Just got back from watching the second day of fights and thought I’d stop off at the office and drop my “best performers” awards.

Without a doubt, these fighters stole the show: Koji Oishi for a high energy war against Chris Ade; Hiroyuki Abe and Sami Aziz equally for a fight that brought the audience to their feet; Todd Gouwenberg (a fellow British Columbian) for his passionate battle against Constantin Gluhov; and Eben Oroz, who was by far the biggest crowd pleaser due to his awe-inspiring kickboxing war with DJ Taiki. Make sure to watch Eben’s New Jersey fight against David Love, which airs on Sept 4th.

With the season 6 shoot finished and in-the-can, it’s time to hit the wrap party. As you may remember from my St. Petersburg Wrap Party post, Bodog throws one mind-fuck of a wrap party. Sadly, I won’t be able to show you any of the pics from tonight’s party until the last episode of season 6 airs. Instead, since season 3 and 4 have ended, let me show you our Costa Rica beach party. I’ve been wanting to show these pics for a while, so I’m going to give you a ton.

As is customary, the evening began with Dave Strasser throwing Tama*Chan into the ocean.

Dan Evensen spent most of the night winning everybody else’s money at the Bodog poker table.

David Avellan, though victorious, didn’t look too good after his battle with Antony Rea. This is what I love about Bodog parties - everyone shows up exhausted from brawling, which keeps the party relatively relaxed.

It’s the gorgeous American ladies of Bodog Fight. After this photo they immediately went back to discussing how they were going to beat the fuck out of Carina Damm. From left to right, they are Molly Helsel, Jan Finney, Tara LaRosa, and Shayna Baszler.

Brad Pickett tried his best to cut a rug with Bodog Girl Andrea. He was considerably slower on his feet than he had been in his earlier bout with JR Simms.

Something else I love about Bodog parties is the persistent presence of gyrating women. Here, some kinda gypsy girl performs for the entertainment of the crowd.

Despite all the hot, tanned skin floating about, Eddie Alvarez stayed close to his girlfriend, Jaime.

Here’s commentator Paul Lazenby (right) and Miguel Iturrate (left) posing for the camera. Actually, Paul is posing while forcing Miguel to let me take a picture of him. This is also customary.

B.C. boys Todd Gouwenberg and Bill Mahood grab some ladies for the cameraman. Note that Todd is showing off his busted hand, which couldn’t stand up the constant barrage laid upon it by Mike Patt’s face.

Antony Rea (left) looked almost as bad as his victorious opponent David Avellan. Here, he poses with fellow national Francis Carmont (who looked great after defeating Todd Broadaway).

There was a lot of dancing. Here, Tama*Chan joins the Bodog Girls in a little rump-shakin’.

Overall, nice party. I got sick drunk.

Well, as those of you who attended are already aware, there were some serious upsets and shockers last night on Day 1 of our shoot for Bodog Fight: Series 6 (which has yet to be named). I lost virtually all my bets.

Things went basically as expected until the third bout, at which point things degraded into sheer insanity. We saw one guy almost knocked out twice only to deliver a powerful TKO moments later, a controversial tap-out, a pair of jiu-jitsu black belts fighting a street brawl, a spinning back-fist knockout, a broken rib, and a popped lung. Madness.

My “best performers of the evening” awards go to Diego Gonzalez, Julie Kedzie, Alexander Shlemenko, and Chris Wilson. Unfortunately, these awards have no cash value and are virtually worthless in all territories. Still… good show!

Here’s tonight’s card:

I’ll catch up with ya’ll tomorrow to let you know how everything went.

Today’s the first day we actually shoot some fights for season 6. The bout order will probably change during the day, but here are the matches I’m expecting to see.

Some mean-lookin’ fights in there. I can never pass up on a chance to see Rosi Sexton. There’s some big dudes on here too that I’m looking forward to seeing again, especially Dan Evensen (who didn’t really get to flex his muscle on our last fight of his) and Scott Lincoln, who I only met this week but seems like a nice (and gigantic) guy. Of course, any Nick Thompson fight is bound to please.

I have the best job in the world. We’re outta work at 3:00 today to go watch 12 fights in a row, and 12 more tomorrow. Check back tomorrow-ish for some pics of the action courtesy of illustrious sports photographer Keith Mills.

While we’ve been out filming season 6, season 5 - Bodog Fight: New Jersey - has begun airing on ION. Of course, we also have it online for you to download. Go get the first episode!

If you head over there, you can get full video profiles on every fighter on our newly revamped Fighter page. This videos are far and away the best video stuff we’ve done. I highly recommend the Dan Hawley video. It’s a favorite around the office.

Here’s the official press release!

August 20, 2007

After crossing the frozen tundra of St. Petersburg, Russia, and storming the beaches of Costa Rica, the hardest-hitting show on TV is infiltrating the home of The Sopranos and Goodfellas … and you better not fuggedaboutit!

Bodog Fight: New Jersey marks the mixed martial arts series debut on American soil. Filmed in Trenton, the show features two championship fights, with Trevor Prangley taking on Japanese superstar Yuki Kondo for the middleweight belt and Tara LaRosa squaring off against Kelly Kobold for the women’s 135lb title.

The first episode premieres in more than 90 million U.S. homes this Tuesday, August 21st at 11 p.m. / 10 p.m. Central on ION television and in Canada on The Fight Network, offering viewers a look at one of the sport’s fastest rising stars.

Eddie Alvarez

Urged on by a legion of raucous fans, explosive striker Eddie Alvarez (10-1) of nearby Philadelphia will attempt to overcome Boston’s Matt Lee (9-5-1).

The 23-year-old Alvarez is eager to erase the memory of his first professional defeat, after Nick “The Goat” Thompson took his welterweight belt in St. Petersburg, Russia last April.

“I want to prove to my fans the heart of a champion doesn’t stop beating without a belt,” says Alvarez. The fearsome former champ claims he’s also got a score to settle with Lee.

“He won a decision over my trainer Stephen Haigh last year, so on behalf of all of us at the Fight Factory I’m gonna pay him back.”

Can’t catch the action on ION (or The Fight Network in Canada)? All episodes of the Bodog Fight series are available worldwide through streaming video at BodogFight.com, with behind-the-scenes exclusives, fighter bios and additional footage only available online.

Yesterday was the final day of shooting Bodog Girl madness. The fighters arrived on Friday but their shoots don’t really begin until Monday. As such, I’ll be focusing on the fighters themselves in the next couple posts.

Sooo… for your pleasure, here’s a group shot of the girls lounging on Calvin’s yacht!

In clockwise order starting top left, they are: Julia, Brandy, Marlina, Sarah, Darcy, and Raquel. Ooowooo.

There are two more not pictured here.