Wrestling & MMA

U.S. Army veteran Randy Couture and PFL MMA join forces with Force Blue in South Florida

Professional Fighters League MMA broadcaster and UFC legend Randy Couture is returning to some of his military roots by joining forces with PFL and Force Blue.

PFL is teaming with Force Blue, a non-profit organization that retrains and redeploys former Special Operations veterans and military-trained combat divers, to assist in marine and coral reef conservation efforts in South Florida, where PFL is currently hosting its 2021 Playoffs.

That includes a coral spawning recon offshore Key Biscayne, as well as a coastal conservation beach cleanup operation at Lauderdale-By-The-Sea.

Graphic Courtesy PFL MMA and Force Blue

On Friday, Aug. 20, PFL CEO Peter Murray, Executive Producer George Greenberg and Couture (a former U.S. Army Sergeant) will participate in a boat dive from Crandon Park Marina in Key Biscayne in Miami Dade County.

Force Blue and PFL divers will head to the 100 Yards of Hope site with members of the University of Miami Rosenstiel School. The objective will be to scout the site for mature coral colonies, mapping and trap removal.

https://www.pflmma.com/the-randy-couture-story

Efforts to preserve the Florida coastline will continue on Monday, Aug. 23 with a coastal conservation beach-cleanup operation at Lauderdale-By-The-Sea in Broward County. Force Blue, PFL athletes and employees, veterans and MMA fans will lead a beach cleanup as well as an off-shore dive with more than 100 volunteers to both monitor the coral and perform a fish count.

“The PFL is grateful to showcase our three playoff events throughout August as well as our PFL World Championship in October at the Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL.,” PFL CEO Peter Murray said in a release. “It is our duty to give back to the community, and it’s our pleasure to work with a first-class organization like Force Blue and help make an impact for our environment and the beautiful state of Florida.”

Murray added: “The PFL is excited to showcase our upcoming Playoff events on August 19 and 27 and the PFL World Championship on October 27 at the Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. As an organization, it is our pleasure to partner with Force Blue to support their mission in uniting the Special Operations veterans community with the world of marine conservation as well as give back to the South Florida community.”

Jim Ritterhoff, executive director and co-founder of Force Blue, Inc., said: “We’re honored to be joining forces with the Professional Fighters League with our efforts to help keep Florida clean. The PFL and Force Blue share a common belief in fighting to save our world, but more importantly, it’s a fight that we all can partake in.”

The PFL Playoffs make August the most exciting month in MMA, with three single-elimination playoff events on Aug. 13, 19 and 27 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood, Florida. The final four fighters from each of six weight-classes have single-elimination fights to earn a spot in the PFL World Championship.

The PFL World Championship is six title fights in six weight-classes for $6 million all in one night and will also be at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Oct. 27.

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About Professional Fighters League

Professional Fighters League (PFL) is the first and only combat sport company to present MMA in the sports-season format where individual fighters compete in regular season, playoffs and championship.

PFL is the innovation leader with the PFL SmartCage delivering viewers on-screen fight analytics and real-time prop bets.

The 2021 PFL season began with 60 fighters in six weight divisions. The playoffs commence with 24 fighters competing for 12 spots in the Championship event and one of six $1 million title purses. All PFL 2021 Playoff events are live in primetime on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN+ in the U.S., as well as on leading broadcast and streaming outlets in 160 countries worldwide.

For more info visit www.PFLmma.com and follow PFL on Instagram (@PFLmma), Twitter (@PFLMMA), and Facebook (/PFLmma).

https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/03/randy-couture-story-documentary-series-debut-espn-pfl-ufc-mma

https://www.dazn.com/en-US/news/mma/randy-couture-previews-the-upcoming-pfl-season-claressa-shields-in-mma-his-documentary-on-his-career/5zenxpp3qni51f44aktzqjt5m

About Force Blue, Inc.

Force Blue is the only nonprofit in the world that provides “mission therapy” for former combat divers by retraining, retooling and deploying them on missions of conservation, preservation and restoration.

By uniting Special Operations veterans with the world of marine science and conservation Force Blue has created a model of caring, cooperation and positive change with the power to restore lives and the planet. For more info visit forceblueteam.org.

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Jim Varsallone
Miami Herald
Jim Varsallone writes a high school sports column twice a week, featuring top performers in all varsity sports (boys and girls) in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. He also covers pro wrestling, something he’s done since his college days in the late 1980s. Now in his fifth decade of coverage, he currently follows WWE (Raw, SmackDown and NXT), AEW, Ring of Honor, TNA Impact Wrestling, MLW, WOW, NWA, and the South Florida indies, mainly CCW. He writes MMA, too -- mostly profile stories and video interviews with American Top Team and Sanford MMA fighters in South Florida. As for pro wrestling, he writes feature stories and profile pieces, updates upcoming show schedules in South Florida, photographs the action and interviews talent (audio and video) -- sharing the content here and via social media on his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel). Support my work with a digital subscription
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