King of the Cage Worldwide: Philippines

On July 5, 2013, Friday 7pm at the SM MOA Arena in Pasay City, TagTeam Sports Management and King of the Cage Philippines stages the much anticipated first installment in the country.

An exciting showcase of twenty local mixed martial arts talent representing Elorde Dungeon, New blood MMA, Yawyan Buhawi, Submission Sport Philippines, Team Agression just among the many other melting pots of MMA talent all over Metro Manila going head to head for the ten undercard division followed by two world championship fights: Sean Strickland (11-0) vs. Yuske Sakashita;  and Filipino-Hawaiian Lowen Tynanes (5-0) to take it down in the cage with  Joe Condon.

Complimenting the fights is the 2013 KOTC Philippines Cage Girls— a roster of eight young and smoking hot vixens to round the fights for the succeeding installments and roadshows of KOTC Philippines main fight shows.

Simultaneously running alongside the model search go-see are the second qualifying rounds for 36 fighters that will be drawn out to compete against the drafted contenders from the previous mall show tryouts at SM Marikina. 

Gracing prestigious July 5th sports event are former light-heavyweight MMA champion Quintin Rampage Jackson and guest referee Herb Dean.

Similar to other local MMA sport production groups, King of the Cage Philippines are intensely aware of the potential of Filipino fighters making it on a global landscape.  Filipino fighters that are deemed to be resilient, well-rounded and intelligent sportsmen worthy of promoting to, and competing in international MMA regions of the King of the Cage franchise that ONLY King of the Cage Philippines can provide, advocate and surely accomplish for many years to come.

MICHELIN is official tire of 2013 ASIAN LE MANS SERIES

MICHELIN has been selected as the new tire supplier of the 2013 Asian Le Mans Series, the premier sports car endurance racing challenge based in Asia and created by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.

Serge Grisin, director of MICHELIN’s four-wheel motorsport programs, and Mark Thomas Managing Director of the Asian Endurance Operating Company Limited, the licensee of the Asian le Mans Series, signed a deal which will see MICHELIN supply tires and associated services in 2013 to the Asian Le Mans. The event is organized by the Asian Endurance Operating Company Limited and sanctioned by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.

MICHELIN was selected after a process that was open to all tire manufacturers.Through its involvement in the Asian le Mans Series, MICHELIN seeks to consolidate and reinforce its footing in Asia, a region where the French company is investing because of the market’s growth and the shifts of its approach to motoring.

“The interests of Asian motorists in cars and their demands are evolving very quickly,” observes Serge Grisin. “The culture of motorsport, which has long been deeply rooted in Japan and South Korea, is today developing in China. MICHELIN sees motorsport as an opportunity to demonstrate the qualities of its tires to this new generation of enthusiasts who demand both safety and performance. We are notably targeting those who make pleasure one of the prime factors in their relationship with their vehicle”.

“Thanks to its exacting technical regulations coherent with those of the FIA World Endurance championship, the Asian Le Mans Series is a great showcase to illustrate the benefits of the MICHELIN Total Performance plan at a very high level. This plan is core to the Group’s research and development strategy and consists in using unique technologies to develop tires that deliver high performance in all areas, even in those which are frequently seen as irreconcilable”.

“I would also underline that MICHELIN will work together with all the drivers who contest the 2013 Asian Le Mans Series, professionals and amateurs alike, providing them with racing tires that are safe, competitive and durable, as well as with services and technical advice which are the fruit of decades of success in endurance racing”, Grisin added. “We are delighted to have MICHELIN on-board with us for this season which is very important for the development of the Asian Le Mans Series,” says Mark Thomas.

“MICHELIN can claim an unrivalled commitment, experience and record in endurance racing. I am sure its contribution will satisfy the 2013 field which is particularly rich, not merely in numbers but also in terms of the cars and drivers who will be competing. Our sporting regulations call for versatile tires and quantities will be restricted to six sets per round. Furthermore, in association with MICHELIN, our wish is to preclude the use of development tires, so we asked our tire supplier to supply high technology products which are as close as possible to production tires”.

MICHELIN will handle logistics and provide service to teams in all six rounds of the series. MICHELIN technicians will be on-hand to help the drivers in their tires choices, while their analysis of how the tires perform in races as a function on the type of car, track profile and driving style will enable valuable information to be fed back to MICHELIN.

MICHELIN to play pioneering role in new FIA Formula E Championship

MICHELIN Philippines Chief Representative Michael Nunag announced today that MICHELIN is the new FIA Formula E Championship’s official tire partner from 2013 to 2015.

FIA Formula E

Following the selection process by the FIA (Federation International de l’Automobile), the French brand’s bid was chosen by the motorsport’s governing body for its savoir-faire in three different areas: its technical expertise, marketing plan and involvement in mobility promotion programs.

Pascal Couasnon, Director of the MICHELIN Group’s Motorsport Department, emphasized how pleased and proud the French tire manufacturer was to have been selected to be a part of the new FIA Formula E Championship: “When it comes to energy efficient tires and responsible motorsport, MICHELIN has emerged as a pioneer. This new race series is valued by MICHELIN through the facts that that it introduces a new form of power and it will bring the sport to city centrist. We will use our expertise to provide the competitors in this highly innovative new championship with new MICHELIN tires engineered to bring out the very best out in these cars. The FIA Formula E Championship is a perfect showcase for the MICHELIN Total Performance concept which consists in working simultaneously on all the factors that contribute to tyre performance, including those commonly believed to be irreconcilable.”

FIA Formula E

The MICHELIN Group has been active in the promotion and development of mobility ever since the company was founded. In 1998, it organized the first global event dedicated to showcasing new mobility-related technologies, the Challenge Bibendum.

Formula E is a new FIA Championship featuring formula cars powered exclusively by electric energy. It represents a vision for the future of the motor industry over the coming decades. Demonstration ruins of the Formula E cars will start in 2013, followed by the Championship in 2014 with 10 teams and 20 drivers competing. The races will be staged in main landmarks of the world’s leading cities.

NBA LEGEND SAM PERKINS TO VISIT MANILA TO PROMOTE NBA GLOBAL GAMES PHILIPPINES 2013

NBA Legend Sam Perkins and former member of the Indiana Pacers will be in Manila from July 1 – July 4 to promote the upcoming NBA Global Games Philippines 2013. The game, which will be played at the Mall of Asia Arena on Thursday, October 10, is part of the NBA’s comprehensive Global Games schedule and will be the league’s first preseason game in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia.

Perkins will headline the ‘100 Day Countdown’ event, conduct mall visits and participate in special programs conducted by the NBA and SM Group.

The NBA Global Games will see eight NBA teams play in eight cities in six countries this October. The schedule—which will also feature the Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards—will also include the first-ever NBA preseason game in Brazil, and in the cities of Bilbao, Spain, and Manchester, England. It will also include games in Beijing, Istanbul, Shanghai, and Taipei.

To date, the NBA has staged 138 preseason and regular-season games in 19 countries and regions across Europe, the Americas and Asia since 1978.

More information can be found at NBA.com, www.mallofasia-arena.com, and via social media on Facebook.com/philsnba and on Twitter @NBA_Philippines. Enquiries can also be directed to the SM Customer Care Hotline at +63 2 470-2222.

"PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS"

Based on the best-selling book, PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS continues the young demigod’s epic journey to fulfill his destiny.  To save their world, Percy and his friends must find the fabled and magical Golden Fleece. 

Embarking on a treacherous odyssey into the uncharted waters of the Sea of Monsters, they battle terrifying creatures, an army of zombies, and the ultimate Evil.  

"Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" opens August 7 in theaters nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

"THE COUNSELOR"

Cameron Diaz & Penelope Cruz THE COUNSELOR

From Academy Award nominee Ridley Scott comes "The Counselor" starring Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, John Leguizamo, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz. 

Penelope Cruz THE COUNSELOR

Written by Pulitzer Prize winner Cormac McCarthy, "The Counselor" follows lawyer (Fassbender) who he decides to get involved in a drug deal worth millions. Thinking that his involvement in the deal with a friend (Bardem) and a drug broker (Pitt) will never suck him down, he soon learns that such decision will lead him on a desperate trail of survival.

"The Counselor" will open November 15 in theaters from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

"TURBO" 3D: HIGH-VELOCITY ANIMATION

Meet Turbo (voiced by Ryan Reynolds), an underdog snail who dreams to overdrive just like his idol who races in the Indy 500. At the start, Turbo is somewhat of an outcast in the snail community, which is less about big dreams and more about punching a time clock at their place of employment.

Ryan Reynolds in Turbo

Training tirelessly all his life, he miraculously gained speed at an opportune time he met a crew of streetwise, tricked-out es-car-goes. Learning that no one can make it on their own in the fast lane. He and his newfound pals help each other achieve their impossible dream of racing in the Indy 500.

"Turbo," says director and co-screenwriter David Soren, is a mash-up of superhero and racing film genres, but “at its heart, TURBO really is an underdog story. The character Turbo has all the hallmarks of an underdog. You expect nothing of snails, whose lives are stacked with obstacles, like being really, really slow. But once you dig into it, a snail is the perfect character to have at the center of an underdog story.”

But turning an everyday, garden snail into a mighty mollusk who travels at super-speed? “Turbo’s dream of becoming something that’s completely in opposition to its nature is ripe for conflict, surprises and a satisfying payoff” when the dream becomes reality,” says Soren.

Ryan Reynolds voices Turbo

Soren came up with the idea for "Turbo" almost a decade ago. He described it to DreamWorks Animation management at one of the company’s “pitch program” conclaves, at which DreamWorks employees can pitch their ideas for possible future projects. “At the time it was a very complex idea – the ‘Fast and Furious with Snails,’” he remembers.

As he developed the idea, Soren was inspired by events and people very close to home. His primary muse, he notes, “was my young son, who since before he could talk has been obsessed with toy cars and racing, and could identify virtually any car on the street by its make and model.”

Soren also found motivationin his own front yard, which had a “snail problem” that was eating away at his tomato plants. “This marriage of the slow [the snails] and speed [his son’s preoccupation] was the catalyst that led me to the bones of the story centered on a snail who dreams of racing glory.”

Luckily,the requisite comedic and dramatic acting chops, and bigger-than-life persona, are embodied by Ryan Reynolds, whom Soren describes as “the perfect match” for Turbo. “It all really sounded amazing, and I fell in love with its classic underdog story, which TURBO takes to a new level,” Reynolds continues. “It takes a unique if not insane perspective to bring a snail to life in this way. What I love most about Turbo is his tenacity and refusal to give up on his dream. In fact, it doesn’t even occur to him to give up. Talent is a collision between hard work and luck, and that’s what Turbo is.”

"Turbo" also features a stellar voice cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Giamatti, Michael Pena, Luis Guzman, Bill Hader, Snoop Dogg, Maya Rudolph and BEn Schwartz.

"Turbo" (3D) opens July 19 in theaters nationwide from DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox.