Wylde Style productions announced Monday that it will host the next installment of Operation Octagon on August 2, 2008.  Operation Octagon IV will take place at the Freedom Aquatic Center on the Manassas Campus of George Mason University at 7:30 p.m. The event will feature 12 bouts of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting inside a steel and chain-link cage.  Operation Octagon I, II, and III were overwhelming sellouts and the promoters promise that Octagon IV will be their biggest and best show ever.  Fighters will use a mix of martial arts, boxing, and wrestling to attempt to dominate their opponents.  The bouts will be won by submission, decision, or knockout. This event will feature some of the best up-and-coming Mixed Martial Arts fighters in the area.

Mixed Martial Arts (also called MMA) is being called the fastest growing sport in the world.  The sport’s growing popularity has attracted military men like Marine Captain Brian Stann (Light Heavyweight champion of World Extreme Cagefighting) and Marine Corporal George Lockhart (Middleweight champion of the American Fight League).

http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/Sentry/StoryView.aspx?SID=1898
http://www.lejeune.usmc.mil/mcb/world_extreme_cagefighting.asp

In Operation Octagon IV, Corporal George Lockhart will put down his fighting gloves and put on his coach’s hat as he takes a group of Marines into “the cage.”  Some of the soldiers will be going into “battle” for the first time.   Lockhart’s team consists of Sergeant Shurron Thompson, Staff Sergeant Kendall Mathurin, Sergeant Jack Cody Davis, as well as female Lance Corporal Kelsey Desantis.  Lockhart is currently an instructor in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) at Quantico and he predicts that his fighters will do well in the up-coming event.  Marine Corps Sgt. Shurron Thompson will fight Army Specialist Kris McCray for the Middleweight (185) Title Belt at Operation Octagon IV on Aug 2, 2008 in Manassas, VA.

The line-up for this event will also include soldiers a variety of military installations.  Some soldiers who will participate in this event are: Sgt. Casey Watson (USMC-Quantico), Sgt. C.J. Vinson (USMC-Quantico), Sgt. Jody Ray Carter (USMC-Lejeune), Specialist Kris McCray (Army Reserves), and Robert Conner (Air National Guard).  McCray and Conner are both title holders in their weight classes.

The promoters of Operation Octagon encourage all military members to come out and support the soldiers as they battle for cage supremacy.

For tickets and information about Operation Octagon IV, contact the promoters at www.OperationOctagon.com