Luis Palomino and Jorge “Macaco” Patino kick off main card at WSOF 8

LAS VEGAS (Jan. 6, 2014) – Justin Gaethje (10-0) will face one of MMA’s top prospects in Rich Patishnock (6-1) for the World Series of Fighting’s inaugural lightweight title in the Jan. 18 event titled “World Series of Fighting 8: Gaethje vs. Patishnock,” which takes place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

The co-main event features hard-hitting light-heavyweights Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (15-4) and Mike “MAK” Kyle (20-10-1) meeting in a bout that has been postponed twice due to injuries. The highly anticipated fight, now almost a year in the making, is sure to produce an absolute explosion in the decagon.

“Injuries are an unavoidable aspect of MMA,” said World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo.  “I am very proud of my team here at WSOF for finding a very worthy opponent in Rich Patishnock to fight against Justin Gaethje for the title.  I know that both of these guys have very crowd-pleasing fighting styles, and I can’t wait to see what happens when that cage door shuts.”

The 25-year-old Gaethje is a member of Colorado’s Grudge Training Center and has already earned World Series of Fighting wins over Dan Lauzon, Brian Cobb and Cavalcante. Fighting professionally since 2011, Gaethje is undefeated in his first 10 career fights, and nine of those have ended via stoppage, including eight by knockout.

Patishnock, a 26-year-old fighting out of Whippany, NJ has made a name for himself in his first two WSOF appearances by defeating two men with the name that is most synonymous with MMA: Gracie.  Patishnock defeated Igor Gracie at WSOF 2, and followed that up with a victory over his brother, Gregor Gracie at WSOF 5.

Patishnock’s original opponent, Luis “Baboon” Palomino (21-9) will now face a tough challenge in MMA veteran Jorge “Macaco” Patino (35-14-2-1).

“Macaco,” a Brazilian MMA practitioner, began fighting professionally in 1995 and has had several historic fights including his victory over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and two epic battles with recently signed WSOF fighter Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons. The 40-year-old Patino has won both the lightweight and welterweight titles with the Legacy FC promotion, a lightweight title with Predator FC, and fought for UFC welterweight championship against one of the sports legends in Pat Milletich.

The 33-year-old Palomino was born in Peru but now resides in Miami. A black belt in both capoeira and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Palomino is a force on the feet and the floor. A former Championship Fighting Alliance featherweight champion, Palomino recently moved up to lightweight and fell just short in a bid for the promotion’s lightweight title. Palomino also fought five times for Bellator MMA, including a slot on the promotion’s very first show.

Tickets for “World Series of Fighting 8: Gaethje vs. Patishnock,” start at just $29, and are on sale at Ticketmaster.com. The bout tops a five-fight card that airs live on NBCSN at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.   The fights will also be broadcast on Brazilian television network, Esporte Interativo.  A six-fight undercard, which will stream live atwww.WSOF.com, will be announced shortly.

With the addition to the card, World Series of Fighting 8 now includes:

Justin Gaethje vs. Rich Patishnock for inaugural lightweight title

Anthony Johnson vs. Mike Kyle

Jessica Aguilar vs. Alida Gray for inaugural womens strawweight title

Cody Bollinger vs. Tyson Nam

Luis Palomino vs. Jorge Patino