Found below is a new press release from the CES MMA guys. I love their writeups..its a great read....
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Aug. 9, 2011) – Growing up in a two-bedroom apartment with three brothers, Todd Chattelle had no choice but to learn how to defend himself at an early age.
“The crap just rolled downhill,” Chattelle said. “The biggest one would beat on the next one, and then that one would beat on the next one, and so on and so forth. Then our youngest brother, Josh, grew up and beat on all of us!”
Nearly two decades later, “The Hulk” is still dishing out punishment, except now he gets paid to use his fists. As only the third professional cage fighter signed to Jimmy Burchfield’s roster at Classic Entertainment & Sports – joining the late Doug Bolanes Jr. and Boston native Alex Karalexis – Chattelle, 32, will return to the cage Friday, Sept. 9, 2011 when he faces Elias Rivera on the undercard of “Road To Glory” at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, R.I.
Rivera (5-6, 1 KO), who upholsters furniture for a living and also founded the Team Dog Pound Full Contact Team gym in Meriden, Conn., began training in Jeet Kune Do when he was 10 years old and has more than 30 years of experience in mixed martial arts. His professional resume includes a victory over Scott Rehm – also fighting Sept. 9 – and a loss 10 years ago to Jorge Rivera, who starred in Saturday’s “Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) 133” Pay-Per-View event at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
“Not to take anything away from any other fighter, but experience alone speaks volumes,” Rivera said. “I’ll usually take on anyone. I don’t care who it is. I’m looking forward to this one.”
“We’ll see,” Chattelle countered. “He has a lot of heart and he’ll go right at you. He’s fought a couple of big-name guys, so he has confidence and experience. I’ll get in there, train hard, and treat him like a little kid. He’ll have to earn it.”
Chattelle’s rugged exterior and abrasive – albeit, playful – words are a byproduct of his upbringing in the working-class city of Pawtucket, R.I., merely a stone’s throw from downtown Providence. He grew up with six brothers (Ryan, Jay, Jonas, Josh, Justin and Scott) and one sister (Renee), though only three of his brothers lived in the same apartment with he and his mother, who raised the four boys on her own.
Undeterred by his past, Chattelle admits he’s been stabbed, shot at twice and undergone reconstructive surgery after getting hit in the face with a crowbar, but he’s also thankful for the time he spent with his aunt, who showed him a different side of life.
“She was middle class,” Chattelle said. “She had a husband, a job – then I’d go home to my single mother with five crazy brothers. I guess I was lucky. Going through so much, I feel like I can deal with more stuff than most people can.”
Chattelle’s ability to absorb pain is evident each time he steps inside the cage. On April 8th, he outlasted Jeff Nader in a split-decision win – the first time he had ever gone the distance in a victory – and improved his record to 8-6 despite getting hit in the face with a clean right hand in the closing seconds that left him bloodied and bruised.
“Fearless” would be an appropriate description for Chattelle’s style; the way he sees it, there’s nothing anybody inside the cage can do to him that others haven’t done already. He earned his first seven victories by knockout before the split decision against Nader.
“The only thing I fear,” Chattelle said, “is God and failure. I hate failing, so I just go hard.”
Outside the arena, Chattelle works more than 40 hours a week as a concrete finisher for the Local 40 cement mason union of Rhode Island to support his 9-year-old son, T.J., and his 13-year-old daughter, Kalyn, who enters high school next year. Rest assured, “The Hulk” has already come up with a plan to ward off would-be suitors.
“I’m going to be posting up my fight pictures in her high school,” Chattelle laughed.
“I use [my kids] as my motivation,” he continued. “I want to make enough money to one day put them through college. That gives me the drive to not give up no matter what. Right now, it’s hard. Working 40, 50 hours a week and then training … I know can be great – or really good – if I can figure out a way to make money and train, but I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to do it if I have to work those hours and continue training.
“The fighting isn’t the problem – it’s the training that’s hard … but anything is possible.”
Chattelle never though he’d get this far nine years ago when he sat in the audience at a UFC event in Connecticut thinking out loud, “Would you do this?” Five years later, he made his professional debut in a loss to Dennis Olson and, despite several setbacks along the way, is now on the cusp of a major opportunity following back-to-back wins against Nader and Woody Weatherby (Feb. 25th).
“I’ve fought in M-1 Global [in a loss to Mike Guerin in 2010], been featured in magazines and now I’m on a billboard – it’s crazy!” Chattelle said. “Anything in life is possible. This might be my last run. I feel I’ve got another four or five years left in me to see how far I can really make it in this sport.
“I’d really like to get one submission before my career is over,” he added with a laugh. “Maybe an arm triangle or an arm bar.”
The main event of “Road To Glory” features light heavyweight Greg Rebello (12-3, 6 KOs) of Providence, R.I., facing rising star Cody Lightfoot (6-1, 4 KOs) of Somersworth, N.H. The undercard includes lightweight Pete Jeffrey (4-4, 2 KOs) of Smithfield, R.I., facing John Ortolani (5-3, 4 KOs) of Billerica, Mass.; Rehm (5-5, 5 KOs), fighting out of Brookline, Mass., against light heavyweight Steve Skrzat (4-4, 4 KOs) of Burrillville, R.I.; lightweight Brendan Rooney (1-0) of Milford, Conn., facing newcomer John DeRusha of South Shore Sport Fighting in Rockland, Mass.; and Dinis Paiva Jr. (1-0, 1 KO) of Providence taking on undefeated lightweight Jimmy Collins (3-0) of Waltham, Mass. Bantamweight Chris Conception of the Dragon’s Lair in Framingham, Mass., will make his professional debut against Chris Cole (2-1) of America’s Best Defense in North Attleboro, Mass.; and Wilfredo Santiago Jr. (2-1, 2 KOs) of Lawrence, Mass., will square off against undefeated middleweight Francisco Ferreira (2-0, 1 KO) of North Providence, R.I. John Manley (6-1) of Adams, Mass., will also be on the undercard in a welterweight bout.
Tickets for “Road To Glory” are $35.00, $55.00, $100.00 and $125.00 and can be purchased by calling CES at 401.724.2253/2254, online at www.cesboxing.com or www.twinriver.com, at the Players Club booth at Twin River, or through any TicketMaster location. Doors open 6 p.m. with the first bout scheduled for 7.
(Twin River has waived its 18+ rule for “Road To Glory.” Anybody under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult and must enter through the West entrance.)
– CES –
This is gonna be a pretty exciting card. The main event against Rebello vs Lightfoot is going to be insane!! Also the Jeffrey Vs. Ortolani I am sure will be very entertaining.
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