After his recent X-1 middleweight title defenses over Kala Hose and Kalib Starnes, Vitale is ready for a big step up in competition – namely, he would like a rematch with current Strikeforce middleweight contender Jason “Mayhem” Miller or a fight with current Strikeforce world champion Nick Diaz. In fact, Vitale is ready to take on all challenges: “I would really like to take on all challengers at 170 and 185 pounds,” he said.

Having competed as high as 205 pounds, Vitale has decided to cut weight in order to compete in the middleweight and welterweight divisions. Vitale plans on coupling his brute strength with the speed of a 170 pounder: “I feel just as strong at 170 pounds as I did when I was 205lbs,” Vitale said.

Stars MMA, Vitale’s current management agency, is in negotiations with top MMA organizations in order to secure a multi-fight contract, which will allow him to pursue his goal of taking on elite fighters.

Niko Vitale is an experienced jiu-jitsu practitioner and wrestler who represents 808 Top Team, one of the toughest fight gyms in Hawaii. The pride of the Aloha State has appeared in major promotions such as the UFC, Strikeforce, International Fight League, King of the Cage, Rage in the Cage, SuperBrawl, and Icon Sport. With 29 wins to only nine losses, Vitale’s record is a testament of his talents as a mixed martial artist, and he has showcased these talents in matches against Robbie Lawler, recent Strikeforce middleweight title challenger Jason “Mayhem” Miller, MMA pioneer Jeremy Horn, Strikeforce/UFC veteran Trevor Prangley, and UFC veteran Frank Trigg. As a recognizable name in the sport, Vitale has gained this admiration through notable victories over UFC veteran Aaron Riley, former UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne, UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami, 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist Matt Lindland, and UFC veteran Kalib Starnes.

On March 20,2010, Vitale defeated Kalib Starnes via submission to become the X-1 Middleweight Champion. In September, Niko defended his middleweight title at X-1: Heroes, where he submitted Kala “Kolohe” Hose via Ezekiel choke.

For more information about Stars MMA or Niko Vitale please contact Stars MMA:

info@starsmma.com

415.421.6272 or 323.962.1800

23 Grant Avenue, 4th Floor

San Francisco, CA 94108

www.starsmma.com

Bio/Profile

Intro

Kulia i ka nu’u, strive for excellence, is a motto that Falaniko “Niko” Vitale models his life after. The pursuit of excellence occurs in all aspects of Vitale’s life, from being an attentive father to being a strategic submission and knockout practitioner in the cage. Vitale is a Hawaiian native, born and raised in Waipahu, Hawaii, and he is arguably one of the most revered Hawaiian fighters to date. The moniker, “The people’s champion,” expresses Vitale’s love for his community and Samoan heritage. This nickname also holds true because Vitale has expressed that he fights to make the lives of his family, friends, and community better off.

Personal Journey

Vitale learned at an early age that he excelled at sports, and he decided that it might be his ticket to success. While attending Waipahu High School, Vitale was part of the football, wrestling, and track teams. He excelled in wrestling, becoming an Oahu Interscholastic Association champ.

After high school, Vitale played football at Snow College in Utah for two years before returning to the islands. He returned home to attend the University of Hawaii, where he continued his football career for two more years. It’s important to mention that Brigham Young University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Kansas also recruited Vitale, but he decided to play for the University of Hawaii so his family would be able to witness his accomplishments. Vitale hoped to play professional football, but he was unsuccessful in his tryouts with the Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, and a couple of Canadian teams. Niko played arena football for the Hawaii Hammerheads and Islanders before discovering MMA.

Vitale was 22 years old by the time he started training jiu-jitsu in 1997. Due to his extensive wrestling background, he excelled in the sport. After only two ears of training, Vitale won his first fight by TKO, in 1999.

Life as a fighter

Niko Vitale is an experienced jiu-jitsu and wrestling practitioner, who represents 808 Top Team, one of the toughest fight gyms in Hawaii. Vitale has had an illustrious mixed martial arts career spanning well over a decade, and he has appeared in major promotions such as the UFC, Strikeforce, the Fight League, King of the Cage, Rage in the Cage, SuperBrawl, and Icon Sport. With 29 wins to only nine losses, Vitale’s record is a testament of his talents as a mixed martial artist.

Vitale has showcased these talents in matches against Elite XC and Icon Sport middleweight champion Robbie Lawler, recent Strikeforce middleweight title challenger Jason “Mayhem” Miller, MMA innovator Jeremy Horn, Strikeforce/UFC veteran Trevor Prangley, and UFC fighter Frank Trigg. As a recognizable name in the sport, Vitale has gained this admiration through notable victories over UFC veteran Aaron Riley, former UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne, UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami, 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist Matt Lindland, and UFC veteran Kalib Starnes. On March 20,2010, Vitale defeated Kalib Starnes via submission to become the X-1 middleweight champion. Recently, Vitale defended his middleweight title at X-1: Heroes, where he submitted Kala “Kolohe” Hose via Ezekiel choke.

Marketable Opportunities

With a million-dollar smile and great physique, it’s hard to envision that Vitale is a professional fighter. Being a professional athlete who is constantly in the limelight, Vitale has developed great communication skills. He has showcased his talents on a recent episode of Hawaii Five-0, entitled “Ko’olauloa.” He appeared in two scenes as one of the lead character’s bodyguards, and he anticipates several more cameos on Hawaii Five-O in the coming months. His demeanor, physical tributes, and experience truly make Niko Vitale a mass marketable athlete.

About STARS MMA
The Mixed Martial Arts division of the almost 30-year old San Francisco-based talent agency, STARS the Agency, STARS MMA is dedicated to advancing and preserving the sport of mixed martial arts through full agency servicing and leveraging the current commercial rise of mixed martial arts and its athletes into other mainstream opportunities.  STARS MMA seeks to provide MMA athletic talent inroads into television, film, commercial/print advertising and modeling prospects.

For more from STARS MMA, visit www.starsagency.com, or follow us on Twitter (@StarsMMA) and Facebook (facebook.com/StarsMMA).

About STARS the Agency
STARS the Agency, now celebrating over twenty years in business, is a full service talent agency located in the heart of downtown San Francisco.  STARS, which has consistently enjoyed the reputation as one of the largest, most successful and respected agencies in the world, provides a comprehensive list of services, representing men, women and children for on camera, voice-over and theatrical work and screenplay writers. The agency is state licensed, a member of the Association of Talent Agents (ATA) and franchised by the performers unions including American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Actors Equity Association (AEA), Directors Gild of America (DGA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA). Although Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has not had a franchise agreement with agents since 2001, STARS continues to provide talent with opportunities to audition for and book SAG work.

STARS the Agency is recognized worldwide in Europe, Asia and Australia, providing numerous international opportunities for its talent.

Photo courtesy of Stars MMA

The 33 year old, who hails from Amsterdam, Netherlands, comes to STRIKEFORCE after reaching the semifinal round of the 2008 DREAM Middleweight (185 pounds) Grand Prix tournament by scoring first round TKOs on Dae Won Kim and legendary champion Kazushi Sakuraba on May 11, 2008 and June 15, 2008 respectfully. His well-known battle cry “When I fight, I am willing to die” has translated into Manhoef’s explosive style of fighting, one that has helped him earn 22 of his 30 career MMA wins and 27 of his 45 career kickboxing victories by way of  knockout.

On February 26, 2005, Manhoef initiated his best run to date, a 10 fight win streak in MMA competition, by stopping Matthias Riccio at Cage Rage 10 in London, England with a series of strikes in the first round (3:01). Amongst his victims during this stretch were Ian “The Machine” Freeman and Crosley Gracie, both of whom Manhoef stopped in the first round with strikes.  Manhoef was crowned Cage Rage champion on September 10, 2005 after scoring a 51 second knockout with punches on Brazil’s Fabio Piamonte in London.

Asked on short notice to serve as a replacement in a heavyweight matchup with knockout artist Mark Hunt at the annual New Year’s Eve “Dynamite” extravaganza in Saitama, Japan last year, Manhoef obliged and, despite being at a tremendous weight disadvantage, crushed the Samoan fighter with an onslaught of punches a mere 18 seconds after the opening bell rang.

Manhoef’s career in K-1, the world’s premiere stand-up fighting league, dates back to February 24, 2002.  During his tenure with the Japanese promotion, he has triumphed over the likes of former K-1 tournament champions Stefan Leko and Ruslan Karaev, whom Manhoef crushed with a left hook only 31 seconds into their meeting in Amsterdam on June 23, 2007.

Born in Suriname, Manhoef relocated to Rotterdam with his family when he was three years old.  He was introduced to the sport of Muay Thai by his brother and, at age 18, won his first bout.

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com <http://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 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.”  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.

Source: Mike Afromowitz/StrikeForce

Zaromskis is coming off an utter destruction of Myeon Ho Bae, winning by 0:19, first-round KO on Oct 25. The victory earned Zaromskis the 2009 DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix crown. Remarkably, it was the third consecutive time Zaromskis won a fight with a head kick in the opening round. On July 20, 2009, he defeated both Jason High (2:22) and heavily favored Hayoto Sakurai (4:03) with head kicks to win DREAM’s 170-pound tournament.

Zaromskis turned pro on Feb. 4, 2000. He fought several times for UK-based Cage Rage before joining DREAM in early 2009. Two of his three losses came against former Cage Rage British champion in Che Mills <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Mills> .

STRIKEFORCE in March 2009 signed a multi-year agreement to stage live MMA events on the premium cable television network, SHOWTIME.   Next Saturday, November 7, STRIKEFORCE will make its live debut on CBS with its “Fedor vs. Rogers” mega-fight that it is co-promoting with M-1 Global.

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com <http://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 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.”  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.

Source: Mike Afromowitz, StrikeForce

The 33-year-old Baroni, a native of Long Island, N.Y, has lost four of his last seven bouts.  In his last appearance, a welterweight (170 pounds) matchup with Joe “Diesel” Riggs at St. Louis, Missouri’s Scottrade Center, Baroni sustained a one-sided defeat by way of unanimous judges’ decision.

“We wish Phil the best of luck and hope he can revive his career,” STRIKEFORCE Founder and CEO Scott Coker said Thursday. “If he can, maybe one day, he can return and fight for us.”

Baroni’s most noteworthy fight in STRIKEFORCE was also the first STRIKEFORCE middleweight (185 pounds) MMA championship bout in history on June 22, 2007.  Refusing to tap out, Baroni was choked unconscious by four-time world champion Frank Shamrock in the second round (4:00) of action.

Baroni, a former amateur bodybuilder, fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and although he had a tough reputation, was able to only amass a record of 3-5-0. On September 27, 2002, Baroni knocked out former UFC champion Dave Menne but tapped out for the only time in his career versus against Pete Sell, a much lesser opponent.

Moving on to Japan’s PRIDE Fighting Championships, Baroni started out with several knockout victories and then was choked out in a grudge match with Frank Shamrock in a cross-promotion event with EliteXC. Steroid allegations for Baroni followed when his ‘A’ specimen tested positive for boldenone and stanozolol. Questions arose when his ‘B’ sample came back negative. H ended up with a reduced suspension of six months and a $2,500 fine.

In nomadic fashion, Baroni fought in ICON Sport, EliteXC, PFC and Cage Rage, with a match in the latter becoming something of a viral instant classic.  After a vicious combination floored Scott Jansen, a brother of the British native somehow made his way into the cage with the cornermen and attempted to headbutt Baroni. Two more wins followed before the loss to Briggs.

Even though UFC president Dana White tried to convince Baroni to retire when he first left the prestigious MMA league, he must see something in the 33-year-old now that was not apparent then. According to sources, Baroni has verbally agreed to a UFC contract.

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.”  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.