision of a better South Florida through education and support of our youth.”

Ludus, an apparel brand inspired by the fashionable lively city of Miami, was created by Hamed Wardak. The Ludus brand embodies the young diverse nature of the city and aims to combine fashion and excitement into its pieces.

Carlos Condit was expected initially to face Georges St-Pierre at UFC 143 however Nick Diaz challenged St-Pierre after his big win over B.J Penn at UFC 137. St-Pierre accepted Nick’s challenge, which put Condit on the sidelines. After St-Pierre stole the spotlight from Condit, UFC president announced that should he be victorious in his next fight he is next in line.

Most recently Koschek fought at September’s UFC 135, where he defeated UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes in a first-round knockout. This swift defeat was Koscheck’s first fight back since his broken orbital bone at UFC 124.

Originally, the fight was scheduled to headline in August at UFC 133 but a knee injury had put Davis on the sidelines. Evans instead went on to fight and defeat Tito Ortiz in August but was not able to go for the title fight against Jon Jones because he had injured his hand.

With both fighters back from their past injuries they are likely to headline UFC’s new efforts on Fox. Evans is coming off a victory over Ortiz but has a lot on the line and needs a victory to keep is number one position intact. Evans and Jones have been dancing around each other ever since his former teammate won the belt in March at UFC 128.

Davis on the other hand has the biggest challenge of his career fighting a former champion. If Davis manages to defeat Evans he would not only prove himself, but also establish a place in the division getting him a title contention.

Also during the conference, White confirmed, with a smile and a nod, that he believes the UFC middleweight champion Silva will not be fighting till after June while he recovers from his surgery. Silva defended his title against Yushin Okami for the record ninth consecutive time last August in Rio de Janeiro. The epic second round TKO was UFC’s first trip to Brazil since October 1998. Silva’s next scheduled fight is to be against the man that came closest to taking it from him: Chael Sonnen.

Falcao is the proud owner of a 28-4 (1 NC) MMA mark and won his UFC debut against Gerald Harris in November 2010 by unanimous decision. Recently he was due to legal issues arising after a 2002 assault charge in Brazil. A week after his Oct. 8 fight the heavy-weight champion was officially announced as a Bellator contractee by promotional CEO Bjorn Rebney.

The Blue Key Campaign that took place last week to help refugees, was able to happen due to various sponsors and hosts.  Sponsors were: Patton Boggs, LLP, Tethys Petroleum, Fashion Washington, and Gryphon Partners.  Hosts included: Peter Ackerman, Alex Brand, Marc Breslaw, Arianny Celeste, Camille C. Chidiac, Tiki Goshn, Jon “Bones” Jones, Zalmay Khalizad, Britney Miller, Roman Popadiuk, David Tafuri and Hamed Wardak, CEO and founder of Ludus Athletics.

Peter Ackerman is also the founding chair of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict as well as MD for Rockport Capital Inc.  Past positions have included Freedom House chair of the board of trustees.  Today Ackerman is also a board member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  He has a PhD in International Relations and wrote a thesis entitled ‘Strategic Aspects of Nonviolent Resistance Movements’ which looked at “the nonviolent strategy and tactics used by people who are living under oppression and have no viable military option to free themselves.”

Purchase Event Tickets Here: http://www.ludusathletics.com/

Who: Washington movers and shakers in support of the UN Refugee Agency

What: Blue Key: Miami to Washington D.C.

Where: POV at the W Hotel, 515 15th Street, Northwest, Washington D.C.

When: 9PM, Wednesday, June 22, 2011